By LEAH BELL-JOHNSON

Beginning the 31st of May and lasting until the 9th of June, Portland’s neighborhoods will play host to the Village Building Convergence (VBC), a series of community-built projects held throughout the city. 

The Village Building Convergence is the flagship event of City Repair, a non-profit that “fosters thriving, inclusive and sustainable communities through the creative reclamation of public space.” 

According to their website, they encourage community involvement through a wide variety of “placemaking” projects, which range from creating street paintings at intersections to constructing urban gardens.

The Village Building Convergence will put City Repair’s placemaking projects on full display with 30 such projects scheduled throughout the city. Participants can choose from a wide variety of projects during the 10 days of the VBC as well as attend evening events.

City Repair has made sorting through and selecting projects of interest simple with an interactive map on their website. The map features three different types of pins corresponding to the different types of projects (intersection repair, ecological landscaping, and natural building) as well as a brief description of each project and its location. More in depth info on certain projects can be found on the “Project Sites List.”

Many of the projects are closer in, but in Lents, you can help the Lents Bridge Project paint the footbridge over I-205 (it connects SE 93rd with SE 96th at Steele Street). There will be food, music, and Portland Pickles players attending). 

In Montavilla, a community house called The Booty House, is inviting is building a raised swamp to capture rainwater: “This will create ecosystem for our two ducks while also saving the water it takes to refill their pond daily, provide water to cool our brews without using new water, and water our garden”

No reservations or tickets are required, except for the VBC’s Village Building Design Course (more info on the website). 

So this May 31st through June 9th join your neighbors in lending a hand to make Portland a better and stronger community!

Hello! If you’re here for 2018 Portland Adult Soapbox Derby video, we’re working on finishing the editing. Check back in a few days, or you can subscribe to get our posts, including a weekly culture and arts events listing for East Portland.

To tide you over, here are the videos we’ve done over the past few years. I hope you enjoy them! Thanks to all the hard-working volunteers and organizers that make this event so amazing.

DIY, day drinking, one of Portland’s most beautiful parks, and a hint of danger… the derby truly is Portland at its best.

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The 2014 video featured Sandy V on the mic. He’s a software developer who’s not afraid to try new things… like interview strangers while day drinking.

I was there in 2015, but didn’t film anything. It was a good time still.

In 2016, we stuck to the basics. I blame my woo-ing on the boxed rosé.

At 2017’s race, I sorta asked / sorta didn’t ask my friend Jason S. help me narrate throughout the day.

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There’s a Montavilla Neighborhood Association meeting this week, May 14th. Four candidates for Portland City Council will present, as well as representatives from Montavilla East Tabor Business Association and Mt. Tabor Stewardship Fund.

The full agenda is here.

Montavilla United Methodist Church, 232 SE 80th Ave *  6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

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FRIDAY

SATURDAY

The Lents Community Pet Parade is Saturday! It’s open for anyone, with a few safety considerations, of course. For more info go here.

Boys and Girls Club, 9330 SE Harold St * 11 am – 2 pm 

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“We are taking the archives on the road and traveling to neighborhood libraries. Drop by and learn what you can find in the City’s collections and how you can do your own research. City archivists are ready to answer questions and get you started on your research projects. Even if you don’t have any specific questions, stop by to look at historic photos from the surrounding neighborhoods.

First come, first served.”

Holgate Library, 7905 SE Holgate Blvd * 3 pm – 4 pm 

SUNDAY

The always excellent Montavilla Farmers Market is in its second weekend this Sunday. For more information on what’s in store for this market… go here.

Montavilla Farmers Market, 7700 block of SE Stark St * 10 am – 2 pm 

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If you haven’t tried Lent’s Zoiglhaus, Mother’s Day is a good opportunity:

FRIDAY

Cody Weathers & The Men Your Mama Warned You About, live at Cartlandia.

“America’s favorite scat-rockers bring their smorgasbord of musical influences to Portland’s ultimate smorgasbord, The Blue Room Bar at Cartlandia. Gorge yourselves.”

The Blue Room Bar at Cartlandia, 8145 SE 82nd Ave 

SATURDAY

“The first two candidate sections will be a more formal question and answer segment where candidates will be answering five questions, sourced from Southeast and East Portland neighborhood associations and organizations. At noon, candidates will stay for an informal meet and greet with light refreshments. (Please RSVP (here) to this event to help us plan for enough refreshments!)”

The Gathering Church, 5921 SE 88th Ave * 10 am – 1 pm 

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“But what is Participatory Budgeting (PB), how does it work, and how is it different from other forms of governing? What are the potential benefits for increasing government accountability, making participation more meaningful and equitable, and building trust and community? What can we learn from other cities as we experiment with PB in the Portland metro region?”

This is a free event, but registration (here) is requested. Lunch is provide, childcare and translation is provided upon request.

Rosewood Initiative, 16126 SE Stark St * 9 am – 3:30 pm

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“Join us this Saturday at our pop-up park on SE Stark Street! We’ll be taking over two parking spaces for a “parklet” as part of Portland Design Week. We’ll have fun activities for kids and adults to celebrate our neighborhood, National Poetry Month, and using the streets to build community!”

8037 SE Stark St * 10 am – 7 pm 

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“Come celebrate the new playground at Ventura Park!

Join the party to celebrate your new playground; free cake and activities.”

Ventura Park, SE 113th Ave and Stark St * 2 pm – 4 pm * free 

SUNDAY

“Courageous Vulnerability ‘How Can Men Support Women to Speak Up and Be Seen?’

A Non-Profit Fundraiser in Honor of #metoo, #hertoo, #timesup. Featuring an Expert Conference Panel with Audience Q & A. Presented by Cafe de la Culture, Musical Ambassadors for Peace, and 100 Thousand Poets for Change (Tickets).”

Taborspace, 5441 SE Belmont St * 5 pm – 7 pm * $20 – $100

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On Thursday, April 12th, Mayor Ted Wheeler will be giving his State of the City address— and he’s chosen Portland Community College Southeast on 82nd as its location.

It’s a nice gesture, but if you follow City politics you’ll notice a trend of facilities being sited in East Portland without respectful notice or even proper process. The shelter on Foster Rd and the bottle drop planned for 82nd Ave are two recent, glaring examples.

Choosing locations for services can be challenging, but starting the process should be very simple: follow your own rules and communicate. The hard work of reaching compromise is made even harder when the City does neither. Wheeler is asking for feedback, and his first question is: “How would you like to see our communities become even stronger?”

Follow your own rules and communicate with neighbors. It would be a good start.

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The community and gardening events are really starting to ramp up for the spring, and this weekend you’ll find some great art & music events like the Whitenoise Project and a preview of the Montavilla Jazz Festival.

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There’s a Montavilla Neighborhood Association meeting on Monday, April 9th. Special guest for this meeting: Julia DeGraw, a candidate for Portland City Council position #2, and City Commissioner Nick Fish.

There’ll also be presentations from: Juliet Purcell, Portland Community College Adult Basic Education / GED program & a presentation about the development at 90th Ave & SE Hoyt. The agenda is here. 

Montavilla UMC, 232 SE 80th Ave * general meeting: 6:30 pm, board meeting: 8 pm 

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I got a good look at the site of the new community garden on Oregon Department of Transportation land this week… 🙂

There’ll be a dedication ceremony for Earth Day, I hear.

View this post on Instagram

Location of the new garden in Lents on ODOT property: ✨🌱✨

A post shared by Andrew Wilkins (@atwilkins) on Apr 5, 2018 at 7:40pm PDT

FRIDAY

“On Friday, April 6th the Whitenoise Project is thrilled to be able to host Michelle Peñaloza as our first visiting reader as well as the illimitable Samiya Bashir and Stacey Tran for a special reading to celebrate Stacey’s newly released ‘Soap for the Dogs’!

ADA accessible and all ages! No one will be turned away for lack of funds.”

SATURDAY

Under the radar of most people, there’s a lot of grassroots organizing happening in East Portland. Even the conflicts show that people care passionately about their neighborhoods and are committed to staying involved locally.

It’s interesting to see the variety of initiatives and events being organized by both neighbors, and the City, to help people take on the issues that matter to them. I do my best to help spread the word about cool organizing ideas happening in East Portland, and there are a few new ones:

Jennifer Young, a neighborhood organizer in Lents is hosting a fund raiser Saturday for several neighborhood projects (see below). I’m also curious to see how the new livability pilot program initiated by Portland Police’s East Precinct Neighborhood Response Team develops.

FRIDAY

Live music at The Blue Room Bar at  Cartlandia with Steve Hale.

8145 SE 82nd Ave * 8 pm – 11 pm – free

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SATURDAY

Fund raiser for Lents community projects (FB invitation):

“Please join us on Facebook Live-under my [Jennifer Young] profile— or what will be a fun filled telethon. We are raising money for a community garden project which will create a safe space for low-income families. We are also working on a community intersection mural project in Lents.

We will have an auction! We will take live on air pledges calls! We will have special guests! I will keep you posted about auction items and a link you can access to pledge/donate to these fantastic projects.

Please tell your friends! We would love to talk to you live or have you stop by to say hello. Share this widely. Let us entertain you for three hours!”

Jennifer Young’s FB page * noon – 3 pm

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It’s the last weekend of the Winter Farmers at Portland Mercado:

“Support Local Growers, Artisans and Entrepreneurs in our Indoor/Outdoor Farmers Market. Kids Activities, Live Music [by traditional Cuban band Ache Son], Food Demonstrations, Chef @ the Market Cooking & Education Program.”

Portland Mercado, 7238 SE Foster Rd * 10 am – 2 pm 

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Sacred Lattice Collective presents a seed swap and medicinal plant start sale:

“Bring your seeds to exchange and prepare for your medicinal plant garden! This event is free and open to everyone.”

Milepost 5, 8155 NE Oregon St * 11 am – 2 pm 

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SUNDAY

“The Post”, “The Last Jedi”, and seven other second-run movies are showing this weekend at Academy Theater.

7818 SE Stark St * show times *  $4 for adults, $3 for youth & seniors

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