March 17^th:

• Chicken Wing Tool Drive: Urban Farm Collective accepting donations of tools at its new Youth Education Garden, 9^th & Alberta.
• Grant Writing Workshop for Women of Color, at June Key Delta Comm. Center.
• Occupy NE: “The Black Working Group” meets at Reflections, 2:30-4 pm.

March 20^th: North Williams Transportation Safety Operations Project meeting.

March 21^st: Portland/Multnomah Food Council’s Food Security listening session, N. Portland library.

March 22^nd: Community Rights Movement workshop at Reflections, 7 – 9:30 pm.

March 24^th: A Seniors Night Out: Kansas City style music. Urban League Multi-Cultural Senior Center, 5325 MLK, 6:30 – 9:30, free.

March 28^th: Community Conversation: Race & Ethnic Relations in Portland, at East Portland Community Center.

March 29^th: The Brother/Sister Plays: Part I begins at the Portland Playhouse.

March 31^st:

• Garden Layout workshop at Emerson Street Garden
• Study group on “The New Jim Crow” at Reflections – 1^st meeting, 11-noon.
• Model car building workshop and family fun day, Blazers Boys and girls Club, 1-4 pm.
• King NA’s Soil to Soul food security planning meeting, at the Tin Shed, 4:30 pm.
• PCRI benefit gala, Doubletree Hotel at Lloyd Center.

April 8^th: KNA Easter egg hunt at Two Plum Park, 10:30 am, for youngsters five years old and younger!

April 11^th: King Neighborhood Association meeting, 6:30 pm, 4815 NE 7^th Avenue.

April 12^th: next King PTA meeting.

April 14^th: Second Saturday chat with Rep. Lew Frederick, 9-10 am at Reflections Coffeehouse.

April 21^st: Alberta Main Street Clean-up, MLK to 33^rd Avenue.

April 22^nd: King school grounds planting day.

April 28^th: Seeds & Starts workshop at Emerson Street Garden.

May 4^th: King School PTA Auction, North Star Ballroom.

May 19^th: King Neighborhood Clean-up: bring your refuse to us at the N. Precinct parking lot.

–Contact us for more information on any of these events – we’ll provide whatever info we can find!

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Neighbors envisioning a local Black History Museum – meetings weekly, Saturday from 6-8 pm, Irvington Village, 420 NE Mason in the King room. More info, 503-288-2863 or 503-284-6017.

New liquor license applications: Africa Food Market, 4069 NE MLK; Carpacchio Trattoria, 3500 NE MLK; Brandini Pizza and Pasta, 3513 NE MLK; Cedo’s Café, 3901 NE MLK.

Find us on facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/kingneighborhood

The Killingsworth Community Food Forest serves as a demonstration site for home-scale organic food cultivation, with an emphasis on fruit trees and other perennials. The KCFF also produces fresh, healthy food for neighbors in need, with most of the produce going to a local food bank. As a Community Food Forester, you can put your gardening skills to good use while learning new things, meeting new people, and providing healthy food for your community! Two years of gardening experience (or equivalent) is recommended, but not necessary, as folks who are able to commit to a weekly gardening shift will be given priority. This volunteer position begins in April and ends in October, 2012, averaging 2-3 hours per week.

Killingsworth Community Food Forester Responsibilities:

–          Attend orientation meeting: Thursday, April 5th, 7:00-8:30pm
(If you have a scheduling conflict, we can try to arrange an alternate time.)

–          Work with other Community Food Foresters and PFTP staff to maintain the garden throughout the 2012 growing season, from sowing the seeds to harvesting produce

–          Participate in monthly Community Food Forest team meetings

–          Commit to a weekly gardening shift (1-2 hrs) for on-going tasks such as planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, feeding chickens, etc.

–          Opportunity to design and implement projects that interest you within the garden!

If interested in applying, please email treecare@portlandfruit.org to request an application, or call our office at 503-284-6106 to arrange a pickup or mailing.

Applications are due Thursday, March 22nd.

King Neighborhood Association’s testimony to the Portland City Council about the Portland Playhouse’s appeal of a staff decision denying them permission to stage theatre productions at 602 NE Prescott, delivered by KNA Co-chair Nora Diver in person on March 1, 2012:

Subject: Portland Playhouse Survival in King Neighborhood

(LU Case # 11-187799; HO Case # 4110034)

Dear Commissioners:

602 NE Prescott is more than just a dot on the zoning map, more than just a structure on the corner. It is a gathering place with deep roots – part of the history of many members of our community. For over a century at this address, neighbors have shared appeals to god, heartfelt interactions, and a commitment to compassion and interracial justice. Meaning has been created at this place. The Portland Playhouse has upheld this tradition through community programming and its performance themes exploring racial experience and social justice. The Playhouse cannot exist without the plays. For this reason, the King Neighborhood Association asks you to allow the Playhouse to continue in our neighborhood by approving all components of their Conditional Use Permit application.

Many current and former neighbors have testified to the integral role the Portland Playhouse plays in our community. The Playhouse has opened their hearts wide enough to create performances that resonate deeply with the people who live here and opened their space to other uses that fill community needs. I have seen former residents returning to the neighborhood to see plays that have touched and inspired them. I have witnessed the neighborhood kids hold impromptu band performances there, and have seen how thrilled they were to be playing up there on the stage. I am sure you will hear many more stories about how the Playhouse serves a vital niche by providing a community driven cultural experience. This is the kind of art that stems from and connects with the people who live here, and that is why it is so important the Portland Playhouse be allowed to continue operating where it has been.
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