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THE BEE
COMMUNITY CLASSIFIEDS
THE BEE's "want ads" are called "Community Classifieds".
An important innovation is that classified ads placed in THE BEE may also be available at the special Community Classifieds website, at the HotLink below!
In addition, Community Classifieds now offer the additional service of in-column photographs of vehicles and homes for sale. The photos can not only appear in THE BEE, but on the website as well.
Community Classifieds appear each month in THE BEE, and can also reach up to a half million additional readers by being published in any combination of the 24 other newspapers in the "Community Newspapers" group of Carpenter Media, including the weekly Clackamas Review, Oregon City News, Lake Oswego Review, and West Linn Tidings; the monthly Sherwood Gazette, and Southwest Community Connection; the weekly Gresham Outlook and Portland Tribune; and the other newspapers in the group.
To get information or place your classified ad by phone, here's the number to call: 503/620-7355!
Now, click on the logo directly below, and read the Carpenter Media online "Community Classifieds"!
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INNER SOUTHEAST PORTLAND'S
BUSINESS NEWS!
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| At Woodstock’s “Sign Language Café”, two baristas – Rae Davis, left, and Max Pool in back, stand with Café Manager and Operator Dre Gray. The speech-to text screen, at right, registers customers’ speech, to assist the Deaf and hard-of-hearing. (Photo by Elizabeth Ussher Groff) |
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Unique Woodstock coffee shop adds breakfast and lunch
By ELIZABETH USSHER GROFF
For THE BEE
For years it was known as “First Cup Coffee”, in the small strip mall at the corner of S.E. 41st Avenue and Woodstock Boulevard. In 2021 the business was bought by Katherine Harris who remodeled the space and renamed the shop the Woodstock Café.
Then last winter Harris sold the shop to the local nonprofit organization “CymaSpace”. The name Woodstock Café has been retained – but since re-opening last spring the shop now is also known as the “Sign Language Café”, because it accommodates Deaf and hard-of-hearing customers. The café is itself now nonprofit, but certainly open for business to all.
Deaf and hard-of-hearing customers are specially accommodated – there are baristas who sign. For hearing customers, there is a speech-to-text screen on the counter that changes speech into written words for baristas to use if needed. So the café’s unique trait is that all customers who are without such needs are always equally and warmly welcomed!
In addition to a variety of Stumptown coffee choices, teas and cold drinks are also available, and now the café is forging ahead with a breakfast and lunch menu, and weekly events. There are tables both inside and outside on the deck to allow for sitting solo or socializing while drinking and eating; and four picnic tables, two of them with umbrellas, have been added in front.
The new breakfast and lunch menus include such taste treats as Panini with Bacon Cheddar, Maple Chicken, or Savory Mushroom on focaccia bread. Lunch choices are Roasted Chicken or Bacon Spinach Tomato on focaccia. Also available are Sweet Potato Brussels, or Sausage Kale Frittata.
Café owner Myles de Bastion is Board President and Founder of the nonprofit “CymaSpace”, which promotes arts and technology for Deaf and hard-of- hearing people. He told THE BEE: “We’re slowly getting together a website – http://www.woodstock.cafe – and there are events posted on it.
“For example, ASL [American Sign Language] Game Night is on the last Thursday of each month, and I host an ‘ASL for Beginners’ class on the last Saturday of each month. All events are free, and any level of Sign Language is welcome.”
And, de Bastion added, “We are still fundraising for needed electrical upgrades, and a remodel with more accessibility and comfort features for our community. We are also exploring opportunities to expand into the Woodstock Square building – in order to establish a Disability Culture Center, which will offer a wider range of services for our community – job training, accessibility coordination, and more.”
CymaSpace is dependent on donations and volunteering to offer services to the community. The CymaSpace mission was recently updated: “CymaSpace creates cultural equity for our communities by advocating for accessible and inclusive Art, STEM, Education, and Workforce Development.” You can donate to it online, if you like – https://bit.ly/aslcafe
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| In a new twist to the ceremony of ribbon-cutting, All Saints held several of them, to involve as many of those who helped in opening the new Woodstock Pantry as possible. In this one, from left, were: All Saints’ Rev. Andria Skornik, Chris Gustafson, Bishop Diana Akiyama, Leslie Rangel, Nich Ealy Elder, and Lindsay Strannigan. (Courtesy of Paul Schutz) |
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‘Woodstock Pantry’ opens amid celebration
By ELIZABETH USSHER GROFF
For THE BEE
They say that when community gets involved in a big project, miraculous things can happen. The Grand Opening and ribbon-cutting for the new, upgraded Woodstock Pantry – situated behind All Saints Episcopal Church on S.E. 41st Avenue, on the church’s property – was just such a project.
The grand opening ceremony took place under clear skies on Wednesday, September 11th, at 10 a.m. Eighty people sat in chairs on the west side of the pantry, facing the large colorful mural designed and painted by Portland artist Pablo Garcia.
All Saints Episcopal’s Rev. Andria Skornik described the long period of pantry-planning, which included some insecurity regarding permits and funding. Then Western Oregon Episcopal Bishop Diana Akiyama followed in the celebration with an inspiring message and a reminder that miracles can help fix a broken world.
The church started the pantry food distribution service in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, with all food storage and bagging then being done in the pews of the sanctuary. Rev. Skornik reported that in 2022 the need for food assistance had gone up by 102% in a six-month period – and as food donations piled up in the sanctuary, it became clear that a separate pantry space was needed for storage and distribution.
At first, organizers thought they could use shipping containers in a section of the church parking lot – but, to meet the city’s permitting requirements, the plan necessarily grew in scale, and the original $20,000 project grew into plans for a new standalone building.
The ultimate amount needed – $300,000 – was raised with diligent fundraising. Grants came in from “Lowe’s Hometowns”, the Oregon Food Bank, Regional Arts and Culture, Southeast Uplift, and the Episcopal Bishop of Oregon Foundation. There were also donations from many community businesses and partners, including the Woodstock New Seasons Market, the OnPoint Credit Union, and the Woodstock Neighborhood Association.
With contributions from All Saints parishioners, individual members of the community, and a last-minute generous grant from the Southeast Portland Rotary Foundation, the funding goal was finally reached.
Leslie Rangel, Outreach Coordinator and pantry organizer since last May, recently began translating into seven languages the English “menu” forms given to people lined up in the drive-thru for distribution. This allows for cultural choices, as well as vegetarian and gluten-free options, and avoids unnecessary waste.
Rangel told THE BEE, “We are now serving around 200 households a weekend at the pantry. We pack 170 grocery bags, and 30 Ready-to-Eat food bags.” Rev. Skornik remarked to BEE news partner KOIN-TV at the Grand Opening, “We are distributing $1.6 million of food each year. One third of the people receiving food are on Social Security, one third have jobs, and one third are SNAP recipients.”
The celebratory hour-long ceremony ended with many ribbon cuttings! At each subsequent cutting, a new band of red ribbon was held by different people who had been involved in helping make this particular community dream come true.
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| A look at the new “Brooklyn Bound” mural now completed on the north wall of Heckmann & Thiemann Motors, beside S.E. Powell Boulevard, at the east end of the railroad underpass between S.E. 19th and 21st Avenues. (Photo by Rita A. Leonard) |
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New Brooklyn mural spotlights neighborhood history
By RITA A. LEONARD
For THE BEE
A new Brooklyn mural has been painted on the north side of Heckmann & Thiemann Motors, beside S.E. Powell Boulevard – and across from Artichoke Music, and the Inflatable Boat Center.
Rather than simply being decorative, this mural highlights historic high points of the Brooklyn neighborhood. It was designed by artist Devin Finley, and implemented after agreement from the owners of Heckmann & Thieman Motors. Finley was assisted by three other street painters in the long painting – which measures about 10 feet high and 200 feet wide. Motorists passing by on Powell (State Highway 26) will certainly see it.
The name given the mural is “Brooklyn Bound”, and highlights iconic places and local history in Brooklyn, including the Aladdin Theater, the Poulson House, TriMet’s MAX light rail, the east end of the Ross Island Bridge, and Brooklyn Park on S.E. Milwaukie Avenue (with its iconic summertime water slide).
The presence of sneakers in the mural are to remind that Nike’s Phil Knight attended nearby Cleveland High School in his pre-running-shoe days. A number of bottles in the painting represent the many small breweries and wineries in the area.
Artist Finley’s business, “Define Arts”, was established in 2013. He has spray-painted murals indoors and outdoors up and down the west coast, and now lives across the Columbia River in Vancouver with his family. This project was funded by a grant from the City of Portland's Public Environmental Management Office, with contributions from the Brooklyn Action Corps, and the Greater Brooklyn Business Association. After six months of planning, it took a month to paint – and if you’re driving the speed limit as you pass it, you have two to three seconds to see it.
You might consider parking off the north side of Powell and giving yourself some time to dwell upon, and enjoy, the many details of the artwork. The accompanying photo will give you an idea of what you’ll see when you do.
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“Heirloom Ceramic Studios” in Sellwood expands: Noah Smith, owner of Heirloom Ceramic Studios, on S.E. 17th just south of Bertie Lou’s on the corner of Spokane Street, tells THE BEE, “We are opening up a second member studio space down on 13th and Umatilla! The community has grown substantially, so we have decided to make our current space a student studio, and have a fulltime member studio in the new building.”
“Fat Albert’s” is open again in Westmoreland: After a lengthy remodel that extended for months, the former Fat Albert’s Breakfast Café has relaunched as “Fat Albert’s Waffle Bar”, and is attracting customers. The small restaurant is just north of the Moreland Theater and LoLo’s Westmoreland Barber Shop, on S.E. Milwaukie Avenue at Glenwood Street, in Westmoreland.
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