May 53, 2001
www.portlandobservcr.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
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<3H|e ^ o rtia n h (Obsertn'r
m u u tu it it u
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01
SECTION
Nike Factory Store Invests In Community
Rose Festival at
W aterfront Village
T his year, Rose Festival w aterfront ac­
tivities is celebrating its 3 1’1 anniversary in
Tom M cC all W aterfront Park (betw een
B um side and H aw thorne Bridge). T he
W aterfront V illage w ill open from T hurs­
day, M ay 31 until Sunday, June 10. This
year, there will be several new , exciting
im provem ents and additions.
YMCA Camp C ollins
C elebrates 75 Years
Y M CA Cam p Collins is 75 years old this
summer. The cam p has served 350,000 chil­
dren in that time, and is getting ready for the
next 75 years. Com e and share die memories
with them They will be celebrating on Satur­
day, June 16 at the Y M CA Cam p Collins,
located at 3001 S.E. O xbow Parkway, next to
Oxbow Regional Park. Formore info., call 503/
663-5813, or visit www.ymca-portland.org.
Strawberry Festival at
Kruger’s Farm
Join K ruger’s Farm for the arrival o f the
straw berryseasononJune 16and 17. Visitors
have the opportunity to sam ple the fruits,
tour the farm, take a hayride, picnic under the
oak trees, listen to live music and enjoy fresh
strawberry shortcake. There will also be jam ­
making demonstrations. This is a free event.
Kruger’s Farm is locatedat 17100S.W.Sauvie
Island Road. Call 503/621 -3489.
Foster Grandparent Program
The Foster Grandparent Program is look­
ing for senior adults, at least 60 years o f age,
and on a lim ited income to help at-risk chil­
dren in the Portland area. Foster Grandpar­
ents receive $200 a m onth tax-free plus other
incentives including m eal and travel com
pensation, paid time-off, and sick leave. Call
503/232-0007,ext. 202 fordetails.
Join the Com m unity
Health C ouncil
The M ultnom ah C ounty Health D epart­
ment is seeking m em bers to serve on its
Community Heal thCouncil. Members advise
the county’s H ealth D epartm ent on current
and em erging m atter in public health, includ­
ing program reviews, policy development,
and budget recommendations. The Council
meets regularly on the second M onday o f
each m onth from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at
various health departm ents in the county.
Call SomaManhasat503/988-3674, ex t 26113.
Robin Herrington, the reigning Mrs. Portland (right), honors a group of community organizations,
including members of the Peninsula Little League (above), at a celebration to highlight Nike's
commitment to local non-profit organizations.
G rants totaling $ 50,000 w ere presented to
local co m m unity organizations in north and
northeast Portland last w eek at N ik e ’s F ac­
tory Store on N ortheast M artin L uther K ing
Junior. Blvd.
R eigning Mrs. Portland, Robin H errington
- honored the grant recipients along w ith G ina
W arren, N ik e ’s G lobal C om m unity A ffairs
D irector and Lisa C lausen, N ik e ’s G eneral
M anager o f U SA R etail
W hen N ike opened the store in 1984, it
pledged to donate a percentage o f the sto re’s
sales to com m unity-based non-profit organi­
zations.
Since that tim e, N ike has donated m ore
than $750,000 to neighborhood charities.
G rants totaling $50,000 each y ear are part
o f an ongoing initiative to support non-profit
organization that offer program s for youth
e n te rp rise , ed u c a tio n an d en h a n ce m e n t
through sports.
A selection com m ittee m ade up o f local
com munity leaders identified the 10 organiza­
tions that received $5,000 grants this year, as
part o f the 2001 N ike Factory Store G rant
Program.
The m onies w ere aw arded to the following
recipients: A lbina H ead Start. Bethel N eigh­
borhood D rop-in Center, C om m unity Transi­
tional School, Friends o f Trees, G ive us this
New Streets, Homes Move into Villa St Rose
Home is ‘Dream Come True’ for Ortiz Family
A m o n g the fam ilies w ho are anxiously
a w a itin g th e ir n ew h o m e s in th e n ew
R o sem o n t C om m ons neigh b o rh o o d is the
O rtiz fam ily.
T h e f o rm e r S t. R o se C o n v e n t an d
R o sem en t S chool south o f P ortland B ou­
lev ard and adjacent to N o rth D ekum and
C o n g re s s, is b ein g tra n sfo rm e d in to a
co m p lex w ith 100 units o f senior housing.
In ad d itio n , m o re th an 50 n ew sin g le­
fam ily hom es w ith new streets are being
added to the 7.6 acre site.
T en o f those lots are h o u ses sponsored
by P o rtlan d ’s H abitat for H um anity, w ith
o n e o f those h o m es g o in g to the O rtiz
fam ily.
P ed ro and K ris O rtiz h av e been m arried
for five years an d have three sm all ch il­
dren. Pedro has been em p lo y ed as a fore­
m an at P acific W est R oofing in T ualatin
for about three years and K ris is a stay-at-
hom e morn.
The fam ily cam e to P o rtlan d ’s H abitat
to finally fulfill th eir dream o f ow ning their
ow n home. C urrently, they live w ith nine
other people in a tw o bedroom apartm ent
in N orth P ortland. W hen ask ed w hy is
h o m e o w n e rsh ip so im p o rta n t to th em ,
Kris says that one o f the reasons is because
YMCA Sponsors
W orld’s L argest Run
The Clark County Fam ily YM C A, located
in Vancouver, Washington will be having the
“W orld’s Largest Run,” a 5k run walk on
Saturday, June 2 at 2 p.m.. It will be sponsored
by 1,300 YM CAs in 700 cities throughout
North America. This is in celebration o f hte
150* Anni versary ofthe YM CA in the United
States. To register, call 503/228-5079 o r360/
885-9622.
June Lead Poisoning
Prevention W orkshop
A June Lead Poisoning W orkshop spon­
sored by Com m unity Energy Project will dis­
cuss the health effects o f childhood lead
poisoning. Income-qualified Portland resi­
dents receive a free prevention kit worth
about $45. The event is free and open to the
public. Freechildcare provided. Itw illbeheld
at the W hitaker Com m unity School, located
at 5700 N.E. 39th Ave. on Tuesday, June 5,
from6-7:30p.m.
Friendly Poets Society
The Friendly Poets Society is offering a
$ 1,000grand prize in the ir Poetry Competition
2001, free to everyone. There are 28 prizes in
all worth over $3,000. The contest is seeking
poem s on any subject, using any style, with
a life-affirming inspirational theme. For more
in fo rm atio n ,
go
o n lin e
to
www.fiiendlvpQets.com. Deadline is June 15.
I
she w an ts h e r ch ild ren , once th ey are
grow n to be able to com e back to the house
and be ab le to say, “ This is the house
w here 1 grew up.”
A dditionally, she says that she c a n ’t
w ait to be able to put the ‘grow th m ark s’
o f the kids on the w alls and to be able to get
rid o f all the m old and m ice problem s that
they battle on a co n tin u al basis now .
T he O rtiz fam ily is v ery p ro u d an d
e x tre m e ly h ard w o rk in g .
T h ey fin ish e d th e ir first 200 h o u rs o f
4 0 0 re q u ire d ‘sw eat e q u ity ’ h o u rs in
le ss th a n tw o m o n th s ; m a n y o f th e
h o u rs K ris fu lfille d by leav in g th e kids
w ith fam ily m em b ers d u rin g the d ay and
co m in g in to the H ab itat o ffic e to an sw e r
p h o n es an d do w h a te v e r w as p u t her
w ay.
N o m a tte r w hat has b een p ut in front
o f th em , K ris and P ed ro alw ays seem to
m a in ta in th e ir p o sitiv e an d en e rg etic a t­
titu d e s.
K ris a n d Pedro h av e d ream t fo r a long
tim e o f so m e p la ce th ey co uld ac tu a lly
call a ‘c o m m u n ity ’; so m e p la ce w h ere
th e ir c h ild re n are safe, w here th e y can
c o u n t o n th e ir n e ig h b o rs for s u p p o rt
and w h ere th ere is a d iv e rsified n e ig h ­
A rchitectural Treasures
of Portland
A lice Cotton, a local author will be giving
a slide show presentation at M ultnomah
County Library on W ednesday, June 13, 7
p.m .inhonorofP ortland’s ISO* anniversary.
H er spec ial ty is on reveal ingtheunique story
o f beautifully designed buildings in the city
and highlighting its architecture.
Day, Portland House o f Umoja, Salvation
A rm y C ascade Division, School House Sup­
plies, St. A ndrew N ativity School, and Penin­
sula Little League.
“G iving back to the community isn ’ t part o f
w hat w e do its part o f w ho we are,” said
W arren. “N ike is com m itted to helping
P ortland’s North and Northeast com m unities
im prove the quality o f services they provide
for young people.”
P hotos by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Kris Ortiz (left) and Mary Ellen Kirian of Habitat for Humanity
take a breather while working on the construction of Ortiz'
new home.
The St. Rose School Convent and former Rosemont School on
north Dekum is being converted into housing for seniors, while the
7.6 acres it sits on. becomes home to a new track of houses and
streets.
Students Research African American History
Areastudents will present“Lift Every Voice”
a profile o f A frican A m ericans living in
Vancouver, during the W orld W ar II years o f
1941 -1948 on Thursday, June 7 at 7 p.m.
This program will feature high school stu­
dents who participated in the Center forColum-
bia feature, R iverH istory's V ancouver African
American History Project.
Short oral presentations by the students, an
interactive discussion involving students, co­
ordinators, project advisory board members,
oral history narrators and the audience are
scheduled during the event at the V ancouver
Community Library, 1007 East Mill Plain Blvd.
Through their work, the students and coor­
dinators have investigated a parton o f local
African American history that no one else has
i
dealt w ith in any depth.
They visited museums and archives, lis­
tened to experts speak about A frican American
history and historical research, learned how to
do oral histories, and interviewed elders in the
com m unity. The students are seniors at Lewis
and Clark, Evergreen. Mountain View, and For,
V ancouver high schools. Each chose a specific
topic o f interest and will be presenting the
results o f their research at the program.
All o f the students will receive $500 college
scholarships.
The Center forColum bia River History is a
regional educational consortium o f the W ash­
ington State Historical Society, Portland State,
U niversity and Washington State University
Vancouver
b o rh o o d .
K ris sa y s she p la n s on v isitin g the
se n io r liv in g cen ter ju s t so her k id s h av e
a r e s p e c t an d a p p re c ia tio n fo r o ld e r
in d iv id u a ls R osem ont ce rta in ly seem s
like th e p erfect m atch fo r th is fam ily!
Peninsula Fun Day
O ffic ia l R ose F estiv al event p ro m ises
lots o f e n te rta in m e n t, food and p rizes
K v I^ whaim -M m h h j e F ai st
When you think o f the Rose Festival, you
usually think o f parades, rides and events on
Waterfront Park, but almost everything hap­
pens downtown This year there will be a Rose
Festival event in the heart o f the North/ North­
east Portland community. The Peninsula Park
Family Fun Day. organized by the Albina Ro­
tary, is anofficial Rose Festival event. It will take
place on Saturday, June 2 from 12 to 4 p.m. at
Peninsula Park, situated between Portland Bou­
levard and Ainsworth Street and North Albina.
>
Thc2(X)l RoseFestivaJCourtwill be there tokicl
off the program with the Royal Rosarians. Othe,
groups attending include the Jammin’95 5 Stree
Team, the Buffalo Soldiers. McGrufftheCrimt
Dog, Fred Bear and more.
TheMartml utherKmg,Jr. Elementary Schoo
Choir, the Holy Redeemer Choir and State Sen
Margaret Carter will be singing at the event Rap
funk and blues music will be played, along sidt
performances by youth and African danct
trcupes The program is free and open to the
community. Families can expect a lot of enter­
tainment, food and prizes