Carol:

Mt Storm has been open for a month for registration.

The Winter Recreation Guide is being worked on and will have new classes for teens and youth like science and art classes. The goal is to pass out the 2025 Winter Guide before the end of December.

Sandy Library and the Recreation Dept partnered together for the Halloween Hunt in Meinig. It was a little cold but over 100 kids still showed up. Lots of candy was given out. Dutch Bros gift cards were given out to the winners who found the golden pumpkins.

A total of $12,250 has been raised from Winterfest sponsors- that is gold, silver, and friends of the lights.
The team is working on talking to businesses to be part of the merry makeover. The businesses are very excited about doing it again for Winterfest. More details next month.

Amy:

– Mt Storm Instructional League Finished! About 45 children in grades K-2 spent 6 weeks learning the basics of basketball while having fun 🙂
– Wildfire and Pollinator Presentation – Dr. Graham Frank discussed the effects of forest fires on our local ecosystem. Graham is a forest ecologist at OSU studying how the biodiversity in our forests respond to disturbances in the environment. 
– Mt Storm Registration Completed – 260 children are fully registered to play Mt Storm Basketball.

-Full Moon Hike on October 17th – OSU Naturalist Lecia and Parks and Rec employee Amy lead a full moon hike and hunt for bats at Sandy Bluff Park. 

-Insect Presentation on October 18th – We had a creepy crawly educational presentation at the Sandy Community Center! Folks got up close and personal with fascinating critters (like roaches, crickets, worms, flies, and more!!), while learning about their incredible roles in our ecosystem, and getting tips if you want to raise them in your own home!

-ORPA Conference – Amy learned a lot at the three day ORPA conference in Sunriver, OR. 

Caroleana:

October was a rush of meetings and it went by way too quickly.   

Caroleana had over 396 senior related calls.   This month the center had 7 new MOW clients; which involved home visits with each client and a completed NAPIS form for Clackamas County.   Caroleana further offered and assisted each household with other available resources. 

Caroleana helped support our team by packing coolers and delivering several routes for meals on wheels.  

Caroleana had an Energy Assistance meeting with Marcos and Anfisa.  She learned about funding available and where grant funds are coming from.  Learned about new requirements for the Clackamas County EA program.  As well as the electricity scam going on right now and to advise seniors to be aware.  

She scored very well on the program feedback for the last fiscal year.  Submitted approximately 140 applications with only 6 corrections and 1 denial.  That is a 95.5% score; which was notated as Superior.  

It was noted “ Sandy Community/ Senior Center had provided the necessary information to assure the intake process is effective, efficient and reduce the burden to low-income seniors in your community”  

The Energy Assistance (winter heating) program started this month, with priority going to seniors 62+.  Caroleana started making calls to prior clients and scheduling appts.  She also distributed info flyers with the income guidelines at AntFarm, Sandy health Clinic, and Sandy Vista Apartments- giving them a spanish version of flier.

For the month of October Caroleana completed and submitted 28 applications for local senior households, and has 9 applications pending. 

Sent out Letters to 3 local lawyers requesting their involvement in the Legal Aid clinics that she is striving to start back up.  One Lawyer has responded to the letter and said yes he would most definitely help out again. 

Continued to plan and meet with Jolie at Mt Hood Hospice for Veterans event in November.   Had one meeting with Bert and Jackie Key, who offered their knowledge, and connections. Advertised for Veterans event publishing on social media and throughout town at local businesses. 

Several online trainings that helped enhance my job skills and knowledge base on local community resources in Clackamas county

• Serving Older Adults with Limited English Proficiency – translators over the phone 
• Zoom Sandy Connect learned about Energy Trust in our community help service homes with improvements
• Mind and Music series- explores the power of music to reach those with dementia and other neurologic conditions

Coordinated and Hosted NAMI at the Center for staff to attend; Mental Health Matters.  

NAMI, Clackamas is a grassroots non-profit organization committed to improving the quality of life for everyone by providing free mental health education, support, and advocacy. This was an excellent opportunity to expand our understanding of mental health and the resources available in our community. 

Event: 

Mt. Hood Hospice Class, Grief and The Holidays: 7 attended 

AARP Safe driving Class: 18 attended. 

Future Events: 

Veterans Event 

Marc:

SENIOR TRIPS

– Hike & Lunch – Lewis & Clark Discovery trail and Golden Corral in Vancouver – 10 people

– Hood River Harvest Festival with a stop at Packer Orchards and Bakery on the way back – Full bus with a waiting list

– Dine out at Black Bear Diner in Gresham -9 people with 4 meeting us there

– Hike & Lunch – Hawthorn & Douglas Fir trail loop at Powell Butte and lunch at Red Robin in Gresham – 10 people with Carol joining us and 2 people meeting us there

– Lunch at Olive Garden then End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Oregon City – Full Bus

– Dine out at Wan Lungs in Happy Valley – Full Bus with 1 person meeting us there

MOW

– 1108 meals served

John:

Continued work on our Kitchen updates to ensure that we can start serving congregate meals to our local senior population.  Stove was delivered and installed.  Next steps are to update the suppression system and recruit volunteers.

Attended the annual Oregon Recreation & Parks Association Conference.  Lead a one hour session about Special Events and Recreational Sports where we talked goals, needs and best practices in the industry.

Worked with contractor on the installation of the final wayfinding signs, map/legend and rules for Cedar Park.

Coordinated with Spoke N Wheel, the branding and marketing company for American Ramp Company (designers and builders of Basecamp, the skate park, pump track and jumpline at Cedar Park) to film, interview and take still shots to help us market our newest amenity.

Continued the coordination, planning and marketing of our 3rd annual Winterfest.

Chelsea:

• Processed invoices related to various park projects. 
• Attended meetings in regards to various ongoing park projects
• Took and recorded meeting notes for ARC’s work at Cedar Park 
• Shopped for refreshments for Meinig Park’s Open House #2 and worked the front desk for the event. 
• Drafted various signs and publications for upcoming Parks & recreation needs. 
• Did a lot of prep for the Cedar Park Grand Opening. I ordered VIP swag, made VIP tickets, put together VIP bags, created the program, and created lists for the day of. 
• Took a tour of Hidden Creek Park to view the Earthscapes custom playground. 
• Did a grant update for Cedar Park & submitted for our first reimbursement request for that project. 
• Completed the November and December newsletter and got it printed for distribution. A copy was also emailed out to those that elect to receive it via email. 
• Drafted letters to the neighbors of Cedar Park about the Scenic street closure due to paving. 
• Attended a NAMI presentation on mental health and suicide.

Parks & Facilities Report:

Upcoming and important dates/events:
Nov 5th/7th- Mt. Storm open gyms for grades 5/6.

November 6th- Final Bee City USA Action Group Meeting, 5:30-6:30

November 8th- Veteran’s event!

November 12th & 14th- Skills assessments for grades 5/6.
November 13th- Coaches meeting for grades ¾.

November 15th- Hoot and a Howl – Full Moon Hike from 5:00pm-7:30pm

November 19th- Coaches meeting for teams for grades 5/6 boys and girls.
November 22nd- Winterfest 2024 begins! Tree lighting is this night as well!

November 26th- Senior Thanksgiving at the Center

November 28th & 29th- Center closed for Thanksgiving weekend

Carol:

Corn Cross for the kids was a huge success. We had over 120 kids and 80% of these kids are ages 2-16 that came from Sandy. The kids course was longer this year with more time in the corn maze. Thanks to Coach Robbie with his skills and bringing his obstacles and air bags, the kids were challenging themselves on these fun obstacles. This was the first year Northwest Trails Alliance came to be part of Corn Cross. They gave out medals to all the kids. Parents were so excited to have the kids go through the maze and have it more challenging. Everfresh & CCB were our sponsors for this event.

Finishing up on sponsorships for Winterfest events. So far, we have $11,000 raised. We have some new sponsors like Wegener Travel and Cruise and other businesses changed their sponsorships to higher levels.

Amy:

Held a softball umpire meeting to learn from the 2024 season and make changes for the 2025 season.
Facilitated a volunteer day in the Sandy Community Gardens with the Sandy Rotary Club.

Coordinated for a Master Gardener to present in the Sandy Community Gardens about Fall and Winter gardening. Hosted a volunteer work day in the gardens after the Master Gardener finished her presentation and Q&A. 

Assisted with Kiddie Cross at Liepold Farms.

Held an outreach booth for an event at the Library. 

Hosted an Insect Hunt in Meinig Park with an OSU Naturalist. 

Began instructional league classes for the Mt Storm Basketball league (about 50 children enrolled). 

Opened registration for the 3/4 and 5/6 grade Mt Storm Basketball league. 

Opened registration for the 2025 season of the Community Gardens. 

Distributed Fall Recreation Guides. 

Started promoting the #Leavetheleaves campaign in Sandy!

Caroleana:

September went by way too quickly.   

Caroleana had over 280 senior related calls.   This month the center had 8 new MOW clients; which involved home visits with each client and a completed NAPIS form for Clackamas County.   Caroleana further offered and assisted each household with other available resources. 

Caroleana helped support our team by packing coolers and delivering several routes for meals on wheels.  

She also went on a hike with the seniors to Troutdale’s Blue Lake Park.  It was a beautiful day and the bus was full.  

The summer cooling Energy Assistance program ended this month.  Caroleana completed and submitted 6 applications. 

Started on a Legal Aid Clinic letter and intake paperwork.  

Starting to plan and meet with Jolie at Mt Hood Hospice for the Veterans event in November.  

Attended several online trainings that helped enhance my job skills and knowledge base on local community resources in Clackamas county:

• Self neglect Training- which was very helpful and insightful.  Assessing a client’s capacity to understand choice 
• Elder Abuse & Domestic Violence training learned about Adult protective services-  adults have autonomy and can make their own decisions 

Learned many helpful facts and resources for this hard topic.  There are 4 protective orders in the state of Oregon to protect individuals who are experiencing or have experienced abuse.  

September Events: 

Mt. Hood Hospice Class unfortunately no one attended.  

Legal Aid classes – Scam Prevention well attended by 6 community members.  

Marc:

TRIPS

– Dine out at Old Spaghetti Factory in Clackamas – 12 people

– Mt Angel Oktoberfest – 13 people

– Hike & Lunch at Blue Lake Regional Park and Troutdale Station Food Carts – 12 people and Caroleana

– Spirit Mountain Casino – 10 people 

– Dine out at Busters BBQ in Gresham – 10 people with 3 meeting us there

– Hike & Lunch at the Clackamas Community College Trail Loop and Lil’ Cooperstown in Oregon City – 10 people and Carol

Meals on Wheels:

– approximately 1053 meals delivered in September

– covered one of the routes for one of our volunteers

Chelsea:

• Processed invoices related to various park projects. 
• Attended meetings in regards to various ongoing park projects
• Took and recorded meeting notes for ARC’s work at Cedar Park 
• Shopped for refreshments for Meinig Park’s Open House and helped set up for the event. 
• Joined the Parks & Trails advisory board for a tour of Cedar Park 
• Participated in Cedar Park’s sign plan meetings. 
• Attended an inclusive play seminar
• Received an official close out notice for the Bluff Dog Park Grant. Reimbursement will be coming in October. 
• Received and filed a signed agreement for Deer Pointe Phase two. 
• Submitted highway banners for manufacturing. 
• Assisted John with building a webpage for Meinig Park Improvements and participated in meetings about it. 
• Recorded survey responses for Deer Pointe Park’s survey #2. We ended up getting 35 responses!
• Ordered food and helped set up for our Team’s quarterly all staff meeting.
• Drafted various signs and publications for upcoming Parks & Recreation needs. 
• Booked the caterer for the Senior Thanksgiving Luncheon at the center.

John:

Open House for Meinig Park Upgrades
In September, we successfully hosted an open house to discuss the proposed upgrades for Meinig Park. During this event, I provided educational insights and detailed explanations regarding potential enhancements to Fantasy Forest. To complement the in-person open house, we developed an online survey to capture a broader range of public feedback.

Educational Training on AI in Recreation Planning
As the RSS/SPRINT Section Leader for ORPA, I played a key role in developing and leading an educational training session on leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance recreational planning. The virtual training had approximately 20 attendees, indicating strong interest in this innovative approach.

Clackamas County Quarterly Meeting
I attended the Clackamas County quarterly meeting, where we discussed the upcoming budget in relation to OAA funding. We focused on strategies for allocating these funds among the various Clackamas County Senior Centers.

Planning for Winterfest
Collaborating with Tiana, I contributed to the planning and development of our Winterfest experience. Our primary objective is to incorporate sound and music throughout the park during December while also introducing large-scale, attention-grabbing features.

Tour of Fresh Water Treatment Plant
I had the opportunity to utilize our Recreational Vehicle to conduct a tour of the fresh water treatment plant for our elected officials, enhancing their understanding of our facilities and operations.

Parks & Facilities Team:

Upcoming Dates:

Mt. Storm registration for grades 3rd -6th is now open!
Open Gyms and skill assessments for Mt. Storm in November.

October 2nd- an OSU Naturalist will be leading a Full Moon Hike at Sandy Bluff Park from 7-8pm. We will be hunting and learning more about bats in honor of International Bat Week.
3.

October 3rd- from 6-7pm we will be having a “Creepy Crawlers” insect presentation. Drop by to get up close and personal with a variety of bugs!

October 8th- Mt Hood Hospice class 

October 10th- Drop by the Sandy Community Center on Thursday, October 10th from 6-7pm to listen to Dr. Graham Frank discuss the affects of forest fires on our local ecosystem. Graham is a forest ecologist at OSU studying how the biodiversity in our forests respond to disturbances in the environment, and he’s excited to share his knowledge with our community! This event is hosted by Sandy’s Bee City USA Action Group. For more information about this event and the Action Group please call (503) 668 5569. We hope to see you there! 

October 22nd- AARP Safe Driving Class

October 25th- Halloween Egg Hunt 

November 8th- Veteran’s Event:

November 22nd- Annual Tree Lighting at Centennial Plaza

Carol:

August finished up with the last concert, Jennifer Batton & Full Steam. The concert
brought in close to 350 people and the last movie Kung Fu Panda 4 had over 50 people. Our food and alcohol vendors were very busy at the last concert. Total donations from the 50/50 raffle for all 3 concerts was over $600. The second concert was a fundraiser for shop with a cop and SPD was able to walk away with over $400 because the winner donated all of the money back.
I9 Camps finished up in August and we had a total of 50 kids during the summer.

Amy:
– We had another good year of Movies and music in the park

– Final co-ed softball tournament happened August 10th and 11th.

Amy hosted her first Sunset and Full Moon Hike at Tickle Creek with the help from an Oregon Naturalist from the OSU extension office. This hike was focused on learning more about our nocturnal pollinators. During the hike, the group was able to see many native Oregon plants, pollinating insects, and plenty of bats! 

– Held a Summer Bee City USA Action Meeting

-Assisted with the Volunteer Appreciation Party held at Meinig Gazebo.

-Organized 2 Volunteer Work Days, 1 which donated 22 pounds of fresh produce to the Sandy Action Center and the other was a volunteer day assisted by the Sandy Rotary Club.

Caroleana:

August was a full month with some hard aspects of the job which took place.   

Caroleana had over 332 senior related calls.   This month the center had 5 new MOW clients; which involved home visits with each client and a completed NAPIS form for Clackamas County.   Caroleana further offered and assisted each household with other available resources. 

Caroleana helped with several Meals on Wheels routes this month; route #1 and route 3. 

Caroleana continued to make calls and schedule appointments for the summer cooling Energy Assistance program.  She completed and submitted 12 applications. 

Caroleana helped the team with flyers and advertisements for rec events.  She also helped at the summer concerts.  She helped with the National Night Out with Sandy Police and shopped and prepared the yummy ice cream sandwiches.  

She helped with the planning and implementation of the Volunteer Appreciation Event at Meinig Park.  Specifically I put together 5 baskets as prizes for the event with Carol.   She volunteered with Mt. Hood Hospice and attended the Time of Remembering event also at Meinig Park.  

Starting to plan and meet with Jolie at Mt Hood Hospice for our Veterans event in November.  

Events: 

Mt. Hood Hospice’s Class on Empathy in Action well attended by 3 community members

Embold Bank financial class had a class scheduled for August 20th & unfortunately no one attended. 

Legal Aid classes for the end of summer on the last Tuesday in Aug was well attended by 6 community members.

  

Marc

SENIOR TRIPS:

-Dine out at Applebee’s in Gresham – 9 people with 3 meeting us there

-63rd annual Junction City Scandinavian Festival – 10 people

-Hike & Lunch at Kelly Point and Panera Bread – 11 people and Amy joining us

-“Putt Putt” (Mini Golf) at the Aerie at Eagle Landing in Happy Valley with lunch at the Happy Valley Station Food carts after – 9 people with 3 meeting us there

-Dine out at Nicholas in Gresham – 11 people with 3 meeting us there

-Hike & Lunch at Shadow Ridge Trail and New Seasons Market in Happy Valley – 12 people with 2 meeting us there

-Oregon State Fair in Salem – 11 people

Meals on Wheels:

We delivered 1243 meals during August.

Chelsea:

• Processed invoices related to various park projects. 
• Attended meetings in regards to various ongoing park projects
• Took and recorded meeting notes for ARC’s work at Cedar Park 
• Took meeting minutes from the Parks & Trails advisory board meeting on 8/14 and uploaded the video. 
• Created the September/October senior newsletter 

• Did a deep dive of our park project budgets. 
• Mailed out another round of Deer Pointe Park surveys to approximately 180 neighbors. 
• Helped edit the Center’s fall recreation guide. 
• Did research for highway banners and wayfinding signs for Cedar Park. 
• Participated in Cedar Park’s sign plan meetings.

John:

Continued planning for 2024 Winterfest:

• Worked with our IT department and Parks and Facilities Manager on the possibility of adding permanent speakers throughout Meinig Park.  This will help enhance the experience of Winterfest by providing the opportunity to play themed music throughout the park and allow us the ability to MC our events.
• Purchased new (showstopping) decorations to enhance the overall experience of Winterfest.
• Completed contract for the installation of our City Tree Lights and Facility Lights.
• Picked out the Large (Plaza) tree with the help of our Parks and Facilities Manager.
• Updated our sponsorship flier and opportunities.

ORPA Board Meeting:

• Met with other Parks and Recreation professionals from around the state where we discussed best practices, our annual conference and other initiatives pertaining to Parks and Recreation Professionals.

Cedar Park and Basecamp Sign Package:

• Worked with Spoke N Wheel design to help create signs for our new park that will help address:
  • Park Rules
  • Maps
  • Wayfinding options
  • Jump Line names and locations

Parks & Facilities:

Upcoming events/dates:

-Fall classes start at the Center the week of September 9th

-Kids Corn Cross at Liepold Farms on September 15th

– Sandy Rotary Club in the Gardens + Volunteer Work Day (Sept 11th & 28th)
– Mt Storm Instructional League begins Sept 17th

– Fall & Winter Gardening Presentation @ Library w/ Bee City Action Group Table

Carol:

July started off with another successful 4^th of July firework display.  Thanks to Clackamas County Bank for sponsoring another exciting event. 

Mt. Festival started on July 10^th with the Pet Show and 11^th with the Bike Challenge all at Sandy Bluff Park.  Carol had to think outside the box since we could not use the track at CR for both of those events. The bike challenge was a huge success because we had different stations for the kids to participate while they had to bike around the park.  We had 2 vendors one was Rock Haven from Gresham and the other was Northwest Trails Alliance.  The kids loved it and we also used the new shelter at Sandy Bluff for both events.

July 12^th was the Kids Parade and that brought in over 200 people and we had some really cool vendors.  Wippersnappers had a bouncy house that had long lines to get into.  The Mt. Hood Athletic Club had a mini horse for kids to pet and take photos.  Thanks to CCB and Scoop n Swirl for the free hotdogs and ice cream.

July 24^th was the first music in the park that was “Eagle Eyes” , an Eagles tribute band. The Parks and Rec team did another 50/50 raffle and it was a huge success.  The winner ended up with $412 in their pocket.  It was probably one of the biggest crowds in the park.

The middle of July we offered science classes and all 3 different programs were full.  Minds in Motion will be coming back in the fall for more classes.

Currently working on Winterfest more businesses involved and sponsorships.

Chelsea:

• Processed invoices related to various park projects plus end of year final invoices. 
• Attended meetings in regards to various ongoing park projects
• Took and recorded meeting notes for ARC’s work at Cedar Park 
• Completed the meeting minutes from the Parks & Trails advisory board meeting on 7/10 and uploaded the video. 
• Continued to do necessary updates for various park grants
• We closed out the Bluff Dog Park upgrade grant and submitted for final reimbursement. 
• Helped with senior water aerobic sign ups
• I also made a flyer to advertise for the senior water aerobics class
• Helped check seniors in for our summer BBQ- I also helped with the food prep for this event.
• This is the first month of our expanded shelter rentals dates and times. Since they’re becoming so popular, as a team we decided to add more time slots. I updated all the flyers and software system to reflect this. 
• Worked on updating and editing a new Parks Special Event application.

Caroleana:

July was a new month with many aspects of her job covered.  This month started out a new fiscal year.  This time of year Caroleana cleans up her client files, and creates a new excel Napis tracking form for our Clackamas County Contract.  

We started the month at the center with our annual senior BBQ on the second day of July and had 45 older adults attend. All enjoyed the delicious lunch and summer pie with ice cream for dessert. 

Caroleana had over 323 senior related calls.   This month the center had 11 new MOW clients & 4 reassessments; which involves home visits with each client and a completed NAPIS form for Clackamas County.   Caroleana further offered and assisted each household with other available resources. 

Caroleana drove route #3 the first friday of July; meeting a few clients who I’ve never even met before. Very interesting to see the whole route.  

Caroleana continued to make calls and schedule appointments for the summer cooling Energy Assistance program.  She completed and submitted 17 applications 

Caroleana helped the team with flyers and advertisements for summer events; including the design of the Bike Camp with NW Trails Alliance flier, and Mt Festival Kids event flyers.  

She also participated in an online interview with ECO Northwest to help with the Sandy housing production strategy.   In July she participated in two important trainings; Introduction to Trauma Informed practices and Trauma informed practices serving older adults facing housing instability. 

Caroleana  went on a hike this month with Marc and some of our local seniors to Oak and Old Wagon Trail in Tualatin.  

 She also helped at the first summer concert, which had a wonderful turn out. 

Event: 

Mt. Hood Hospice Class on Grief well attended by 6 community members

Embold Bank financial class had a class scheduled for July 30th & unfortunately no one attended.

 

Marc:

SENIOR TRIPS:

– Dine out at Casa Colima in Happy Valley – 8 people with 2 meeting us there.  Our first time trying this restaurant and it was excellent with great service!

– Dine out at The Roadhouse in Gresham – 10 people with 2 meeting us there

– Hike and lunch at the Cazadero trail in Estacada with lunch at the Old Mill Saloon in Estacada – 13 people with Carol joining us

– Hike and lunch at the Oak & Old Wagon Trail at Tualatin Hills Nature Park and Chang’s Mongolian Grill in Beaverton – Was full with a waitlist but 2 last minute cancellations and not enough notice for the people on the waitlist.  Caroleana joined us for that hike

– Oregon Zoo – only 4 people for this one unfortunately

– Sherwwod Robin Hood Festival – 8 people

MOW:

– 1055

– covered one of the routes for one of our drivers

MT. FESTIVAL:

– Helped Carol with the Kids pet show, Bike Derby and Kids Parade

Parks & Facilities:

 Future Events: 

Coed softball tournament August 10th and 11th.

Mt Hood Hospice class on August 13th; Empathy in Action.  

Join Sandy’s Bee City USA Action Group Summer Meeting at the Sandy Community and Senior Center on Tuesday, August 13th from 5:30-6:30. Learn about the different things the city is doing to support pollinators!

 Sunset/Full Moon Hike – Sunday, August 18th 7:00pm at Tickle Creek with Lecia Schall, an Oregon Naturalist through the OSU extension office and the Sandy Bee City Action Group. We will be exploring and learning about the nocturnal environment and hopefully spot a couple of nocturnal pollinators! We’ll meet at a TBD location along the Tickle Creek Trail at 7:00 pm. We encourage folks to not bring flashlights, but if an extra light is needed please bring a red or UV (purple) light only. As the sun sets our goal is for our eyes to adapt to the darkness. Any bright lights (particularly from phones!) will disrupt this process and we encourage participants to keep their cellphones in their cars. Children 4 and up are allowed to attend with a parent, and teens 13+ can attend. It costs $5 to register and you can register here: https://cityofsandy.activityreg.com/selectactivity_t2.wcs?leaguesid=2149

Embold Financial Class Aug 20th –  Paying off debt

Legal Aid classes for the end of summer on the last Tuesday in Aug and Sept. 

Fall Recreation Guide coming out the end of August. 

Carol:

June was the start of the Adult softball League, Longest Day Parkway and Noah’s Quest.
Longest Day Parkway was another success. It is a great way to show the community what the City has to offer and promote programs, events, and amenities. Looks like close to over 300 people showed up at Timberline Park. Parks & Recreation gave out mini sports toys, toy bikes and skateboards, stickers, and even had a drawing for the Skateboard to use at Basecamp once it’s complete!

This year was the 19th year for Noah’s Quest. It was a perfect day for everyone to be together. We had over 15 volunteers helping out on the course and at registration tables. We released 100 butterflies at the beginning before the kiddie run. This year one of our volunteers who participates won the weekend getaway in Astoria. The weekend getaway is a house in Astoria and it’s something that gets raffled off every year.

We have more vendors this year for the Mt. Festival Kids Parade. The kids will have lots of hands-on activities from Wippersnappers, Todos Juntos, US World Class Taekwondo, Mt. Hood Athletic Club, Sandy Library & Sandy Parks & Recreation.
The Bike Challenge will have Northwest Trails Alliance & Rock Haven Climbing Gym on site for kids to play on obstacles.

Amy:

-Hosted a Community Gardens work day.

-Had a Bee/Pollinator booth at Longest Day Parkway and gave out Seed bombs!

-Lots of social media posts.

-Held a Building Monitor training session.

-Attended some softball games and practices to help ensure everything is running smoothly.

-Helped drive seniors to and from the Center while Marc was out

Chelsea:

• Processed invoices related to various park projects
• Attended meetings in regards to various ongoing park projects
• Took and recorded meeting notes for ARC’s work at Cedar Park 
• Continued to do necessary updates for various park grants- We did close out the Cedar Creek Trail Grant this month!
• Helped with the Police Chief Open House at the Center
• Attended a lunch and informational session on the Envoy car.
• Completed the July/August newsletter 

• Create a Longest Day neighbor reminder flyer 
• Ordered supplies and participated in Longest Day Parkway. 
• Built in July senior trips
• Helped with brainstorming the swim lesson/pass sign up process. 
• Ordered supplies for the Senior summer BBQ.

John:

Met with Tiana and Scott (IT) to discuss the possibility of adding speakers and sound to Meinig Park.  This would allow us to have music playing throughout the Park which would help with the ambience of many of our events, but specifically to our Winterfest Experience.

Worked with all of the departments to help coordinate, set up and assess The Longest Day Parkway.  2024 was another successful event with an estimated 350-ish people in attendance.

Lead a training for a Building Monitors (part time employees that help with rentals) that focused on customer service, open communication and meaningful/independent work.

Finalized all communication and paperwork for the Partnership between The Mt. Hood Athletic Club and Sandy Parks and Recreation to offer aquatic opportunities to Sandy Residents.

Caroleana:

June was a month of networking and learning. 

Caroleana had over 253 senior related calls. This month the center had 3 new MOW clients & 2 reassessments; which involves home visits with each client. Caroleana further offered and assisted each household with other available resources. 

Caroleana continued to make calls and schedule appointments for the summer cooling Energy Assistance program.  She completed and submitted 30 applications.

She was a guest at the Sandy Health Clinic staff meeting and learned about their many services and the great work that they are doing for our community. 

Caroleana attended a lunch with the team for the Envoy vehicle with Steve Higgs.   We learned about the work that SAGE does in our area of the state and possible opportunities to further partner in the future.  

She also met with the Legal Aid Services lead team for Oregon.  She learned a lot about their services and the great work they do for the community at large.  They partner with Oregon Law Center.  This will be a great resource for the unique cases that may be a bit different and difficult.   

Caroleana helped the team with flyers and advertisements for summer events; including the design, printing, and stamping of the swim passes for the new partnership with Mt. Hood Athletic Club. 

Caroleana went on a hike this month with Marc and the seniors to the Biddle Nature Preserve.   

Caroleana also helped a local senior get assistance with the purchase of special orthopedic shoes.  She connected this senior to Sandy Helping Hands and assisted in filling out the intake paperwork in order for him to get financial assistance.

 

Of note is that our contract units for Senior Services for Clackamas County was met in May and we had one more month (June) of services to our senior clients.   We will request an increase to the contract soon in the fiscal year this coming contract year.  

As well, Caroleana met the Energy Assistance contract units of 120 applications and will be asking for an increase for the new fiscal contract year. 

June Events: 

Senior Birthday Party on June 17th 

Mt. Hood Hospice Class on Grief well attended by 9 community members

Embold Bank financial class attended by 3 community members and 1 staff

 

Future Events:

 

Mt Hood Hospice class on July 23rd on the Power of expressive writing.

Legal Aid classes for the end of summer on the last Tuesday in Aug and Sept. 

The Silvertones group has ended.  Their leader and piano player has resigned.  We have less seniors in the community center who are interested in this program. But we also a few that are now displaced and who benefit from this group for the socialization aspect. We’re brainstorming a solution for this.

Marc:

TRIPS

– Dine out at Bugatti’s in Oregon City – 9 people. First time trying this restaurant and everybody loved it and definitely wants to go back!

– Hike & Lunch at Willamette Greenway and Old Spaghetti Factory – 11 people. Amy joined us for this hike.

– Spirit Mountain Casino – Started off at 6 people and ended up with 7 coming back. When we arrived there someone out front saw our Sandy bus and started talking to me. Turns out he is a senior from Brightwood and had taken public transportation down there a few days earlier and inquired about getting a ride back to Sandy. So I had him call Chelsea to create a Sportsman account with us and sign up for the return trip. When we got back we got him a newsletter and rec guide and he is looking forward to doing stuff at the center.

– National Neon Sign Museum and Lunch at Spooky’s Pizza in The Dalles with a stop at Eastwind Drive-In for dessert in Cascade Locks on the way back – 9 people 

– Dine out at Eagle Creek Saloon in Estacada – full bus (14 people)

– Hike and Lunch at Biddle Nature Preserve in Vancouver and Buffalo Wild Wings in Wood Village – 12 people. It was a full trip with a waitlist but we had a cancellation the morning of and it was too last minute notice for anyone on the waitlist. Caroleana joined us for this hike.

Meals on Wheels:

– 967 meals this month – Lower this month due to no deliveries on Juneteenth and most people did not want extra meals delivered prior to that date.

Parks & Facilities:

Upcoming and important dates/events:

July 4th- Fireworks at the High School Field

July 10th- Mountain Festival Kid’s Pet Show

July 11th- Mountain Festival Kid’s Bike Derby

July 12th- Mountain Festival Kid’s Parade

July 19th- First Movie in Meinig Park for the summer- Top Gun

July 24th- First Band of the summer! Eagle Eyes.

Carol:

Accomplishments:  The first Annual Yappy Hour was a huge success. We had close to 350 people with their dogs. and everyone had a blast. The vendors are excited for next year and it will even be bigger next year with more vendors wanting to join.

Here’s a fun video of dogs at the event: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tW-RmaG3aTxXuls864rY8Jr6i1AKygDb/view?usp=sharing

A special thanks to Andrew Lytle, local graphic designer and artist, for providing free dog sketches to dog owners at the event. This booth was a big hit! Andrew completed an estimated 25 sketches during the 3+ hour event.

The Summer Guide came out the first week in May. Posters for music and movies have been distributed.

Carol had her largest senior class on May 21^st with 29 seniors attending.  The word has been spreading and we are getting new seniors that come into the center.

Amy:
Worked Yappy Hour
Hosted a booth at the Spring Celebration/Gardening Club Plant Sale
Planned and orchestrated a Community Gardens Work Day

Organized World Bee Day Film Screening of “My Garden of 1000 Bees” 

Softball Scheduling/Organizing is done!

Tupper Park Playground Completed.

Caroleana:

Caroleana had over 425  senior related calls.   This month the center had 7 new MOW clients & 7 reassessments; which involves home visits with each client.     Caroleana further offered and assisted each household with other available resources. 

Caroelana started to make calls and schedule appointments for the summer cooling Energy Assistance program.  

As well she participated in a select online survey for the Institute on Aging with the college of Urban and public Affairs at Portland State.   The interview portion of the survey was conducted over zoom with 10 other center directors throughout the state of Oregon.   The Oregon Health Authority funds and supports 24 specialists statewide.  The local Clackamas County specialist is Kim Whitely who I have met twice.   Their goal is to collaborate with and coordinate with community partners.

Conducted two trainings with meals on Wheels drivers including elder abuse signs and what to do in case of an emergency.  

Caroleana  went on a hike this month with Marc and the seniors to Salish Ponds.  She thoroughly enjoyed herself and is making a point to attend once a month in order to have more conversations with seniors who go on hikes.  

Caroleana also helped a local senior get assistance with the purchase of special orthopedic shoes.  She connected this senior to Sandy Helping Hands and assisted in filling out the intake paperwork in order for him to get financial assistance.

Event: 

On May 14th we had the Senior Resource Fair which was a success and we had over 65 people attend. 

19 businesses and organizations participated, giving their time and providing resources to our community.  

A big thank you to: Avamere at Cascadia and Sandy Avamere, Mt. Hood Hospice, Mt. Hood Adult Day Center, Mt. Hood Senior Solutions, Sandy Public Library, Sandy Area Metro, Sandy PD, Assisting Hands Home Care, Cedar Springs Advisors ltd., Clackamas County Fire, Clackamas County Volunteer Connections, SHIBA with Clackamas County, Clackamas County DHS and Care Oregon, Embold Credit Union, Clackamas County Bank, Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon, and ClearCaption.  

 Future Events: 

Melissa Hagerety with Legal Aid Service with Clackamas County reached out to Caroleana in May.   They received a grant that will fund a few training courses in the fall.   We Scheduled for Legal Aid classes for the end of summer on the last Tuesday in Aug and Sept. 

Marc:

Senior Trips:

– Dine out at Alpine Events by Busy Bee Catering – Full bus with 9 people meeting us there

– Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville – 11 people

– Hike & Lunch – Tualatin River Trail and California Pizza Kitchen in Tigard – 13 people with Amy joining us

– Dine out at Oswego Grill at the Clackamas Town Center – 9 people

– Hike and Lunch at Salish Ponds City Trail and Troutdale Station Food Carts – 13 people with Caroleana joining us

MOW

– 1368

– New clients added

Chelsea:

• Processed invoices related to various park projects
• Collected vendor documents for new vendors
• Drafted addendums 
• Updated project budgets 
• Attended meetings in regards to various ongoing park projects
• PTAB meeting, agenda, video, and minutes
• Checked on playground equipment deliveries for Cedar park 
• Started taking meeting notes for ARC’s work at Cedar Park 
• Research for special events 
• Continued to do necessary updates for various park grants
• Worked Yappy Hour
• Helped with the Senior Resource Fair.

John:

On May 6th, I presented the final branding package of the Action Sports Components of Cedar Park (Skatepark, Pump Track and Jump Line) to City Council for a final adoption.  See below for the final branding designs.

Closed out a Congregate Dining Grant of $25,000 that we used to purchase a new/working dishwasher and upgraded our fire suppressions system which will allow us to safely serve free and nutritious meals to seniors.

Coordinated the route, map and communication to City Staff and neighboring community members in regards to the Longest Day Parkway.  This is an annual event that highlights the different parks and neighborhoods that the City has to offer (https://www.ci.sandy.or.us/parks-rec/page/longest-day-parkway-2024)

Parks & Facilities:

Upcoming and important events/dates (save the date or dates of facility closures, or park closures etc.)
– Adult Coed Softball starts June 10^th with 12 teams this year.

– Center closed for Juneteenth- June 19th

– Longest Day Parkway – June 20th

• Noah’s Quest Walk/Run- June 29th

• Summer camps with i9 start the end of June.   The i9 camps will be held throughout all the city parks like Timberline, Cascadia, Bornstedt and Sandy Bluff Park.

Carol:

Accomplishments: March finished up with the Mt. Storm Jamboree at the high school. We had a total of 220 kids grades 3rd-6th from all of the different OTSD schools. We gave out ribbons to all the kids and each coach presented a sportsmanship award to an opposing team to one child that exemplified good sportsmanship.

The Department hosted their second Silent Disco at the Community Center for the teens. Dick Hannah was our presenting sponsor. Dominoes donated all the pizza and Nya’s Cakes gave us a discount on the cookies. The teens had a blast and we used the whole community center. We had a photo booth, and games in the lounge. This event was another success and we might even think about doing one for adults.

We have 3 movies confirmed for Meinig Park this summer:
July 19 Top Gun
August 2 Ghostbusters Frozen Empire
August 16 Kung Fu Panda 4

The music line up for this year is:
July 24 Eagle Eyes
August 16 CJ Mickens band

August 21 Jennifer Batten

Businesses that are sponsoring music and movies so far:
Hoodview, Washman, Smoky Hearth, Whippersnappers, Les Schwab, Bill’s Automotive, Konell Construction, Trimble Investments, CCB, Everfresh, and Timberline.
Our goal is $14,000 and we are at $12,100. More to come!

The Summer Recreation Guide will be completed and printed by the beginning of May.

if you visit the Senior center, you’ll notice that the ping pong table has been set up in the lounge. Some of the seniors are making sure it gets played with.

Amy:

– Mt Storm finished with the Jamboree on March 16th
– Did lots of social media posts for the MOW campaign
– Helped with Silent Disco on March 8th

– Fully trained 2 new building monitors

– Celebrated “Learn About Butterfly Day” on March 14th with a Pollinator Panel

– Had the first Community Gardens Work Day March 24th where we released Mason Bees

Caroleana:

March was a wonderful Month.  

Caroleana had over 322 senior related calls. This month the center had 7 new MOW clients & 5 reassessments; which involves home visits with each client. Caroleana further offered and assisted each household with other available resources. 

Energy Assistance – In March,  the winter heating program for Clackamas County EA continued and we submitted 6 applications. 

The March for Meals Campaign was overall a huge success:

The Senior Dinner on March 2nd was a wonderful evening of multi-generational connection and yummy food made by students in collaboration with D31.    

Over $800 was raised the first night for the March for Meals campaign.  ($485 from the dinner donation specifically) 

6 local restaurants participated in the campaign and we raised over $1880. A BIG thank you to Taqueria El Jaliscience, Smoky Hearth, Scoop ‘n Swirl, Sandy Panda Express, Mountain Moka, and Sandy Dairy Queen.

5 awesome raffle baskets were donated for the March for Meals Campaign.  

A BIG thank you to the local businesses: Embold bank, Mt. Hood Senior Solutions, Mt. Hood Adult Day Center, Prestige Cinema, Next Adventure AND businesses @ the beach: Bruce’s Candy Kitchen, Cannon Beach Smokehouse, and Inn at Cannon Beach. 

 The baskets were in the lounge area of the Senior Center throughout the month of March, which brought attention to the campaign.  Many visitors purchased tickets while at the center for events or classes and some even just simply donated to the program. Overall the baskets raised over $600 for the Campaign.  

Overall the March for Meals campaign was successful with over $3,200 raised in March!  

Presented at the Parks and Trails Advisory Board meeting about what I do, and the March for Meals Campaign.  

Started planning for the Senior Resource Fair in May.   With 15 businesses and organizations participating so far.  I am looking for one more caregiving agency and a hearing company. 

Hosted a quarterly birthday party with the Silvertones providing special music.  All had a good time and enjoyed cupcakes and ice cream.  

Met with Mt. Hood Hospice to plan the Summer and Fall Grief Series. 

Helped with two student volunteers from Oregon Trail Academy to learn about the Meals on Wheels program. They counted and packed each cooler for each route and then packed the coolers in the volunteer’s vehicles.  The two students interviewed me to get a better understanding of the program.  

Marc:

Senior Trips:

– Dine out at Black bear Diner in Gresham – 11 people with 3 meeting us there

– Hike & Lunch at Springwater corridor and then Smoky Hearth for the March for Meals event – 11 people with 2 meeting there for both hike & lunch

– Chinook Winds Casino – 11 people

– Hike & Lunch at Powell Butte and then Red Robin – 10 people

 – Northwest Horse Fair & Expo in Albany – 10 people

– Dine out at Naan and Curry in Welches – Full Bus (14 people) and Chelsea met us there. For most of the Seniors this was their first time ever having Indian food and most seemed like they really enjoyed it! I had no idea I would get so much interest in this trip. We even had a waiting list!

Meals On Wheels:

– 1203 meals delivered during March

– 6 new clients started during March

Chelsea:

• Processed invoices related to various park projects
• Assisted with project change orders. 
• Drafted addendums and new contracts for vendors. 
• Updated project budgets + revamped a few we’ve been using so they match the template we like to use. 
• Attended meetings in regards to various ongoing park projects
• PTAB meeting, agenda, video, and minutes
• Updated our Lounge TV with current event/offerings
• Shopped for refreshments for the first Deer Pointe Park open house and helped with printouts and sign ins. 
• Sent surveys to the Deer Pointe park neighbors and recorded responses in a spreadsheet. 
• Helped plan and order supplies for the 50th anniversary party. 
• Ordered refreshments/snacks/and supplies for the Cedar Creek Trail Grand Opening. I also created signage.

John:

Helped coordinate and manage our March 4 meals campaign.

Finalized contracts for the summer concert and movie series at Meinig Park.

Picked and mapped out the neighborhood and park for the Longest Day Parkway.

Met with ARC and Spoke n Wheel to discuss the branding opportunities for the new skate park and pump track including logos, names and promotional material.

Managed coordination of the install of the Center’s new Dishwasher.

Parks & Facilities:

Upcoming Events:
4/9- 2nd Bee City USA Meeting April 9th 5:30pm-6:30pm

4/13 April Community Gardens Work Day 11:00am-3:00pm

4/18- Golden Anniversary for the Senior Center from 2:00pm-4:00pm- RSVP required

4/18- 2nd Open House for Deer Point Park at the Center from 6:00pm-7:30pm

4/20- Solve Clean up day 9:00am-1:00pm

4/26- Arbor Day at Tupper at 4:30pm

4/27- Children’s Day 10:00am-12:00pm

4/30- First Softball Coaches/Ump meeting of the 2024 season

5/16- New Event! Yappy Hour @ Sandy Bluff Park (a dog festival) 6:00pm-8:30pm

Amy:

– Made it through another month of Mt Storm games and practices.

– Designed many cute posters for our events!

– Updated our website.

– Learned how to work the new Parks & Recreation photobooth

– Supper for Tupper Fundraiser at Scooters!

– Created movie survey for the Summer sounds and movies at the park.

– Lots of social media posts

– Interviewed and helped select new building monitors.

– Turned in Bee City Renewal Report 

Carol:

The Mountain Storm season is moving right along.

Currently working on Spring events such as the Teen Silent Disco, Senior Easter Egg hunt with the library, and a new event called Yappy Hour. Geren’s and VCA have agreed to be part of this new event.  They will have lots of giveaways for the dogs, even a puppachino!

Caroleana:

The month of February was full of planning.  

Caroleana had over 200  senior related calls.  This month the center had 2 new MOW clients & 2 reassessments; which involves home visits with each client.   Caroleana further offered and assisted each household with other available resources. 

Energy Assistance – In February,  the winter heating program for Clackamas County EA continued and we submitted 9 applications. 

 Mt. Hood Hospice presented the last class in the Grief series.   

A lot of planning went into the March for Meals Campaign.  Caroleana finalized flyers, coordinated dinner donations for D31 Foundation, and finalized the Senior Dinner flyer. Also Caroleana went out and about town to get restaurant and cafe’ partners to support the campaign.  Caroelana went to 18 businesses and was able to secure 6 restaurants to participate.  Also, Caroleana reached out to business partners to help make baskets to raffle for the fundraising campaign.  Embold bank, Mt. Hood Senior Solutions, Mt. Hood Adult Day Center, Prestige Cinema, Next Adventure, are all local businesses that are participating and supporting the fundraising efforts.  

Started the planning for the Senior Resource Fair in May.  

One important training that Caroleana participated in was the QPR Gatekeeper Training: Question. Persuade. Refer.  The main topic for this training was suicide prevention.  

Chelsea:

• Processed invoices related to various park projects
• Updated project budgets
• Attended meetings in regards to various ongoing park projects
• PTAB meeting, agenda, video, and minutes
• Created the March/April 2024 senior newsletter, printed and mailed out. 

• Created a birthday party flyer, Deer Pointe Park Open House flyer, and a Grand Opening Invite for the Cedar Creek Trail. 

• Ordered grand opening supplies for the Cedar Creek Trail Opening in April. 
• Sent Open House flyers to the Deer Pointe park neighbors
• Built in March/April Trips to Sportsman
• Attended 4 interviews for the building monitor position

Marc:

Senior Trips:

-Dine out at Ristorante Di Pompello – 13 people with 2 people meeting us there

-Bigfoot Museum & Lunch at Sandbar BBQ – 10 people with 2 meeting us there

-Hike and Lunch at Glendoveer & Mod Pizza – 12 people with 5 meeting us for the hike and lunch with 2 additional meeting us for lunch

-Dine out at The Country Restaurant & Lounge – 10 people 

-Breakfast at Elmers then Portland Spring Home and Garden Show – Full Bus (14 people) with 2 meeting us for breakfast

-Hike & Lunch at Cazadero Trail & Red Apple – 6 people – smaller group as we had a lot of last minute cancellations due to rain.

MOW

-1087

– Marc covered 2 different delivery routes for our volunteers on days they couldn’t make it.

John: 

Worked with American Ramp Company and their marketing department, Spoke & Wheel, to start the process of marketing and branding the action sports elements (Skate Park, Pump Track and Jump Line) of Cedar Park.

Worked with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Association to provide professional development on Fields/Sports Complex maintenance and Recreational (sports) programming.

Finalized our contract and schedule for the bands at this year’s Summer Sites and Sounds at Meinig Park.

Concert 1:
● Date: 7/24/2024
● Time: 6:00pm-8:00pm (15 minutes set break)
● Performer: Eagle Eyes

Concert 2:
● Date: 8/7/2024
● Time:  6:00pm-8:00pm (15 minutes set break)
● Performer: CJ Mickens Band

Concert 3:
● Date: 8/21/2024
● Time:  6:00pm-8:00pm (15 minutes set break)
● Performer: Jennifer Batten

Helped with the planning of our Ribbon Cutting Ceremony of our newest trail (Cedar Creek Trail).  Specifically, I worked on the design elements of a logo which incorporated the newly built bridge that crosses the creek.

Parks & Facilities:

Upcoming and important events/dates:
– March 1- Softball Reg Opens

-March 5th- MOW fundraiser at El Jaliscience in Sandy

– March 8th- Teen Silent Disco at the Community Center

– March 13th- MOW fundraiser at Smokey Hearth
– March 14th- Pollinator Panel

– March 15th- MOW fundraiser at Scoop N Swirl
– March 16th- Mt Storm Jamboree

– March 21st- MOW fundraiser at Panda Express

– March 22nd- MOW fundraiser at Mt. Moka

– March 23rd- 1st Community Gardens Work Day

– March 29th- MOW fundraiser at DQ

Carol:

Mt. Storm started off with games in January at Sandy Grade, Firwood, Welches, and Boring.  Grades 3/4 games are during the week and the 5/6 games are all on Saturdays at Cedar Ridge.  We brought in high school kids that play on the high school basketball team to referee.

We have a total of 251 kids that signed up for this program.

 A brand new class started in January- a dance fitness class- which filled up with 10 participants.  Coming in February are new science classes with Minds in Motion- Outer space physics & Reco robot class.  The robot class is full with 13 kids!

Challenges: Due to the winter/ice storm we had to cancel 2 Saturdays for all 5/6 games and practices for a week. 

 

Amy:

Mt Storm Games started and are going well. I created player awards to be used as a teaching tool for each team. Coaches seem to be enjoying them! 

– I finished setting up the Volunteer Local webpage.

– Had 10 successful “Gratitude for Winterfest” social media posts. I also delivered a large number of thank you cards to the businesses who participated in the Stocking Stroll. 

-Had 2024’s first Bee City Action group meeting in January. We programed events until the end of September for the group. Aside from bees we will be celebrating moths and hummingbirds this year! 

-Connected with Estacada’s Bee City Action Group leaders for potential collaboration.

 

-Marketed Recreation programs at the Library’s Seed Swap event. 

– Continued to work on February’s Supper for Tupper (with Love!) Fundraiser. 

Chelsea:

• Processed invoices and specialty payments related to all the various park projects we have going on. 
• Attended meetings in regards to Cedar park and the demo projects. 
• PTAB meeting, agenda, video, and minutes
• Attended meetings with the Community Campus park neighbors to discuss the park project with them. Followed up via email with additional information. 
• Attended an informational meeting about public contracting, a meeting at Tickle creek to assess the storm damage, and a Bluff Dog park upgrade kick off meeting. 
• Made signs for the Community Campus park project, Tickle Creek trail closure, and for the upcoming Bluff dog park temporary closure. 

• Issued Notice to proceed for the Construction of Cedar Park and compiled the fully executed contract. 
• Completed quarterly grant report and reimbursement.

Caroleana:

January was a full month that came and went quickly.   

Caroleana had 411 senior related calls.  This month the center had 11 new MOW clients; which involves home visits with each client. Caroleana further offered and assisted each household with other available resources. 

Energy Assistance – In January,  the winter heating program for Clackamas County EA continued and we submitted 9 applications. 

The Grief Class presented by Mt. Hood Hospice had to be rescheduled due to weather 

The First Financial education class was held and hosted by Embold Credit Union.

Respite: In January, the decision was made to place the Change of Pace respite program on hold until the numbers increase.  John and Caroleana looked at the numbers/averages throughout the program’s service time.  At this time we will have a waitlist.  

Respite met three times in January and had only one client.  This client and his caregiver were very thankful for the program and will continue to stay in touch with the center.   

Finished up the Winterfest Thank You cards for the business and community organizations that participated in any aspect of Winterfest.  As a department we sent out over 85 cards this January.  Each tier of sponsorship was given a special thank you card with photos from the events.  

Caroleana researched grocery delivery options for homebound seniors who are low-vision or technologically limited.  She called several large companies like InstaCart, Store to Door (which runs in Portland and surrounding areas) DoorDash, and Fred Meyer’s grocery delivery.  

3 different Meals on Wheels (MOW) days were canceled due to inclement weather- Jan 12th, Jan 17th, and Jan 19th.  As a team we called all our MOW clients and checked in on each of them (45+ depending on the meal day) making sure they were safe and well.  We asked if they first had enough food and secondly had heat/power.

The start of January marked the 6 month mark for the Clackamas county contract. Caroleana evaluated the numbers for all contracted services (case management, Information and Assistance, Reassurance, HDM Assessments).  

Marc and Caroleana researched shelf stable meals.  Marc requested a new order form from Trio with more options. 

Started the March for Meals Campaign. Finalized flyers, coordinated dinner donations for D31 Foundation, and finalized the Senior Dinner flyer. 

Started the planning for the Senior Resource Fair in May.  Caroleana also attended the Gresham Senior Center Fair and made multiple connections for our resource fair.

Marc:

Senior Trips

-Dine out at La Carreta – full bus (14 people) with 5 people meeting us there

-Costco Trip – cancelled due to weather

-Hike and Lunch at Wildwood and Dragonfly Cafe – cancelled due to weather

-Rose City Classic Dog Show and Lunch at Famous Dave’s BBQ cancelled due to weather

-Woodburn Outlets trip – 5 people only unfortunately

-Dine out at Dragon Palace – 10 people with 4 meeting us there

Meals on wheels:

-766 meals delivered for the month- this number is down due to missing three delivery days because of the weather.

John:

1.  Met with the ORPA Board for the SPRINT/RSS Committee to plan our monthly section meetings, design our spring Workshop and start planning for our annual Parks and Recreation Conference.

2.  Lead the section meeting for ORPA members on the importance of Program Planning.  Was able to network and share ideas with Recreation Professionals from around the state.

3.  Held follow up meetings internally and with other departments regarding the programs and activities involved with Winterfest!  Worked with Tiana Rundell, our Parks and Facilities manager to build a year scope of our work relating to Winterfest programming and 2024 goals.

4.  Created parameters and guidelines to start the recruitment of a Winterfest workgroup, a team of volunteers to help involve our community in our Winterfest Community-Wide Event.

5.  Continued research and attended meetings to meet a departmental goal of bringing aquatic opportunities to Sandy residents.

6.  Last, but not least, helped organize a department “staff party” celebrating the last year and more specifically, continue to help build the positive culture of our Parks and Recreation Department.

Parks & Facilities Team:

Upcoming Events:

February 14th- Supper for Tupper (with Love!) at Scooters

February 19th- Center closed for holiday

February 25th- Library’s Plant Swap event

March 8th- 2nd Annual Silent Disco for teens at the Community Center

March 16th- Mt. Storm Jamboree

March 28th- Teen and Senior Egg hunt