This month we’re highlighting Georgina Head, one of two BWNA Newsletter distribution coordinators (her co-coordinator is John Sandie).
Georgina was born in Ireland and immigrated with her family to New York City when she was five years old. She spent most of her childhood growing up in Queens, NY, but knew she was interested in a career in farming of all things! After earning an associate’s degree in agriculture, she transferred to Cornell University in upstate New York to complete a degree in wildlife management. After graduation, she traveled to a small, rural area of northwest Washington state to work for the U.S. Forest Service, but a couple of years later opted for a job at the local library. Around that time, she met her husband, Mike, and together they raised four children on a 20-acre farm in the foothills of Mt. Baker. Georgina worked as a library system manager for 35 years until retiring and moving with Mike to Portland a few years ago.
How long have you lived in the neighborhood, and what’s your favorite part of living in the neighborhood?
As Mike and I contemplated our upcoming retirement, we knew we wanted to be closer to our children, and three of our daughters were living in Portland at the time. We bought our house in Beaumont-Wilshire in 2011 and moved here permanently once we retired in 2015. We have completed a few major remodeling projects, including the construction of a perfectly sized greenhouse. We spend most of our time outside in the garden with our four grandchildren, as well as growing dahlias and learning as much as we can about growing bonsai. We love where we live for the friendliness of people walking by and the close proximity to Wilshire Park, where we go with our grandchildren, who love the playground. We also love that we can walk to the stores and restaurants in Beaumont Village, which is a fairly new experience for us, after living in a rural community that was so distant from any town.
What’s your favorite neighborhood business, and why?
The best part of living here is being able to walk to local stores and restaurants along Fremont, and there are so many we enjoy. As anyone who has done their own remodeling knows, you always need to go to the hardware store for something, and Beaumont Hardware is the best; we go there a lot! And Grand Central Bakery is where we get our favorite bread (peasant) or walk up for a special breakfast. Blackbird Wineshop is great for bringing out-of-town guests to or meeting a friend for a chat. Our go-to places for dinner are Bang Bang for a great curry bowl, Alameda Brewery for a fun pub meal, as well as Amalfi’s for their delicious pasta that we often pick up to take home. And as many of the locals know, the Arrangement is a great place to find a gift, or you can walk up the street to Gazelle and find more beautiful gifts and clothing. We have had framing done at Americana Frame, picked up flowers at Beaumont Florist, and always rely on Beaumont Market for last-minute groceries.
What does volunteering for BWNA mean to you?
My years of working at a library have proven to me over and over the importance of volunteers. When we needed to construct a new library building, the library was located in an unincorporated area of our county, and we could not raise construction funds through taxes. Through the passion and hard work of many volunteers, we successfully constructed a new library building completely funded by grants and donations, with labor exclusively by volunteers! When I moved here, I saw the Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood Association was looking for someone to take over the coordination of volunteers who delivered the newsletter. Well, receiving the newsletter was the highlight of our day when we first purchased our home (and still is!), and I thought it’s the least I could do. And it is fun getting to know everyone involved and hearing how appreciative people are to receive the newsletter and read about the important issues affecting our neighborhood. The newly formed Friends of Wilshire Park is another great example of how important volunteers are to improving a community. We feel very lucky to live here, with great neighbors in a wonderful neighborhood.
Thank you for your service, Georgina!