President’s Message
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” –William A. Ward
As with everyone, BWNA tries to find the right balance between dealing with immediate, pressing concerns and planning for the long term. The old quote above sounds snappy, but in truth it oversimplifies. As anyone with a home garden knows, we have to actually both reap the harvest in front of us and plant seeds for the future.
As you will see on page 4 in this newsletter, BWNA Vice President Andrew Rinke has thoughtfully sparked us to do more long-term thinking, considering big questions about our neighborhood association: What should our ongoing focus be? What are we not doing that we could? What kinds of seeds should we be planting?
Some future thinking has already been on our agenda. For example, at our October meeting Barb Strunk shared information from the new Portland group Trees for Life that is working on preserving large-form, long-lived trees in the city. Tim Hemstreet wondered if we are as engaged as in the past with public policies like the Residential Infill Project that have had such consequential long-range impacts on our neighborhood. Gary Hancock reported on the Friends of Wilshire Park Committee’s project to permanently improve infrastructure in the park’s off-leash dog area. And earlier, neighbor Peggy Ellis encouraged us to get involved with Portland’s Neighborhood Emergency Teams program, which encourages long-range planning in anticipation of public disasters such as earthquakes, so we’re working to get a NET speaker at an upcoming meeting.
At the same time, we don’t neglect issues in our face right now. We wrestle with whether and how to safely meet in person given the ongoing pandemic. Patty Nelson has volunteered to redouble efforts of our Crime Prevention Committee to deal with issues of safety, theft, racial harassment, gun violence, police responses, and other issues that have been plaguing the whole city.
Blood Drive
Perhaps the most immediate need we’re trying to address is the emergency blood shortage in our medical system. The national seasonal inventory of the Red Cross is the lowest it’s been for many years, with less than a day’s supply of some blood types. In response, we are partnering with the Beaumont Middle School PTA to have a Red Cross Blood Donation Drive at the school cafeteria on Sunday, November 7, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Check out the insert in this newsletter for updated information on how to register for this drive. Masks and proof of vaccination are required at the time of donation. Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/3xdzc277.
Blood is a precious, perishable, life-giving product that can only come from volunteer donors at drives like ours. Donating is a safe, easy way to be a hero for someone somewhere—a single donation can save up to three lives.
If you’re unable to donate blood, we’ve set up a way you can honor those who can by making a monetary donation to the Beaumont PTA’s Family Resiliency Fund. Check out that insert for details on this worthwhile program supporting families in our community.
Odds and Ends
In my last column, I gave a shout-out to all the wonderful volunteers who deliver this newsletter, but I inadvertently left out a couple of names. So here’s a big thank-you to newsletter team members Meghan Sinnott and the amazing Marian Trythall, who I am told “is still pounding the pavement in her nineties.”
We are happy to have Derek Humbard as our newest BWNA board member (see interview with Derek on page 6). If you run across Derek, give him a hearty “Thanks!” There are more open spots on our volunteer board. If you have future endeavors you think we should be undertaking or if you’re interested in rolling up your sleeves on current projects or just generally interested in community service, consider joining us. We need your talents and opinions. Interested? E-mail me at: president@bwnapdx.org.