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