Kids explore the bronze otter statue at Nadaka Nature Park, Gresham OR

By Monica McAllister
Nadaka Nature Park Coordinator

Something For Everyone
This past summer and early fall at Nadaka Nature Park has been abuzz with celebrations under the picnic shelter, free events, new additions to the play area as well as gardeners tending their harvest, and nature lovers exploring our lovely 10-acre forest. Even as the winter days start settling in, we at Friends of Nadaka (FON) have already started planning for next year’s events at the park. From hosting free indoor gardening workshops to forest restoration with local schools and community members, we are excited to offer plenty of opportunities for you to spend time with friends and family at Nadaka. Before we jump straight into next year’s events, let’s take a cue from the fall season to slow down and reflect on the bustle of activity that has occurred over the past few months at our neighborhood park.

Community Festival
This year’s 7th Annual Nadaka Community Festival was one of our best festivals yet! We had over 400 participants, 3 performances, and 35 partnering organizations & businesses, 28 of which hosted a community booth. We were thrilled to have The Aztec Dancers, Ukrainian Folk Singer Natalia Hougan, and the NW Panmen Terry Baber and Brad Hirsch on the Steel Drums perform again at this year’s festival. A big thank you to our Festival Committee, volunteers, partners and everyone who made the festival a marvelous success! Our Festival sponsors and donors included: Metro, City of Gresham, Owens Corning, and St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church. Albertsons & Organically Grown Co., Starbucks, and Rockwood PUD donated hot dogs & chips, organic apples, coffee, and water respectively.

Rip Caswell, Joan Albertson, Chad Caswell		Art Donations Nadaka is especially grateful for the generous donation of the magnificent bronze otter and raven by Joan Albertson, the creators of the sculptures, artists Rip Caswell & son Chad Caswell.
as well as the work done by Lee Dayfield and Gresham Outdoor Public Art for making the installation and reveal of these beautiful art pieces possible.		Raven sculpture at Nadaka Nature Park
Giant Xylophone at Nadaka Nature Park		Another amazing addition to the park is a new Xylophone installed at the north portion of the nature based play area. Thank you to the anonymous donor who made this possible and to the City of Gresham for installing this amazing gift of music for the community.

Volunteer Programs
Friends of Nadaka would like to recognize the amazing work of our two Nadaka SummerWorks? Interns and seven STRYVE Interns (Striving to Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere) who helped lead and teach bilingual events for the Wilkes Elementary Books in the Park Program, HB Lee’s SUN Program, Home Forward Apartment complexes, and our summer Tadpole Tales event. In addition to these educational events, they were also instrumental in keeping the park in tip top shape by removing invasive plants, caring for two education garden plots, managing for the front 2 acres, helping with the Nadaka Community Festival and more. Four of these amazing interns have joined the ranks of the Nadaka Ambassadors to continue working at the park year round.

Cleanups & more
For the fall season, volunteers from the neighborhood showed their love for Nadaka at our SOLVE Beach and Riverside Cleanup in September and at the No Ivy Day event on October 28th alongside the “College Possible” High School youth to remove invasive plants and replace them with native plants. We also partnered with Audubon Society of Portland to host a September Bird Walk where we cataloged the number and variety of species passing through the park during fall migration. In the garden, we finished up our free hands on gardening workshop series with Outgrowing Hunger with a focus on “Harvesting Your Bounty” & “Shutting Down the Garden”. For those who are interested in gardening at the park, new garden registration for Nadaka begins February 1st. Contact Adam Kohl of Outgrowing Hunger (adam@outgrowinghunger.org) for more information and how to register for a garden plot.

Park Safety
At the end of August, we had over 40 people attend the Nadaka Community Safety meeting to voice their concerns, learn what is being done to keep the park safe, and give suggestions for improvements at the park. We wanted to thank NET (Neighborhood Enforcement Team), CVIP (Citizens Volunteering In Policing), Gresham Parks Department, St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church, East Metro Mediation, and the Nadaka Ambassadors for sharing what is being done on the ground and behind the scenes to ensure that Nadaka stays safe and clean. One of the areas of concern was the heavily vegetated space between the St. Aidan’s parking lot and meadow. Since the meeting, we have worked with the City of Gresham Parks Department to lift the canopy and create a line of sight from the parking lot into the meadow. We are so grateful for the hard work that the Parks Department to help address this area of concern and have noticed a marked improvement in the activities happening in that area. By our community taking ownership of the park through volunteering, voicing concerns and potential solutions, in addition to simply being a positive presence in the park, we can continues to ensure that Nadaka Nature Park stays a safe and welcoming space to nurture nature, food, and families.

Fall & Winter Activities
As promised, here are a few great events coming up at the park in the next few months! Join us for a Free Beneficial Insect Workshop with EMSWCD on 11/4 from 9am to 11:30 AM, MLK Day of Service Monday, January 15th, and the Community Planting Event in February (date still to be determined). Other great events to keep your eye out for are our Annual Free Indoor Gardening Workshop Series with Oregon Food Bank, Spring Migration Nature Walk and Welcome Back Vulture Day with Audubon Society of Portland.

Connect With Us
These are just a few of the activities we have in store for the community at Nadaka. For more information and opportunities to get involved and help create a positive social and environmental change in the Wilkes East and Rockwood community visit www.friendsofnadaka.org, “Friends of Nadaka” on Facebook, or contact Monica at monica@friendsofnadaka.org or 503-956-8558. We look forward to seeing everyone at the park!

2017 Fall Newsletter "Diversity, Harmony, Community - Together 'WE' can make a difference!”

Read it now!

Inside This Issue:   Rockwood Boys & Girls Club Opens Zimmerman House Holiday Tours Rosewood/162 Max Stop Name Change Happenings at Nadaka Nature Park Reynolds Athletics Hall or Fame Neighborhood Meeting, Nov 13th 7PM

Download your copy here. (includes active web links)

Newsletters are a regular publication of the Wilkes East Neighborhood Association. They are hand-delivered to over 1,500 residences and businesses in our area 3 times per year, timed to correspond with our regular meetings.

View archive   |   Policy & Ad Rates

by Monica McAllister
Nadaka Nature Park Coordinator

Summer is here, delicious berries are ripe, baby birds are taking flight, and we hope you have been able to get out and enjoy it all at Nadaka Nature Park! The past couple of months have been bustling with families enjoying the new swing set, community members gathering for parties at the picnic shelter, gardeners tending their veggies and flowers, and nature lovers of all ages exploring the forest. The past few months ‘Friends of Nadaka’ (FON) has been hard at work providing environmental education activities, community events, and stewardship opportunities for our neighbors, schools, and partnering organizations.

We are most excited about the upcoming Seventh Annual Nadaka Nature Park Festival that will take place August 12th from 12-3pm. This family friendly event will include a visit from the Audubon Society of Portland’s Education Birds, free hot dogs and drinks, crafts, games, face painting, dance and music performances. Various partnering organizations will have information booths and fun hands on activities for the whole family. We would love to have volunteers from the Wilkes East neighborhood to help with the event. If you are interested please contact Monica, the Nadaka Coordinator.

Rockwood Town Center final design. Click to enlarge

Office, apartments and marketplace in the works by Mohawk MAX stop.

From The Gresham Outlook

Gresham City Hall's ambitious plans to reshape the heart of Rockwood are nearly finalized.

All told, public leaders and private developers will plunk down at least $40 million to create the three-building development located between Burnside Road and the "Mohawk" MAX light-rail station at Stark Street and Southeast 188th Avenue.

As The Outlook previously reported, site designs call for commercial office space, residential apartments and an indoor/outdoor marketplace orbiting a central plaza.

Rockwood Town Center plaza. Click to enlarge

Rockwood Town Center 188th & E Burnside. Click to enlarge

The project, branded as "Rockwood Rising," sits on 5.15 acres that formerly housed west Gresham's Fred Meyer. The city's Redevelopment Commission purchased the land for $8.1 million in 2006.

The plans for the Rockwood Rising Redevelopment Project are nearing completion and are open to the public. Zane Sparling, of the Gresham Outlook, offers a breakdown of the design here.

Zimmerman House Muesum and Gardens, Gresham OR. Click to enlarge

Oregon Storytellers with a Local Lens

Right in Wilkes East Neighborhood’s backyard, near Sandy Boulevard and 171st, sits a white, Victorian house surrounded by lush grass and beautiful flower gardens. Have you ever noticed this beauty while driving by?

If you’ve always been curious or it’s been a long time since you’ve visited, let us introduce you to the Zimmerman House Museum and Gardens. This slice of Oregon heritage is run by ECHO – East County Historical Organization (your local historical society) and they have big plans to reinvigorate this Gresham Park.

ECHO’s new board has goals to make this former dairy farm into a thriving place of learning and an event space for the community. They are currently developing plans to add a paved driveway with designated parking spaces, ADA access to the gardens, and create an area for outdoor gatherings. Even though updates will be occurring, plans will hold true to the home’s designation as a historic property on the National Register.

The group is also redefining their educational mission for the museum, so be on the lookout for new exhibits, community events, and stop by for guided tours with expanded content. To start off, they are hosting their first archeological survey in the park on Saturday, September 30. They hope to rediscover some of the home’s former outbuildings like a bunkhouse, outhouses, and more. The public is welcome to join in.

Certified Backyard Habitat. Click to enlarge

The Backyard Habitat Certification Program

By Neta Courcey
Certified Backyard Habitat
Wilkes East Resident

Like neighborhoods are to cities, cities to counties, and counties to states, backyard habitats connect our yards to greenways and to wilderness, providing the essential pathways of interconnectedness that nourish the larger community. Communities of humans thrive when they are connected to each other and to the larger community. Just as neighborhood groups like Wilkes East are essential to building and maintaining the larger community, backyard habitats are essential to the community of birds and other wildlife. The swath of habitat that neighbors create is vital, providing refuge areas containing food, water, nesting places and shelter. I am proud to have my little yard be a piece of the bigger network that creates a web of natural habitats throughout the Portland metropolitan area and the Pacific Northwest.

2017 Summer Newsletter "Diversity, Harmony, Community - Together 'WE' can make a difference!”

Read it now!

Inside This Issue:   Rockwood Town Center Awaits Approval Come Visit Zimmerman House Backyard Habitat, Providing Community Nadaka Update, Happenings & More Neighborhood Meeting, Aug 14th 7PM

Download your copy here. (includes active web links)

Newsletters are a regular publication of the Wilkes East Neighborhood Association. They are hand-delivered to over 1,500 residences and businesses in our area 3 times per year, timed to correspond with our regular meetings.

View archive   |   Policy & Ad Rates

Bring Your Gloves, and a Friend! When: Wednesday & Saturday Weekly Where: Vance Park Pollinator Garden (behind the Park Place Cafe) 1400 SE 182nd Ave Gresham, OR Get Map!

Bee the first on your block to help us plant flowers for our new community pollinator garden at Vance Park! We must get these native and other bee-friendly plants, generously provided by the City of Gresham, in the ground in time for our V.I.P. (Very Important Pollinator) visitors.

So bring your garden gloves, water bottle and flower power spirit to the Vance Park Peace Garden, each and every Wednesday and Saturday, from 12 to 3 (weather permitting), beginning Wednesday, April 12th. Refreshments and tools will be provided. 1400 SE 182nd Ave, Gresham. The garden is the fenced area behind the Park Place Cafe parking lot, on the north western side of the park off of 182nd.

As you help build this new pollinator garden, you'll also learn more about our North American native bees and what you can do to help them in your own backyard. Celeste, our local native bee advocate, will be available at all the planting parties to answer any questions you may have about these essential pollinators and the flowers they visit.

We ask that you please confirm your attendance by contacting Keri Handaly, City Watershed Steward, at 503 618-2657, or by emailing her at: Keri.Handaly@GreshamOregon.gov. You may also contact Celeste directly at celeste.ets.hokin@gmail.com, if you have any questions about a planting event or to confirm attendance. This will help us keep track of how many people plan to participate on a given day and enable us to communicate directly with volunteers, should there be any last minute changes to the schedule due to weather or other factors.

See you there!

2017 Spring Newsletter "Diversity, Harmony, Community - Together 'WE' can make a difference!”

Read it now!

Inside This Issue:   Rockwood Town Center Design Chosen Friends of the Children in Rockwood Improving Bicycle Safety Along Halsey New Wilkes Elementary, Mar 14, 6PM Nadaka Update, Happenings & More Earth Day Recycling, City Hall 4/22

Download your copy here. (includes active web links)

Newsletters are a regular publication of the Wilkes East Neighborhood Association. They are hand-delivered to over 1,500 residences and businesses in our area 3 times per year, timed to correspond with our regular meetings.

View archive   |   Policy & Ad Rates

2016 Fall Newsletter "Diversity, Harmony, Community - Together 'WE' can make a difference!”

Read it now!

Inside This Issue:   Gresham Women’s Shelter Update Nadaka Park Delights Neighbors Reynolds HS Athletics Hall of Fame Holiday Cooking: Freeze the Grease WENA Board Elections Nov 14, 6PM

Download your copy here. (includes active web links)

Newsletters are a regular publication of the Wilkes East Neighborhood Association. They are hand-delivered to over 1,500 residences and businesses in our area 3 times per year, timed to correspond with our regular meetings.

View archive   |   Policy & Ad Rates