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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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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.

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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!”

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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

Complete with bird walks, play spaces, and a community garden—and soon Gresham’s first handicapped-accessible swing.

Source: Portland Monthly Magazine (November 2016)

One spring morning in 2007, Lee Dayfield took her dog for a walk. As she passed an empty field, she saw a sign that would forever change her life. It read “for sale.”

The desolate plot of grass sat next to 10 acres ringed by a chain-link fence and barbed wire. Where others may have seen a $900,000 meadow, Dayfield saw a two-acre opportunity: a nature-based play area for the Gresham neighborhood’s children, many of them Native American.

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

Read it now!

Inside This Issue:   Shelters Quickly Fill with Homeless Waterside Apt Selects Design Summer Happenings at Nadaka Wilkes Elementary Design Chosen 6th Nadaka Festival, Sat Aug 20th WENA Summer Meeting, Aug 22, 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