October 16. 2002
www.portlandobserver.tom
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Wishes on Wheels
The fourth annual Wishes on
W heels event on Thursday,
Oct. 17 will feature gravity pow
ered pinewood derby model cars
racing around the Emanuel
Hospital atrium. Teams will
compete for the title o f the fast
est vehicle on the track. Event
funds benefit the Emanuel
Children’s Hospital. The hos
pital is located at 501N Graham
and the races begin at 6:30 p.m .
For more information call 503-
415-5725.
Community Celebration
Com e rain or shine Saturday,
Oct. 1 9 fo ra d a y o fliv e m u sic,
food, gam es and inform ation
hosted by Big City Produce
and Small W orld Café, 722 N.
Sumner. Music starts at 11:30
a.m. and goes to 5 p.m. The
day o f fun also features food
sam ples and snacks. Back to
Scrap, Food Not Bom bs, the
Food Alliance, the Humboldt
N eig h b o rh o o d A ssociation
and the POIC School w ill be
available throughout the day.
Call 503-460-3830 for informa
tion. .
Focus on Domestic Violence
In recognition o f Hands are Not
for Hurting Week and Domes
tic Violence Awareness Month,
come and leant about crimes
against children, women and
seniors. The Crime Prevention
program oftheCity ofPortland's
office o f neighborhood in
volvement will host four one
hour presentations on topics
ranging from protecting chil
dren from child molesters, do
mestic violence and elder safety.
Presentations begin at 10 a.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 22 in the US Bank
room at the Multnomah County
Central Library, 801 SW 10,h
Ave. For Information call 503-
823-5532.
Business Crime Prevention
From local crim e prevention
sta ff attendees o f this free
public workshop can learn in
formation about crime preven
tion services available to busi
nesses as well as inform ation
about com m on challenges for
retailers. Issues o f fraud,
shoplifting and trespassing
will be addressed. Training
on W ednesday, Oct. 23 be
gins at 7 a.m. in the Social
Room at the Providence Port
land Medical Center, 4805 N.E.
Glisan.
Oriental Medicine
Open House
Members o f the public can at
tend a celebration for Oriental
Medicine Day and receive in
formation about acupuncture.
Oriental therapeutic massage,
Chinese herbal medicine and
Oriental meditative exercise.
Supervised by licensed practi
tioners, OCOM interns will pro
vide free sample treatments to
the public from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
on Thursday, Oct. 24. The
school is located at 10525 SE
Cherry Blossom Drive.
Lifetime Business
Support Club
During a free workshop for en
trepreneurs, new and current
business owners can learn the
steps to accelerate business
through raising capital, obtain
ing resources, mentorship, team
and new skills building for free
enterprise ventures. W ork
shops start at 7 p.m. at the
Fairfield Inn in Lake Oswego
Dates are Oct. 24 and 3 1, Nov. 7,
14. and 21. Call 503-574-4445 to
register.
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SECTION
Family Serves Up East African
Queen of Sheba
builds empire on
MLK. Boulevard
B y W ynde D yer
T he P ortland O bserver
Tw o thousand years ago, the Q ueen o f
Sheba was the “strongest” queen in East
Africa. Today in northeast Portland, na
tive African brothers Alem and G etachew
G ebrehiw ot do their best to keep her
legacy alive at an Ethiopian restaurant
nam ed in her likeness.
A fter 10 years o f business, it seem s the
brothers are doing pretty good. The O r
egonian rated Q ueen o f Sheba as one o f
the top 100 restaurants in O regon and it
app ears each year in the W illam ette
W eek's list o f Cheap Eats.
" O u r n a m e is g e ttin g p o p u la r ,”
G etachew said. “O ur business is getting
better. W e are very pleased."
The building o f an em pire had to start
som ew here. Q ueen o f Sheba began as a
sm all grocery store at 2413 N.E. M artin
Luther King Jr. Blvd. in 1992. Alem
provided the grow ing Egyptian com m u
nity o f north Portland w ith authentic
ingredients for hom e cooking. He gradu
ated from O regon State U niversity in
1993 with a Bachelor o f Science in Food
Engineering and began to m anufacture a
line o f traditional Ethiopian spices.
G etachew cam e to A m erica to study at
W estern Business C ollege in dow ntow n
Portland, and instead becam e the m an
ager o f Queen o f Sheba. A fter tw o years
in the grocery business, the brothers
began serving food flavored with their
spices. T heir m other T afesech jo ined
them to help cook and produce spices.
T he restaurant started w ith only tw o
tables and a lunch menu. Tw o tables
turned into six in 1995. Today, Q ueen o f
Sheba boasts a full bar and a serving
capacity o f 70.
“O ur custom ers are the reason for our
success,” A lem said. “They are very
loyal. W e love our custom ers and never
have any problem s.”
In fact, they have had anything but
problem s. Back when the restaurant staff
was sm aller, Alem said custom ers would
com e in to help out. N eighborhood regu
lars w ould walk by and see a crow d and
Natural
Gas
Rates
Lowered
Starting this month, residents
in the local area will see a 10
percent decrease in the price for
natural gas.
The Oregon Public Utility
Commission on ordered North
west Natural and other Oregon
natural gas utilities to charge
less because the companies have
enjoyed cheaper wholesale costs
over the past year.
“These lower rates will leave
Oregonians who use natural gas
with a little more money in their
pockets than they had I ast year,”
Commissioner Lee Beyer said.
"A fter the increases we experi
enced the last couple o f years,
customers will be glad to see this
reversal.”
The monthly bill for a typical
residential customer o f North
west Natural will drop by 10.5
percent. A typical custom er's
bill will be reduced to $57.80 from
$64.59. Commercial customers
will see a 14.9 percent rate de
crease.
Preparing Ethiopian crepe-like bread called injera to go with the meals is a long
process involving three days of fermentation.
Queen of Sheba foods are flavored with spices that are packaged and prepared
by the restaurant's owners.
P hotos by W ynde R. D yer /T he P ortland O bserver
help wash dishes. The variety o f beers on
the beverage list w ere chosen by custom
ers, and m ost new business com es by
recom m endation rather than advertising.
W hen Q ueen o f Sheba opened the bar
three m onths ago, they hired a regular
custom er to tend it for them.
The only problem Alem can see in the
future is parking.
“ W e lose business because there is
now here to park for blocks around,” he
said.
Alem hopes the C ity o f Portland will
put in on-street parking like they did for
N ike just up the street. He fears for his
custom ers’ safety because o f the high
speed traffic on M artin Luther King Jr.
Boulevard. Crossw alks are a few blocks
down. The parking concern m ost im
pacts business during lunch hours be
cause custom ers need to eat fast and get
back to w ork. Lunch breaks d o n ’t pro
vide time to park and walk.
Fortunately, a steady stream ofevening
diners m akes up for slow lunches.
Som etim es 20 to 30 custom ers at the
same time. A lem said the dinner rush can
be som ew hat taxing on his small staff.
“ B ut w e are p a tie n t and a lw a y s
friendly," he said.
Queen o f Sheba is happy to be both a
pioneer and a continuing part o f eco
nom ic grow th in north and northeast
Portland. Alem said when they estab
lished the grocery store, they w ere the
only business on the block. The neigh
borhood w as a dead zone. He is optim is
tic about the change in the business
clim ate and the new diversity it wi 11 bring.
“Things are much, m uch better,” he
said. “ Everyone has put in a lot o f effort."
To taste the effort put into the authen
tic Ethiopian cuisine, stop by Queen o f
Sheba M onday through Friday for lunch
from noon to 3 p.m. or for dinner, T ues
day through Saturday, from 5 to 10 p.m.
The restaurant closes early at 9 p.m. on
Sundays and M ondays.
All entrees are healthy. M eat, vegetar
ian and salad dishes are served on injera,
a form o f Ethiopian crepe-like bread.
Injera is made with teff, a form o f Egyp
tian flow er, m ixed with rice and barley
flower. It is high in iron and gluten-free.
The injera m ixture ferm ents for tw o to
three days before it is blended and steamed
into large pancakes. Expect to eat it with
your fingers.
Cash Back for Energy-Saving Measures
SHOW program gives oil heat customers rebates for upgrades
October is Energy Aware
ness Month and oil prices are
up, so for home owners who
have never had an energy au
dit, now is a good time to get
one.
A free audit from the Or
egon Office o f Energy’s State
Home Oil Weatherization Pro
gram, called SHOW, will tell
homeowners which energy
saving measures will save the
most money. Those who regis
ter for an audit will be entered
into a drawing to win $ 100 to be
used towards the purchase o f
home installation, energy effi
cient windows or towards in
stallation o f heating system im
provements.
While special funds last, the
SHOW Program will be giving
away as much as $ 1,200 cash
back to program participants
for taking energy-saving mea
sures. $200 cash back will be
offered for energy-efficient
replacement windows or a high-
1
effeciency replacement oil fur
nace or burner. Up to $600
cash back can be received for
a high-efficiency replacement
oil furnace if an underground oil
tank is replaced with an above
ground one, up to $400 for
blower door-assisted air seal
ing and duet by a certified con
tractor and up to $400 for insu
lation and programmable ther
mostats.
H om eow ners m ay also
qualify for a 6.5-precent inter
est SHOW loan through par
ticipation lenders for any mea
sure recom m ended in the
SHOW audit.
Som e 3 8 ,000 O regon
homeowners and renters have
had a SHOW audit since the
program began in 1982. SHOW
analysts check insulation in the
attic, walls and floors, inspect
the windows and perform a
free furnace efficiency test. For
more information, call 1-800-
452-8660.
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David Hall, an energy auditor for the Oregon Office of Energy 's
State Home Oil Weatherization Program (SHOW), measures
windows on a house on Northeast I T Avenue to find the right
size o f energy-efficient windows needed to weather-proof the
home.
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver