July 27. 2005
www.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Lowery Takes
Reigns at Pacific
M etro
Portland native comes
home to coach basketball
iri!' ^.torttanh (Observer
years«
* community service
See story in Sports, page B6
SECTION
C
B
o ni ni u n i t y
it I e n d a r
Johnson Family Reunion
The Johnson Family Reunion
Picnic will be held on Saturday,
July 30 from noon to 5 p.m. at
Robin’s Island at Bonneville Dam,
approximately 40 minutes from
Portland. For more information,
call 503-753-7107.
Summer School Jam
Vernon Elementary School in
northeast Portland hosts the 5,h
annual Back to School Summer
Jam with games, prizes, a basket
ball tournament and free school
supplies on Saturday, Aug. 6 from
noon to 5 p.m. Lunch will be
served from noon to 2 p.m. The
sponsors are Providence Health
Systems and the International
Fellowship Family.
National Night Out
“N ational Night O ut,” a com
munity celebration focusing on
crim e prevention, will include
festivities on Tuesday, Aug. 2
at Peninsula Park, 705 N. Port
land Blvd. from 5:30to8:30p.m .
The local event will include live
music, food, free sw im m ing, a
basketball tournam ent, a ten
nis m ixer and giveaw ays for
bikes. The African Am erican
Health Coalition will be on hand
with health tips.
Light a Lantern
A variety o f materials at the Port
land C hildren’s Museum this
month will inspire children tocre-
ate a beautiful hanging electric
lantern to decorate your home.
The event goes until July 30 and
is intended for children over five
years old. W orkshop cost is $25.
To register, visit www.Portland
ChildrensM useum.org.
Family Camperoo
Youcan bring the whole family to
set up cam p for a night’s stay
on zoo grounds on Saturday,
July 30. Special events and ac
tivities like gam es and the pri
vate showing o f the Discover
Birds exhibit are planned. For
registration inform ation, call
5 0 3 -2 2 0 -2 7 8 1
or
v is it
w w w .oregonzoo.org
Sisters in Action Ashley Jones (from left), Cassie Holloway, Courtney Jones, Camille Kent, Elisha Williams, Terenie Faison and Patti Hayes.
P o w e r fu l A d v o c a te s
Sisters in Action celebrate 10 years
N ana O pokv
T he P ortland O bserver
Sisters in Action for Power, agroup
of young African-American girls
fighting for the rights of all youth in
the Portland community, is celebrat
ing 10 years of excellence.
These powerful young women
stand up for what they believe in and
most importantly, what is right.
For example, when they saw that
by
many students from Portland Public
Schools were missing classes due to
lack of transportation and finances,
they took action to lesson the bur
den of transportation costs.
Because of their perseverance and
strength, they were able to reduce
the Tri Met youth bus passes from
$32 to $16.
“This was a big victory for us. It
benefited 200,(XX) students," said 15
Oxbow Campfire Program
The A merican Red Cross offers
a range o f classes for learning
how to baby sit children to per
form ing CPR. The techniques
learned in the courses may prove
necessary for crisis situations.
Courses are intended for chil
dren aged 8 through adult. For
m o re
in fo rm a tio n
v is it
w w w .redcross-pdx.org
Summer Play Days
All sum m er long com e jo in
other fam ilies in Irving Park
every W ednesday at 10 a.m. to
gather w ith W aldorf School
oriented and inspired fam ilies
w ho wish to play, snack and
get wet in the new w ater play
area. For more inform ation,
c o n ta c t
w w w .s h in in g
starsch o o l.co m .
continued
on page 86
In an effort to bridge the gap and the Summer Youth Employ
between local youth and City Hall, ment Program, giving their impres
69 summer employees from the sions of the program and working
Immigrant and Refugee Commu for the city. The city’s Director of
nity Organization gathered re Human Resources presented in
cently with Portland’s elected formation about the city-funded
officials.
program.
Three minority youth, Chris
The project coordinates re
tina Li, Anael Jeannis and Suada cruitment, screening and selec
Ibrahim, presented their state tion o f minority youth to partici
ments about working for the city pate in the City o f Portland’s Sum
mer Youth Employment Program.
It provides work skills training
Summer youth city
while coordinating that experience
employees Christina Li,
with city-wide job placement.
Anael Jeannis and Suada
For more information regard
Ibrahim present state
ing the Summer Youth Employ
ments at a recent Port
ment program, call Lyn Tan at 503-
land City Council meeting.
234-1541.
Wine Tasting
Learn Safety
new campaign called Support our
Schools and Students. The mission
is to help neighborhood public
schools get the community support
they need to get the best results.
The sisters are fighting hard to
prevent the selling o f public school
land to private institutions; they want
the land to be sold to other public
Youth Workers
Meet City Council
On Saturday, July 30 com e to
Oxbow Regional Park to learn
how plants have been used for
thousands o f years for food and
medicine with naturalist Natalie
Norman and M iriam Burk from
Portland Parks and Recreation.
The event starts at 8:30a.m . and
lasts until 9:30 p.m. For more
inform ation, call M etro at 503-
797-1850.
A day o f entertainm ent, wine
tasting and silent auction will
benefit P o rtla n d ’s H om eless
and Transitional Youth. P:ear
works year round to serve more
than 350 youth through educa
tion, art and recreation. The
ev en t w ill be held at V ino
Paradiso, which is located at
417 N.W. 10lh Ave. For more
inform ation contact A ndreea
Tofan at 503-330-2467 or visit
w w w .pearm entor.org.
year-old Cassie Holloway.
The sisters are also great encour-
agers, pushing local schools and
students to keep-up the good work
despite the negative feedback from
the community. Their “We Believe,
You do Achieve” said it all for
Jefferson High School students who
were struggling with community
support.
The group is now working on a
Columbia Slough
Regatta to Launch
“RediscovertheColumbia Slough"
by joining the Columbia Slough W a
tershed Council and its regatta part
ners at the 11th annual Small Craft
Regatta in north and northeast Port
land on Sunday, July 31, from 9a.m. to
1 p.m.
The Regatta is the largest commu
nity paddling event in Oregon. Last
year more than 50()community mem
bers launched more than 170 boats to
celebrate the efforts of concerned
citizens, agencies and organizations
who have worked hard to make the
slough a cleaner and more vibrant
habitat and recreational resource.
The 2005 Regatta includes live
music by Hora Tzigane at the launch
site, a live radio remote by 105.9, kayak
clinics by Alder Creek Kayak and
Canoe, and tours of the Multnomah
County Drainage District Facilities.
Participants receive a complimen
tary Regatta t-shirt, refreshments and
a paddler’s access guide to the Co
lumbia Slough. Participants should
plan to bri ng their own canoe or kayak
and personal flotation device. A do
nation of $5 per boat is requested.
The start and finish location will be
the Multnomah County Drainage
District # 1 Office at 1880 N.E. Elrod
Drive.
To reserve a complimentary ca
noe or kayak, contact Debbie Caselton Local paddlers make their way through the Columbia Slough. More than 500 people showed
at 503-823-2831.
up to last year's Small Craft Regatta. The annual event takes place this Sunday.