Nearly 150 neighbors, community partners, and volunteers came out to the Skyline Tavern on Saturday, August 22, to mark fifty years of the Forest Park Neighborhood Association. Fifty years is a long time for a neighborhood to keep showing up for itself. Thank you for showing up for it.
None of the afternoon happens without Scott Becker and the team at the Skyline Tavern. Scott gave his time, his space, and a real effort to bring everyone together, and he has been a partner to this neighborhood well beyond one Saturday. Then he sat in on drums with the band for a few songs, sharing even more with us all.
Jawbone Flats played through the afternoon on the back patio, under the big firs and looking out over the meadow where the West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District has been supporting conservation work. It was a good place to stand and listen.
Board President Pat Bowman opened the program, our host Scott Becker welcomed everyone. District 4 Councilor Eric Zimmerman spoke, and we are grateful to him and to Councilors Olivia Clark and Mitch Green for the attention they give this part of the city. Thank you as well to the District 4 Coalition and the City of Portland’s Office of Civic Life, who support the neighborhood association system that makes a day like this possible.
This celebration was supported in part by a micro-grant from the District 4 Coalition and by a Splash grant from the West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District. That funding is the reason a volunteer board could put on an afternoon at this scale.
Our sponsors carried the rest. Cornell Farm sponsored the coffee and pastries and ran the houseplant swap. The West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District sponsored the history display triptych inside the Tavern, well over fifty years of this neighborhood laid out on boards. Amaterra sponsored the storytelling raffle.
FPNA sponsored catering from two local favorites, Elephant’s Deli and Dairy Hill ice cream, and ran a shuttle so neighbors could get between the parking lots and the Tavern without walking the shoulder of Skyline. The ice cream was free, and it went through every last bite.
Our conservation, civic and public safety partners filled the lot. Every group brought the engagement and enthusiasm that made the day and reminded us why we love it here:
Special thanks to the volunteer committee who spent months pulling this together: Scott Becker, Pat Bowman, Ralph Brooks, Michael Cordisco, Bettina Davis, Veronica Dullack, Hadley Hegg, Victoria Isaac, Rich Kolbell, and Jonathan Perry.
More hands showed up on the day itself: board members Jim Emerson, Leslie Hildula, and Carol Chesarek; board family members Jason Dullack and Jenna Cordisco; Marv Hautala and David, a neighbor who recently moved in across the street and pitched in no questions asked.
Months of work for an afternoon that lasted three hours. They held fifty years well.
Three raffle prizes went out at four o’clock: two pairs of $25 Skyline Restaurant gift certificates, and the Amaterra Sip and Savor certificate to a storytelling raffle entrant.
If Saturday made you want more of this, there are two ways in. Sign up for the FPNA mailing list, and/or come to a meeting.
The next one is Tuesday, September 15, at 7 p.m. at Skyline Memorial Gardens, 4101 NW Skyline Blvd, Gate 2.
Thank you, neighbors. Here is to the next fifty.
