03/29/2013
Update: March 29th 2013
How about a Coffee Hour at CUP. A neighbor, Barb Rock, found out that CUP the new biz on Interstate (Old North Star Coffee) is developing a family/kids room in the daylight basement. Come check it out with us on Tuesday, April 16th at 10am. CUP is located just north of Lombard on Interstate on the east side. Meet neighbors, ask about what's up with Arbor Lodge Neighborhood Association, and just enjoy visiting. Hope to see you there.
03/27/2013
PPS School Board Candidates Forum -- April 3rd
Elections are coming soon for the PPS School Board. Hear from the candidates at this forum on Wednesday, April 3rd at 7:00 PM at Concordia University.
03/21/2013
The so far skinny on Portland NETs
If you haven't heard of the Portland Neighborhood Emergency Teams, it's because the program withered in a political tug-of-war about a decade ago, and is being resurrected as the threat of a hefty earthquake looms. Arbor Lodge is particularly light on NET volunteers, so I deployed to the first of seven Saturday trainings with my neighbor Angela March 16.
We hope to be among the first christened with a hardhat and vest on behalf of Arbor Lodge. Meanwhile, we'll have learned basic first-aid and crisis management skills to help first responders in an earthquake, flood, volcanic eruption, tsunami or other catastrophic event.
Oregonians have known since the '80s that the state is in line for a major earthquake. And a recent report by a panel of experts underscores how devastating such an event would be. That quake is about 40 percent likely to happen in the next 30 years. Portland NETs are beefing up to assist for this and other reasons, trained by Portland's Bureau of Emergency Management using FEMA's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) curriculum.
It's a lot to get prepared, both at home and in the neighborhood. This first class focused on what it is we're even preparing for. The three-hour session covered disasters facts until those of us who think we're smart were feeling pretty silly. Did you know volcanic ash can scratch steel? That it can weigh enough to crush a roof? That you should never store your emergency supplies in a basement? I sure didn't. Hopefully you're already smarter than me.
If you're super smart, then you're started on an emergency kit at home. For more ideas about how to round out your kit, have a look at prepareoregon.org. If you'd like to go further and help us prepare the neighborhood, please think about joining me, Angela and other neighbors as NET members. It requires 17 short videos and a quiz to qualify for training, then 21 hours of instruction and a four-hour field exercise. It's worth it, and its kind of fun. Now even I know what a Japanese shake table is.
03/19/2013
Volunteers needed!
Would you consider donating a little of your time while you're out walking around the neighborhood? We need 20 amazing volunteers to drop off flyers.
ALNA is looking for ways to reach out to our entire neighborhood and let them know about what's happening in our neighborhood, such as the cleanup event, Movies in the Park, monthly happy hour, etc. We've divided the neighborhood into 20 walking zones that we estimate would take about an hour or so to flyer each house. We would like to form this flyering team, as needed (maybe three or four times per year), and we'd get you the stack of flyers in advance and a one-week time frame, then you would deliver the flyers at your leisure anytime during that week. For questions or to sign-up, please email ginger.edws@gmail.com.
Sign-up for the zone of your choice before it's taken!