Monthly Archives: March 2020

Community Services – February 2020

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On February 21st, the department served up a fabulous Spaghetti dinner which was donated from the Olive Garden. The staff and volunteers served over 100 people. The dinner included spaghetti, salad, bread sticks, and beverages. After dinner, community members headed upstairs to play several rounds of Bingo. Prizes were donated from various local businesses. The fundraiser raised over $700.00 which will go toward scholarships for youth to participate in recreation programs. Thank you to all our volunteers who helped set up for the event, serve meals, bus tables, and clean up. A special thank you to Carol Cohen for working hard to get the donations and Carol Ann Kosbau for calling Bingo this evening.

Senior Services

In August, we begin the process of applying for the the SAGE
(Senior advocated for Generational Equity) Seniors for EVs Project. We pleased to share the good news that our Senior Center has been selected as a key partner in ​the this project. ​This project is funded by PGE in conjunction with their efforts to introduce electric vehicles (EVs) to a wide range of communities. SAGE is a nonprofit organization that promotes civic service and community engagement in Northern Oregon. SAGE recently received a three-year grant to lease an electric vehicle and to install a charging station for the City of Sandy Senior Center as well as another facility that serves seniors in Portland. In addition to the vehicle and charging station, SAGE will offer an EV 101 workshop and a ride-and-drive event for community members to try out different vehicles, and SAGE will support a car share program to serve seniors in our region. We are excited to partner with SAGE to support the use of electric vehicles while also breaking down barriers to transportation so seniors can stay connected and engaged in community. This project has been made possible by DEQ’s Oregon Clean Fuels Program via the PGE Drive Change Fund.

During the month of February the seniors enjoyed several new recreational outings throughout the region. They were treated to a private showing of a film on the National Parks at OMSI, visited the Oregon Territory Museum in Oregon City, Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, and a drive Multnomah Falls. As part of our continuing Local Flair trips, the seniors visited the new Bigfoot Museum in Boring and then headed down to the Not so Boring Grill for Lunch.

There continues to be rise in anxiety among the seniors with changing of times. Kim Whitely from Clackamas County Behavioral Health came and made a presentation to a group of 10-15 seniors. From Worry to Panic: Let’s talk about anxiety gave seniors a broader understanding of anxiety vs. fear & panic attacks, types of anxiety, and suggestions for coping with anxiety.

Recreation

During the winter/spring session in addition to long running programs like Pee Wee Soccer and Kinderdance,  new recreation programming has been introduced. These include new acting workshops, stem programs, skate programs, and fitness programs.Mountain Storm had a full schedule with nearly 200 kids playing basketball and refereeing. Overall there were 411 participants in recreation programs in the month of February. Most of these participants visited a recreation program once a week for the month of February, and many multiple times a week. Summer programming was firmed up in February and there are exciting options for summer 2020. These include Tracker’s Earth, We Are Camp, Skyhawks and Camp Namanu. 

Parks Master Plan

On February 27th the first public meeting was held at the Sandy Community Center. We had approximately 30 – 40 community members attend. There was great feedback and interactive exhibits.

  • The Spanish language public meeting at Sandy Vista was on March 11th.
  • Meetings are planned to continue to refine the planned approach on the unclassified city open space parcels on the park inventory map.  Input will be confirmed and incorporated into the inventory map, and park acreage.
  • Both English and Spanish surveys are online until March 15. After it closes, JLA will process the data and summarize the input for discussion at the next TAC scheduled for the beginning of April.
  • The ESA team will conduct a quick site analysis on the Champion Way and Deer Point parks in March in order to present findings and discuss what to include for the preliminary park concepts at the next TAC.
  • After receiving concept input from the TAC, ESA will put together preliminary park design concepts for review by TAC and City staff, prior to presentation at the Longest Day Parkway.