The "Events and Activities" for the month are below these featured stories!
This 1912 photo shows the Oak Grove Girls Band in front of the streetcar waiting room on Railroad Avenue in Oak Grove. They were possibly waiting for the streetcar to take them to their next engagement. Formed in the summer of 1910, the young ladies performed for the next four years at some of Portlands top events -- including appearances at Oaks Park and Portlands Rose Festival. (Courtesy of Oak Lodge History Detectives)
SOUTHEAST HISTORY Oak Lodge historians tell the stories of early Oak Grove
By DANA BECK For THE BEE
In appreciation of the City of Milwaukie’s Ledding Library having volunteered to store and preserve the microfilmed records of all the copies of THE BEE that still exist, going back to its beginnings in 1906 – and keeping them open to everyone in the library, with a microfilm printer available to reproduce any pages that might be sought after by visitors – the writers of the historical stories in THE BEE have agreed to expand their area of influence southward to include occasional articles about the history of Milwaukie and the surrounding towns and places.
It’s really not much of a stretch, or even anything new – because the history of that area is intimately interconnected with the history of Inner Southeast Portland, as our past articles have shown! In fact, for a year in its early history, THE BEE moved over the county line to Milwaukie, and attempted to serve that community, before deciding to move back to Southeast Portland to stay.
Dobrodošli v razburljiv svet iger na srečo! Naše kazino vam ponuja edinstveno priložnost, da doživite vznemirjenje in se potopite v širok spekter iger. Izberite med klasičnimi in modernimi igralnimi avtomati ter priljubljenimi namiznimi igrami, kot so blackjack in ruleta.Začnite svoje nepozabno igralno doživetje zdaj in playfina!Z rednimi turnirji, privlačnimi bonusi in programi zvestobe vsak obisk prinaša še več vznemirjenja in večje zmage. Potopite se v razkošno vzdušje in pustite, da vas vodi sreča — vaš trenutek zmage je že na dosegu roke!
So, my story in this issue and next offers a brief history of the community of Oak Grove, just south of the City of Milwaukie. Many from Southeast visit that community regularly to shop at the Oak Grove Fred Meyer, or to pick up some Voodoo Doughnuts.
The annual summertime Oak Grove Festival is an entertaining event drawing hundreds of spectators to visit the local businesses along Oak Grove Boulevard. In June of this year, it included magic shows, balloon animals, face painting, information booths, and plenty of food carts and live music for all to enjoy. Even a ukulele group was there – to perform a variety of tunes on the center stage. But what caught my eye, while visiting the Festival this year, was a large canopied booth for “The Oak Lodge History Detectives”.
That proved to be a group of volunteers who’ve been gathering photos and news stories as part of their research into the history of Oak Grove. I stopped in to talk with them, and found these colleagues ready to share the largely unknown history of this community. It was there that I met one of the founders of the Oak Grove History Detectives, Michael Schmeer. As a history buff, I couldn’t pass up the chance to talk with one of the historical experts in that community, and to learn more about Oak Grove.
For those who don’t know, the Oak Grove commercial district is about two and a half miles south of the town of Milwaukie and six miles north of Oregon City, between River Road and McLoughlin Boulevard. Its “city center” consists of a four-block area along Oak Grove Boulevard where you’ll find an assortment of merchants – from the popular Awakening Coffee and Tap House, and McQueen’s Bar and Grill, as well as a tattoo parlor, barber shop, hair salon, and various auto services and small businesses. A large section along the north side of the street is reserved for the New Urban High School – and Oak Grove Daycare and Preschool is just across the street.
The Oak Grove business district ends to the east at Rupert Drive, where the Methodist Church has been since its inception since 1909. At that point, Oak Grove Boulevard jogs south and then eastward to McLoughlin Boulevard – where you will find that large Oak Grove Fred Meyer Shopping Center.
But the four-block heart of Oak Grove’s commercial district is definitely one of the smaller such district in the state, but it makes up for it by its rich and romantic history – which has been unearthed, and is now chronicled by the Oak Lodge History Detectives.
Who exactly are these people?
Mike Schmeer certainly has a firm connection to Oak Grove – he was born there, and attended Concord Grade School until his parents moved the family to Seattle in 1957. His dad, deciding to pass up on helping to run his father’s hardware store in North Portland, had landed a job with Boeing.
Once Mike graduated from high school, he attended the University of Washington, earning a degree in Forest Management in 1971. But, in the back of his mind, his roots were telling him to return to Oak Grove – and, also, his grandmother, Gladys Schmeer, said she intended to have him inherit her home.
Mike told me that his grandparents, Roy Schmeer and Gladys, once lived in Southeast Portland, while they owned and operated the Piedmont Hardware store in North Portland. Deciding to find a quiet and peaceful neighborhood to spend their remaining years, the Schmeers eventually bought a craftsman-style house along S.E. Oatfield Road in Oak Grove. Mike found, when he’d eventually inherited that house, that it was filled with Clackamas History.
The house was built in 1922 by Philip Oatfield. Philip Oatfield’s father, Michael Oatfield, arrived in Portland in 1861, and purchased 600 acres of land from the Kellogg family – one of the original Donation Land Claim owners in Oregon. Yes, as you might have guessed, Oatfield Road was later named after the family.
So, following his graduation from the University of Washington, Mike returned to Oak Grove to be near his grandmother Gladys (Roy had died in 1966), and to search for a job. His first one was at a Portland nursery until 1975, when Mike accepted a position with the Portland General Electric Company in their landscape department. Within five years Mike was promoted to Transmission Forester at PGE, as a vegetation manager. He was responsible for keeping the 600 miles of transmission lines clear of underbrush and trees. He was also the supervisor of the spray department. He retired in 2005.
In 2006 Mike met Oak Grove resident Pat Kennedy, who was making an inventory of heritage trees that were in the area. Putting his forestry degree to work, he offered to help Pat measure the circumferences of these trees, and began recording them for future reference. It was during these inventorying walks around the neighborhood that they both found they had more in common than just trees – but also had a curiosity of the old days when Oak Grove had a thriving business district.
They gathered with others who were interested, and the “Oak Lodge History Detectives” group was established. Neighbors, friends, and anyone interested, gather monthly to discuss and share information, as well as to show photos of Oak Grove to preserve for future generations.
So, with that lengthy preamble, and with the help of Mike and his band of roving detectives, here is a brief history of the place called Oak Grove. . .
In the late 1800s, streetcar lines were turning outlying areas of Portland into new neighborhoods. An interurban line, built in sections starting south from Golf Junction in Sellwood and eventually reaching downtown Oregon City, was completed by 1893. Waystations along the first section reaching Oak Grove included Milwaukie, Island Station, Lakewood, Evergreen, Silver Springs, Torbank, Courtney, and a small stop called Saint Theresa. The Oak Grove Waiting Room and Ticket Office was located on the west side of Railroad Avenue (Arista Avenue) by Central Avenue (Oak Grove Boulevard), but was listed on the railway line as Creighton Station.
The Creighton Post Office and Creighton Station were named after one of the area’s original pioneers, Susan Creighton – but the people who lived in the area prevailed on Eastside Railway officials to change the name of both the Post Office and the streetcar stop to reflect the name of the community, Oak Grove, by 1907.
But let’s go back much further than that. Families living on the outskirts of Milwaukie during the early years sent their children to Milwaukie School, until Orville Risley stepped in. The incomparable Orville Risley wanted to ensure that children growing up in the countryside south of Milwaukie had the same educational opportunities as the children attending school in Milwaukie and Oregon City. Both towns were fairly distant for these children to reach, so Risley rallied the citizens to establish a local school on September 6th, 1856.
This small, one-room log cabin schoolhouse was erected along today’s River Road at Laurelwood Drive. As stated in the chronological history of Concord School by Michael Schmeer, fifteen students attended in the first school year – at what was aptly called “The Little Log School”.
Ten years later, a new school was built further south on River Road, on land donated by William A Starkweather. For many who lived in the area, the new school was referred to as Riverside School, for its nearness to the Willamette River.
With the rapid increase of the number of children in the district, by 1890 the Concord Schoolhouse had opened its doors, and was welcoming students with school desks, a metal stove to keep the children warm in the winter, and bell tower with a booming bell to declare the start of classes for the day.
At the start of the 20th Century, folks living in what they were now calling Oak Grove were concerned about overcrowding at both the Concord and Milwaukie Schools. Citing the long distance their children had to travel to attend classes at either school, they lobbied for their own facility. By the following year, a new structure was in the making, and classes opened for students in the fall of 1904. The first Oak Grove School was situated on the north side of Center Avenue, between Cedar and Lee Avenues.
The Oak Grove School still lacked a baseball field, and a gymnasium for the 8th grade sports teams. The boys’ team, which apparently fielded cocky and impressive baseball players, offered in the local newspapers a challenge to all comers in the State of Oregon to schedule a game against their team. Supporters and parents of the players had to travel to the Courtney Baseball Diamond just north of Oak Grove to watch the home team play. The Oak Grove basketball team played all of their home games in Green’s Hall, at the intersection of Railroad Avenue and Central Street.
With a schoolhouse in place to further the education of Oak Grove children, the commercial district began developing beside the streetcar rails. Oak Grove was slowly establishing an identity – and newspapers such as the Oregonian, The Enterprise, and the Oregon City Courier began reporting on the expanding community that was named for a grove of oak trees that stood nearby.
In 1903, the Oregonian reported the population of Oak Grove had recently nearly doubled. Regional realtors Dunn and LaWrene announced in that newspaper that there were an abundance of empty lots, and farms with large acreage, for sale at Oak Grove through their office. They enthusiastically declared that over sixty residential homes could by then be found in the community.
The Dunn and LaWrene offices were situated in downtown Portland, and most home seekers and speculators looking to buy new property had to schedule an appointment with an agent and then travel by boat to Oak Grove Landing, in order to view the homes and lots for sale there. For residents who lived in the area, the Oak Grove Market proved to be a sounding board where they could post messages about real estate opportunities from local residents seeking to sell off excess property.
Open along Center Avenue, the Oak Grove Market was a place to purchase groceries, gather weather and crop conditions, share neighborhood gossip, and even find a new home to buy. The store also served as an unofficial Post Office, collecting mail and delivering messages to the local residents until the opening of the Creighton Postal Station in 1904. As mentioned earlier, the name of the Post Office was changed to Oak Grove Post Office in 1907, at the request of the community, to clarify for those writing to them in what town the mail station was located.
The Oregonian – and the Oregon City newspaper, The Enterprise – reported a store being present in Oak Grove as early as 1903. By the following year the commercial district began growing; buildings were raised, and supplies were being stocked by new stores along Central Avenue. The September 12th, 1904, issue of the Oregonian announced, “Many new buildings are being built in the new growing settlement in Oak Grove”. A.L. Petty was constructing a $2,500 home, a school was opened, and the local market was serving residents. The Oak Grove Grocery advertised Leghorn Chickens and eggs for sale at their store, which they pointed out was on the Oregon City Railway Line.
Middle-class and working families who wanted to avoid crowds of people, noise from horses and wagons, and the rampant smoke associated with big city life of Portland, found that Oak Grove was an idyllic area to raise a family. Farmers were drawn there too, to build herds of dairy cows or to deal in live poultry. Others moved there to till the open fields or to clear hilly tree sections to grow the crops that were in high demand. Those not skilled in farming practices started their own gardens, growing fruits and planting vegetable gardens to support their family’s needs or to sell produce to the local grocery stores and shops in Milwaukie, Sellwood, and Oregon City.
There isn’t much evidence that a lot of immigrants settled in Oak Grove, but the local Methodist Church did offer weekly sermons in the German language, which suggests that there must have been a number of Germans who lived nearby. People from the Old Country brought their farming and building skills from the fatherland, and were proficient in growing crops. Additionally, many Germans and Scandinavians were skilled carpenters, and might have been hired to build the new houses and farms that were beginning to fill up the countryside around Oak Grove.
With no major industries like lumber mills, canning and brick factories, or railroad or car barn shops nearby, the Oak Grove community concentrated on supporting agricultural endeavors. Fruits, vegetables, and hops seemed to be growing in abundance throughout the district.
The “Oak Grove Horticultural and Agricultural Fair” was started in 1909, in the first week of September, though the reporter for the Oregonian neglected to say just where in Oak Grove it was held. Over 700 people attended that indoor event, to view the agricultural exhibits and horticultural displays put on by the Oak Grove citizens. The now-annual event was regularly attended by farmers, who came to trade agricultural tips with others, to discuss crop conditions, and to check market prices. But one highlight of the fair seemed to revolve around an Oak Grove pioneer named C.B. Bonell, who proudly displayed a pair of deer antlers at the end of the agricultural hall, and he claimed he’d shot that deer at the exact spot where the fair was holding its exhibits just 30 years before.
Portland has always been known as a town that loves its beer; even in the first decade of the 20th Century there were already many small breweries along with the saloons in the Portland business district, and along its busy waterfront – so there was a great demand for hops.
Brewers use hops to flavor and preserve their beer; and before long many fields in the Willamette Valley were devoted to growing hops. Entire families – men, women, and children – were involved in the seasonal harvesting of hops, and many of those people lived in the Oak Grove area. The Oregon City Enterprise announced in 1911 that “a great many of the people in Oak Grove went to the hops fields during late August and September”. Oregon pioneer John Risley grew hops on his farm just north of Oak Grove, and he relied on local families to provide the necessary labor to harvest his crops. Members of the Oak Grove Business Association at that time were even strongly suggesting that the teachers at the Oak Grove School should have a mandatory class dedicated to agriculture, so that students could be better prepared for such a career after graduating from 8th grade.
While agriculture played an important part in the economy of Oak Grove, I learned that the pride of the community over a century ago was the Oak Grove Girls’ Band. The band was formed in the summer of 1910 by L.E. Armstrong, and it involved a lot of chaperoning by parents and friends of the girls, because of the many music venues where they played. Seventeen girls between the ages of seven and fifteen made up the group.
Jack Warren served as a volunteer talent agent, and the Oak Grove Girls’ Band dressed in bright blue uniforms with white piping – playing in many high-profile regional events, such as the Portland Rose Festival, the Multnomah County Fair, and local holiday celebrations in Oak Grove. They were also a regular attraction at the Clackamas County Fair in Canby, often performing three times a day on stage.
The predominant modes of transportation in the early 1910s were with horse and wagon, on a boat down the Willamette River, or by street car, so collecting the funds and supervising the seventeen excitable girls in the band was quite a job. The Girls Band traveled as far as Washougal, Washington, for the Fourth of July celebration there in 1911. They also performed during the peak summer season at Oaks Amusement Park in Sellwood, and they ordered a special trolley car that took them to the Clackamas and Multnomah County Fair in Gresham. The Oak Grove Girls’ Band lasted only four years, but it continued to be something the community was proud of long after it had disbanded.
One of Oak Grove’s well-to-do merchants was Oscar Wissinger. In 1893, with a partner, Oscar operated Gray and Wissinger General Merchandise at the corner of Main and Washington in Milwaukie. The co-owners negotiated a contract with the Eastside Railway Company to set up a waiting room at the front of their store, where people would gather to travel on the streetcar. The store was also used as a temporary Post Office. Using ads in local newspapers to increase sales, Gary and Wissinger proclaimed the availability of a new line of straw boater’s hats – a popular men’s hat at that time, otherwise found only in Portland’s downtown department stores.
By 1902, Wissinger had made the now-renamed Milwaukie Mercantile Company a household name, re-establishing the store in one of Milwaukie’s largest buildings. The upper floor was used for lodging, and a kitchen and dining room were added up there later so tenants could prepare meals.
Meantime, patrons downstairs could buy dry goods like shoes, rubber boots, coats and hats, vests, and underwear – all the way over to hardware like stoves, metal pipes, and heaters for the home. Other merchandise included an unfamiliar lady’s garment called Queens-wear, and nostrums like Ballard’s Horehound Syrup and Cough Drops.
So what’s the connection of this store to Oak Grove? Well, Mr. Wissinger expanded his operation to Oak Grove, purchasing a store and a home on Center Avenue in 1906. He appointed his longtime friend and associate George Miller as manager of the Oak Grove store, and provided living quarters for the Miller family.
In the 1900’s merchants were still delivering goods mostly by horse and wagon. Boys were hired to scour the neighborhood on horseback, taking orders for supplies and groceries from customers. By noon they returned for lunch and to fill the orders they’d taken, and then were back on the road to deliver the products to their customers before the evening set in.
Managers like George Miller were kept busy picking up eggs, produce, and other dairy products at farms nearby. Milk and dairy items often arrived by Eastside Streetcar, but store owners and managers were constantly looking for new products not offered by competitors to sell in their stores.
In 1907 The Home Telephone Company began placing telephone poles in the district, and opened an office in Oak Grove offering the amazing new telephone service, so that residents could communicate instantly with the outside world.
Because of its distance away from a major highway, and having to rely on the streetcar as the only way to deliver passengers and supplies, the growth of the Oak Grove area was slow. Along the commercial district, merchants came and went, some not having enough customers to sustain their businesses. But those who chose to stay for the long haul made a name for themselves, and contributed to prosperity of the community.
As the years passed, Oak Grove started to become known in the region as a desirable and thriving community – but, alas, the citizens of Oak Grove were just about to face their most challenging and darkest days, from a danger that most residents constantly feared in the early 1900s.
We will see next month, in the November issue of THE BEE, just what this danger was, and how the merchants and the people of Oak Grove confronted it.
At this years Sellwood-Westmoreland PP&R Concert in the Park, the Afrobeat and Juju music of JUJUBA energized the evening in Sellwood Park. (Photo by David F. Ashton)
Thunderstorms bump Sellwood Summer Concert two weeks; change act
By DAVID F. ASHTON For THE BEE
Music lovers from all over the Portland metropolitan area – especially those who’d heard Kris Deelane and the Hurt rock the Portland Blues Festival this year – were eager to hear her colossal voice in the pop, rock, funk, and soul songs to be performed on August 17th in Sellwood Park’s only PP&R “Summer Free For All” concert for 2024.
But that day had been hot and steamy; weather forecasters were predicting a possible thunderstorm that afternoon. Indeed, with rain pounding down an hour before the concert, the Parks Department finally admitted there’d be no Sellwood show that evening.
However, not long thereafter, PP&R announced a new concert date – Sunday evening, September 1, and since the scheduled act was not available then, it would be replaced by an “Afrobeat band” called JUJUBA.
As it turned out, JUJUBA also had a strong following – the comcert attracted not only Southeast neighbors, but fans from as far away as Beaverton, and all over Portland.
Concertgoers sat and listened politely during their first song; but when the full band stepped up and let loose during and their second one, people were up and dancing.
As it turned out, the danceable Afrobeat and Juju music of JUJUBA -- with its world-class West African and Cuban percussion section, blazing horn section, and funky electric rhythm section – put on a great concert to end the summer outdoor music season.
At their Back-to-School Bash, some of the returning students gathered around Holy Family Catholic School Principal Joe Galati, at center, and church pastor Father Rodel de Mesa. (Photo by David F. Ashton)
‘Back-to-School Bash’ for kids, at Eastmoreland’s Holy Family School
By DAVID F. ASHTON For THE BEE
A few days before the school year started, parents and students made their way to Holy Family Catholic School in Eastmoreland on Wednesday, August 28.
“Today is our ‘Back-to-School Bash’ – it’s our opportunity for parents to drop off their students’ school supplies, meet their teachers, and then go outside and spent time with one another,” explained Principal Joe Galati. “As you can see, our students are eager to learn; and, we’re equally eager to see them all here back in school, as well!”
New this year at the school is a fulltime Spanish-language program for all grades Galati announced. “And we’re excited to have a couple of new staff members who have come to join us.”
With the help of volunteers and their staff, the campus was cleaned, painted, and freshened up, ready for another good school year, Galati told THE BEE.
If you’re wondering why more schools aren’t covered here, we had hoped to write a more comprehensive back-to-school story, involving more of the schools serving Inner Southeast – but we thank Holy Family for being the only one which responded to our inquiries this year.
Ready to meet the pent-up demand created by the previous weeks concert being rained out, these are the members of the Portland Latin funk band, Sabroso. (Photo by David F. Ashton)
Ardenwald-Johnson Creek neighbors enjoy ‘Concerts in the Park’
By DAVID F. ASHTON For THE BEE
With there being five Thursdays in August, Ardenwald-Johnson Creek neighbors looked forward to a bonus “Concert in the Park” this year – but alas, a late-in-the-month rainstorm cancelled the fourth of the planned shows this year in Ardenwald Park.
“We invited ‘Rich Layton & Tough Town’ to start our series this year on August 1st with their signature rock, rhythm, and honky-tonk blues,” said concert organizer Lane Rollins, completing his second season of putting on the shows.
“Our second show this year was a local jazz band, ‘PDX Jazz Quartet’ – comprised of young people who met at Milwaukie Academy of the Arts, and still are playing together at Clackamas Community College,” Rollins told THE BEE. “And, on August 15th we enjoyed ‘Blues Mamas’, a great Blues band featuring Myrtle Brown, Lisa Mann, and Sonny.
Although the fourth concert this year was rained out, many of the musicians in the scheduled Latin band came back the following week as another band – “Sabroso” – and were on stage when THE BEE visited the park.
“It’s really important just to get the people the neighborhood to get together – and for our neighborhood association, it’s all about giving back to our community!” Rollins remarked.
A Multnomah County Master Gardener Assn. member since 2011, Sally Campbell here was explaining how the Dry Farming Bed method produces crops without irrigation, during the dry season. (Photo by David F. Ashton)
Master Gardeners host ‘Open Garden’ in Brentwood-Darlington
By DAVID F. ASHTON For THE BEE
Back again this year, and bigger than ever, was the Multnomah County Master Gardener Association Demonstration Garden’s “Open Garden” for the public at their campus in the Brentwood-Darlington neighborhood.
The more than 150 folks who came took a self-guided tour of this one-acre educational garden, where the organization’s volunteers were stationed to answer questions about the many and varied kinds of agriculture taking place there.
“We were all very busy throughout the day, and the visitors and the volunteers all had smiles – so it was a success, in my opinion!” said Demonstration Garden Co-chair Linda Goldser afterwards.
She reminisced about how, back in 2017, this acre was simply a rocky meadow of grass and weeds. “We’ve made improvements every year; and with the help of our members and community volunteers we maintain the garden. So, we enjoy ‘showing it off’ to our many visitors.”
In addition to teaching, the Multnomah County Master Gardener Association donates all the edibles produced at the garden to two local food pantries; that adds up to as much as 1,900 pounds of food, said Goldser.
“We’re part of the OSU Extension Master Gardener program, which trains volunteers to serve as community educators,” Goldser pointed out. “The Demonstration Garden is a fabulous place – it’s not only where volunteers can learn, but where the general public can work beside Master Gardeners – or simply come to visit and enjoy the garden.”
This empty lot at 28th and Steele in the Reed neighborhood proved to be the ideal spot for this years Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association Bulky Waste Clean-Up. (Photo by David F. Ashton)
Eastmorelanders pitch trash at 22nd annual Clean-Up
By DAVID F. ASHTON For THE BEE
Not having a suitable location in their own neighborhood for their annual Bulky Waste Neighborhood Clean-Up, volunteers from the Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association (ENA) got creative, and found a place in the Reed Neighborhood for it – on Saturday, September 7 – in a parking lot at S.E. 28th Avenue and Steele Street.
“How did we end up in Reed?” ENA’s event organizer Derek Blum repeated our question on that day. “We used to do this in the front parking lot of Duniway Elementary School in the center of our own neighborhood. But the school told us that we couldn’t have it there anymore.
“So, last year, we held it at Westmoreland Park, but Portland Parks & Recreation assessed a fairly hefty fee for that,” Blum explained. “This year we talked to Reed College about letting us do it here in this vacant lot – and, with all the space here, it’s working out very well! Thanks to the generosity of Reed College, we were able to avoid costly application and permit fees.”
Some of the volunteers kept two lines of vehicles moving past the drop boxes in an organized procession; others helped the folks in those vehicles to unload their trash and recyclable materials.
“Popular additional services we’ve brought back this year included paper shredding, electronics recycling, and Styrofoam recycling,” pointed out Blum. “And we’re partnering with two nonprofits this year – The Arc Portland Metro, and Community Warehouse – and they are sorting through reusable items for their thrift stores, and to give to the communities they serve.
Blum thanked the volunteers who pitched in and made it a success. “And, some of them brought their kids. We also have a group of eighth graders from Holy Family Catholic School, who are getting service hours credit for this; my son is one of them.”
After the Clean-Up, Blum provided some statistics to THE BEE:
We served over 240 households this year, double the number we had in 2023
We again offered a concierge service, which helped 17 households who otherwise wouldn't have been able to participate
We had 24 volunteers help out at various points during the day
“It was a very good Bulky Waste Clean-up this year,” Blum concluded.
Brett Scott, this years Woodstock Neighborhood Association Chairperson and a cybersecurity expert, seen here in a screenshot from his Digital Hygiene presentation at the August 7th WNA meeting, which was also available online via ZOOM. (Photo by Elizabeth Ussher Groff)
If you haven’t heard of “digital hygiene”, you are not the only one. That term is relatively new, but it is rapidly becoming more important.
Just as dental hygiene protects our teeth, digital hygiene is to protect our interactions online. It helps us know how to prevent unauthorized access – and potential risks such as hacking, identity theft, and data breaches.
Digital hygiene refers to protecting the economic, social, and personal lives of individuals while they use computers, smart phones, and tablets. A similar term, “cyber hygiene”, is the same thing – only oriented towards the protection of organizations and businesses.
On August 8th, the monthly Woodstock Neighborhood Association (WNA) meeting featured a presentation about digital hygiene, given by the current WNA chairperson, Brett Scott – who was WNA Vice Chair until this past July.
Scott has racked up thirty years of cyber security and information technology experience, in the military, the private sector, and local government. He is currently working for Multnomah County as I.T. Applications Security Analyst.
His presentation provided information in several categories: Trusted Sites; Phishing, and Vishing/Smishing; Passwords and Authentication; Information Sharing; and Helpful Resources. Since that August WNA meeting, he has added more information about social media hygiene to his presentation.
The presentation he gave can be seen on the Woodstock Neighborhood Association website –http://www. woodstockpdx.org – but a few brief summary points are included here:
Users need to assure that they are using trusted sites, and not open any site, email, or attachment that looks suspicious.
“Phishing” and “Vishing/Smishing” are types of social engineering trickery and scams where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information. (Is that email asking for your banking password really from your bank? It may say it is, but banks just do not make emailed requests like that; if you hover your cursor over the email address it says it came from you may see that it actually came from an entirely unrelated address.)
If you’re wondering, “Vishing” is just phishing via voice or voicemail; artificial intelligence has made copying voices easy. And “Smishing” is phishing that uses SMS messages (text messages).
Two potentially harmful types of information to be on the lookout for online are:
Misinformation – false information, but not necessarily created or shared with the intention of causing the harm it actually does.
Disinformation – propaganda and lies deliberately created to mislead, harm, or manipulate – a person, social group, organization, or even a country – based on fact but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.
Be sure you are using a protective installed program that stops malware and viruses that may come your way on computers, smart phones, and email. In most cases you get better protection with a reputable paid program than with a free one. (And if you get a message saying your computer is infected with such malware, run that program – DON’T respond to whatever message you got. This is usually a scam to steal your information and money.)
Near sunset at Obon Fest, these visitors were encouraged to participate in the traditional group dance known as Bon Odori in the courtyard of the Oregon Buddhist Temple, in Southeasts Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood. (Photo by David F. Ashton)
Citywide Buddhist ‘Obon Fest’ returns to Creston-Kenilworth temple
By DAVID F. ASHTON For THE BEE
Obon Fest – primarily a Japanese cultural celebration – attracted hundreds of people to the campus of the Oregon Buddhist Temple, in the Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood, on Saturday, August 3.
Historically, Obon is a fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits, and of a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. The celebration has in recent times evolved into a family reunion holiday and a dancing celebration.
“About the Obon Festival – we think about several aspects,” informed one of three event co-organizers, Marilyn Achterman. “It’s religious, absolutely; this is the base and the foundation of this Buddhist festival. It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years, and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon Odori.
“But additionally, it’s also a summer event, a community gathering, and a cultural celebration – and it’s also definitely a ‘food fair’, with lots of great food we all enjoy together!” Achterman told THE BEE.
Many of the 150 volunteers who make the festival possible aren’t either Japanese or Buddhist, Achterman said. “People come here to volunteer from all over the greater Portland area. I think the volunteers are here because we really do appreciate their help – and, they derive meaning and significance out of it themselves, also.
“The most important aspect of this, to me, is that the festival brings people of all sorts to visit a Buddhist temple,” explained Achterman. “It doesn’t matter if they are Buddhist, or become Buddhist – or even if they never come back to our temple! – I just feel glad that they came to visit us here at our Buddhist temple.”
Musical and dance groups performed throughout the afternoon and into the evening hours, as guests stayed fueled by delicious foods, cooked by volunteers on site.
And right now, take a look at some of the activities at during this year's “Obon Fest” on the campus of the Oregon Buddhist Temple, in the Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood, on August 3, in this brief and exclusive BEE VIDEO . . .
On August 8th the energetic, local, and hot Latin band Conjunto Alegré came to Woodstock Park for a summer Free For All concert. People of all ages enjoyed the music, and danced to the rhythms of salsa and merengue. Woodstock Elementary School is visible in the background. (Courtesy of Bea Rector)
‘Free For All’ concert in Woodstock: Latin for a change
By ELIZABETH USSHER GROFF For THE BEE
Each summer Portland Parks & Recreation puts together a selection of “Free For All” events throughout the city, partnering with community groups, artists, nonprofits, and culturally-specific groups – to produce concerts, movies, and cultural events that are free to the public.
This year, at the last minute, PP&R notified the Woodstock Neighborhood Association (WNA) that its band for the “Free For All” summer concert in Woodstock Park had been changed.
Thus, on the very warm Thursday evening of August 8th, some may have come to the park still thinking the band would be Beat Frequency, as originally scheduled – but they quickly got into the beat of the Latin music from Conjunto Alegré (“Happy Band”).
Children and a few adults danced joyfully on the grass in front of the 12-piece band, which offered what has been called “a hot mix of tropical music from all over the Caribbean” – specifically, from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, and Panama.
The Portland-based band’s director, composer, musician and marketer, Aquiles Montas, was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to Portland in 1970. He studied business administration at Portland State University, and has worked at Metropolitan Family Services, and for Multnomah County. In 1987 he started Conjunto Alegré as a way to educate people in the Pacific Northwest about Caribbean culture.
At the concert, the east side of the park offered information tables focused on the Woodstock Farmers Market, the Woodstock Food Pantry, the Woodstock Neighborhood Association, and Portland Parks & Recreation.
Peggy McCafferty, a volunteer Board member at the Woodstock Farmers Market table was there to let people know that the market offers a $20 SNAP match every week. She also was passing out an information sheet on Douglas Firs which challenged people to count the number of Douglas Fir trees in Woodstock Park. (To see a map identifying all of the trees in the park go online – http://www.portland.gov/trees/get-involved/treeinventory).
Almost every summer the WNA sponsors a “Free For All” event in the park – usually a movie or concert. These are offered no cost to the public, because the WNA puts forth $1,000 to Portland Parks & Recreation for related expenses. To be notified of future summer “Free For All” events in the park, go online – http://www.woodstockpdx.org – and then click to receive the monthly online WNA newsletter.
As a side note, the single “Free For All” concert this year scheduled for Sellwood Park in the Sellwood-Westmoreland neighborhood was called off at the last minute by a decision by PP&R to cancel every outdoor event it had scheduled on Saturday night, August 17, around 5 p.m. due to the thunderstorm then in progress. It resulted in .17 inch of rain in Sellwood, which was more than any monthly August rainfall total anyone there can remember. The airport got .30 that night. However, that concert was made up later – as you'll read in this issue of THE BEE.
This river of color, painted in the street by kids during a Brooklyn block party, was simply intended to brighten the residential area near the new five-story apartment building thats painted grey two blocks south of Powell Boulevard, on the east side of Milwaukie Avenue. (Rita A. Leonard)
New grey apartment building in Brooklyn prompts ‘river of color’
By RITA A. LEONARD For THE BEE
As reported in the August issue of THE BEE, a new five-story apartment building on Milwaukie Avenue in Brooklyn, two blocks south of Powell, is painted grey. That prompted eleven-year-old Nani Alsafieva – inspired by Sellwood’s “Share-It Square”, and other Southeast painted intersections – to suggest to her neighbors the idea of adding a bit of color to the street nearby.
Nani organized the neighbors to gather and paint a “river of color”, which now extends from a neighbor’s below-grade garage to a spiral at the center of the intersection of S.E. 11th Avenue and Mall Street in Brooklyn. The bright painting also includes, scattered nearby, a crocodile, a dinosaur, and a spotted mushroom.
Nani said that it was mostly kids who did the painting, but with some help from a nearby resident who is a teacher who substitutes at Hosford Middle School. After the initial “river of color” was completed, participants were allowed to add special touches around and near it, which include a mushroom, a crocodile, and an orange dinosaur.
The painting was done at a block party on August 10th, for which a city permit was secured; while the street was officially closed for the party, the painting was done on it – not a coordinated design, like other painted intersections, but simply adding a splash of color to a spot near the imposing new grey apartment building in Brooklyn.
Events & Activities
OCTOBER 1 Free yard trees from PP&R: Today, and throughout the month, you can register to receive two free yard trees – NOT trees for the parking strip! – from Portland Parks & Recreation’s department of Urban Forestry. Pick up the trees, mulch, and watering buckets, at one of the PP&R Saturday events. No room for trees, but still want to participate? Help is needed to make these events work, and no prior experience is necessary. Sign up for trees, get more information, or sign up to volunteer, all online – http://www.portland.gov/freeyardtrees
OCTOBER 2 “Ranked choice voting” tutorial tonight: Ranked-choice voting will be new to Portland in November. Whether you are in District 3 or District 4, if you want to know more about it, this evening there will be a presentation hosted by the Woodstock Neighborhood Association at 7 p.m. in the Parish Hall of All Saints Episcopal Church, 4033 S.E. Woodstock Boulevard. No charge.
OCTOBER 5 Portland Dahlia Society Show at Oaks Park: This annual show will offer “hundreds of show stopping blooms and floral arrangements featuring the dahlia” on display, all competing for Best in Show. Experienced dahlia growers will be on hand to answer questions to anyone seeking dahlia growing tips. The show is presented by Portland Dahlia Society and serves as a regional show within the Pacific Northwest. Blooms will be on display from as far away as California, the Puget Sound area of Washington, and Idaho. It’s in Oaks Park’s historic Dance Pavilion – today, noon until 5, and tomorrow 10 to 3. No admission charge – but be aware that Oaks Park now has a $3 per car parking fee. For more information, visit the Society’s webpage – http://www.portlanddahlia.com
Reed Neighborhood Association Fall Festival: This afternoon, 2 to 4 p.m., at the Reedwood Friends Church, it’s the Reed Neighborhood Fall Festival – a family friendly festival with a bounce house, pumpkin painting, and more, being planned. This is a great chance for all of the neighborhood parents to get to know one another and kids to play together. We look forward to seeing many families! And for adults, Portland’s original urban winery, Hip Chicks Do Wine, will be offering wine tastings. They have been making wine since 1999 and they have had their tasting room in the Reed Neighborhood since 2001. Come out to enjoy their latest creations. The Reedwood Church is on S.E. Steele Street, a block east of 28th, on the north side of Steele.
OCTOBER 6 City Council Dist. 4 Candidates Forum this afternoon: SMILE, the Sellwood-Westmoreland neighborhood association, presents an Election Forum for District 4 City Council candidates this afternoon, 1-4 p.m., at Sellwood Community House – on S.E. 11th Avenue at Spokane Street (one block north of Tacoma Street). Voters in Eastmoreland, the Reed neighborhood, and the City of Portland’s part of Milwaukie’s Ardenwald neighborhood, will all be voting in District 4 and may also want to be there. All declared District 4 candidates have been invited to briefly introduce themselves, provide election materials, and chat with their new District 4 voters located east of the Willamette River.
OCTOBER 8 Mindfulness Course for parents and children: Moreland Presbyterian presents this useful course for families every Tuesday in October, starting today, from 4 to 5 p.m. Interested? Come to the first one and learn more about it – or go online to: http://www.morelandpres.org/events. The church faces S.E. Bybee Boulevard between 18th and 19th Avenues in Westmoreland.
OCTOBER 11 Free tour of Woodstock Fire Station 25 this morning: If you have ever wanted to see what’s in a fire station, today is your chance. The Woodstock Neighborhood Association’s “Woodstock Walks” on-foot tour will meet at Woodstock Park at 9:30 a.m. this morning, and then walk to Fire Station 25 at S.E. Mall and 52nd Avenue (s block north of Holgate). There is no school on this day, Friday, and all ages are welcome.
OCTOBER 20 Monthly meeting of the SMILE History Committee: It’s 3-5 pm, in the shiny new basement meeting room at SMILE Station, S.E. 13th and Tenino. Curious about neighborhood history? “Learn how to uncover its stories as we delve into the history of buildings and their residents. Bring your laptop computer if you wish as research sources, including photos from the SMILE collection, are shared and explained. Students are welcome. Enter on the north side of building (down the steps).
Annual spaghetti dinner tonight: The St. Agatha Annual Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser returns! Come anytime from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today to the St. Agatha Parish Hall, 7960 S.E. 15th Avenue in Sellwood, and come hungry. The price for this feast is $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, and $10 for children age 7 and above. Kids six and under eat free!
OCTOBER 26 A new “Midway Mayhem Walking Tour”: Just in time for Hallowe’en! New material featuring stories of eccentrics, true crime, and bad behavior in the northern part of the Sellwood-Westmoreland neighborhood – in “Midway”. Departing at dusk (5:30 p.m.) from S.E. Insley and Milwaukie Avenue, the walk will last one hour, ending near the Iron Horse building at S.E. Martins Street. Organized by the SMILE History Committee, the event is free – but donations are gladly accepted. Dress for the weather and bring a flashlight. No reservations necessary.
OCTOBER 27 Annual "Moreland Monster March" this afternoon: The SMBA (Sellwood Moreland Business Alliance) announces that the annual "Moreland Monster March" all-comers costumed parade through Westmoreland will start, as usual, from Llwellyn Elementary School at 6301 S.E. 14th Avenue -- with those who want to be in it starting to line up there by 2:45 p.m. The parade sets out eastbound on S.E. Tolman, led by the Sellwood Middle School Band -- turning south on Milwaukie Avenue, then west on Bybee Boulevard, and finally north again on 14th to the Llwellyn playground, where it ends with the 5th grade Bake Sale! Put on a costume, bring everyone, and join the parade through Westmoreland!
Note: Since THE BEE is not the operator of any of the websites presented here, we can assume no responsibility for content or consequences of any visit to them; however we, personally, have found all of them helpful, and posted them here for your reference.
"Next Generation TV", in the incompatible ATSC-3 format, is currently duplicating (in the new format) KATU, KOIN, KGW, KOPB, KPTV, KRCW, and KPDX on channels 30 and/or 33; you will need a new TV or converter box capable of receiving the new ATSC-3 format in order to see these broadcasts. The one we use and can recommend is the Zapperbox -- learn more at: www.zapperbox.com
