Overlook Neighborhood Update (July 27)

1) Ice cream social next Sunday (Aug. 4)

2) Mark your calendar for OKNA summer social (Aug. 20)

3) Movie in the park returns to Overlook Aug. 31

4) Adidas employee store passes

5) Overlook House wins North Portland placemaking grant

6) Save water and keep your lawn green


1) Ice cream social next Sunday (Aug. 4)

Get your scoops on at the annual Overlook Neighborhood Ice Cream Social. This fun, family event takes place at the Historic Overlook House (3839 N Melrose Dr.) on Sunday, Aug. 4, 5-7 p.m. Join your neighbors in the house’s lovely back rose garden for food, beer, music, a raffle with amazing prizes, and delicious ice cream sundaes.

Ice cream will be provided by Lovely, with lactose-free alternatives from Ruby Jewel.

Raffle tickets and food purchases help benefit the Overlook House and your favorite free events throughout the year. Several local businesses have provided prizes, including a bicycle from Revolver Bikes, a remote control plane from Hobbies Unlimited, vouchers from The Old Gold, Radar and Flex & Flow Yoga, and four tickets to the Oregon Zoo.

2) Mark your calendar for OKNA summer social (Aug. 20)

The Overlook Neighborhood Association will hold its annual summer social on Tuesday, Aug. 20. This event replaces our August general meeting. As in recent years, we will gather at Atomic Pizza on Killingsworth Street beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The social is a great opportunity to meet your neighbors and talk about what’s happening in the neighborhood. Members of the OKNA board will be on hand to answer questions.

3) Movie in the park returns to Overlook Aug. 31

The Overlook Neighborhood Association is excited to partner with Portland Parks & Recreation again this year to bring a Movie in the Park to Overlook Park. On Saturday, Aug. 31, we’ll watch Disney’s Moana. The movie will be free and open to the public.

There will be fun, family events prior to the movie, which will begin around dusk, so show up early to secure a good seat and hang out with your neighbors.

We’ll have more details in the update in coming weeks.

4) Adidas employee store passes

In time for back to school shopping, adidas has invited Overlook residents to shop at the company’s employee store in the Montgomery Park building. Overlook residents will receive employee discount pricing (up to 50 percent off) on shoes, clothing and more.

Overlook neighborhood residents may bring up to four additional guests with them. To redeem the offer, present a government-issued ID that shows you live in Overlook (zip code 97217 or 97227).

Click on the image for more information.

5) Overlook House wins North Portland placemaking grant

Portland International Raceway funds placemaking grants for North Portland, in part as a thank you for everyone’s tolerating noise from the track. Friends of Overlook House, which runs the neighborhood landmark, will receive a $2,500 grant to improve outreach and digital presence.

The Overlook Neighborhood Association’s grant committee participated in the selection process, which was overseen by North Portland Neighborhood Services and Portland Parks & Recreation. The complete list of this year’s winners is available online.

“This grant program is a great way to support the North Portland community. Parks has been proud to help local organizations with this program for over 30 years,” said Portland Parks Commissioner Nick Fish. “Thanks to North Portland Neighborhood Services and Portland International Raceway for their ongoing partnership.”

Kevin Savoree, co-owner and president of Green Savoree Racing Promotions, says he is pleased the IndyCar race at PIR helps fund the grants.

“Supporting and positively impacting the communities where we hold races is always a core component,” said Savoree. “It is terrific that the Grand Prix of Portland is providing wide scale economic benefit to the greater Portland metro region. But, equally important to Green Savoree Racing Promotions is assisting the neighbors of closest proximity to PIR.  Through the North Portland Trust Fund Grant Awards, an array of local community programs are benefiting from this great race weekend.”

City Council established the North Portland Trust Fund to help the City spread the economic benefits from events held at Portland International Raceway and to help PIR be a good neighbor.

Since its inception, the fund has paid out approximately $297,000 in grants of no more than $5,000 each.

6) Save water and keep your lawn green

If you have an automatic irrigation system, you could be using more water than you need to. That’s not just wasteful, it’s expensive.

The Portland Water Bureau encourages people with sprinkler systems to consider an upgrade. Most traditional spray heads don’t work efficiently at higher pressures, which can lead to water-wasting evaporation that appears as a fine mist.

Multi-stream rotating nozzles are a water-saving solution to keep your plants green and happy. They operate at a range of pressures, so they don’t cause the evaporating mist. The nozzles provide more uniform coverage than fixed spray heads by shooting out rotating streams of water, preventing gaps and dry spots.

Why switch to multi-stream rotating nozzles?

  • Easy installation. Most conventional fixed spray heads can be easily swapped out for multi-stream rotating nozzles.
  • Easy on the wallet. At about $6 a nozzle, multi-stream rotating nozzles are a relatively inexpensive way to improve your watering system.
  • Free money. If you purchase multi-stream rotating nozzles, you may qualify for a rebate of $3 per nozzle from the Portland Water Bureau. Check the list for qualifying hardware, then send in a completed rebate application with the receipts or invoices attached.