Hmmm... Traffic lights?

So I'm driving home from work the other day and I notice this pair of coiled wires above the intersection of Capitol Hwy & Canby & 31st, right in front of the Bento Hut and Village Rugs. See 'em? Sure looks to me like they're going to be putting in traffic lights, which might not be a bad idea considering the upcoming Multnomah Village Lofts on 31st.

That intersection of Canby and Capitol is a pain if you're coming up onto Capitol, which we do pretty much every day since it's the easierst way to get back to the Village from Fred Meyer or Safeway.

Maybe just a lighted crosswalk sign? Either would be fine. Anyone got the scoop?

Quiet Saturday Morning

Walked up to the Village and grabbed some breakfast at O'Connor's, we were some of the first people out on this clear and cold morning. Looked in the window of Annie Bloom's and waved at Oscar who was considering (briefly) waking up and looking out the window, waiting for his workday to begin. Nothing special to report, just a nice quiet morning in the Village, refreshing after the rush of the Holiday season.

Wilson High School Tree Recycling

I meant to post about this BEFORE Christmas, but you know how it is this time of year.... Daniel Ronan, of Students for Environmental Action at Wilson High, emailed to remind me that Wilson is recycling Christmas trees to raise money for general beautification work on the Wilson campus. They will come and pick up your tree for $10. Now, due to my lax holiday posting schedule, we've already missed our chance to reserve a time for this weekend, but you can request a pickup NEXT Saturday (that'd be the 6th) as long as you make your request no later than this Wednesday (the 3rd). Fill out an online form to reuqest a pickup!

Link to the form is here....

Thanks Daniel.

In other sanitation news, trash pickups are ONE DAY LATER both this week and next week because of the holidays. From the looks of my street, I'm one of the few that got this memo - which came in the form of a pre-recorded phone call this year.

Oh no! It was Scott!

Oh man, I've been seeing this headline all day, but I just found out that the police officer who was injured last night is our former neighborhood officer Scott Westerman! He's pretty banged up.... So say a prayer or light a candle or do whatever you do to send your best wishes Scott's way... Man I don't know what to say about this - he's a great guy - sometimes you forget that police officers put it all on the line every day.

Here's a link to the article on KGW.com

And here's a link to my post about the police officers reception in October - a post that's getting some search engine action right now, I notice.

Jack Bog's Blog has also got a post about this - news travels fast when we get around to reading it...

Another set of Village Pictures

by glorifing
Some nice pictures of the Village here...
Kinda makes you wish it was summer, eh?

The Unnamed "Viaduct Park"

For a few months now, there has been a potential new park taking shape in the Village. I've been meaning to post about this for a while, but until this month's MNA meeting - I didn't have good images and info to clearly explain what has been going on. Plus, since there are grants being applied for and parterships being pursued, Randy requested that I not reveal too much information (you know, to my thousands of readers and all!).

Development of the park will not involve any major construction or grading of the site, since those activities require all sorts of permitting and money, but neighbors will be allowed to landscape and do some minor improvements such as replacing the decrepit stairs that lead down to the park area from Handy Andy's. A major part of the landscaping plan involves surplus bark chips from local landscape types, and of course, volunteer labor.

Randy Bonella has been the driver of this park project, but other hands are coming on board as well. A site design was recently completed by Deb Tolman of "Avant Gardens NW" and a few grants are in the process of being reviewed, applied for, and hopefully awarded.

Neighbors deciding to "reclaim" community spcaes and turning them into something we can be proud of is a concept I can totally support. I'll keep my eyes on this process and make sure to post any opportunities to help out as they arise.

All the details are available at the Multnomah Village Park Page on Google Pages.

The Red Electric: Checking in from Hillsdale

This morning, I was eating a quick breakfast at Fat City (excellent as usual, although I defy you to eat one of their biscuits without a fork, since the first bite pretty much renders the thing a pile of smallish bits of unconnected biscuit-essence) while reading the SW Community Connection (again, it was the only thing handy) and I noticed that Rick Seifert, founding editor of the Connection, has started a 'blog. I made a note to check it out when I got in front of my computer.

Imagine my surprise when I found an email from Rick waiting for me in my inbox (sent last night) introducing me to his site! Synchronicity. I'm at work (Shhhh) so I can't spend time reading just now, but go on over and visit his 'blog at theredelectric.blogspot.com and see what's going on up the hill.

This just in: Flexcar anyone?

From the unusually active "This Just In" department comes a tip from Brian Russell, chair (pending next week's vote) of the Multnomah Neighborhood Association:

I was walking into the Village from my side of Mult. blvd yesterday and noticed a new sign and street markings on the corner at 35th right smack dab in front of John's Market Place. There's now a reserved space for "ride share vehicles, all hours, all days" I'm assuming that means Flexcar. I suppose that means Multnomah Village is becoming more metropolitan, don't you think? thought this might be newsworthy enough to share with your readers.

Thanks, Brian, for the tip. By the way, more info about Flexcar is here.

Maplewood Day: Thanks for your support!

So, I heard that Thinker Toys had a very.good.day. on Saturday, which was "Maplewood Day" up in the Village. Let me tell you, it was standing room only in the store when I was there, and the staff looked like they were having a very full day indeed. The other businesses I stopped into were hopping as well. Thanks for your support on Saturday, if you were one of the shoppers. Jr V, a (rather impatient) future customer of the Maplewood playground, appreciates your support.

Disclaimer: I have to confess that WE bought stuff at Thinker Toys on FRIDAY, before I looked at all of Jr. V's school stuff and found out about Maplewood Day. But don't worry, there will be at least 15 more fundraising opportunities presented to us before the Holiday, to be sure.

Glitzie's gets a makeover?

Well, according to the sign on the door, they're remodeling. Watch your step! Although you won't trip over any furniture or fixtures, 'cause the place is completely empty to the walls! No they haven't been cleaned out by burglars, and they haven't up and left town in the middle of the night. Still, today doesn't look like a very good time for a cut....

Last First Friday Before Christmas!

Well, we walked up to the Village tonight to take part in the big December First Friday festivities. The main attraction being the lighting of the Village Christmas tree by Santa himself. Here's some pictures along with the narrative:

A group of carolers was pressed right up against the glass outisde Birdie's. Note my incredible shaky-photo-in-the-dark-skillz.

Naturally, we headed straight for the toystore after Jr. V ducked into Fat City to greet several of his friends. We'd all eventually end up at the Toy Store, 'cause it's our destiny. After checking out the offerings and some presents we may have to pick up later when the recipient isn't watching our every move, we headed back outside to secure a spot over by the tree.

It's rather foggy tonight, even more so now, but the fog certainly beats the torrential rains we've had since October so we were not complaining.

Of course, we ran into Jessie from The SW Community Connection, who is at pretty much any event anywhere in our area. We strategized on good places to get a picture of the tree, which was not yet lit. Crowds built up quickly as we found a spot on the corner and she photographed a few people and interviewed Michelle from Village Beads as the excitement built up.

Santa was making his rounds (one of the kids in the caroling group was his "#1 fan", at least according to the kid, who kept trying to get Santa to hear him say it. In this picture, Mr. Claus high-fives Jr. V's friend Zev.

Jessie wondered if there would be a countdown to the lighting of the tree... The answer to that was no. With no fanfare whatsoever, the tree was off, then on!


And here's the tree after it was lit up! This is the first year that the MVBA has "done" a Christmas tree, but it seemed a very popular event, so I suppose it won't be the last. Breakfast with Santa at the Lucky Lab tomorrow morning, and don't forget to do your Christmas Shopping in the Village tomorrow, since it's Maplewood Day, where a percentage of what you spend is donated to the Maplewood Elementary Playground Fund.

Speking of Maplewood fundraisers... wanna buy some wrapping paper, or coffee, or cookie dough, or pretzel dough, or scrip, or books, or God knows what else?

Maplewood Day Tomorrow in the Village!

Hey folks - sorry for the short notice, but tomorrow is "Maplewood Day" in Multnomah Village. What's this? Well, it means that a percentage of everything you spend (at participating merchants) will be donated to the playground fund! Maplewood Elementary is raising money to replace their playground equipment...

Here's what you do: Go to a participating merchant, pick out what you want and lots of it, and make sure to tell the cashier that you want your purchases to benefit Maplewood!

Here's the list of merchants:

• Switch Shoes
• Thinker Toys
• Birdie's
• Annie Bloom's Books
• Indigo Traders
• Jules of Morocco
• Village Beads
• Peggy Sunday's
• Sweets, Etc.