It was a beautiful day, we planted 97 trees in Cully, Rose City Park and Roseway. Between donations from businesses and participants we were able to cover 100% of the costs and there is $15 left in our neighborhood fund for next year (Friends of Trees collects donations with tree orders and will forward that extra dollars to next year’s planting). The $300 that the neighborhood association set aside for the planting can be reallocated!

Graduate students in Portland State University’s Master of Urban and Regional Planning program will hold a community visioning open house for NE 82nd Avenue on Thursday, April 10.

The five students are developing a vision plan for the corridor entitled Imagine 82nd. The plan will describe and illustrate the community’s hopes for NE 82nd Avenue between the Banfield Freeway and Sandy Boulevard. The April 10th open house is a crucial first step in understanding the community’s preferences for the busy five-lane corridor. The event will take a “drop in” format where local residents and employees can stop by at their convenience in the evening. Activities will include visual preference surveys, community opinion surveys, and identifying opportunities and challenges on maps.

The open house will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, April 10 at the Madison South Community Room at Banfield Pet Hospital Glenhaven Corporate Headquarters, 8000 NE Tillamook Street in Portland. All area residents, students, employees and business owners are encouraged to attend.

For more information, e-mail Steve Szigethy at sszigeth@pdx.edu.

To download a PDF of this press release, please click here.

Download a PDF web flyer for this event: Imagine 82nd Open House Flyer

We’ve got a building owner with a wall just perfect for a mural; now we’re looking for a local artist willing to propose a possible piece of public art for it.

Contact Peggy if your muse is active:
peggysathome@comcast.net

For information on the Regional Arts & Culture Council’s Project Grant Program, click here.

Rose City Park’s Reading Buddy Program will begin again soon for all Roseway Heights 1st through 8th grade students who could benefit from a friend and coach to help them become a more confident, successful reader. Buddy Program participants are parents, grandparents, university students, and community volunteers wanting to make a difference in the life of a child. Buddies read for half an hour a week with their student or students if they have time to work with more than one. The program can accommodate most schedules, so consider coming to an orientation and becoming a Reading Buddy.

Contact Lindy Delf (503-284-4115) with any questions or to sign up to be a buddy.

The October land use hearing for the Big Box proposal has been cancelled – SmartCentres has withdrawn their conditional use application for developing the site. Roseway and Madison South will now begin the process of visioning for a sustainable future. This includes a collaborative effort between the landowner/developer, the neighborhoods, and the community.

The next Roseway neighborhood tree planting is March 8, 2008. You can sign up now using the Friends of Trees automated system. This allows you the opportunity to order your trees earlier and get the largest selection. Signing up now doesn’t not obligate you to buy a tree, however, purchasing a tree does obligate you to participate in the planting day and help your neighbors plant their trees as well. You can find out more here. If you have any questions, please contact Shannon Garcia at rosewaytrees@gmail.com.