The month of November was a full month while we geared up for December and all the craziness that comes along with the Holiday season.
November was Caroleana’s first full month with us as our new Client Services Coordinator. She nested in the beginning and set up her new office. There was lots of learning: Napis forms, Energy assistance mailings, how to set up coolers for MOW, ect. She did her first home visit which happened to be her first intake client. She sent out 10 energy assistance applications (which helps residents in Sandy) and called all of last year’s list asking if they would like to apply for this year. Caroleana also designed a new Senior Nutrition brochure, welcome postcard, and thank you card. Along with this, she created a Senior Nutrition Program poster for the Holiday Lights in Meinig Park Event to help gain Nutrition donations for the Center. She also designed a Senior Event Calendar that will be 24X36 inches for the front lobby- including researching prices from 3 companies. The seniors have really liked this feature so far.
John, Caroleana, and one of our volunteers connected with Lake Oswego’s Respite Program Coordinator to observe and discuss how Sandy could replicate a similar program.
John met with the State’s and Clackamas County’s Nutrition coordinators to finalize and discuss our new plan for congregate meals. We will be partnering with AntFarm to provide free meals in a congregate setting to our local seniors. We have submitted our menu for dietary approval and are hoping to start marketing in January. John also received and signed final documentation for our $25,000 Congregate Meal Infrastructure Grant. This grant will help us to make necessary repairs to our kitchen.
-Our new Recreation Coordinator, Amy, started remotely. She will be full time and in person starting December 29th. However, John and her have been working together remotely to get her up to speed before she starts in person. We are looking forward to being fully staffed!
Carol and John finalized and submitted our Winter/Spring Recreation Guide for printing. Recreation Guides will be available Tuesday December 6th.
Carol has been busy with Mt. Storm. Registration closed with 218 total registrations. Open Gyms and Skills assessments have been completed- more than 200 5th and 6th graders showed up for these events. Meetings will conclude on Dec 8th with all coaches, rosters will be complete and kids will be on the courts ready to practice before winter break.
The Lights at Meinig were finished up by December 1st. Tiana and her crew spent more that 200 hours total hanging up the lights, placing giant candy canes and nutcrackers, and running all the extension cords and timers. Carol received 1 more sponsorship for the lights in Meinig- Geren’s Farm and Landscape Supply. We are excited for all our holiday events coming up in December and hope the community loves what’s been created.
John, Tiana, and Chelsea attended an IPM focus group meeting with a few of our Parks
& Trails Advisory Board members to discuss our updated IPM.
Marc took a few smaller groups of seniors to Quiltopia and the Holiday Gift Market. He also took a full bus of seniors on a mystery drive through the backroads of Gresham and Damascus ending at Black Bear Diner for lunch. Many had not been to the diner before and loved it. The hike and lunch in Zig Zag was also well received.
Chelsea organized and lead a meeting for our employee appreciation luncheon and hired a caterer. We’re excited to gather with other city personnel on December 15th and celebrate the holidays.
The Community Campus RFP closed on November 16th. We had 4 proposals. They were ranked by a selection committee comprised of the project manager (Parks and Rec director), Parks and Trails Advisory Board Chair, Parks Manager, and Development Services Director. We decided to interview the top three firms and those interviews were scheduled for December 5th.
– We offered a Thanksgiving meal at the center the Tuesday before thanksgiving. We had it catered by Busy Bee Catering. The seniors enjoyed gathering again and getting to share a meal here. Our staff all came together to make this happen and was such a heart warming day for all of us.
Upcoming Events:
-Dec. 10th: A Dramatic Reading with the Snow Queen from 6-7:30 (Meinig Park)
-Dec 15th: Employee Appreciation Holiday Luncheon at the Center
-Dec. 18th: Estampa y Santa from 6-7:30 (Meinig Park)
-Dec. 21st: Shortest Day Walkway from 6-7:30 (Meinig Park)
-Dec. 26th: Center Closed (Christmas Day Observed)
-Dec. 28th: Holiday Happy Hour from 6-7:30 (Meinig Park)