Carol:

Accomplishments: 6 events in December. We kicked it off with the tree lighting with an estimated 500 people. The next events were pet pictures with the Grinch, reading with the snow queen, our newly added Stocking Stroll through downtown businesses, Estampa Mexicana and pictures with Santa, the shortest day walkway, and Holiday Happy hour (a 21 and over event). All these events, partnered with the Winterfest lights, brought an estimated 15,000 people to the park throughout the month.

The 2024 Winter/Spring Recreation guide came out on December 15th and we handed out close to 100 guides at the Winterfest events in the park.

Upcoming events/programs: Mt. Storm games started on January 3rd and will continue with games through March 16th.

We have new class offerings this year. We are contracting out with Trackers Earth for some Spring break and summer camps. Other new contractors are Minds in Motion (robotics & physics class for kids) and Tippi toes (a kids hip hop class).
I’m currently working on sponsorships for music and movies, July 4th fireworks, Silent Disco for the teens and a new event coming in May called Yappy Hour!

Amy:
– Community Gardens Registration continued through December
– All Winterfest events

– 5/6 Mt Storm Coaches Meeting + ref clinic + first practices for all teams

– Solidified Tupper Park Fundraiser for Valentine’s Day. This next fundraiser will be at Scooters.

Caroleana:

Caroleana took 311 senior related calls with 11 contacts being new clients that she gave resources or assistance and information to.  This month the center had 6 new MOW clients; which involves home visits with each client and a new Respite client.    Caroleana further offered and assisted each household with other available resources. 

Energy Assistance – In December the winter heating program for Clackamas County energy assistance helped an additional 24 households.

The Grief Class presented by Mt. Hood Hospice continued on Dec 12th.  

Caroleana also coordinated new financial education classes that will be hosted by Embold Credit Union in the winter.   

Respite: In December, the Change of Pace respite program continued to meet.  We had special holiday music performance on Dec 21st.

 

Caroleana updated the Aging and Disability Resource Connection listing website with current information about our respite program.  

Caroleana and John Presented to Estacada office of DHS Aging and Disability 

Merry mondays- All three Mondays Caroleana organized and facilitated fun mornings for the seniors to do crafts, decorate the tree, and have a gift exchange. 

Caroleana also designed the stocking stroll map for the new successful Winterfest event we held this month.   

Caroleana designed, printed and sent 20+ thank you cards for the 8 Winterfest events with photos from each event printed on the card. 

Collaborated with Amy Hardesty of D31 for a March fundraiser and dinner. This will help support our Meals on Wheels program.

The respite group worked on Christmas decorations all month; which were used at Winterfest events and in the center. This also brings us to a challenge- our respite program. Low signs up have continued. In December, we averaged 1 respite client per week.  

Marc:

Senior Trips

-Christmas Ships and Old Spaghetti Factory – Full bus with a waiting list

-Dinner at Old Mill Saloon and Celebration of Lights at Aspen Meadow Lodge in Colton – Full bus with a waiting list

-Clackamas Town Center – unfortunately only 6 people signed up

-Dine out at Heidi’s – Full bus

MOW

-1251 meals delivered during December

I also had a busy month of taking care of our regular maintenance for our vehicles that Ride Connection requires every six months. They all come due in the same month plus a few that are due annually.

Chelsea:

• Processed invoices and specialty payments related to the Community Campus Park Project
• Attended meetings in regards to the Community Campus projects
• PTAB meeting, agenda, video, and minutes
• Helped create the Merry makeover/stocking stroll map and various other flyers/signage related to Winterfest. 
• Managed sending out the links for the invitations to bid
• Issued addendas and communicated with planholders. 
• Helped with Merry Monday’s at the center for the seniors. 
• Created the Jan/Feb 2024 senior newsletter, printed and emailed out. 
• Worked 5 of the Winterfest events, including both nights for the Jolly Trolley to hand out cookies and cocoa. The Jolly Trolley event was extremely popular and well received.
• Ordered awards and a giant check for the merry makeover winners. 
• Sent letters to the Community Campus park neighbors to arrange meetings with them. 
• Attended multiple meetings to learn more about the 1200C permit process. 
• Built in January Trips to Sportsman

John:

The month of December was busy.  I continued to support the 2023/24 Mt. Storm Youth basketball season.  Specifically, I coordinated a referee clinic to ensure a consistent, fair and safe season for our Mt. Storm players.  Additionally,  I acted as our Staff Liaison for the Park Naming Committee that presented to The Parks Trails Advisory Board on December 6th and, with their recommendation, presented to City Council on the 18th.  After two rounds of public surveys and a private scoring from our Park Naming Committee, Cedar Park rose to the top.  Lastly, I helped coordinate all things Winterfest.  It was a highlight of my year to see our community come together, spread joy and celebrate the holiday season together.

Parks & Facilities Monthly Report:

Upcoming and important events/dates (save the date or dates of facility closures, or park closures etc.)

• January 1st- Center closed for holiday 
• January 9th- Bee City Meeting
• January 15th- Center closed for holiday
• January 27th- Seed Swap
• Lots of Mt. Storm practices and games

Carol:

Mt. Storm finally closed on November 18th and we have a total of 242 children. Last year we had a total of 221 children. We had 2 open gyms for grades 5/6 boys/girls and the following week we had the skills assessments to form teams.
Meetings will conclude on Dec 4th with the rest of the coaches, while rosters will be complete and kids will be on the court ready to practice before winter break.

Amy:

– 3rd & 4th Grade Coaches Meeting happened on Monday, November 27th. We had a large meeting that lasted 2 hours for the center that included City staff and all the 3rd/4th grade coaches.

-Attended the ORPA conference in early November.

– Just A Fundraiser happened on November 30th at Just Rum. We had a good turn out and people got in the festive spirit.

– Community Garden Registration has opened for previous garden bed registrants. It opens to new registrations on December 1st.

– Mountain Storm Instructional League ended for the season.

Chelsea:

• Processed invoices
• Attended meetings in regards to the Community Campus projects
• PTAB meeting, agenda, video, and minutes
• Helped create the Merry makeover/stocking stroll map and various other flyers/signage related to Winterfest. 
• Helped with Senior Thanksgiving- we had almost 60 people attend! 
• Drafted various documents for the Invitation to Bids for the Community Campus Demo project and Park project. 
• Managed sending out the links for the invitations to bid to the approximately 60 firms who requested them. 
• Issued addendas and communicated with plan holders. 
• Planned Merry Mondays (think senior holiday activities) at the center with Caroleana

• Helped with Holiday Decoration sponsorships and assisted with putting out the signs once they were made. 
• Participated in pre-bid meetings and helped prepare documents for them. 
• Helped plan and participate in the sneak peek of the Meinig Park lights.

Caroleana:  

Caroleana took 215 Senior related calls with 28 contacts who were new clients that she gave resources or assistance and information to.  This month the center had 6 new MOW clients; which involves home visits with each client and a new Respite client.

Energy Assistance – November was the start of the winter heating program for Clackamas County energy assistance and we submitted 17  applications. 

The Grief Class presented by Mt. Hood Hospice continued.  In November the participants did art therapy with intern students from Lewis and Clark. 

Caroleana also coordinated a new financial education classes that will be hosted by Embold Credit Union this winter at the Center.   

The first annual Veterans event:  “We Honor our Veterans”   was held at the Senior and Community Center on November 7th at 2:00pm.  Caroleana collaborated with Mt. Hood Hospice to put on this recognition event.   She had over 60 in attendance and 31 veterans were honored.  5 of these veterans are City employees.  

The Sandy High School Choir started off the event with the national anthem and special words were shared by Mayor Stan Pulliam, Jolie Phanton of Mt. Hood Hospice and Bert Key – a Marine, who served in uniform for 41 years and who retired at the rank of Army Colonel.

Thank you to our wonderful event sponsors: Bill’s Automotive Repair Inc., Mt Hood Senior Living, Michael OLeary of LegalShield, Oregon Trail Chiropractic, Avamere at Sandy and Embold Credit Union

Thank you for the in-kind donations from Sandy Starbucks and Sandy Fred Meyers. Thank you to the Sandy High School Choir, Clackamas County Veterans Services, Combat Vet Association, and VFW Post 4273.

Respite: In November, the Change of Pace respite program continued to meet.  We had one new client join our program; which has been a good addition to our group

Marc:

Senior Trips

-Hike at Vancouver waterfront and Golden Corral – Full bus with Carol helping.

-Hike at Logging Trail road and Denny’s – Was full but people started cancelling due to the weather predicted for that day. 6 people ended up going and it turned out to be a nice day for a hike!

-Spirit Mountain Casino – Full bus

-Mt. Angel Oktoberfest – Full bus

-Dine Out at Olive Garden – 11 people

-Dine Out at Oswego Grill – 12 people

-986 Meals on Wheels delivered- There were less meals this month due to holidays falling on delivery days.

John:

Lots of Winterfest! Assisted with the install of some of the new large Winterfest decorations. Coordinated with our graphic designer on Winterfest logos and signs. Worked with the sign company to place and pick up orders of banners. Helped get businesses signed up for the Marry Makeover Challenge. Handled the majority of the sign ups for the decoration sponsors.

Attended multiple meetings for Mountain Storm preparations + attended the 3rd & 4th grade coaches meeting.

Continued work on Park naming and created a PowerPoint presentation and staff report.

Continued to coordinate kitchen repairs.

Attended the ORPA conference in Portland.

Parks/Facilities Monthly Report:

Upcoming Events/Dates to remember:

• December 1st- Community Garden Registrations open for public
• December 1st- Tree lighting!
• December 2nd- Pet pictures with the grinch
• December 4th- Merry Monday at the Center with ornament decorating
• December 4th-9th- Mt. Storm practices begin
• December 9th- Evening with the snowqueen 
• December 11th- Merry Monday at the Center with an ugly sweater competition and hot cocoa bar
• December 15th- Stocking stroll in downtown
• December 15th-24th- Merry Makeover downtown decorating competition- voting live! 
• December 16th- Pictures with Santa and a performance by Estampa
• December 18th- Merry Monday at the center with a gift exchange, birthday party, and Silvertones Choir performance. 
• December 21st- Shortest Day Walkway 
• December 25th- Center closed for Holiday 
• December 28th- Holiday happy Hour
• January 1st- Center closed for holiday

Carol:

Mt Storm has been open for registration for a few weeks and so far as of 11/1 we have 118 kids signed up.
The Winter Recreation Guide was sent to our designer and will be done and printed before the Tree lighting. The goal is to pass out the Winter/Spring 2024 Recreation Guide on Dec 1st!
Sandy Library and the Recreation Department 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 and we had 10 winners (5 middle school and 5 high school kids) who found the golden pumpkins.

We have a total of $13,800 for Winterfest sponsors.
We’re currently working on talking to businesses to be part of the Merry Makeover (Amy and John are helping as well). So far the businesses are very excited about being part of the Winterfest. More details to come on this next month.

Amy:

– 3rd Bee City Meeting with Guest Expert, Beth Ward, from OSU’s Bat Hub

– Installed a Bat House in Sandy Bluff Park and had an educational ceremony 10/24

– Started Mt. Storm Instructional League classes

– Coordinated new marketing with Sandy Cinema and Mountain Times

– Hit up 47 businesses for Winterfest’s Merry Makeover Challenge.  

– Manned a booth for Childhood Resource Day

– Worked with Sandy Rotary Club to install raised garden beds (Wheelchair accessible ones) in the Sandy Community Gardens.

– We had a successful Boos and Brews fundraising event- We raised $925 for the new Tupper Park Playground.

Chelsea:

• I handled routine items such as drafting 2 memos for Parks Board, processing invoices, attending meetings in regards to ongoing projects, creating budget sheets, and created the October Parks & Trails Advisory Board agenda, minutes, and video recording upload.
• I created flyers for Thanksgiving Lunch and Merry Mondays. I also created a Tupper Park Playground Fundraising flier. 

• Completed change orders for the abatement project which wrapped up in October!
• Created and printed our largest Newsletter to date- 12 pages of info for the seniors for November and December! 

• Built November senior trips into Sportsman (finally learned how!)

Caroleana:

Caroleana had a busy October.  237 Senior related calls with 28 contacts who were new clients that she gave resources or assistance and information to.  This month the center had 6 new Meals on Wheels clients; which involves home visits with each client.   Caroleana further offered and assisted each household with other available resources. 

Energy Assistance – October was the start of the winter heating program for Clackamas County energy assistance and we submitted 13 applications.

The Grief Class presented by Mt. Hood Hospice continued. Thank you to Mt. Moka for the yummy treats this month.

Caroleana also coordinated new financial education classes that will be hosted by Embold Credit Union in the winter. 

The main event Caroleana worked on in October was the  “We Honor our Veterans” event on November 7th at 2:00pm.  She collaborated with Mt. Hood Hospice to put on this recognition event. 

 

Respite: In October, the Change of Pace respite program continued to meet.  A current challenge is low numbers in the respite group.

  

Senior Trips:

-Dine out at Eagle creek saloon that turned into a dine out at Carver Hanger due to a power outage- 11 people

-Hood River Harvest Festival.  12 people.  Was full but two people cancelled the day before and we weren’t able to fill last minute.

-Hike & Lunch at Foothills park in Lake Oswego and Backyard Burgers in West Linn.  12 people with Amy helping.

-Columbia Gorge Discovery Museum and Lunch at Cousin’s Restaurant in the Dalles- 11 people

-Dine out at Kumi Buffet in Happy Valley- 11 people

-Hike and lunch at Mosier Twin Tunnels and lunch at Grace Su’s China Gorge in Hood River.  13 people with Amy joining to help.

Meals on Wheels:

–1074 Meals on Wheels delivered.

John:

October was a month of Winterfest details- Creating the Merry Makeover Application, touching base with businesses who might want to participate in the challenge, doing an application through PGE so we can dress up the light poles for the holidays, and working with a graphic designer for a Winterfest logo and flyer.

John assisted Carol and Amy with Mountain Storm to make sure that is going smoothly and we have everything tidied up with gym reservations and paperwork.

The winter/spring recreation guide was a large undertaking- John helped get contracted classes on board and arranged for various offerings for our seniors. With the help of Chelsea, these were built into our software system so spaces are reserved for all these upcoming classes.

Parks Monthly Report:

Upcoming and important dates/events:
November 6th & 7th- Mt. Storm open gyms for grades 5/6.
November 10th- Center closed for Veterans Day November 14th & 16th- Skills Assessments for grades 5/6.
November 23rd & 24th- Center closed for Thanksgiving weekend November 27th- Coaches meeting to form teams for grades 3/4. November 30th- Tupper Park Fundraiser at Just Rum, from 6pm-9pm 

Carol:

Corn Cross for the kids was a huge success. We had 120 kids and 80% of these kids
(ages 2-12) came from Sandy. The kids course was able to go through the corn maze and sunflowers. Thanks to Coach Robbie for helping with this event. He even helped some of the kids to go through some of the obstacles. Parents were so excited to have the kids go through the maze and have it more challenging this year. A special thank you to Everfresh Fruit Company & Clackamas County Bank as they were our sponsors for this event.

Fall classes and programs started in September with some new classes offerings like senior yoga and cooking and art classes for teens.

Sponsorships for Winterfest events so far are at $13,800. We have some new
sponsors this year: Tractor Supply, Next Adventure, Rollis Auto Detail and AEC.

Amy: 
– Continuing to do social media posts, but also researched options for marketing. Coordinated with Sandy Cinema to start putting in advertisements for our activities in Nov and Dec.

– Coordinated the details for installing a Bat House at Sandy Bluff Park and to have Carl Exner speak at the event. An expert from Bend, Oregon drove into town early October to help Tiana and I solidify a location.

– Presented to the Sandy Rotary Club about volunteering events with Parks and Rec and was able to coordinate their involvement in the Sandy Community Gardens (we had a great volunteer work day in September).

-Donated more food to the Sandy Action Center from the gardens ~ up to 86 pounds of food donated. 

-Helped host a successful Volunteer Appreciation Event! 

-Secured Mt Storm Gym Rental Dates for Mt Storm Instructional League

-Got Sandbar BBQ to agree to a Boos and Brews event

John:

• Continued efforts on the Park Naming committee: helped facilitate the creation of a public park name survey with the co and co-chair of the park naming committee.
• Presented at a City Council meeting with a Winterfest update/vision.
• Met with Transit to discuss opportunities for transportation during Winterfest Events and the possibility of programming a “Jolly Trolley Joy Ride” where families can register for a tour of Sandy’s best decorated neighborhoods.
• Met with Carl Exner and PGE on the possibilities of partnering for Winterfest.

Chelsea:

• Processed invoices, attended the Parks Board meeting and completed the agenda, video, and minutes. Assisted with the abatement contract.
• Attended various meetings in regards to the Community Campus projects
• Updated shelter waivers- this as always evolving as our rentals continue to grow.
• Created a Merry makeover Flier as part of Winterfest
• Attended City Manager Finalists reception

Marc:

Senior Trips:

-Hike at Trillium Lake and lunch at Wraptitude – full bus with Carol joining as a helper

-Hike at Vancouver Lake and lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings – 10 people plus Bodhi, our building monitor, joining as a helper

-Chinook Winds Casino – 12 people

-Mt. Angel Oktoberfest – Full bus

-Dine Out at Apple Valley BBQ – 12 people

-Due to the check engine light coming on during a return trip from another outing we unfortunately had to cancel the next day’s shopping shuttle and Olive Garden dine out (which had been full with people planning to meet us there).

Meals on wheels:

-1197 meals served in September.

-Started working on updating the MOW binders- cleaning out past clients, new templates created so all current client cards are printed and not handwritten, any other updated info and new maps reflecting all current clients.

Caroleana:

Caroleana had an active and engaged month of September. September was the start of several new classes at the center.

 

The Grief Class presented by Mt. Hood Hospice started in September.  We had 8 participants of different generations attend and receive information and resources during the class.  Also Caroleana was able to get Mt. Moka to sponsor for the next two classes.

Clackamas County Street Trust came on Sept 26th.  They shared resources and information regarding the Oregon Crosswalk laws and street safety.  Many seniors from Carol’s exercise class attended. 

Caroleana worked with AARP to schedule a future Safe Driving course. This is scheduled for November 28th.  

Another future event Caroleana is working on is the “We Honor our Veterans” event on November 7th at 2:00pm.  She will be collaborating with Mt. Hood Hospice to put on this honoring event.  Caroleana & Jolie with Mt. Hood Hospice went to several businesses and requested sponsorships and in kind donations for the event.  So far, Embold bank has committed to a Silver sponsorship.  And several other businesses are pending. Caroleana has connected with several local veteran nonprofits to also partner with for the Veterans Event.  Mission 22 a program for suicide prevention for veterans, Combat Vets, VFW and a Clackamas County Veterans Service Officer. She also started designing invitation postcards to go out to businesses and veterans; as well as senior clients that are veterans who come to the center.  

Caroleana hosted a ‘Meals on Wheels lunch and learn’ for all the volunteer drivers.  We had 5 wonderful volunteers who were able to attend, some of them who have served for multiple years.  This ‘lunch and learn’ was a great opportunity to show our appreciation for their time and commitment to the program.  Caroleana had a short slide show presentation with some training information and reminders.  As well, we gave our drivers a thank you card and a planted flower; which was donated from Tony’s Garden Center, and a car wash from Washman’s.   

She attended multiple trainings online through several education platforms.

Energy Assistance – September was the last month of the cooling program for  assistance and 7 households were helped. For the 22-23 year she submitted 109 applications.  This gives our center a Superior grade from Clackamas county.  This is the highest number of applications submitted for our center in comparison to prior years (looking back 5 fiscal years).   This represents the help and assistance that the senior center team is making to low-income seniors and families in our community.  

This month the center had 6 new MOW clients.

 

Respite: In September, the Change of Pace respite program continued to meet. Caroleana is currently brainstorming with the Rec Team how she can advertise more and in new locations or avenues, as a current challenge is low numbers in the respite group.  

Fun Projects– Caroleana enjoyed organizing the office supply closet. She had fun beautifying the three gift baskets for the city volunteer event at Meinig Park. She also designed a card template to print event photos on our city Thank you Cards.  The first few thank you cards went to sponsors for the Kids Corn Cross event. She is very excited about the fun possibilities of using this template for Winterfest thank you cards. 

Parks Monthly Report:

Upcoming Important dates:

Mt Storm Instruction League Classes started the beginning of October- Classes occur on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

October 9th- Mt. Storm registration opens for grades 3-6 .

October 21nd- Childhood Resource Day with Todos Juntos, 10am-1pm

October 21st- Volunteer Gardens Work Day, 1-5pm (we will be building the raised beds for wheelchair users in the gardens with the Rotary Club!)

October 24th- International Bat Week Celebration at Sandy Bluff Park from 5:30-5:45pm

October 26th- Boos and Brews event 6-9pm

November- Open Gyms and skill assessments for Mt. Storm.

We’re working on Winter/Spring Guide and the goal is to hand it out during the Tree Lighting on December 1st.

Carol:

August finished up with the last concert “Radical Revolution” and the last movie “Lightyear”. Radical Revolution brought in close to 350 people and the movie had over 40 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.

Skyhawks Camps finished up in August and we had a total of 99 kids during the summer.

The Fall Recreation Guide came out on August 18th and was handed out at the last movie. Check out the link below for an electronic copy or come by the center for a physical copy!
https://www.ci.sandy.or.us/sites/default/files/fileattachments/parks_and_recreation/page/21469/fall2023recreationguide.pdf

Amy:

– John and I had a booth at National Night Out! We shared lots of P&R information, flyers, and answered a lot of questions while supporting the efforts of D31 Foundation and our local Police Department.
– The Recreation team started in depth planning for Winterfest, Mt Storm, and other Fall activities.
– I made a lot of progress in coordinating the installation of a Bat House in one of our local parks for National Bat Week in October.

-I continued working on planning a Volunteer Appreciation event for September in conjunction with the Sandy Library. 

-I connected with the Troutdale Recreation department and learned more about how they run some of their programs. 

-I created the Kiddie Cross posters and distributed them around town. 

-We had a successful community garden work day and garden social. I collected food from these events and was able to donate 40 pounds of food to the Sandy Action Center food bank. I also connected with the president of the Sandy Rotary Club during these events and coordinated a time for me to present to the club about volunteer opportunities our department offers.

-We concluded the search for a volunteer software system! As part of a larger project to upgrade our system for intaking, training, and coordinating volunteers, this was a vital step forward. 

-Mt storm Instructional League registration opened! So far 21 children have registered!

Chelsea:

• Paid Invoices
• Compiled July’s P&R monthly report
• Learned how to upload new digital flyers to our Advertisement “TV” 
• Attended a CCS meeting
• Attended various meetings on the park and community campus.
• Created drafts and documents pertaining to the Invitation to Bid
• Completed the Sept/Oct newsletter and distributed via mail and email.
• Lots of Winterfest research planning.
• Added webinar option to zoom for our PTAB meetings.
• Created a community campus park informational banner.
• Completed normal tasks like meeting minutes and uploading the video recording. There was a little bit of a learning curve with the meeting software system as this was the first full month using it. 
• Drafted a memo for PTAB.
• Center rentals are picking back up again with the changing weather.

Caroleana:

Caroleana had a full month in August mostly filled with training and home visits. She had 4 new clients for Meals on Wheels, 2 reassessments, and 7 applications for Energy Assistance.  

She attended multiple trainings online through several education platforms.

In August, the Change of Pace respite program continued to meet.  Caroleana met with a local senior living community that will provide a caregiver support group to meet at the center.   Allocated resources from Clackamas County Caregiver Support Program and shared with them our Change of Pace Respite Program brochure for them to share with their clientele.  She also made a new poster/flier to advertise about the Respite program and took it around town.   

   

Advertisement for future classes and events (coordinated by Caroleana) have started through our newsletter and online postings on social media.  See flyers below.

Caroleana started coordination of a Veterans event with Mt. Hood Hospice for Nov 7th.  Specifically she designed advertisement posters and invitation postcards to go out to businesses and veterans.   

At the end of the month Caroleana volunteered for and attended the Time of Remembering event put on by Mt. Hood Hospice.  What a beautiful event, which gives a space for those in our community who are grieving.

Marc:

Senior Trips for august:

-Costco. 7 people

-Dahlia Festival. 12 people.

-Dine out at Red Lobster. 12 people plus 5 people meeting us there

-Dine out Zig Zag Inn. 14 people

-Hood River Fruit Loop. 14 people

-Hike & Lunch at Champoeg State Park and Red Robin. 13 people

-Hike & Lunch at Oxbow Regional Park and Troutdale Station Food Carts. 13 people plus 2 meeting us there

Meals on Wheels delivered meals for the month of August: 1190

John:

• Helped to guide the team in Winterfest planning and production. Created a powerpoint presentation for the September 5th council work session.
• Held the first Park Naming Committee meeting for the Community Campus park.
• Met with OTSD to start collaborating with them for Mountain Storm 2023 Gym space.
• Built in all of our fall recreation guide classes so the public can register.
• Updated all our system GL codes so they match the new 2023-2025 budget.

Parks & Facilities

Upcoming & Important dates:

• Kids Corn Cross at Liepold Farms on September 10th
• Fall Recreation classes start the week of Sept 11th
• Grief Basics class at the Center Sept 12th
• Mt Storm Instructional League Registration Closes Sept 15
• Street Trust Pedestrian Safety class at the center- September 26th

4th of July Senior BBQ

On July 3rd, the Center hosted a Senior BBQ. We had over 50 seniors register for this event. It was a beautiful day and the whole team chipped into to plan, organize, and execute this event. The seniors love being able to gather again here at the Center for a meal. Highlights included the baked beans, watermelon and fresh strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Mountain Festival Activities:

Mt. Festival started the day after the fourth with the Pet Show on
Wednesday, Thursday was the Bike Derby, and Friday was the kids
Parade. Thank you to Clackamas County Bank for providing hotdogs to
all the kids and Scoop and Swirl free ice cream. Carol headed these events up with John, Marc, Amy and Caroleana helping out.

The whole team gathered for the main Parade through downtown. Tiana provided the Parks Truck, Chelsea ordered the decorations and candy, and Tiana, Rochelle, John, and Chelsea decked out the truck. Tiana drove. Caroleana, Chelsea, John, and Bodhi were our safety walkers. Marc and Councilor Mayton threw candy. Rochelle and Councilor Walker carried our Parks & Recreation banner leading the group. Everyone had a blast and it felt so great to be part of such an amazing community event.

Caroleana:

Energy Assistance – This month was slower and we had 4 senior households that were helped with 4 of those being home visits.  

This month the center had 9 new MOW clients; which involves home visit with each client in and around Sandy. Caroleana further offered and assisted each household with other available resources. 

In July, the Change of Pace respite program grew by one client. Caroleana also allocated resources from the Aging and Disability Resource Center for Respite clients. As well, she is looking into a caregiver support group to meet at the center. 

Caroleana is also working on future senior classes and events at the center.  

Shiba is a free resource for the Clackamas county community offering help to seniors for medicare education.  

The second collaboration would be with Mt. Hood Hospice for future classes in the Fall on the topic of grief and why hospice.  

Caroleana coordinated with the Street Trust of Oregon who is looking for feedback from the senior community on pedestrian safety. They’ll be doing a open house event here on September 26th from 10:00am-12:00pm.

Caroleana is also planning a fundraiser for March 2024. 

Carol:

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

July 12th was the first music in the park. It was “Taken by the Sky” a
Fleetwood Mac Tribute. The Parks and Rec team decided to do a 50/50
raffle and it was a big success. The winner ended up with $212 in their
pocket. It was super fun plus staff made it a competition among
themselves to see who could sell the most tickets.

July 21st was the first movie in the park which was Puss n Boots. It was
well attended with close to 100 people. The weather was perfect.

July 26th was the second concert with Nate Botsford. The crowd
enjoyed it so much there were people dancing and Nate even came out
for an encore. The winner of the 50/50 raffle went home with $220!

The Recreation Department started a brand-new Mt. Bike Camp. We had a total of 14 kids ages 6-14. Robbie Walters who is a professional local Mt. Biker took the kids to local Sandy Parks and then finished up at Sandy Ridge. The kids had a blast.

Marc:

Senior trips for July Recap:

-Dinner at Chicali Cantina in Welches with 10 seniors.

-Dinner at The Cazadero in Estacada.  12 people with 3 meeting us there.

-Washington County Fair in Hillsboro with 8 people.

-Hike at Graham Oaks Nature Park in Wilsonville then lunch at McMenamins Wilsonville Old Church & Pub.  14 people went.

-Hike at The Old Salmon River Trail in Welches then lunch at Mallards at the Mt. Hood Oregon Resort. 11 people went.

-Trip to the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum and lunch at Grace Su’s China Gorge Restaurant in Hood River.  10 people attended.

1021 meals were delivered to Meals on Wheels clients.

Amy:

• Hosted the 2nd Bee City Action Group Meeting on July 11th.
• Started planning for a Fall Volunteer Appreciation Event in conjunction with the Library.
• Continued to do the Community Gardens Social + Volunteer Work Day.
• Skyhawks Camps were successful and concluded at the end of July.
• Researched Volunteer Software Systems.
• Softball Tournament, End of Season, and post season survey was sent out.
• Posted lots of social media posts and started experimenting with FB Reels.
• Started planning for Winterfest with the team
• Researched Bat House ideal locations for National Bat Week in October.
• Finalized Mt Storm Instructional League details and created a poster for the program.

Chelsea:
-Updated Sportsman with our new master fee schedule rates and updated our waiver form with our updated cancellation policy, created a flier for our new Park Shelter rentals, and began taking reservations for Bornstedt and Cascadia gazebos and the smaller shelters at Meinig Park. These are off to a busy start. We’ve taken 13 new reservations so far! -Compiled Playground survey results into a spreadsheet and shared results with our team and Lango Hansen.
-Compiled and created an updated SDS Binder for the center.
-Converted flyers to display on the Center’s new TV (Advertisement Board) and learned how to upload and work the display.
-Attended a CCS meeting and a Winterfest planning meeting.
-Completed the quarterly grant update/reimbursement request for the Cedar Ridge Trail construction project.

John:

Lead a Winterfest planning meeting including nailing down events for this year + involving the local downtown businesses.

Met with Don Kesterson with Commercial Holiday decorators for a downtown tour which included brainstorming creative ideas to decorate the downtown sector of town.

Headed up the Park Naming Committee for the Community Campus park, successfully recruited a full committee (includes 3 community members, 2 parks board members, and a city council liaison), and started the planning process for our first meeting in August.

Parks & Facilities:

–

Upcoming Important Dates:

August 5th Movie in the Park: Spiderman

August 9th Concert in the Park: Radical Revolution

August 19th Movie in the park: Lightyear

June went by quick here at the Center- see below for what we’ve been up to all month.

Carol:

Accomplishments: June was the start of the Adult softball League. Skyhawks camps, Longest Day Parkway and Noah’s Quest also took place in June.

The Adult Softball League has 8 full teams and all the games are at the Sandy High School.

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. Close to 400 people showed up at Bornstedt Park for this year’s event.

This year was the 18th year for Noah’s Quest. It was a perfect day for everyone to be together. We had over 20 volunteers helping out on the course and at registration tables. New this year we released 100 butterflies at the beginning before the kiddie run. This year one of our local seniors who participates in our senior hikes and trips won the weekend getaway in Astoria. That weekend getaway is a house in Astoria and is something that gets raffled off every year.

Amy:

The first makerspace class was held Wednesday, June 28th. There are 11 teens participating in the program. A lot of combined efforts between the Sandy library and Sandy P&R made this program possible!

All 3 new building monitors have been trained and started working!

Posted a lot of Facebook/Instagram posts to help get the word out about our ongoing events and classes.

National Pollinator Week was celebrated with it’s own Pollinator/Bee City booth at the Longest Day Parkway event and was the focus for a Community Gardens Social. 

Caroleana:

Attended a two day conference hosted by Oregon Care Partners with nationally recognized dementia care and training expert Teepa Snow.  The conference was very informative and helpful for her work for the ‘Change of Pace’ respite program.  Reducing the stigma with dementia and helping family members partner with the individual who is experiencing the brain change.  The current and future respite participants and caregivers will benefit from the hands-on skills and tools learned.  

She also attended several trainings online:

-Oral Health and Coverage for Seniors with the National Center on Law and Elder Rights 

-Meals on Wheels Training through Meals on Wheels America 

As well, Caroleana had an in person training with Energy Assistance through the director with Clackamas County.  This month 30 senior households were helped with 4 of those being home visits.  (Way to go Caroleana!)

In June, Caroleana also coordinated an AARP Safe Driving Course at the center.  Which involved setting up the room day and reminder calls to the 16 seniors who took the course.

Hosted a Senior Birthday Party celebrating the birthdays of April, May and June. We got the cake from Safeway again and had a lovely time with over 20 seniors. 

Caroleana is also working on future classes and events at the center.  One with CASH Oregon through Metropolitan Family Service Oregon for the possibility of future tax help at the center.   This was a large need this last year and we had to send seniors to other centers.  This organization also has the possibility of online help.  

The second collaboration would be with Mt. Hood Hospice for future classes in the Fall on the topic of grief and why hospice.  

Lastly, Caroleana is also planning a fundraiser for March 2024. 

Chelsea:

Completed normal duties such as the Parks & Trails Agenda for our monthly board meeting, paid project invoices, attended a quarterly department meeting, created the July/August newsletter and issued it + updated the website to have summer outings listed, and ordered items for our senior summer BBQ.

Assisted with the Invitation to Bid- sent out full packet to interested firms, kept an up to date planholders list, and updated webpage.

Ran with Public engagement for the Community Campus Playground design- created a survey, involved the Parks Board, updated project webpage, and helped draft facebook posts.

Created a flyer for the Combat Veterans memorial fundraiser and another flyer for the Mountain Festival Parade to advertise prime viewing to our seniors.

Took a heat class training.

Created a spreadsheet to help with City Departments participation in the Mountain Festival Parade and coordinated with the mountain fest parade coordinator. 

Marc:

Trips:

-Lunch at Biscuits (full) with 2 seniors meeting us there.

-Dinner at Nicholas 10 people with 2 meeting us there. First time going there for most people and for trying Lebanese/Mediterranean food and they loved it.

-Hike & Lunch at Browns Ferry park and Panera (Full).

-Hike & Lunch at Historic Columbia River State Highway trail and lunch at Bridgeside in Cascade Locks (Full).

-Scandinavian Midsummer Festival In Astoria- 10 people!

-Putt Putt (mini golf) at Tualatin Island Greens and lunch at the Island Grill (Full).

 Took a trip to Costco trip to get food for Longest Day Parkway – 288 hot dogs and buns, 288 ice cream bars – we went through them all!

Got all the preventative maintenance (oil changes, tire rotations, ADA ramp and lift inspections) done on our center’s vehicles that ride connection requires every 6 months.

Meals on wheels total for June was 1295 meals!

John:

Coordinated Longest Day Parkway. Thanks to the team and other city departments for this great community event. We had one of our biggest turn outs yet with almost 400 people!

Presented the Parks and Recreation’s new Financial Sustainability plan and Master Fee schedule to the Council at the June 5th council meeting. This was then adopted on June 20th as part of the consent agenda.

Hosted a very productive Winterfest planning meeting as we’re gearing up for December events.

Started the process to establish a park naming committee for the Community Campus Park.

Parks Monthly Report:

Upcoming and important dates/events:

July 3rd- Senior 4th of July BBQ at the Center

July 4th- Fireworks at the High school

July 5th-7th Mt. Festival kids events

July 6th- Mt. Festival Parade- Parks & Recreation is participating

July 12th- 1st Concert in the Park for the 2023 season!

July 21st- First movie in the park!

July 26th- 2nd Concert in the park!

May brought some wonderful warm and sunny weather. The department was excited to break out their summer clothes.

Caroleana:

Advertised for the Resource Fair via flyers around town. The Resource Fair was on May 23rd. We had over 80 people in attendance including 16 business vendors.

Caroleana also brought in braille bingo cards from Oral Hull so a client can participate in bingo.

Coordinated a new senior birthday drawing- we want to thank McDonalds and Scoop and Swirl for their donations.

Energy Assistance for summer cooling has started. Appointments are coming in. She also met with the director of OEAP for further training. A total of 6 energy assistance applications were completed this month.

Researched caregiver support, education, and online videos for respite caregivers.

Coordinated a large donation of Oranges and Girl Scout Cookies for our Meals on Wheels clients. Also provided MOW clients with health education and flyers pertaining to the center.

Our Respite program, Change of Pace, has continued to grow. In May, we incorporated visitors for firefighter day (Thanks Laurie!), a dog visit, weekly music, and tap dancers.

Attended a training about hoarding.

Organized an AARP safe driving class to happen here at the Center in June.

Had 6 new sign ups for meals on Wheels. Also connected them with food stamps, the library, and energy assistance.

Continued to send out thank you cards for donations and also for all the vendors for the resource fair.

Chelsea:

Helped mail out Longest Day Postcards, worked on a project update flyer for the community Campus Park project, created a banner for the playground engagement webpage (coming soon!), and created a menu for our upcoming summer senior BBQ.

Researched Bid websites and PGE grants for Winterfest.

Mailed prevailing wage documents for the Cedar Ridge Connector trail. Proofed documents for the Invitation to Bid for the Community Campus Skate Park and Pump Track construction.

Updated all our of Park and building rental waivers.

Took care of reoccurring tasks of the Parks & Trails Advisory Board meeting, agenda, and minutes. Paid project invoices. Ordered supplies, ect.

Marc:

The casino trip to Spirit Mountain was full. The group had a great lunch at P.F. Changs in Tigard. The Roadhouse Dinner had 20 people in attendance (one of our largest yet due to some seniors meeting us there!). Both hikes were either full or mostly full. The Iris garden was a hit with most of the group coming back with potted plants. We also gave the seniors the option getting a boxed lunch from Tollgate which went over well.

Shopping shuttles remain full. Regular picks up occurred for the Monday morning cards and puzzle group and Bingo/Pinochle. Regular maintenance got done to the bus and MV1.

The Meals on wheels total for May was 1211.

John:

Orchestrated getting a new roof on the Community/senior Center. This is complete as of June 5th. It looks great!

Attended budget committee meetings.

Met again with the Combat Motorcycle Veterans Association and helped them plan their upcoming fundraiser that will benefit the Veterans Memorial.

Worked on compiling policies for Clackamas County to show we’re in compliance with OAA Funding requirements.

Created a presentation for our June P&R department quarterly meeting.

Carol:

The Summer Guide came out the first week in May.

Adult Softball games started May 31st.

Posters for music and movies are complete and will be distributed to businesses the
beginning of June.

Carol and Amy have been training weekly on the new laser engraver that is in the art
room. Classes will be offered for teens starting the end of June and it’s called “makerspace” which will include the laser engraver, sticker maker, cricket machine and button maker for teens. This new program will be led by library staff.

Amy:

Assisted with interviewing and hiring 3 new building monitors and started training one of them. Created the schedule for the building monitors in June.

Cleaned out the outdoor shed, and the many closets in the community center. Did a LOT of spring cleaning this month.

Held a bee city booth at the library’s May 15th pollinator presentation.

Celebrated National Bee Day on May 20th by doing a community gardens work day. During our garden social later in the event we placed leafcutter bee cocoons into the bee houses in the gardens.

Helped D31 Foundation build raised garden beds for seniors at Avamere. 

Was interviewed by Brit (Pamplin) on Longest Day for an article on the event. 

Submitted articles for the Sandy Source. 

Parks Monthly Report:

Upcoming Important Dates:

• National Pollinator Week – June 19 to June 25
• Longest Day Parkway – June 22

• Noah’s Quest – June 24

• First Makerspace Class on June 28
• Summer camps with Skyhawks (mini hawks basketball, baseball, soccer) & multi sport (capture the flag, dodgeball, & ultimate frisbee) starts the last week in June at Tupper Park. The other camps will be held throughout all the city parks this summer.

April seemed to come and go quickly. We stayed busy here at the center.

Caroleana officially restarted the Center’s respite program. So far she’s had 4 great Thursday Respite days. She is working on some upcoming special guest visitors for the program. Stay turned for photos next month.

Caroleana attended Grief Open Group at Ant Farm. In the fall, we’re hoping to partner with Mt. Hood Hospice to offer Grief 101 classes here at the center.

May 23rd is the Senior Resource Fair at the Center. Caroleana has done an amazing job at getting businesses and organizations to attend. She’s been doing lots of advertising for it as well. In June, she is working with AARP to put on a Safe Driving Class.

There were 9 new Meals on Wheels clients signed up in April- and lots of home visits. Caroleana has started a monthly newsletter that goes out to these clients with resources and information. It’s been a great addition to our Meals on Wheels program. Caroleana also completed 7 energy assistance applications.

Chelsea spent the month completing lots of various documents. She created the May/June Newsletter and got it printed and mailed/emailed out. Marc and her also started brainstorming ideas for Summer (July/August).

For April we had a Parks & Trails Advisory Board meeting and Chelsea worked up the meeting minutes after.

Chelsea attended various meetings- A planning meeting for Winter Fest 2023, a meeting for Mountain fest 2023, and 2 budget committee meetings at City Hall.

Chelsea also processed invoices for various ongoing projects and submitted a quarterly grant update for the Cedar Ridge Trail.

Chelsea updated the Longest Day Postcard and flyer for this year’s Longest Day Parkway Event. Last year at this time, Canva (our design software) was still really new to her so it was fun to see how much has been learned over the last year of designing documents/publications. She also created a building monitor job posting flyer, a youth summer sport camp flyer, and senior summer bbq flyer.

April started out busy for Carol with all ages celebrating Easter in our park and library.
Our seniors hopped on the trolley and were dropped off at the library to hunt for
Easter eggs in between books and all over the building. There were 5 golden eggs and each egg was worth a gift card from a local business here in Sandy.

The following day the teens showed up on Friday night to hunt for Easter eggs in Meinig Park. The middle schoolers went first and over 100 kids showed up with flashlights. The High schoolers went out after and we had close to 50 kids. Again, all the golden egg prizes were from Local businesses.

The summer recreation guide was finalized and sent to Pamplin to be printed and will be completed and ready for distribution the first week in May. Carol is truly the head of our recreation guide and although the whole team helps, we couldn’t do this 3 times a year without her!

The adult Softball League is just about complete with 8 teams this year. Last year we had 6. Games start on May 31st and will end with a playoff on July 29th. Amy created the softball season schedule, which was a huge undertaking, but it’s done!

Amy hosted a Community Gardens Social and Work Party to celebrate national gardening month. They placed mason bee cocoons into the bee boxes that are installed in the gardens, educated gardeners (and kiddos) about mason bees and cleaned up the garden shed! Speaking of bees- Bee City’s First Quarterly Meeting took place – Amy met with a group of 5 to discuss the past activities Sandy has done for bees and what we can do in 2023 and 2024.

SOLVE IT In Sandy took place on April 22nd – We had 54 volunteers and hit 10 different locations to clean Sandy for Earth Day!

Arbor Day was celebrated April 26th in Centennial Plaza- We celebrated this by having snacks from trees, planting a tree, collected haikus from the community, and the mayor spoke.

Amy participated in Children’s Day @ the Library – She provided a booth for this event and shared park information. Amy loves supporting the library’s events.

Amy spent time Networking w/ the Chamber of Commerce at Morning Perk.

Amy has also started driving and securing patrons for the first time for multiple senior events. Our programs are so successful we are taking two vehicles to some of the outings we offer. This means we are able to help even more citizens of Sandy. This has also given her good practice with the van. Next step will be driving the bus!

Amy is in the process of taking over coordination of the building monitors and creating their schedules. They had a training meeting, transitioned the employees onto a scheduling app, and talked about challenges as a group. It was a very successful meeting. 

-Low Mow Spring started. “We want to encourage citizens to let their grass grow a little longer this spring to support bees and other pollinators. Sandy code allows grass to grow up to 10 inches in height. You can print out your own sign to advertise your support or pick up a sign from the Sandy Community Center! To support pollinators, we’ll be letting the grass grow longer at Deer Point, Melissa Field, Big Fir, and Champion Way Park.  These are open public green spaces (non-developed parkland) where long grass won’t interfere with park and activity use, but will still help pollinators.  We will continue to mow and keep our high use parks in good shape for public use.”

John spent the month starting to gear up for the holiday season. He hosted a meeting with Khrys Jones from the Sandy Chamber to talk about creative ideas to get local businesses and the Sandy Community involved in our Winter Holiday celebration. John and Tiana also met with an electrician who is providing a quote to add more electrical outlets to Meinig Park. We want to grow the park holiday light experience.  More lights means more electricity.

• John contracted with Bold Media to purchase a custom designed Sandy Logo made of Holiday lights (15ft by 4ft). This will be a great new “Sandy” edition to the holiday/winter fest experience.

Tiana and John are exploring a partnership with the Combat Veterans Association.  We are working together to fundraise money for concrete repairs to the Veterans Memorial.

For the past year, John, Rochelle, and the team have been working with Amelia 110% to create a departmental Financial Sustainability Plan.  This plan will help guide where our Taxpayers money is spent and where we offset those expenses by generating revenue.  This month he presented the Policy to the Parks and Trails Advisory Board which was motioned to take before City Council for adoption.

As a Recreation Team, Carol, Amy and John met with staff at Oral Hull to start exploring options for Sandy youth aquatics.

Marc was overjoyed to not have any more cancelled trips due to weather. The seniors did have a great time at the Tulip festival and the rain even held off for them. They also enjoyed a day at the Museum of Oregon Territories. Dine outs included Oswego Grill and an Italian restaurant in Troutdale. The two hikes for the month were Salish Pond in Fairview and the Cedar Island Trail at Mary S Young Park. These trips have become so popular that most fill up within the first few days of opening. The dine outs tend to be the favorite.

-Due to all the Meals on Wheels clients Caroleana has been adding, Marc has been busy inputting them all into the Meals on Wheels routes and organizing their deliveries. 1168 meals were delivered in April.

We had a 1 year work Anniversary Party for John, Chelsea, and Marc!

Parks Monthly Report:

Upcoming and important events/dates:

• -No Mow May in full swing – As part of Sandy’s commitment to being a Bee City, this year we’re introducing “No Mow May” and “Low Mow Spring!”
• -Spring Celebration Bee City Booth on Sat May 6
• -Bringing Pollinators to your Garden Library Event May 15th – there will be a Bee City Booth – see poster attached
• -National Bee Day May 20th (unfortunately we aren’t doing anything big with it this year, but it’s a day we should remind people of) 
• Senior Resource Fair- Tuesday May 23, 10 am to 2 pm.  
• Energy Assistance can continue through the year- Cooling assistance specifically  can start in June 
• May 29th- Center Closed
• June 10th walk or Run with Pride which is held at Sandy Bluff Park
• June 22 Longest Day Parkway which is held at Bornstedt Park
• June 24 Noah’s Quest which is held at Sandy Bluff Park.
• Skyhawk Camps start end of June

March brought more winter weather which caused more cancelled trips and events for our seniors. Everyone seemed over the snow which made the few days of sunshine that much more enjoyable.

For Carol, March meant finishing up Mountain Storm for the year. Mt. Storm concluded with the Jamboree at the high school.  They had a total of 220 kids grades 3^rd-6^th from all of the different OTSD schools.  They 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 Parks & Recreation Department hosted their first Silent Disco at the Community Center for teens.  We had 3 local sponsors: D31, Embold Credit Union, and Dick Hannah.  Dominoes donated pizza and Nya’s Cakes gave us a discount on cookies.  The teens had a blast and used the whole community center.  There was a photo booth and games in the lounge (pool, corn hole, connect 4, chess, and VR headsets).  This event was a huge success and will happen again. Something for adults may be a future offering! Give Carol a shout out for this incredible event as this was her idea and she brought it to fruition.

Amy has continued to learn the ropes. The Community Gardens beds sold out by March 31st – 3 nonprofits (D31 Foundation, Todos Juntos, and DD & MH Provider of Oregon) and 45 individuals are involved. Amy organized and help deliver organic compost from Handmade Gardens PDX with help from volunteers from D31 Foundation. D31 Foundation also generously sponsored the fee for folks who could not afford to participate in the gardens. The first volunteer work day of the season was March 26th.

Amy’s K-2 Mountain Storm Instructional League met twice in March and is continuing through April because of the 3 back to back snow days. Last class day is now April 19th. Good job Amy!

Amy has taken over Bee City. Sandy Bee City installed two bee houses for Mason and Leafcutter Bees in the community gardens and kicked off our “Adopt a Flower Box” program to help get pollinator friendly flowers in the gardens. If you’re interested in joining the Bee City Action Group-please see the flyer below and let Amy know.

Finally, Amy was interviewed by Brit Allen on Solve It In Sandy, the Earth Day Clean Up event which is scheduled for April 22nd.

Caroleana decorated the center for St. Patrick’s day. Caroleana also helped decorate for the Teen Silent Disco, along with Marc and Carol. This was quite the task as they set up lights, lasers, and blacked out all the windows and skylights.

Caroleana’s Respite program was advertised in our newsletter and on social media.  We have had interest in the program and it began April 6th. Meanwhile- lots of learning is happening for the respite program- ie: online trainings and videos about dementia and Alzheimer’s through the alzheimer’s association. She also met with Samantha, our volunteer for Respite, to plan for April activities, crafts and exercises for the program.

Caroleana had a few opportunities to learn about new resources for our seniors this month. She participated in a Medicare training which gave her new insight to the large need for proper education to our seniors on the benefits available to them through the medicare plans, etc.  She attended a great meeting regarding OPI (Oregon Project Independence) which is a great resource for our seniors in Clackamas County. She also learned about the caregiver registry and their requirements. In an online training course she learned about programs that can help with senior loneliness and social isolation: Circle of Friends and Pearls. She looks forward to being able to offer this information to our seniors who can benefit from it.

Bingo was March 14th. Caroleana had a blast calling it. Bingo continues to grow and we have close to 20 people each time.

There were 7 new Meals on Wheels clients this month and 7 re-assessments of our current MOW clients. This included home-visits and meetings with these clients.  Caroleana enjoyed meeting these local seniors and hearing their stories. 

She also hosted a Birthday Party here at the center March 20th. Our Silvertones Choir group sang and Safeway donated a cake. Chelsea assisted with serving cake and ice cream at the party. See photos below!

Caroleana’s Resource Fair is filling up quickly. She currently has 14 businesses/organizations that will host tables for the Fair on May 23, 2023. Please help spread the word about this awesome upcoming event!  

Chelsea spent March by continuing to help with public engagement for the Community Campus Park development plan- including updating a flyer for the last open house and attending the last open house. She also published final survey links as they were complete. The end of March concluded the main robust public engagement portion of the Park project (see image below for a list of outreach activities). The LGGP grant was also submitted prior to the April 1st deadline.

Chelsea spent time working with the team to determine what shelters and greenspace we can add to our offerings. She researched prices of other regional shelters/park rentals. She worked to build these new park rentals into Sportsman so they’re ready come July 1st . Our waivers have also gotten an update based on what we’ve been learning from rentals over the last 8 months or so. 

Chelsea talked with Sportsman and learned how to issue batch credits. She then taught the rest of the team and together they issued credits/refunds for the plethora of classes canceled due to the weather. 

Rochelle and Chelsea participated in the Agenda manager trainings to learn how to use the new civic software system for our agendas and meeting minutes.

Chelsea created a vacation calendar to be able to more effectively track everyone’s vacation schedules as the department continues to grow.

Our summer Recreation guide has been proofed and sent to the designer. We will have some limited copies and a digital version available the beginning of May.  

Marc’s Senior trips for March were mostly full if not completely full, although some ended up getting cancelled due to weather.

Marc also worked to update the meals on wheels routes as we’ve taken on new clients. Our total meal deliveries for March were 1,112, even with 3 missed days due to weather. However, Marc did make a few special deliveries during the closures for people who needed emergency meals.

John, Marc, Carol, and Caroleana worked to get our electrical room cleaned out and our storage closet reorganized. It looks so good- way to go team!

John worked with our consultant firm to review the final draft for our Financial Sustainability Policy which has now been submitted.  He’s also creating a slide deck to present our work, review our goals and explain the policy to the Parks Board and the Council.

He’s working with the ORPA 2023 Summer Leader Academy as a speaker to provide professional development around behavior management and trauma informed care.

He’s also working with a custom display designer to start raising the bar for our Holiday Lights experience at Meinig Park.

John, Rochelle, and Tiana worked on departmental budget reports for the 2023-2025 biennium.

Movies and Music in the Park Update:

We have 3 movies confirmed

July 21st Puss n Boots

August 5th Spiderman No Way Home

August 19th Buzz Lightyear

The music line up:

July 12th Taken By the Sky- Fleetwood Mac Tribute

July 26th Nate Botsford- Local Country Artist

August 9th Radical Revolution (80’s rock and pop)

Businesses that are sponsoring Music and Movies in the park 2023:

Hoodview, Washman, Smoky Hearth, Whippersnappers, Les Swaab, Bill’s Automotive, Konell Construction, Trimble Estates, CCB, Everfresh, and Timberline.

Carol’s goal is $14,000 and we are at $12,100.  More to come!

Parks Monthly Report:

Upcoming Events/Important Dates:

April 6th- Senior Egghunt at the library

April 6th- Respite resumes at the Center

April 7th- Teen Flashlight Egghunt at Meinig Park.

April 14th- Senior trip to the Museum of Oregon Territories & Lunch at Coasters Crossing (already full)

April 21st-  Senior trip to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival (already full)

April 22nd- Solve Clean up

April 26th- Arbor Day Celebration at Centennial Plaza

April 29th- Dia del Nino/Children’s Day

May 23rd- Senior Resource Fair at the Center