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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 1997)
Volume XXVII, Number 43 Committed to cultural diversity. October 29, 1997 (Ebe ^ n rtla n h (©bseruer Kennedy School’s unsung hero n nt nt u n it y a I f n ù a r Foster parents needed Short-term foster parents are needed to care for teens who need a safe plate to stay for a few days. Weekly orientations are held every Thursday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Aid Society of Oregon, 018 S.W. Boundary Court. Re imbursement for care, Food Bank help and on-going training is provided. Entertainment magnet, reality with persistence of resident Melissa Darby Halloween fun You will find Halloween haunted hall ways, trick-or-treating and a carnival at the Police A ctivities L eag u e’s Bud Monnes Youth Center, 424 N.E. 172nd from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday. Cost is SI for kids five and older or two non-perish able food items. B \ L e e P eri . man A Alberta gallery to open Our Dream gallery hosts a grand open ing celebration Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 2209 N.E. Alberta. The gallery features a wide range o f contemporary African-American artists from through out the country and offers a complete range o f media and styles, along with professional art services. Military spending protestors march in Portland. New generation of peace activists question government The Mexican folk art exhibit Day o f the Dead, curated by Patricia Mahan and mixed media works by David Childers are on display Nov. 6-28 at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, 5340 N. In terstate Ave Parenting help Do you have questions about parent ing? Do you want to meet other young parents in your neighborhood? Common Bond offers free playgroups, parenting classes, field trips and health nurse services to area residents with children 0 to 3 years old. Call Lisa or Ime at 280-1616. I Auction ready to begin I The Catlin Gabel School’s 53rd An nual Rummage Sale is held Thursday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday, 10 a m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Expo Center. The merchandise will feature everything from high-quality furniture to antiques, to art work, fine jewelry, vintage and designer clothing, toys, books and hundreds of other items. I ! Tickets are now on sale for West Side Story, playing Nov. 11-16 at Portland Civic Auditorium Rave reviews and hot box office sales make this one o f the best-loved national theater productions in recent memory. The last Portland en gagement o f the Broadway musical sold out in 1995. ! Spaghetti dinner | St. Charles Church, northeast 42nd and Emerson, holds its popular spaghetti and meatball dinner Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. Cost is $7 for adults and $3.50 for children. Full takeout available j Women’s conference Humorist Peggy Kline will address the one-day conference for women “A Day for You: Nurturing the Needs of W omen Through Humor, Hope and Health," presented Saturday, Nov. 8 from 8:30 to 4 p.m. at the Portland Hilton Hotel by Providence Health System and Smith Barney. Registration is $25 by calling 215-6595. handful of anti-military pro testors meandered through downtown Portland Friday, vis iting programs where they would love to divert some of the Pentagon's funds. It was a new generation of young paci fists surfacing during the event coordi- nated by Peace and Justice Works, Oregon Peace Works and the Oregon Community for War Tax Resistance. They marched from Lincoln High School, carrying protest signs which read "Food Not Bombs,” "Consider Noil Military Solutions First,” “War Is Stupid!.' and "People Mat ter." First stop for the two dozen people was Outside-In, a transitional youth housing cen ter at Salmon and I 3th. where John Coomler told them the “need for more space anil Giant murals on a Tri-Met bus and edu cational brochures are promoting October as National Crime Prevention Month. The bus is operating on routes in the northeast community, but will also branch out to travel on Tri-Met buses throughout the Tri-County area. The Association for Portland Progress, Obie Media, Tri-Met and Portland Police are co sponsors of the public service campaign. Crime prenvention wins the support of East Precinct Commander Mark Parefi (Photo by M. Washington) KBOO's Boo Ball his is it...The Portland area’s origi nal and best Halloween costume ball...The 16th Annual Boo Ball! This year's Boo Ball promises to be one of the best ever! The music will get you dancin' with elec tric b lu e s g u ita r m a ste r C la re n c e “Gatemouth" Brown. Best known for his T Living with Asthma Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women A free conference on living with asthma is Sunday at9a.m. to3 p.m. atAdventsit Medical Center, 10123 S.E. Market. M B M I S S |( ) \ S : ( iiiiiin iin iti l i l l u i III. l l i l l l l I I l i i l)V «¿¡V VII printilx il iTccixcd tm i neeks In lm i Iin o i ui ila lc . C ontinued to page A2 Bus murals promote crime prevention Arts on display lll ll l l .i l services for people "should take prece dence over military spending. "Help us shake that money tree.” Noting the need to compete with other social service programs, Coomler told The Portland Observer. "Every year we have kids die because there are insufficient resources to make the connections with them," Coomler said. Organizer Dairl Helmer led the group to other underfinanced public programs Takin' it to the streets Current work by the members o f the W y’east Artisans Guild is on view at the M ultnomah Art Center Gallery, 7688 S.W. Capitol Highway. The group show reflects a common interest in the arts and crafts. ( (Photo by Neil Heil pern) Group demands military shift to human needs Mexican folk art West Side Story week before its official grand opening, the Concordia neigh borh o o d cam e to th e new McMenamin’s Kennedy School to pay trib ute to Brian and Michael McMenannn - and the project’s unsung heroes. The brew brothers received due credit for their $4 million renovation o f the 40,000 square foot former school, for 22 years a vacant community eyesore. Thanks to them, it now sports an indoor and outdoor restau rant, movie theater, bar, wine tasting room, public gym, meeting space (including a room reserved for the neighborhood association’s use), garden, and 35 simple but comfortable guest rooms that still show their classroom origin. However, the McMenamins would never have had a chance to work their magic with out the contributions o f many other people. The supporters included consultants Dan Steffey, Sumner Sharpe and Don Genasci; Barbara Madigan o f the Bureau o f Housing and Community Development; David Nemo hostages in northeast Portland. It's a perfect precede to the characters you'll see at Saturday's Boo Ball. incomparable guitar work, this versa tile Grammy-winning virtuoso is also proficient on the fiddle and harmonica, and equally adept at playing blues, coun try, western-swing, Cajun and jazz. Additionally, Saffire-The Uppity B lues W omen will perform their unique brand o f sassy, witty and fiercely independent acoustic blues filled with spirit and soul. Don’t miss this opportu nity to join in the fun of Portland’s best costume ball with prizes for: Best Overall Costume. Funniest, Scariest, Best Couple. Best Group and Best Political. A variety of Full Sai! Ales, wine and other beverages and food will also be available The Boo Ball is the largest fundraiser for KB(X) 90.7 Community Radio, aside from its on-air membership drives. The Boo Ball will be held on Saturday at 8 p.m., at Port land Art Museum ( iranil Ballroom, 1219 SW Park. Tickets are $15 in advance for KBOO members $ 17 advance for non-members, and $20 day of show for all. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster Outlets, all Music Millennium stores or charge by phone at 503-224-4400. o f the Portland Development Commission; community volunteers Ron Fossum and Jim Roberts; Michael Harrison and his Bureau o f Planning staff. Still, commissioner Gretchen Kafoury struck a cord when she said the three people most deserving o f credit were "M elissa Darby, Melissa Darby, Melissa Darby." The 300 people present agreed, giving her a standing ovation. It was Darby, year in and year out, who fought longest and hardest to preserve the structure when the Portland School District had determined to demolish it. “ I was driving by with my husband one day and said, ‘Boy, it sure would be nice to do something with this,” ' the red haired neigh bor recalls. Rebuffed by deputy school superinten dent Don McElroy, who had already allo cated funds to tear it down, she had the 1915 building declared an historic landmark, blocking demolition. McElroy kept to his original course. Ac cording to Darby, he didn’t return phone calls when the private W aldorf School of fered to buy, and instead allowed the build ing to deteriorate toward the point where demolition would indeed be the only option. A breakthrough came in 1992. Steffey put together what became known as the Pilot Project, a massive exchange o f property and money among the City o f Portland, Mult nomah County, the Housing Authority of Portland and the school district. The city was to receive Kennedy School. After 18 months o f negotiations and prod ding by Darby, Steffey and Fossum, presi dent o f the Concordia Neighborhood Asso ciation, the deal was made. To determine the next step the city set up a task force, staffed by Madigan, Nemo, Genasci and Sharpe and chaired by Roberts The group quickly developed three guide lines for the property's future use It had to preserve the building, put a, least part o f it to community use, and “be an asset to the com munity in function and design.” To these requirements were added oth ers: The use had to be self-supporting, since no public funds were available to maintain it. and the use could not be housing, since a large multi-family structure clashed with Concordia’s goal o f stabilizing its single family community. “The highest and best use was another school," Darby says, “but no one thought we d get something we wanted, just som e thing we could live with.” CONTINt ED rOPAGE B5
