If there’s any doubt that one person can effect change, Joan Meyerhoff, a Beaumont-Wilshire neighbor, is living proof that it’s possible. At BWNA’s June general meeting, Joan made a plea for a remedy to the weed buildup on Beaumont Middle School’s (BMS) front yards. Her call for help moved a hearty crew of neighborhood volunteers — led by BWNA board member Angela Frome — to produce almost 400 gallons of yard debris from the school’s grounds.
Historically there have been two reasons upkeep of Beaumont-Wilshire’s signature corner at NE Fremont Street and 42nd Avenue goes undone: Portland Public Schools (PPS) doesn’t have the budget for landscape maintenance, and volunteers aren’t allowed to just “jump in and do it” because of the district’s liability concerns.
While BWNA can’t solve PPS’s long-running funding challenges, it did find a way to address PPS’s liability concerns with the enthusiastic assistance of BMS principal Harriette Vimegnon.
Soon after the June general meeting, BWNA Vice President Tim Gillespie connected with Dr. Vimegnon, who worked to produce “release from harm” waivers from the district. BWNA volunteers signed them. Then, the dedicated band of weeders set out on July 3 to attack the offending foliage. And attack it they did! Over the course of two and a half hours, the spoils of the group’s war on weeds produced more than a dozen 30-gallon bags of weeds and debris. THAT is a good day’s work!
A different issue was discovered on weeding day: two dead trees at the school’s entrance, an injury-in-waiting. One of the weeders, Joan Meyerhoff, connected with Dr. Vimegnon, who put her in touch with PPS maintenance folks. And ta da! The trees were removed soon thereafter. “That was pretty cool,” Joan said.
by Susan Trabucco, BWNA Board Member and Newsletter Editor