Committed to Cultural Diversity
August 24. 2005
www. port landobserve r.com
M etro
years *
^ ìa rtla n ò © b scru er
community service
o m m u n ity
C a l e n d a r
NAACP Women Meeting
with Mayor Potter
of
The Portland U nit o f W om en in
the N A A C P will host a forum
w ith M ayorT oin Potter on Satur
day, Aug. 27 at the M allory A v
enue Christian Church on 126 NE
A lberta Street. T he forum will be
held from noon to 1:15 p.m. and
an ice cream social fund-raiser
will take place from 1:15 to 3:30
p.m. All com m unity m em bers are
welcome.
by N icole H ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
Brooke Brandsm ith and Ali Stabenow w ere m assage stu
dents at East W est C ollege on Southeast B elm ont Street, but
they never had a class together. A fter graduation, they ended
up w orking at the sam e spa and becam e friends. M onths later,
bored o f the ‘spa scen e’ they decided to take a chance and go
into business for them selves.
O pening a business in O regon is scary because of the dow n
econom y.
“Local business ow ners in addition to my friends and fam ily
have been very supportive. I h av en ’t gotten any negative
C om e celebrate the 140lh annual
event dow n in Salem , Ore. start
ing on Friday, Aug. 26 through
Sept. 5. T he fair w ill open at 11
a.m. Som e new highlights this
year include a perform ance by
Pepe and T he Bottle Blondes.
Eclectic music, fine arts and crafts,
and a public art project will also
be featured. For m ore inform a
tion visit w w w .fun-oregon.com /
fair/index.html.
feedback,” said Stabenow .
Brandsm ith is originally from Utah and once m oving to
Portland she was unable to find a spa that she liked. She w ent
to school to not only learn how to do it herself but to serve as
a resource for others w anting a m assage.
Stabenow is from Illinois and found that there w asn ’t a good
school for m assage in her state. A fter researching, she narrow ed
dow n her choice to m ove o ver 2,000 m iles aw ay to attend East
W est College.
The tw o w om en opened Serenity one m onth ago and b u si
City Offers Guided Bike
Commute Rides
ness is grow ing
It was a little scary for the duo to o p en the m assage studio with
no formal business experience, but they do enjoy the control
over the atm osphere and the look o f their studio. Serenity is
located in a large red building next to a cafe; even w alking up the
many stairs to the studio is relaxing as the sm ell o f incense fill
O n Aug. 30 and Sept. 6, the city
is urging you to sim ply show up
w ith a helm et ready to bike ride
from Mt. T abor M iddle School or
Franklin High School. Riders will
have a chance to ask questions
about the best routes, riding tech
niques and anything related to
com m uting by bike. For m ore in
form ation visit w w w.portlandtra-
nsporation.otgtraias.ci.portland.or.us/
bicycles.
the air.
Serenity is decorated w ith soothing colors and Indian in
spired rugs. D ecorative leaves stretch across the ceiling and soft
Hindu music plays in the background. T he tw o ow ners are
successful at putting clients into a serene and chic atm osphere.
Since m assage isn’t covered in m ost health insurance plans,
there is a stigm a that a m assage isn ’t a necessity but instead a
guilty pleasure.
“ It’s good for people with chronic m uscle pain and pregnant
Breast Cancer Conference
Oxbow Campfire Program
O n F riday, S ept. 2 o r S atu rd ay ,
S ept. 3, com e to O xbow R e
gio n al P ark to co m e out an d be
e n te rta in e d by v ario u s a rtists
at the o u td o o r fo rest a m p h i
th eater. E ven th o u g h the park
c lo se s at du sk th o se w ishing
to stay afte rw a rd s can be let
o u t by the ran g e rs. P ark in the
d e sig n a te d a re a near the boat
ram p. P ro g ram is free w ith a $4
v e h ic le en try . F o r m ore in fo r
m ation call M etro at 503 -7 9 7 -
1850.
and
Graduates in business with ‘Serenity’
Oregon State Fair
Specifically catering to the A fri
can-A m erican fem ales, this con
ference is to educate fellow sis
ters about a disease that fatally
hurts us the most. The Z eta Phi
Beta Sorority, Pi Alpha Zeta Chap
ter is sponsoring this event on
Sept. 3 from 1 l-3p.m at the SEI
C enter on 3920 N Kerby Ave.
This event will include speakers
from the K om en F oundation,
O H SU C ancer Institute and the
A frican-A m erican H ealth C oali
tion.
Peace
Mind Body
Brooke Brandsmith applies hot stones on the back o f her client while using her opposite arm to move a
hot stone around the neck and shoulder area.
continued
on page H6
Garden Complete at Rigler School
Provides space
for learning and
community use
C o m m un ity leaders, elected and a p
pointed officials, and ordinary citizens o f the
Portland com m unity will com e together to
celebrate the five-year m etam orphosis o f an
overflow school parking lot transform ed
into the R igler C om m unity Garden.
T he G arden project began in June 2000
and is the product o f collaboration betw een
children and adults.
Katsumi Sugita
Ja p an e se a rtist w ill be se llin g
an d sho w in g his w ork at the
Ja p an e se G ard en . T h is e x h ib it
sta rts on A ug. 25 and la sts thru
A ug. 28 from 10 to 6p.m . Both
p rin ts and o rig in a ls w ill be
av a ila b le . T he Ja p an e se G a r
d e n is lo c a te d a t 611 SW
K in g sto n A ve. F o r m ore in fo r
mation call 503-223-1321 or visit
w w w .ja p a n e se g a rd e n .c o m .
Four years ago, the site for the
Rigler Communtiy Garden was a
baron space used for overflow
school parking.
Native American
Literature Celebration
A c eleb ratio n w ill be held at the
C o llin s G a lle ry lo c ate d on the
th ird flo o r at the C e n tral L i
b rary , 801 SW 10*h A venue. A
lectu re and rea d in g by D ebra
M ag p ie w ill be on S atu rd ay ,
A ug. 27 from 2 to 3 :30 p.m . T he
ex h ib it g o es until Sept. 29. F or
m o re
in f o rm a tio n
v is it
w w w .m u ltc o lib .o r g /e v e n t/
co llin s.
Loaves & Fishes
Seeks Drivers
T he M eals-O n -W h ee ls P eople
is se ek in g v o lu n te e r d riv e rs to
en su re h o m e b o u n d se n io rs re
ce iv e h ealth y m eals and a bit o f
co m p a n io n sh ip th is L ab o r D ay
W eek en d . F o r m ore in fo rm a
tio n on how you can h elp c o n
tact C aroline H enry at 503-988-
6223 or 988-5566.
The new garden at Rigler
School serves as both a
learning environment for
children and a community
gathering space.
T he site at 5401 N.E. Prescott St. creates
a prem ier learning environm ent for children
and is a new com m unity gathering space for
a “park-deficient” neighborhood.
A rea residents are invited to jo in stu
dents and garden supporters for a d edica
tion and G rand O pening cerem ony on Sept
14 at 1 p.m.
T he R igler garden is regarded as the pre
m ier com m unity garden in the Northwest. Its
centerpiece is an “upside-dow n.” rain-har-
vesting gazebo.
T he g azeb o ro o f is in v erted to co llect
ra in w a te r an d to c a p tu re c h ild r e n ’s
cu rio sity . T he “ h a rv e ste d " w ater is c o l
lected in an u n d erg ro u n d tank and re
trie v ed by a h and p u m p and then used to
w ater p lan ts in the G arden.
The designer o f the artistic front entrance
collaborated with R igler students, w ho pro
vided draw ings o f garden objects as inspira
tion. T he G ard en 's spaces were designed
with outdoor learning in mind, creating nu
m erous outdoor teaching areas.
A dditionally, the G arden is fully handi
cap accessible, future plans call for installa
tion o f state-of-the-art, handicap-accessible,
raised beds to serve the neighborhood's
senior and special-needs populations.
G arden space is divided by three groups
as follow s 35 percent to Rigler, 15 percent for
h an d ica p a c c e ssib ility (targ eted to the
Porthaven N ursing H om e - across the street
from the garden ) and 50 percent to com m u
nity m em bers.
The G arden has had a m ajor im pact on the
com m unity by creating an active com m unity
space in an otherw ise park deficient neigh
borhood. T he C ully N eighborhood in north
east Portland is one o f the poorest and most
underserved in the city. A lthough C ully is
one o f the largest neighborhoods in the city,
there is not one public city park in the neigh
borhood.