By Kate Thompson
The efforts to restore and update the Gladys McCoy Memorial Garden continue with generous support from the NIKE Athlete volunteers, John Barker and others. The Athletes energetically maintain the garden with trash removal and leaf raking and debris removal on a regular basis. (We congratulate them on the reopening of their store, which was closed by the pandemic and vandalized after the murder of George Floyd.)
Feed the Masses is a non-profit organization that has been preparing thousands of free meals to those in need since 2015. Before Covid, they also offered affordable cooking classes to adults and kids but had to pivot when the pandemic hit.
Continue reading Free Hot Meals Offered at Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church
Each October at our General Assembly Meeting we elect the new Eliot Neighborhood Association Board Directors. This year we have two new members that were not on our board last year. Below are their bios, their interests and why they wanted to join the board. We are always looking for new board members and also volunteers to join one of our committees.
Continue reading New Eliot Neighborhood Association Board Members
Incoming co-Chairs: Jimmy Wilson and Allan Rudwick
Monday, January 25 7:00-8:30pm
Join Zoom Meeting (phone instructions at bottom)
Agenda:
1. Welcome & Introductions (7:00pm)
2. agenda additions?
3. Gladys McCoy Memorial Garden letter – MOTION: send letter of support?
4. discuss/ MOTION to approve signers on our bank account (Sue, Jimmy, Allan)
5. MOTION: sign on to clean air letters from around the city
6. Committee updates
a) stanton Street / Dawson Park livability update
b) Land Use Update
c) Eliot News Spring Edition
d) other updates
7. public comment
8. MOTION: Approve November Meeting Minutes
Adjourn
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See everyone in February
In our fall issue, we reported on the Knott Street Boxing Club that normally works out at the Matt Dishman Community Center. However, because of Covid, the center is closed and the boxing club had to relocate for its workouts and training sessions. Stanley Dunn, both trainer and mentor, has dedicated numerous hours to the kids that are part of the club. They are now training at the Vancouver Avenue side of Dawson Park in the covered area.
The Knott Street Boxing Club has been around for a long time. According to its Facebook page, “It was once a top boxing club in the nation and produced championship level fighters. It has remained a solid community club in a neighborhood that has gone through a lot of changes. Boxing gyms are often recognized for helping to keep kids out of trouble by giving them a place to go and teaching them the value of discipline and hard work.”
Currently, the club needs equipment like a heavy bag and is saving up for a van to transport equipment to the park and drive the boxers to tournaments when they are able to participate in those events again. There is a new Go Fund Me page to make donations and any amount is greatly appreciated.
One day this fall, the club, and also Stanley, got a big surprise. A film crew and reporter from KPTV were interviewing Stanley about the club and, unbeknownst to him, this was more than just an interview. The Les Schwab Surprise Squad arrived on the scene and presented the Knott Street Boxing Club with some much-needed equipment and a check for $2000. Stanley was so surprised and grateful. Check out the video here.
Hopefully, with the help of Portland residents, that van that they are saving up for will be acquired in the not too distant future.
You can help out now! On January 1st from 7 am – 1 pm TwentySix Cafe is holding a fundraiser for the Knott Street Boxing Club. Stop by, grab a coffee or tea and chip in to help out the club and the kids.
Board Members Present:
Others Present:
Meeting opened at 6:34 pm.
Welcome & Introductions
Neighborhood Update
Dawson Park: met with the police over Zoom. They said they were not aware of the magnitude of the problems at the park. Officer Quackenbush (LT Jim Quackenbush James.Quakenbush@portlandoregon.gov 503-793-9681) came by the next day and saw firsthand what was going on. Since then people have not noticed police presence. Will meet with the police again in two weeks. It was suggested that now is the time to get working on a solution so that when the weather gets better again we will have a solution in place. It was noted that Central City Concern has been in the neighborhood quite a bit trying to engage the people using drugs.
Can use pdxreporter.org to report crime. This is part of the city government and may be easier than waiting on hold on the non-emergency line.
Some questions that were raised included:
It was suggested that we should have a representative from Emanuel on the board. That was an agreement made in the past. There has not been an Emanuel representative in over a year.
Board Elections – Choose Directors for the Coming year
There was a brief discussion of the role of a director. The role includes attending meetings regularly and doing some work between meetings (small tasks such as write letters, articles for newsletter)
Allan reviewed the process: We will open for nominations, develop a slate, then vote in the slate. Then next month we will elect the officers. People can nominate themselves or anyone else.
Allan re-nominated all those currently on the board: Allan, Jimmy, Shireen, Pat, Jennifer, Sue
Johnny Engleheart nominated himself, Allan seconded
Harrison Osbourn nominated himself,
Kelli Fagan was suggested but declined but is interested in the livability committee.
The slate (Allan Rudwick, Jimmy Wilson, Shireen Hasan, Pat Montgomery, Sue Stringer, Jennifer Wilcox, Johnny Engleheart, and Harrison Osbourn) was unanimously elected.
Jimmy made a statement that we need to have a level playing field that need to be addressed before we bring new people into the board. In the past, there has been new leader training for new board members.
Pat recommended that the executive committee review Angela’s proposal for racial justice and diversity training and make a recommendation to the full board.
Old Business/Updates
Land Use committee met last week. The city is slightly changing the conservation district rules. They are being more flexible in how the houses can be used so that they will be used more and be less likely to be demolished.
Newsletter went out and looks great. Sue is open to people writing articles because she is down writers. She is hoping to connect with some high school students to get a youthful perspective.
Clean Air Team: Sue and Allan contacted everyone and heard back from some people. Most people were not able to participate at this time. Allan was going to send the letter to XPO Logistics but realized that the letter was not ready to send. It is unclear what we really want to ask for in this letter. The committee needs to meet to hammer out the details. Angela will do some research on community partners in the schools and try to connect them to Allan or Sue. After some discussion, it was decided that we will ask XPO logistics to filter their trucks.
Approve amended minutes from September’s meeting
Sue moved to approve the minutes as amended. Passed unanimously.
Meeting adjourned 8:17pm
Date: Dec 14th
Time: 7:00-8:15 pm
Zoom Link
Zoom PW: 171674
Agenda:
All are welcome. Email lutcchair@eliotneighborhood.org if you have any questions.
By Jody Guth
The Eliot adopt-a-block program is currently 26 members strong. A few folks have moved, and busy schedules have put others on hold (to resume later, they promised!) However, we’ve added several new members in the last couple months, and the solve bags and disposable gloves I have stacked on my porch have started to dwindle – a good thing! I’m committed to keeping those supplies stocked and am hoping other Eliot neighbors might wish to join our caring group of clean-street-defenders. Please contact me, Jody, at 503-331-1511 (land line) and I’ll get you set up, and tell you everything you need to know. (regarding trash, that is….) My email address is jodyguth@gmail.com.
For those wanting to join but not quite ready to commit, there is also a way for you to help out. Metro has a program called RID Patrol. All you need is a phone or computer, and a few minutes of your time to report any illegally dumped items in the public right of way. Their contact info is oregonmetro.gov and their phone number is 503-234-3000 option 6. If reporting online, go to the search bar and type in rid. There is a wealth of information for you there. See a dumped mattress, appliance, large bags of illegally dumped trash, etc., just contact RID and they will have someone out to pick it up. How cool is that?
Of course, we still need our feet-on-the-street citizens to tackle the cigarette butt’s, (no, they don’t degrade) fast food beverage cups and wrappers, and so many other bits of flotsam and jetsam swirling about our neighborhood streets. This is where a committed adopt-a-blocker (maybe you?) comes in. We’d love to have you join us. Oh, and there is a bonus. We have a quarterly drawing for one lucky member to receive a $100 New Season’s gift certificate compliments of our Eliot Neighborhood Association. I have picked 2 winners this time around as there had been some adjusting and uncertainty the past quarter. Congratulations to Jan Landis, and Cindy Irvine! Couldn’t have happened to two more committed members. Jan patrols the area around Boise Eliot school (and mentions she could use more help in that area!) and Cindy tackles Cook St between Rodney and MLK. She has also mentioned being overwhelmed on that street, especially closer to MLK. If anyone living in either of those areas would like to join/help I know both women would appreciate it.
Summer’s almost over and the fall rains will soon begin. (don’t think I’ve ever been so anxious for THAT to start happening). Going forward, please do your best to keep your leaves from blocking sewer drains. Those who live on corners where the leaves flow down to them will be appreciative of any efforts “upstream”. Be kind, and consider your neighbors. Other bits of trash also get strewn about in the mix and keeping things clear makes it so much easier for adopt-a blockers to do their jobs without having to pick through heavy, wet piles of leaves. Come on along….make keeping YOUR Eliot neighborhood clean a part of your good deeds. We look forward to having you join us.
By Monique Gaskins
Autumn is upon us! As the summer temperatures start falling and the days continue getting shorter, here is your friendly reminder to keep or start spending time outside. Especially with the limitations of Covid-19, being able to maintain social distancing while also running, walking, or bicycling can be helpful to mental and physical well-being. Although all of us might not have easy access to parks or gyms right now, we do have access to some innovative use of our city streets. Eliot holds at least two major greenways (Tillamook and Rodney) and is adjacent to at least two more (Siskiyou and Going).
The Portland Bureau of Transportation, PBOT, launched a new initiative, Safe Streets, during Covid-19 that encourages Portlanders who are not in an automobile to stop limiting their usage to the sidewalk on some of our local roads. The goals of this program are as follows:
1) Facilitate access to more outdoor space
2) Enable walkers, runners, and bicycles to maintain social distance while using city streets and sidewalks (Also called Slow Streets)
3) Provide more options for businesses to allow social distance
Here is a written response to a couple of questions from PBOT’s Communications, John Brady:
MG: How does the city see Safe Streets? Successful? Not?
JB: So far, the Slow Streets program is helping keep traffic volumes and speeds low on the neighborhood greenway network. In addition, nearly 800 calls and emails to the city’s 823-SAFE line have been overwhelmingly positive with many people requesting additional or specific locations for Slow Street installations.
MG: Are there any plans to improve Rodney, Going, or Tillamook Greenways in the near future?
JB: NE Tillamook just completed a capital improvement project that improved crossings and reduced speeds along the neighborhood greenway from N Flint to NE 28th. We are in the planning stages for the next phase of the project from NE 28th to NE 62nd. NE Rodney and NE Going are not in line for construction projects in the near future.
Within the Eliot neighborhood, Northeast Rodney Avenue and Northeast Tillamook Street both fall under the Slow Streets program. Since the initiative kicked off earlier this year, I’ve enjoyed more space to run and bicycle without worrying about being limited to the space of a sidewalk. So, consider this an open invitation to all of our neighbors: I hope to see you getting some fresh air on the neighborhood greenways!
There’s a new food cart in town located on MLK at Sacramento and it sits right next to Billy Ray’s Tavern at 2210 NE MLK.
Julie and Brandon Wilson have opened Thai MLK and the patrons of Billy Ray’s Tavern are, I’m sure, happy to have food that can be purchased at the cart and then consumed at the Tavern.
Julie Wilson moved here from Hawaii after working with her auntie who had a restaurant in Kauai, Hawaii. She learned how to make delicious Thai cuisine. Her sister owns a restaurant in Troutdale, Thai Carnation, so it’s no wonder that Julie would accept the offer to buy the food cart that used to be owned by her sister.
The menu at Thai MLK has a nice variety of appetizers, salads, stir fry, noodles, soups, and curries as well as beverages and desserts. Main dishes range from $9-10 and appetizers are $5-7.
At this point they accept cash but also accept credit cards. Conveniently, there is an ATM at Billy Ray’s Tavern that can be easily accessed during the bar’s business hours.
As a bonus, Thai MLK is giving away free masks so you won’t have to worry if you order your food and then decide to go next door to the tavern.
Soon the Wilsons plan to build a patio next to the food cart to protect customers from the rain which will definitely be appreciated.
Thai MLK is open Tuesday—Saturday from 1—10 pm. Be sure to try this food cart soon and welcome Julie and Brandon to the neighborhood. From personal experience, the food is delicious and I highly recommend the Pad Thai. It is so flavorful and you can increase the spice with the additional chili peppers included on the side.
We are happy to have them in Eliot!
By Ruth Eddy
At the busy intersection of Knott and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, a small semi-circle of grass with a few roses gives a break to the surrounding concrete. At the center of a faded, red brick wall is a portrait of Gladys Sims McCoy etched in stone, with wafted hair and bright eyes watching over passersby. McCoys’s smiling face is surrounded by an engraved list of her accomplishments, as well as the mindless graffiti tags familiar to underappreciated spaces of a city.
McCoy’s accomplishments were many. She was the first African American elected to public office in Oregon. She was elected to the Portland Public School Board in 1970. She also served for many years as a Multnomah County Commissioner. In remembrance, her name now graces a public park in Portland, public housing, and most recently, Multnomah County’s new downtown health department building.
When she died in 1993 from thyroid cancer, her name wasn’t on any buildings, and her friend, Venerable Booker, wanted to ensure her legacy was remembered.
Booker was then the President of American State Bank, the first Black-owned commercial bank in the Pacific Northwest, which was located in the building directly north of the memorial, now a dialysis center.
A few blocks north of the bank, Hillary Mackenzie owned an architecture firm. As a customer of American State Bank, she got to know Booker well and was hired to design the memorial. She recalled he had a clear vision for the project, which would include “a walkway so you have to enter in the site, to settle in and read it. He wanted that recognition and then he wanted it to be pretty, so it was a place people would linger for a few minutes.”
McCoy’s portrait has recently had a front-row seat to many protests marching past in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. After the first night of protests in May, Irvington resident Kate Thompson went to survey the damage she had heard about on MLK. Across from the smashed Nike store windows, she found herself lingering at the memorial. “I walked past it for over a decade, walking to work at Good Sam’s,” she said. “It was not until I retired that I had time to be curious about its history’.
She started pulling weeds that day and has been returning most Friday mornings for the last three months. She has recruited others who wanted to help and started calling the group the Gladys’ Garden Gnomes. The garden has become a place for Thompson to channel her outrage of racial injustice into something positive. “We all need time for reflection,” she said. “Quack grass gives us that opportunity.”
For Thompson and her fellow volunteers, pulling up weeds provides an apt metaphor for our nation’s racism. The grass is deeply rooted and sends out runners in many directions, making it difficult to remove. Thompson acknowledges that she doesn’t know what good it will do, but that “it’s a choice to have hope.”
Thompson has been in contact with Mackenzie to add irrigation and some other features to the original design, including a way to memorialize Venerable Booker, the man who made sure our community knew Gladys McCoy’s life was a Black life that mattered.
Update: In October Mossy Tree Care donated their time to get the trees in shape which was very appreciated especially after the big windstorm. According to Kate Thompson, “Five men from Mossy Tree Care each donated two and a half hours of energetic labor to clean up the hardscape of the garden. They were a delight to work with.”
Incoming co-Chairs: Jimmy Wilson and Allan Rudwick
Monday, November 16 6:30-8:00
Join Zoom Meeting (phone instructions at bottom)
Agenda:
1. Welcome & Introductions
2. Eliot NA Officer Elections
3. Racial sensitivity training proposal
4. Committee Updates – LUTC – Diesel Letter – crime (do we want an official subcommittee?)
5. Public Comment
6. Approve October Minutes
7. Adjourn
please join by phone if you have connection issues:
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Meeting ID: 847 8809 4161
Passcode: 097864
Born in Portland, Oregon. Raised in Vancouver Washington. A 1968 graduate of Ft. Vancouver High School, he also attended the University of Washington, studying architecture. As a youngster he found it easiest to go by Mike, but in recent years many friends knew him as Errol. Mike passed away peacefully in his home from ongoing health issues. He was preceded in death by his brother Gary. He’s survived by his children, Christopher M. Beard 26, and Nicole M. Beard 24, both of Portland, as well as his brothers Ed and Jeff and his sister, Cheryl Cristobal.
Mike spent his life working in the arts, focused on architecture, bridges and serving the community. He started his business, Errolgraphics, in 1979. He was well known for his series of Mt. Hood Jazz Festival posters, beginning in 1983 with the piano floating on Trillium Lake and for his 19 years of posters promoting the Bite of Portland. He’s also known for his series of architectural renderings of Portland’s bridges and his images of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as New York’s, Chicago’s, Pittsburg’s and London’s bridges and many other iconic structures. Mike did many projects promoting Portland, including the Portland Opera, Chamber Music Northwest, the Portland BridgePedal, the Arial Tram and more. His national works were often featured in popular cinema. Mike was a founding member of the Willamette Light Brigade, focusing on lighting the city’s bridges, and he was a driving force behind the Winter Light Festival. Mike’s body of work is large and included national treasures, some of which can be found in the National Archives.
He loved the arts, golfing, rafting, camping and connecting with friends and strangers alike. As a child he spent summers camping and waterskiing with his family. When his own children were young, he spent endless hours at their sporting events and camping with them around the Pacific Northwest. He loved where he lived. His neighborhood in NE Portland filled him with energy. His neighbors knew him to sit on his porch and talk with everyone. That porch was a neighborhood gathering place. Mike will be remembered by those who knew him as a fun and generous spirit. He was creative, thoughtful and talkative. He was a loving father, brother, neighbor, and friend.
Due to COVID-19, there will be no funeral service. Mike will be laid to rest at Evergreen Memorial Gardens in Vancouver WA.
Mike’s children, Chris and Nicole, intend to honor his life by continuing to manage and sell his works at Errolgraphics.com.
Eliot Neighborhood 