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.

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.

Now that's a lot of beer....

You know, I haven't been to John's Market Place in a while, since Mrs. V usually is the one to stop in there... So I drop by on Thursday morning to grab a bottle of wine, and I was floored by the sheer volume of different beers they've got in there. Now I know that John's has an incredible wine selection, and I konw that they're known for their selection of beers, but I was not prepared for the veritable MAZE of shelved beers from every conceivable point of origin. And while putting up this post I was also surprised to discover that John's has a website. You can visit the site at johnsmarketplace.com, but better yet just drop by for a bottle of something-or-other. But don't go if you're really thirsty, or you might leave broke.

Annie Bloom's Scores One for Decency

I can't tell you how relieved I was to see on KATU tonight that Annie Bloom's Books is declining to carry the OJ Simpson book "If I Did It". Don't even get me started on what the existence of this book says about some publisher's lack of moral judgement. And that's more than enough talk about OJ in this 'blog. Thanks, Annie Blooms. The news may have characterized this as a decision based on low sales projections, but I'd like to think it's just common sense.

In other Annie Bloom's Books news, I was just reminded by an email from the Multnomah Villagers Yahoo! group (no relation) that Dr. David Suzuki is speaking tomorrow night at 7:30PM at the Multnomah Arts Center. Thanks Bernadette!

This event is sponsored by Annie Bloom's, in relation to the release of Dr. Suzuki's Autobiography (volume 2, for those of you keeping count). This event will be packed, to be sure and is $5 - you can get a ticket at Annie Bloom's. The info is on the main page of their website. This event is also sponsored by the Northwest Earth Institute.