It’s the first day of Soak-It-Week 2021!

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Trees for Life Oregon has declared the last week of every July and the last week of every August to be Soak-It-Weeks, a time for all Portlanders to deeply water their yard and street trees to help ensure their survival in our increasingly dry and hot summers. 

Time to get those buckets out and fill them up!  Remember, young trees in Portland need 15 to 20 gallons of water once a week during their first 2 to 3 summers. To ensure more mature trees also survive and remain healthy, they should be watered at least monthly during summer. Buckets need to be refilled four to ten times to fully water a tree. 

If you received a bucket from one of our events, remember to face the label side towards the tree you are watering!

Use hashtag #bdsoakitweek to share your tree watering photos!

Still need a bucket? We have just a few available!  Contact us for your free bucket!

Want to make your own? Skip to the 30 second mark on the video above to see how to do it!  Trees for Life recommends three holes, spaced about 6″ apart on one side of the bucket. Contact us for your free label so you always know which side should face the tree when watering.

This project made possible by:

Thank you to BDNA Land Use Committee volunteers Kim Hill and Loralie Cole, Jim Gersbach and Kyna Rubin from Trees for Life Oregon, and Ana Meza from ROSE Community Development Lents Youth Initiative for making Brentwood-Darlington Soak-It-Week possible!

PPR Survey on Outdoor Tennis Courts

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[Image Description: A map of Portland showing tennis courts marked by different colored dots, indicating the court type and service areas.]

Portland Parks and Recreation (PPR) is working on a strategic direction for the outdoor tennis courts program. Click the links to learn more, see the map of tennis courts and their current assessment, and take the survey. Please note that Brentwood Park tennis courts are listed as a potential for removal or re-use.

Survey responses due by Tuesday, September 7, 2021 at 5:00PM

Vaccine Clinic at B-D Community Center

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[Image Description: A picture of two adolescents posing with smiles, overlaid with text information about the vaccine clinic.]

COVID Vaccine Clinic at Brentwood-Darlington Community Center (7211 SE 62nd Ave, 97206)

  • 1st dose: July 9th 3:30-6:30pm
  • 2nd dose: July 30th 3:30-6:30pm

Impact NW, Providence, Care Oregon and other community organizations are partnering to bring a Teen Vaccine Clinic for ages 12 & up in Brentwood-Darlington!

There will be free food, DJ, raffles, OHP and community resources and sign up support. Everyone who gets their first dose will receive a $100 Safeway gift card.

Consent is needed for ages 12-14. Folks can pre-register or walk in! 

Consent forms for ages 12-14 that neighbors may want to have it signed prior to the event:

Lewis School Name Petition

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Lewis Elementary School / Homepage
[Image Description: The front door of Lewis Elementary School, featuring a mural on the right and large bank of small rectangular windows on the left with shrubs in front.] Photo from PPS.net

From students at Lewis Elementary School:

Hi! We are a group of Lewis Elementary upcoming 5th graders!  Our goal is to change the name of Meriwether Lewis Elementary School. Meriwether Lewis was a white explorer and member of the Lewis and Clark expedition.  The exploration of Oregon by Lewis and Clark resulted in the stealing of land from Native Americans. Also, the expedition had an enslaved person present, named York, who was not paid for their work.  We understand the importance of Meriwether Lewis in Oregon history however we do not believe that our school needs to be named after him.  We believe that school names should be inclusive of all and are too often named after white people.

We are proposing changing the name to John R. Lewis Elementary.  John R. Lewis was a civil rights leader and Congressman who is known for being one of the “big six” civil rights activists. He was born on February 21, 1940 in Alabama. As a teenager in the 1950’s he was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and started his activism work while in college. In 1960 he was a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizing many events like the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and the Selma-to-Montgomery campaign and the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.  John R. Lewis was arrested over 40 times for his activism and received the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama. He was a representative of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 until his death in 2020. We believe that naming our school John R. Lewis would be a way to honor this important leader in our country’s history.

We believe that it is very important to get input from the Lewis community on the idea and the new name we have proposed.  We kindly ask that you sign our petition to give your input. Thank you!

Petition:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdArTP745C-L2tUIIFEXFPZTomnWpPZ52_A9kwDDZbb6ADR8g/viewform

Master Gardeners Demo Garden Reopens to the Public!

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[Image Description: a crushed rock pathway branches into four sections from a center point, surrounded by plants and garden beds with greenhouses in the background.] Photo by Linda Goldser

From Multnomah County Master Gardeners:

Come visit us! The Multnomah County Master Gardener Demonstration Garden in SE Portland is now open to the public!  After a very long and bumpy road since March of 2020, we can now invite anyone who wants to visit to stop by and check out our garden.

The garden occupies around an acre of land. It includes raised garden beds where you can see different gardening techniques for growing a variety of vegetables, small fruits, and herbs. Visitors to the garden can observe a variety of growing methods, from trellising plants to pruning methods. You can ask questions of the knowledgeable gardener volunteers. Produce harvested at the garden is donated to local food banks. 

The garden also boasts several perennial beds with informational signage to educate visitors. We follow organic gardening practices; our garden is a Certified Backyard Habitat space and is striving to become a pollinator parkway in SE Portland.

Visit the garden throughout the spring, summer and early fall on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9am to 12noon. Other days are sometimes available.  

The garden is located in SE Portland. Our pedestrian gate is on SE 57th Ave just south of Duke. Parking is on the street on the east side of 57th at that gate. Simply follow the short gravel path to the garden. We hope to see you there soon! 

Come work with us! A simple orientation process is all that is needed to be cleared to work beside us and learn with us. All levels of gardening experience are welcomed!Contact information: linda.goldser@multnomahmastergardeners.org

Summer Free for All – Free Lunch + Play from PPR

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Free Lunch + Play supports families by offering nutritious meals and recreational activities during the summer recess, Monday, June 21 – Friday, August 20, 2021.

[Image Description: List of SE locations for Summer Free For All Lunch + Play]

From Portland Parks and Recreation:

Working alongside school districts, community partners, arts organizations, and hunger relief groups, PP&R coordinates Free Lunch + Play to ensure that it meets the needs in our community. During the school year, 57% of young Portlanders qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Without school lunches, summer becomes the time when nearly 50,000 Portland children face hunger daily.

Free Lunch + Play offers accessible meal service and engaging activities at multiple parks throughout the city. In addition, Mobile Lunch + Play allows us to expand our program directly to children and families at apartment complexes and parks in even more neighborhoods.

Monday, June 21 – Friday, August 20, 2021
Monday, June 28 – Friday, August 27 (Gateway Discovery Park and Luuwit View Park)
No programming on Monday, July 5.

Free Lunch + Play locations operate Monday through Friday, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.
Mobile Lunch + Play locations operate two days a week at specific times. 

  • Free Lunches (Almuerzos gratis)
  • Safe distance fun and games (Distancia segura para juegos y diversión)
  • Music, art, and reading (Música, arte y lectura)
Click here to learn more and view all Lunch + Play Locations

Vibe Summer Academy

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Vibe of Portland is hosting art and music camps for ages 5-14! See the above images for information on how to register. Some Summer Academy camps take place at Brentwood-Darlington’s very own Moose Lodge #291! Other Summer Academy camps take place at Green Tulip Peace and Nature School, whom neighbors may remember for doing face painting and activities and many past BDNA events.

Soak-It-Week Bucket Distribution a Success!

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BDNA hosted two great events to distribute buckets for Soak-It-Week!

Thanks to BDNA Board members Loralie, Stephenie, and Chelsea, community member Kim, Lents Youth Initiative intern Esme, and Jim from Trees for Life Oregon for working these events! Collectively, BDNA has given away over 100 buckets so far! Check out pictures from the events below.

Click here to learn more about Brentwood-Darlington Soak-It-Week

B-D Nuisance House Survey

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Are we seeing more nuisance properties in Brentwood-Darlington? The Brentwood-Darlington Neighborhood Association seeks data to answer this question. If you live near a nuisance property, please let us know by filling out this form.

Click here to fill out the form

BDNA is posting this survey questionnaire on several social media sites. Please complete the questionnaire only once, so we don’t inflate the number of residents reporting nuisance-properties. We will post our results after four weeks of data collection. Thank you for helping us document this problem.

This is a project of the BDNA Land Use and Transportation Committee.