This is the weekly email sent to all the subscribers to the Overlook email list. You too could have this delivered to your inbox weekly; just add your email address in the Yahoo! box over there in the right hand margin.
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Here’s your weekly does of Overlook news. Please remember to join us for the monthly general meeting this (third) Tuesday of the month, January 17 at 7:00 pm.
1) OKNA Meeting This Week (1/17)
2) Public Safety Alert – Stay Tuned with Facebook
3) Tree Planting Event Volunteers Needed (1/28)
4) The Storyteller at the historic Overlook House Community Center (Mondays)
5) It’s Fix It Fair Time – Learn How To @ Home
6) Trillium Charter School Auction Approaches (2/11)
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1) OKNA Meeting This Week (1/17)
This Tuesday is the OKNA general membership meeting. A representative from Portland Public Schools will attend and give us a short update on what’s new with them, then open the floor for your questions.
PPS will be talking about dealing with growing enrollment, aging school buildings needing repairs and delivering strong results for students in every neighborhood. We’d love to see lots of folks from Beach School at the meeting so Beach parents, please represent!
The agenda is not yet final, but it looks like we have a few interesting items to discuss. See you there!
OKNA General Meeting
7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Kaiser Town Hall
3704 N Interstate Ave
(at N Overlook Blvd)
Everyone is Welcome!
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2) Public Safety Alert – Stay Tuned with Facebook
On the OKNA Facebook page (facebook.com/OKNAinPDX) this week, several public safety alerts from your neighbors. In the past week, there were several reports of strangers entering back yards, garages & sheds with thefts of everything from returnable cans to a bike.
Please take this gentle reminder to
1) Keep your valuables inside your (locked) home or outbuilding
2) Keep your backyard gates locked if possible; use safety lighting
3) Keep your eyes & ears open for people who don’t belong in your yard or your neighbors’
4) Call 911 for a crime in progress, 503.823.3333 to report an unwanted person or anything suspicious and file a police report if you are the victim of a crime!
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3) Tree Planting Event Volunteers Needed (1/28)
Come out on Saturday January 28th for Overlook and Arbor Lodge neighborhoods’ 13th annual tree planting event. Last year over one hundred people came and we planted over 120 trees. We want you to join us this year! Bring your kids or anyone else you want too. We will meet at Kaiser Permanente Town Hall (3704 N Interstate Ave – at N Overlook Blvd) at 8:30 am for hot drinks and some breakfast items. Then we will go out in small groups and plant trees.
Volunteer roles that we seek are
– Pickup truck owners/drivers (I will help you remove and re-install your topper before and after the event, or we can just do it at the event).
– Cooks to bring some lunch dishes from home.
– Tree planters who will go out in groups with experienced tree planters to install the trees.
– Greeters to welcome people in the morning as they arrive
– General operations assistance.
This year we are in special need of neighbors who own pick up trucks. Pick up truck owners bring their trucks to the event, and have them loaded with trees (you can help with the loading if you want, but its not necessary). Then the truck owners drive the trees and a volunteer planting team to locations around the neighborhood where the trees will be planted. Your assistance is critical and greatly appreciated.
Usually people come alone or in pairs, so you will be getting to know some neighbors while out planting trees. If you want to contribute but can’t plant trees, please consider contributing some breakfast item or a dish for the big lunch we will have after all the trees are planted. Every year we also need people to help organize the meeting places, and to drive other volunteers and trees in your pickup truck. This year we might have close to 200 trees to plant, and will really need volunteers and pickup trucks.
Last year was a huge success and we’re going to make it even better this year. Call Garrett with any questions about how the day will go down, or if you’d like to give a heads up that you are coming with some food or your truck. 503 422 5070. Thanks!
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4) The Storyteller at the historic Overlook House Community Center (Mondays)
The Storyteller will be at the historic Overlook House Community Center at 3839 N. Melrose Drive, every Monday afternoon from 3:30 to 4:30 PM for a free hour of children’s stories, songs and games around a make believe campfire in an imaginary northwest forest.
Jerry Cowan (The Storyteller) is a long time Overlook resident and has a current approval by the State of Oregon Child Care Division background registry to work with children. The stories involve imaginary forest animals based on Native American legends and myths. Some stories are “story-songs” that are crafted to be more compatible with younger children. The Storyteller’s intent is to host a story hour where families can meet get to know each other and share some quality time with their children. There will be a full sized electronic keyboard and an extra full sized acoustic guitar available (with some music books for each) for any adults or older children who want to practice or share their talent and entertain the group. As always, guest storytellers and entertainers are welcome to perform anytime.
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5) It’s Fix It Fair Time – Learn How To @ Home
Fix-It Fair
Saturday, January 21st, 2012
8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.Rosa Parks Elementary School
8960 N Woolsey Ave
What you’ll find at a Fix-It Fair
Ongoing exhibits and hourly workshops on such topics as:
Water and energy savings
Safe and healthy home
Food and nutrition
Neighborhood and community resources
Recycling
Weatherizing your home
Gardening and growing your own food
Yard care and composting
Transportation
Plus
Free lead blood testing
Free giveaways
Hourly door prizes
Free professional childcare
Free lunch
Free minor bike tune-ups and flat tire repair for students and families
For more information or to receive email notification for future Fairs: 503-823-4309, fixitfair@portlandoregon.gov.
Website: www.portlandonline.com/bps/fif
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6) Trillium Charter School Auction Approaches (2/11)
Trillium Charter School’s annual auction is happening on February 11th, 2012. This year’s auction will be a formal event hosted downtown, near PSU and the Crystal Ballroom, at the Eliot Center, 1011 SW 13th Avenue, the weekend preceding Valentine’s Day, and it’s all about feeling the love:
“For The Love of Trillium" is about advisors who creatively nurture learning through dynamic and emergent processes at all levels of education, meeting challenges, and remaining adaptable.
"For the Love of Trillium" is about the administrative staff who work tirelessly to cultivate a platform from which Trillium can meet or exceed the needs, expectations, and goals of our uniquely diverse community, internally, as well as in our relationships to the neighborhood, the city, the school district, and the state.
"For The Love of Trillium" is about parents contributing money, time, and skill, often teaming up with faculty-members to coordinate an array of services and happenings, in addition to staying involved with their children’s learning. It’s about students sharing their stories of learning and growth, through art, experimentation, music, journaling, and more, in an unrestricted setting which encourages critical-thinking, self-inventory and accountability.
Please save the date and support one of the neighborhood schools.
Get tickets, pledge and donate here:
http://trilliumcharterschool.tofinoauctions.com/auction2012/homepages/show