Committed to Cultural Diversity
D ecem b er 8. 2 0 0 4
M etro
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Voices of the City
Local authors share their latest
works at this Write Around Port
land event from 6:30to8:30p.ni.
Thursday, Dec. 9 at First Con
gregational Church, 1126 S.W.
Park Ave. For ore information,
call 503-796-9224.
Kwanzaa at Kaiser
The A frican A m erican schol
a r s h ip p ro g ra m at K a is e r
Perm anente for high school se
niors will benefit from the 8,h
annual K aiser K w anzaa C e l
ebration, Friday, Dec. 10 from
6 p.m . to 8 p.m. at the K aiser
Tow n Hall, 3704 N. Interstate
Ave. Featured entertainm ent
in c lu d e s th e A ndy S to k es
Band, Kids o f K w anzaa, story
teller A skari, and gospel choir
Genesis. Healthy soul food will
be served. T ickets are av ail
able by calling 503-813-4500.
The all-new Interstate
Fred Meyer store opens
to extremely heavy
crowds and busy cash
registers as area
residents flock to get
re-aquainted with a
northeast Portland
institution.
Crowds
Jam New
Fred Meyer
P hotos by T roy K yles
for THE
P ortland O bserver
Yuletide Celebration
P o rtlan d ’s new est holiday tra
dition is attending the O regon
S y m phony’s B roadw ay-style
Y uletide C elebration at the
A rlene S chnitzerC oncert Hall
with tap-dancing Santas from
Dec. 17 through 21. T ickets
range from $29 to $72. For tick
ets, call 503-228-1353 or 800-
228-7343.
Revel in the Holidays
Portland Revels present the 2004
Christmas Stage Show through
Dec. 12 with matinee and evening
shows available. Tickets range
from $20 to $25 with discounts
for seniors and students. For
tickets, call 503-274-4654 or visit
www.portlandrevels.org.
Bazaar for Pets
Find unique, crafty gifts at the
Oregon Humane Society’s Holi
day Craft Bazaar from 11 a.m. to
6 p.m. on Dec. 11 and noon to 6
p.m. on Dec. 12 at l()67N .E.Co
lumbia Blvd. For more informa
tion, call 503-285-7722 or visit
www.oregonhumane.org.
Get Schooled
Learn how to help to improve
schools and jobs at a forum with
State Superintendent of Public
Instruction Susan Castillo and
President o f Oregon’s AFL-CIO
Tim Nesbitt at 7 p.m. Jan. 13 at
the Hollywood Senior Center,
1820 N.E. 4O‘\ Free and spon
sored by the Multnomah County
Democratic Party.
Get Fit, Stay Healthy!
Sankofaa Health Institute offers
a free diabetes support group
from 6 to 7:30 p.m. every third
Thursday at Alberta Simmons
Plaza, 6707 N.E. Martin Luther
King Jr. Blvd. For more informa
tion, call 503-285-2484.
Creative Space For Dance
Aurora Dance Studio, 5433 N.E
30th (at Ki llings worth ), offers an
array o f classes for children
teens and adults at all levels of
ability. Call 5O3-249-O2OI or visit
online at w w w .hevanet.com /
auroradance for additional in
formation.
Work For Change
Com m unity Advocates invite
those interested in protecting
children from abuse to become
an event volunteer, event out
re a c h , te c h n o lo g y e x p e rt,
graphic artists or office support
team member. For more informa
tion. call5O3-28O-l388.
Birth Ready
W hether you need childbirth
preparation classes, or just a
refresher. Providence Health
Systems has a workshop for you.
Prepare for pain, take a weekend
seminar or prepare big sisters
and brothers-to-be throughout
the su m m e r by v isitin g
w w w.providence.org/classesor
call 503-574-6595.
Community gets
reacquainted with
local institution
An impressive new Fred M eyer store has
opened to huge crowds at North Interstate
and Lombard.
The Interstate Fred M eyer store is re
claiming its place as a dominating force in
local retail with a two-story, 150,000 square
foot replacement store at the same location
it has served area neighborhoods for de
cades.
The Interstate store opened Dec. 1 with
lines of new isles choked with customers
and parking lots jam m ed with cars.
Fred M eyer is a local institution in
Portland’s inner city neighborhoods. The
grocery, apparel, home electronics and jew
elry chain outlet was started by the late Fred
Meyer who dominated the grocery busi
ness in Portland with his one-stop shopping
centers.
The grand opening celebration opened
Prison Book
Project Begins
with a salute to the community and support
for local non-profits.
“Because customers come first at Fred
Meyer, the company tradition for opening
day is to have acake-cutting ceremony rather
than a ribbon cutting,” said Scott Miller,
Interstate store director.
By vacating North M ontana A venue
on the east edge o f the Interstate site and
building a tw o-level replacem ent store,
Fred M eyer was able to add nearly 30.000
square feet to its form er store, increasing
it from 121,000 square feet in two b u ild
ings to 150,000 square feet in one build-
Because customers come first at Fred
Meyer, the company tradition for opening
day is to have a cake-cutting ceremony
rather than a ribbon cutting,
— Scott Miller, Interstate Fred Meyer store director
The company demonstrated support for
local residents by donating $5,0(XJ to the
U rban L eag u e o f P o rtlan d N o rth east
Multicultural SeniorCenter, EmmanuelCom-
munity Services, North Portland Nurse Prac-
titionerClinic. Educate- Ya, Albina Head Start
and the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center.
mg.
The new store is sim ilar to the two-level
W ood V illage Fred M eyer store near
Gresham.
G roceries, health and beauty care, home
electronics, seasonal, hom e décor, furni
ture, bed and bath, appliances, toys, sport-
ing goods, autom otive, hom e im p ro v e
ment, garden, and a pharm acy with a drive-
up window are located on the first floor.
Apparel, shoes, and books and m aga
zines surrounding a Starbucks coffee bar are
on a second-floor mezzanine. A separate
9,000-square-foot commercial building faces
Lombard.
The cost o f the project, including dem o
lition, construction, fixtures, and equipment,
was approximately $ 19 million.
Eighty em ployees returned to Interstate
Fred Meyer, after working at other locations
during the 11 months o f dem olition and
construction. In total the store will have
more that 200employees, many are new hires
that live in the neighborhood.
Fred Meyer Stores is headquartered in
Portland. Oregon and operates 130 m ulti
department stores in Oregon, Washington,
Alaska, and Idaho that offer one-stop shop
ping for a wide range o f food, apparel, and
general merchandise. Fred M eyer is a divi
sion o f The Kroger Co., which is one o f the
largest grocery retail chains in the United
States.
Afrocentric Books Find New Home
S
B ooks to O rego n P ris o n e rs” is
a new co m m u n ity ed u c a tio n in itia
tiv e that b eg in s w ith a S atu rd ay
D ec. 4 g ran d o p en in g o f the A fro
c e n tric R e fle c tio n s M irro r-Im ag e
B o o k sto re at 330 N. K illin g sw o rth
St.
T he p ro jec t en c o u rag es area re s i
d en ts to o rd e r books for fam ily and
frie n d s in c a rc e ra te d in the O reg o n
priso n system .
U ntil now , the on ly w ay to send
b o o k s to p eo p le in c a rc e ra te d in
sta te p riso n s w as by o rd e rin g them
th r o u g h
A m a z o n .c o m
or
" . ; ^ ^ £ . 7 ***<"»♦
P o w e lls.c o m . F or m any w o rk in g -
cla ss p eo p le, th is o p tio n w as o u t o f
the p ictu re.
“B o o k s to O re g o n P ris o n e r s ”
has s o lic ite d d o n a tio n s o f new
books from p u b lish ers and d is trib u
tors and fo r a $5 su g g e ste d d o n a
tion, an y o n e can se le c t tw o boo k s
from a sp e cia l R e fle c tio n s M irro r-
Im age B o o k sto re c a ta lo g an d have
them sent to an in c a rc e ra te d frie n d
P hoto by M ark W ashington / T he P ortland O bserver
o r fam ily m em ber.
U.B. Hill opens his Reflections Mirror-Image bookstore at 330 N.Killingsworth.
BOOKSTORE
Reflections Mirror-Image
moves near library
by J aymee R. C ir r i
T he P ortland O bserver
O.B. Hill is ready to settle down.
A Iter a year of packing and relocating— twice__
Reflections M irror-Image Bookstore moved to a
permanent location at 330 N. Killingsworth, just
one block east o f the North Portland Library.
The Afrocentric bookstore and com m unity cen
ter will continue to be a magnet for cultural events
such as speakers, arts exhibits, book clubs and a
new Books to Oregon Prisoners program.
"There’s nothing like being literate and informed
and that’s what books do," said Hill. "They open
up a vista o f possibilities for people."
H ill’s store is no longer affiliated with Reflec
tions Coffeehouse and Talking Drum Bookstore.
That »tore, on Killingsworth at M artin Luther King
Jr. Boulevard in the Walnut Park retail center, is
ow ned and operated by Gloria McMurtry.
Hill most recently moved his bookstore from a
house, also on Killingworth, at G arfield, which he
says he viewed as a temporary space after the
continued
yf
on page R6