President’s Message
Dear neighbors and friends,
Because of commitments among other members, I found myself quickly catapulted from at-large member to vice president to president of the BWNA Board. Though I’m still trying to catch my breath at the rapid acceleration and still have much to learn, I’m also energized by the challenge and exceedingly grateful to the hard-working volunteers who have made BWNA such a vibrant, helpful group for so many years. I hope to continue in their tradition of effective neighborhood service and activism.
A special shout-out of appreciation goes to now Immediate-Past-President Tim Hemstreet, whose leadership and resilience—and willingness to continue in office for many months beyond the end of his official term during difficult days for us all—has been a gift to our neighborhood and a great model for me. If you see Tim around the neighborhood, give him a hearty thanks for all he has given to BWNA.
I’m also grateful to the energetic Andrew Rinke, who has graciously stepped into the vice president’s position, and to outgoing Vice-President Kathy Campbell for her many years on the board—and for her wonderful recipes and dishes that kept our gatherings well-fueled and continue to delight via her “Kathy’s Kitchen” column.
Other folks who are helpful beyond expressing are long-time board members Barb Strunk (our secretary and gardening guru), Karla Lenox (our treasurer and accounting ace), Al Ellis (our sharp-eyed, hard-working editor who brings you this fantastic newsletter), John Sandie (who’s like a utility infielder playing many positions, including Transportation Committee chair), and Gary Hancock (whose work as chair of Friends of Wilshire Park committee has helped bring all the upgrades to that beautiful neighborhood space—the new NatureSpace area, playground upgrades, and other improvements). Great contributions have also been made by newer BWNA board members Rich Woyma (who has upgraded our website and continues to streamline our communications as Communications Committee chair) and Laurie Holtz (who’s given us a bunch of wonderful ideas for supporting families and children… some of which you’ll find in this newsletter).
The oldest piece of public art in Portland, the downtown Skidmore Fountain, dedicated in 1888, famously has this quote carved in stone on one of its sides: “Good citizens are the riches of the city.” These citizen-volunteers who have given so much to Beaumont-Wilshire make us all the richer.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of our traditional BWNA activities—National Night Out, Movies in the Park, in-person meetings—have had to be put on hold these last few months. But we have many more ongoing endeavors, including continuing to address transportation issues, responding to an incident of racial harassment in our neighborhood, and putting out this newsletter to connect neighbors and businesses. Given these and many other projects, there are plenty of ways to enhance the neighborhood through BWNA. I hope you’ll consider working with one of our committees, starting a committee to address an issue of importance to you, or even serving on our BWNA Board in one of the open at-large slots. You’d be working with a terrific group of your neighbors and making a contribution to our corner of the city. Thanks for considering the opportunity!