Page 4 The Skanner Portland November 29, 2017
News
Events & Announcements
Community
Calendar 2017
brought to you by
Portland Metro
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30
CHINOOK WINDS JOB FAIR: Ever thought of relocating to beach?
Now is your chance! Chinook Winds Casino resort is looking to
add to their team. They have a number of job openings in all
areas of the casino and the hotel. 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Convention
Center at Chinook Winds, 1777 NW 44th St., Lincoln City.
A PLACE TO CALL HOME: Facilitator Cristina Palacios will lead a
conversation that will ask you to share your own experiences
with housing and explore the ways that we value – and discount
– home as a basic human right. 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., Northeast
Coalition of Neighborhoods, 4815 NE 7th Ave.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2
PUBLIC RECEPTION – ALL ARE WELCOME: Come to the public re-
ception for First Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Pastor Micah
McNeal & First Lady Elizabeth McNeal. 2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m., New
Song Community Center, 220 NE Russell St.
RESEARCHING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY AT THE LIBRARY: Kenton
Library will host local author and genealogist Stephen Hanks,
who specialize in African American genealogy. Please join him
for a presentation. 3 p.m., Kenton Library, 8226 N. Denver Ave.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3
CHRISTMAS IN THE VILLAGE BLOCK PARTY: Meet Blitzen and Com-
et and enjoy a live reindeer petting zoo. Santa arrives at 3 p.m.
for a meet & greet. So bring your cameras. There will also be live
music, hot drinks and cookies. 1 p.m. – 4 p.m., Uptown Village,
Main St., downtown, Vancouver.
US SENATOR RON WYDEN’S MULTNOMAH COUNTY TOWN HALL:
Please join Senator Ron Wyden for his upcoming Multnomah
County Town Hall. 1 p.m., Cleveland High School Auditorium,
3400 SE 26th St.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6
DEMENITA CONVERSATIONS: This workshop will offer tips on
how to have honest and caring conversations with family mem-
bers about going to the Doctor, deciding when to stop driving
and making legal and financial plans. 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. To regis-
ter, call 800-272-3900. East Multnomah County Building – Room
100, 600 NE 8th St., Gresham.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8
Holiday Social Fundraising Reception: RSVP by Dec. 8. Reception
Date is Dec. 13: Please join us for the Holiday Social “Stabilizing Our
See Community Calendar on page 5
PHOTO COURTESY OF OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Visit us at a store near you
OHS Holds 50th Annual Holiday Cheer Book Sale
The Oregon Historical Society will host the 50th annual Holiday Cheer celebration, a festive book sale and literary celebration Dec.
3. Participants will have the chance to chat with 85 local authors and make a dent in holiday shopping by picking up the perfect
personalized gift. All featured authors have published a book in 2017, though many will also have past titles available. Holiday Cheer
begins at noon at the Oregon Historical Society (1200 SW Park Avenue, Downtown Portland) and authors will be signing until 4 p.m.
Admission is free to both the book sale and to the museum. A full list of featured authors can be found at www.ohs.org/holidaycheer.
Portland News Briefs
PSU receives $168,000 Grant to
Double Number of Schools Served
by MESA Programs in Oregon
A grant to Portland State from Meyer Memorial
Trust will allow Oregon MESA to double the number
of schools offering its science, technology, engineer-
ing and math programs (STEM) to low-income and
minority students in the Portland and Salem metro
areas.
Oregon MESA, housed in Portland State Universi-
ty’s Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer
Science, is a pre-college academic program that pro-
vides underrepresented students with science, tech-
nology, engineering and math (STEM), invention and
21st-century skills.
The grant PSU received is part of Meyer Memorial
Trust’s Equitable Education Portfolio. It will build
Oregon MESA’s organizational capacity and deepen
partnerships to support MESA’s work in advancing
opportunities and academic achievement in STEM
for low-income and minority students in Clackamas,
Marion, Multnomah and Washington counties.
After a year of planning and listening to the needs
and voices of communities across Oregon, Meyer Me-
morial Trust launched its Equitable Education port-
folio in early 2017. According to Meyer, the vision of
the portfolio is for “all students to have an opportuni-
ty to access meaningful
public education.”
The multiyear invest-
ment in Oregon MESA
aligns with the portfolio’s
goals to improve student
achievement and college
and career readiness.
Meyer’s support will al-
low MESA to grow and
assess impact through
partnering with regional
centers, increasing lead-
ership and fundraising
capacity, and initiating a
longitudinal evaluation
of the academic impact
of MESA on student aca-
demic performance.
MESA regional centers
include Centro Cultural
de Washington Coun-
ty, Oregon Institute of
Technology and Port-
land Community Col-
lege-Southeast Campus.
The longitudinal evalu-
ation will be co-funded
by The Lemelson Foun-
dation.
Oregon MESA currently serves over 500 middle
and high school students in 25 schools in 10 school dis-
tricts across the Portland metro and Salem regions.
Kenton Library Hosts African
American Genealogy Event Dec. 2
Uncovering your family’s history can be as exciting
as reading a good mystery novel—scattered clues, un-
identified photographs, hidden secrets and surpris-
ing heroes. While esteemed Harvard scholar Henry
Louis Gates, Jr. makes it look easy on his PBS show,
Finding Your Roots, in reality, the process can be la-
bor intensive and challenging. However, using your
library card, you can access several resources that
can help get you started:
• Ancestry.com is available for use in libraries only.
It provides access to more than 7 billion names in
more than 4,000 genealogical databases including
census records.
• Birth and death index shows death notices and obit-
uaries from newspapers around the United States.
• Find obituaries and death notices by using Ameri-
ca’s Obituaries and Death Notices
• The online Historical Oregonian (1861-1987).
On Dec. 2 at 3 p.m., Kenton Library will host local
author and genealogist Stephen Hanks, who special-
izes in African American genealogy, for a presenta-
tion that will help participants learn:
• What library resources to use for research
• The importance of the 1870 Federal Census
• How to search census records and other historical
documents
• What role state newspapers can play in your search
• How to find pre-Civil War estate records
Even if you are just starting to gather important
birth dates and facts about your family, this event will
be a great way to learn more and decipher what you
are finding in the research.
For more information about genealogy research,
visit multcolib.org/genealogy.
— Kirby McCurtis
North Portland and Hollywood
Libraries Announce Upcoming
Computer Classes
The North Portland and Hollywood branches of the
Multnomah County Library have announced the fol-
lowing classes in December and January. Sign up in
the library, online at multcolib.org or by calling (503)
988-5123.
It is important to see the online description (by
visiting https://multcolib.org/events) for individual
class requirements! Classes will be cancelled if not
enough people are registered, so please register in
See Briefs on page 5