Carol:

March finished up with the Mt. Storm Jamboree at the high school. We had a
total of 300 kids grades 3rd-6th from all of the different OTSD schools. We gave out sportsmanship awards to certain kids that exemplified good sportsmanship. We also gave out awards to the coaches and they voted among themselves. Overall it was another success for this program. Thanks to SandyNet for sponsoring all the t-shirts for the kids.

More work on the Drop In Event in August. Getting more vendors for the event.

Yappy Hour will have 5 new vendors joining us this year. Nya’s Cakes, Pine & Paw, KindCare Vet, Evergreen Pet supply, and 1 spoiled dog.

The Department hosted their 4th Silent Disco at the Community Center for the teens. Thanks to Maeco and Bills’ Automotive for their donation to make this event possible.

The Summer Recreation Guide will be completed and printed by the end of April.

Amy:

– Earlier this month we had our annual our Pollinator Panel, feature three local experts who shared their knowledge and answered some very inquisitive and thoughtful questions from the audience. We would like to extend a HUGE thank you to Suzi from Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District, Kris from OSU Extension Service Master Gardener™, and Dakota from Clackamas River Basin Council for being willing to share their valuable time and knowledge with the people of Sandy and to help us celebrate National Learn About Butterflies Day.

– Sandy’s Mt. Storm Youth Basketball program wrapped up another great season, serving nearly 300 local athletes across 30 teams! From December through March, players built skills, confidence, teamwork, and friendships—all while having fun on the court.
The season ended with the annual Jamboree on March 14, celebrating players and honoring outstanding sportsmanship. One team from each of the leagues was awarded the Glenn Svaren Sportsmanship Award. Congratulations to Team Schmidt, Team Egging, Team Owens, and Team Martin (pictured below).

A huge thank you to our athletes, families, volunteer coaches, referees, and the Oregon Trail School District for making this program possible. We’d also like to extend a special thank you to our first Mt. Storm Basketball League sponsor, SandyNet—Sandy’s locally owned and operated internet provider. You can learn more about them here: www.ci.sandy.or.us/sandynet

– Hosted volunteer day at the Sandy Community Gardens with the Sandy Rotary Club! We were able to clean up from winter and get prepared for the Spring 🙂

Caroleana:

Caroleana had over 202 senior related calls this month.   

We continued to hold congregate lunches on Tuesday.  In the month of March we served on 5 Tuesday, with 5 new guests and a total of 96 meals served in the month. 

For Energy Assistance in March, Caroleana helped with 8 applications; 5 were approved and several others are pending.  

This month the senior service department held the March for Meals campaign fundraising efforts. We continued advertising at the local cinema and in the Sandy paper.   

This year we have sponsorship opportunities for local businesses to support our efforts.  We received 3 gold sponsors, 2 silver sponsors and 2 bronze sponsor and 1 friends sponsor; reaching $4,750.

We held the dinner and bingo event on March 13th; which turned out well. All 50 tickets were sold, many who attended said they had a great time.   5 Bingo prizes were won, and lots of delicious tacos were enjoyed from Taqueria El Jaliscience.  A huge thank you for their generous donation of food for the evening.    

$420 on March 13th from raffle sales.  

The Bingo Dinner raised $1,075  =  $1,495.

5 restaurant match dates were held in March for the March for Meals Campaign. 

13 awesome baskets were secured from local businesses for the march for meals campaign. These were advertised throughout the month of March.  In total the 13 baskets raised close to $1,000.

Marc:

Senior Trips:

• Dine out at Boccelli’s in Gresham. We had 11 people with 5 meeting us there.
• Hike at Tickle Creek with lunch at Smoky Hearth afterwards on the day that it was part of the March for Meals Fundraiser. We were supposed to have 9 people joining us for the hike but we had a couple last minute cancellations due to the rain. 4 additional seniors joined for lunch only.
• 
• Dine out at Famous Dave’s BBQ at Cascade Station. We have been to Famous Dave’s before after a hike but not as a dine out. Was really popular. Had a full bus.
• Deepwood Museum and Gardens Annual Plant Sale & Horticultural Tours in Salem with lunch at McGrath’s Fish House afterwards. Deepwood offers free tours of the house and gardens for this annual event and it quite an interesting historical house. A lot of us had never been before and some didn’t even knew that it existed. We did have a full bus but it dropped to 10 before the day of the event.
• Hike at the Tilikum Crossing bridge with lunch at Old Spaghetti Factory afterwards. Fun bridge to walk across. Really windy though! Wasn’t bad though along the waterfront though. 10 people joining me for this one.
• Thriftapalooza at the Expo Center.  We had 6 but that turned into 3 so unfortunately we had to cancel this one due to lack of participation which is too bad because my wife’s coworker goes every year and she says it is an amazing thrift/swap meet.

Meals on Wheels:

• 689
• Covered one of the routes for a driver who couldn’t make it in.

Chelsea:

• Processed invoices related to various park projects.
• Updated the center TV with the most updated flyers and information. 
• Continued to monitor the budget for Deer Pointe park and Meinig Park Renovations
• Assisted with submitting the Meinig Park Renovation project for a Home Depot Grant opportunity. 
• Created the March Parks Board Agenda, recorded the meeting, took and wrote minutes, posted the video recording. 
• Assisted with editing another grant application and gathering letters of support from project stakeholders. 
• Drafted documents for the Upcoming Meinig Invitation to bid, including the Invitation to Bid and all the associated documents with that. 
• Assisted with filling in while Tiana and John were on vacation. 
• Park rentals are really starting to pick up, we noticed an uptake during Spring break week. 
• Communicated with the Bornstedt House property manager to collaborate on repairs during a change in tenants. 
• Created an April Lunch menu. 
• Started to print park rental schedules as it’s getting to be that time of year. 
• Helped inquire for bids with Arborist’s for the Meinig Park Renovations. 
• Attended an electrical site walk at Meinig Park. 
• Input Summer recreation classes into Sportsman. 

John:

Administrative & Financial Coordination

• Met with the Finance Team to join a small working group focused on developing a more streamlined and efficient process for Accounts Payable (AP) invoice management across the City of Sandy.

Event Planning & Development

• Continued coordination with NW Eclipse Solutions on “The Drop In,” a two-day skate and bike event to be held at Cedar Park. Planning efforts are being managed through Basecamp.
• Collaborated with the Director and City legal counsel to ensure all vendor application materials meet required legal and operational standards for hosting vendors at a large-scale event.

Youth Sports Programming

• Provided on-site support during Mt. Storm youth basketball league games, offering real-time feedback to officials, addressing questions, and ensuring smooth and consistent league operations.

Interdepartmental Collaboration & Training

• Partnered with the Sandy Library to plan a route and develop an informal training program for library staff to become familiar with the mobile library service.
• Leveraged Parks & Recreation’s accessible vehicle training program to support Sandy Library staff in operating the mobile library bus, providing both online modules and hands-on ride-along training opportunities.

Senior Services & Community Engagement

• Assisted Caroleana Smallwood in successfully organizing and executing the Bingo Dinner Fundraiser as part of the Sandy March for Meals campaign.
• The event helped raise funds and awareness for the Meals on Wheels program serving the community.

Facilities & Safety Improvements

• Coordinated with United Fire, Centric Elevator, and Christenson Electric to replace two smoke detection devices connected to the elevator and central fire panel system at the Community/Senior Center.
• These upgrades ensure compliance with current fire and life safety codes.

Parks & Facilities:

 Brandon attended the Oregon Recreation and Park Association Maintenance
Academy, a two-day professional development workshop.
 Seasonal park preparations are underway, including activating irrigation systems
and drinking fountains, and returning tables to park sites.
 Park shelters are being pressure washed in preparation for increased seasonal
use.
 Community Garden planter beds are being maintained and prepared for the
upcoming growing season.
 All playgrounds have been inspected. Minor repairs were completed on-site, with
additional parts ordered as needed. Fresh playground surfacing (chips) has been
delivered and will be installed at priority locations.
 Ryan has been addressing multiple facility needs, including roof leaks of varying
severity, ADA door access button repairs, lighting issues, and structural
improvements at Fantasy Forest.
 Recruitment is underway for two part-time seasonal parks maintenance
positions.

Upcoming Events and Dates to remember:

April 2nd- Senior Egghunt at the library. 4/2
April 3rd- Teen Flashlight Egghunt at Meinig Park.

April 8th (Create)/April 22nd (Glaze)- Clay Class at the Senior Center!

– The Sandy Community and Senior Center offers entry level clay classes for adults and seniors. For April’s class they’ve partnered with Sandy’s Bee City USA Action group to make helpful items for insects! There will also be two guest speakers during the classes.
Big thank you to Heather Michet from the Bee City Action Group and Dakota Hufford from the Clackamas River Basin Council for sharing their knowledge.

April 18th- Solve Clean up

– On Saturday, April 18th from 9:00am-1:00pm the City of Sandy will celebrate Earth Day with our annual Solve It In Sandy clean-up event! We welcome all ages and any amount of time that volunteers have to give for the event. Drop by the Sandy Community Center on April 18th to pick up supplies (and some coffee from Starbucks!) and chose your location to clean-up. Please consider registering prior to the event through the poster QR or online here: https://volunteer.solve.org/…/solve-it-in-sandy-2026...Earth Day is one of the largest observances in the world, marked by more than a billion people every year as a day of action. We hope to make our Earth Day impact in Sandy by investing in the cleanliness of our parks and we hope to see you there! Thank you to Solve, Starbucks, and Hoodview Disposal & Recycling for helping us host this event!

April 21st- Native Plant Month

– April is National Native Plant Month! Now’s the time to celebrate our native Oregon plants that naturally thrive in our ecosystems and support local pollinators. To celebrate, try planting native species, removing invasives, or learn about our Northwest Native Plants and the Amazing Insects They Attract at a special presentation on Tuesday, April 21st from 6:00-7:00pm at the Sandy Community and Senior Center. Freelance Garden Writer, Amy Campion, will be exploring this topic and any Q&A you might have! Learn more about her here: amycampion.com/about-me/

April 21st- Invitation to Bid (ITB) for Meinig Park scheduled for release

April 23rd & 24th- Tiana will attend the Oregon Recreation and Park Association Directors Retreat

April 24th- Arbor Day tree planting event at Tupper Park – April 24

-The City of Sandy will be celebrating Arbor Day by planting new trees at Tupper Park! Much like Earth Day, Arbor Day is a holiday that celebrates nature. Its purpose is to encourage people to plant trees. Trees support the health of our planet, provide habitat for many critters, and reduce stress in humans. Planting even one tree makes a difference. If you would like to help us plant some trees, please meet at Tupper Park on April 24th at 2:00pm. The event will end once all of the trees have been planted. Please make sure to wear appropriate clothing. This event will happen rain or shine! If you have any questions about this event, please contact Amy at Alytle@ci.sandy.or.us.

May 14th- Yappy Hour at Sandy Bluff park