September was a good month here at the Community/Senior Center. Our fall classes started mid to late September. Some filled up very quickly, like Parkour. Yoga has been popular as well, especially with drop ins.

The voice and creative theater arts class has been a hit as well with more students joining as class goes on.

Corn Cross was another success. They had a total of 385 participants- ranging in age from 3 to over 70! There were lots of donations of prizes from local businesses like Otto’s Ski Shop, Next Adventure and Everfresh Fruit Co.

Mountain Storm Youth Basketball is back up and running for this winter. Registrations opened at the end of September and will run through the end of October.

The team has been busy gearing up for our Holiday Lights Event At Meinig in December. This will be a month long event which includes lighting up Meinig Park and will have 5 specialty events, most geared towards families but one will be adults only. Local organizations are helping by donating their time and resources. Carol has also collected sponsorships totaling $10,000 so far.

Chelsea worked on finalizing a till/reconciliation policy.

Marc put together a last minute trip to the Dahlia Festival that filled up within a few days of opening. The ladies had a great time picking Dahlias. The hiking trips were also a success and the group enjoyed the beautiful weather. After one hike the group dined at Chang’s Mongolian Grill and it was very well received.

Our amazing team did a large clean out and reorganization of our upstairs storage closets. It was a large undertaking but we’re glad to have it done.

Our Client Services Coordinator position has closed and job interviews are scheduled for mid/late October.

Upcoming events:

October 22nd- Halloween Hunt for teens

October 29th- Trick or Treat Trail

The month of August has come to a close and summer is winding down.

August was filled with concerts and movies. Petty Fever brought in close to 500
people. Our Food and Beer vendors were busy and some of the gold sponsors (Timberline & Hometown Lenders) were also on hand giving out information. Our second concert of the summer, Johnny Limbo and the Lugnuts had close to 700 people. It was awesome to see the attendees get up and dance in front of the stage. The last movie, Sing 2, John helped out with day of while carol enjoyed a much needed vacation. Great job Carol on these fantastic community events!

Softball ended with the 6 teams playing 20 games during the summer and the Mt. Hood Athletic Club Team walked away with the trophy.

Skyhawks Camps finished up in August as well.

Marc had a few great outings with the seniors- including taking them to Dinner at Roadhouse in Gresham, a mystery drive up the Clackamas River, a hike on the Cazadero Trail followed by lunch at the Red Apple, a hike on the Clackamas River trail, and a trip to Senior Day at the Clackamas County Fair.

With the help of our wonderful Meals on Wheels volunteers, we delivered a total of 1334 meals in August.

Chelsea worked with the team to gather data for our Cost Recovery project. August was also our first full month of building rentals so she created a policy and procedure document for handling the damage deposits. We had a successful employee picnic and everyone had lots of fun enjoying the music, food cart, ice cream, and games.

We were awarded a Congregate Meal grant of $25,000, thanks to John’s hard work.  The money will be used to get our kitchen up to code and working more efficiently so that we can start serving congregate meals once again to the seniors of our community. Way to go John! John also hired and trained a building monitor who will be here to cover for after hour events and classes. Brooke, our new building monitor, has been a great asset and helped us cover most of our weekend rentals in August.

The department is working together to plan a new event: Holiday Lights at Meinig, which will take place in December. More information to come soon on this.

The Parks & Trails Advisory Board did a Parks Tour for their meeting this month. It involved a tour and history of our Parks and Trails systems and everyone enjoyed it.

Olga, our Client Services Coordinator announced her retirement this month. Her last day was August 30th. She will dearly be missed by all of us and we wish her the absolute best on her next adventure. Thanks for all the hugs Olga!

Parks & Facilities August Recap:

Important Upcoming Dates:

September 5th- Center closed for Observance of Labor Day

September 11th- Corn Cross at Liepold Farms

September- Some of the classes listed in our recreation guide begin middle of September.

July was another great month at the Community/Senior Center. We welcomed the sun and warmer weather.

Carol had an amazing turn out for our Kids Events During Mountain Festival. The Mt. Festival Pet Show had approximately 34 participants. The Mt. Festival Bike Derby had approximately 53 attendees. Last but not least, the Mt. Festival kids parade had a whopping 235 approximate attendees. Way to go Carol! John, Olga, Marc, and Rochelle all helped with these events.

Skyhawks camps had 49 kids total for the month of July. The camps varied from basketball, soccer and a multi sport camp for younger kids.

July 30th was the first Movie in the park for this summer.  It was a hot one but 75 people showed up to see Encanto.  Timberline and Hometown Lenders 2 of our sponsors showed up and had giveaways and information about their businesses.

Marc had a lot of fun on our senior outings in July. The Saylers Dine out was the most popular and sold out. The Mystery drive to Cascade Locks was a big hit and mostly full. The group celebrated with ice cream afterwards. The Hidden Falls Hike was another popular sign up and the group beat the heat for that outing. Marc also took 2 ladies on a mini-golf trip and out to lunch.

Marc also stayed late and set up chairs for the seniors to sit outside the Center for the Mountain Festival Parade. A great time was had by all.

For July, we delivered 1367 Meals on Wheels.

John was busy in July. He negotiated with the county on our Meals on Wheels reimbursement rate. He and Carol worked on our Fall recreation guide and it’s now being printed. John led and conducted first and second round interviews for our open Recreation Coordinator position. We also finalized our departments Mission and Vision statement under Johns guidance.

The whole team worked together on starting our Cost Recovery process at the end of July.

Olga has been busy with continued Medicare support and general referrals. She also worked on getting Meals on Wheels reassurance calls done.

Upcoming Events:

Movies and Music in the park continues:

August 3rd- Petty Fever Tribute Band

August 10th- Johnny Limbo & the Lugnuts

August 20th- Sing 2

Skyhawks Camps run through August

Our Fall Recreation Guide will be out soon! Stay tuned to your utility bill or our website for more information or stop by the Community Center in Mid- August to grab your copy.

Some fun senior outings for August include a trip to the county fair, lunch at Bobs Red Mill, a visit to the Military Museum, and Bunco at the Community/Senior Center!

Although June had a lot of rain- we still managed to have fun here at the community/Senior center. Olga’s Moves and Grooves class started back up and has been a popular exercise class. Marc took the seniors on multiple outings such as a hike at Powell Butte and Milo McIver Park, a Mystery Drive to Timberline, and a day trip to the Zoo.

Olga has also been focusing on reassurance checks and case management, energy assistance, and general senior information and referrals for calls or walk ins. In June we delivered 1,506 meals on wheels.

Marc has been busy using Google Earth Pro to remap our Meals on Wheels routes for maximum efficiency and driver ease. He also puts a lot of thought into brainstorming ideas and research for our senior outings.

John has made it his personal mission to get the whole team on board creating a vision and mission statement. That process is well underway. The Parks & Recreation webpage continues to be updated to match our current events. John also attended a county lead meeting for all Clackamas county seniors centers to discuss our county contracts and reimbursements. He’s also been in discussion with Sage/Envoy about our electric vehicle and how we can promote that amongst our employees/volunteers.

Carol and John, along with the rest of the team, have been tag teaming a Fall recreation Guide. Carol has multiple instructors lined up to teach various classes this fall, as well as Mountain Storm Basketball, and some fun community events. Carol has also been busy getting softball and Skyhawks camps off to a running start.

Chelsea had a great June. The newsletter template that had been built the previous month made June’s newsletter process a breeze. This will serve us well going forward. She feels she now has a solid understanding of the monthly reports and meeting minutes/agenda process which is great. The cash till/reconciliation process is finalized and running smoothly.

Longest Day Parkway took place on June 23rd. We had an amazing turn out with an estimated 200-300 people. Everyone seemed to have a great time and truly enjoy the event. We are already looking forward to next years event!

Noah’s Quest- Carol had another great turn out for Noah’s Quest. There were approximately 73 participants and the weather was beautiful day of.

Parks Update

Upcoming Events:

July 4th- Fireworks show at Sandy High School in conjunction with Clackamas County Bank.

July 6th-8th- Mountain Festival Kids Events

July 7th- Mountain Festival Parade- the Senior Center is providing chairs for the seniors that want to sit outside the center and enjoy the parade.

July/August- Music and Movies in the Park.

Community/Senior Center Update:

May was the center’s first month back offering a more robust schedule of outings for the seniors. All were full within the first week. The seniors had a great time.

Carol has been busy getting summer recreational events planned and assisting with senior outings. She has softball leagues (6 teams) starting the beginning of June. See down below in our upcoming events section for more of what Carol has been working on.

Marc, our Transportation Coordinator/Driver, completed his Ride Connection training, had our vehicles serviced, and is getting the hang of his new job. He likes getting to take the seniors on outings and exploring local places with them.

John, our Center Manager, has been busy continuing to get the Community/Senior Center fully operational again. He’s been interviewing building monitors. One is starting in June which means we can start to rent out the building for events. Our waivers have also been updated which was part of that process as well. Our software system (Sportsman) is now fully updated to help us handle those requests. A 2nd Recreation Coordinator position has been posted which will allow us to offer event more recreational activities to our community. The Parks & Recreation webpages have been updated to more accurately reflect current happenings. Our point of sale system has come a along way since last month and the department is feeling like we have a good handle on having the update fully complete soon.

Chelsea is continuing to learn her new position as the Executive Assistant. She’s been helping John get the website and Sportsman updated. She is becoming our designated flyer designer using Canva. A lot of prep in May went into the June newsletter which has been completely redesigned into a bifold design. Chelsea also attended her first Parks and Trails Advisory Board meeting, completed her 2nd set of meeting minutes, and learned how to upload the meeting video to Youtube and Icompass.

Our Meals on wheels drivers delivered a total of 1,220 meals in May.

Parks Update:

Upcoming Events/Important Dates:

June 20th- Center closed in observance of Juneteenth

June 23rd- Longest Day Parkway at Cascadia Park

June 25th- Noah’s Quest 5k/10k/Kiddie Run

July 4th- Center closed in observance of the 4th of July

July 4th- Firework Show at Dusk

Summer Concerts and Movies in park (Various dates this summer)

Aging Adult Services Highlight

The center remains open limited hours but we’re looking forward to a full reopening in May. We continue to hire new key staff and welcome 3 new additions to the team:

John Wallace, Center Manager

Chelsea Jarvis, Executive Assistant

Marc Young, Transportation Coordinator/Driver

Marc Young is the Community Center’s Driver/Transportation Coordinator. Marc is a Southern California transplant (he says, “don’t hold it against me”).  His mother grew up there and he spent many weeks every year visiting family and learning what it takes to be an Oregonian.  He feels that growing up in Southern California had its benefits.  Marc is a roller coaster junkie and he lived minutes away from Six Flags. Other than missing his occasional corkscrew, he stated he feels beyond grateful to be living in the community of Sandy.  Marc’s enthusiasm is contagious, “I enjoy the atmosphere, the seasons (especially the snow), the mild traffic and the relationships that I get to make.”  For the past 2 years he worked for ComTrans, which is part of the AMR family, as a non-emergency medical transport driver.  He loved being of service to the aging population and he is thrilled to continue that work, giving back directly to the city that he loves.
Chelsea Jarvis is the Parks and Recreation Department’s Executive Assistant. She is a Gresham native currently living in Rhododendron with her Husband and their Alaskan Malamute. Chelsea says, “Living close to Mt. Hood has been such a blessing- we’re close to family and so many different recreational activities. The views of the mountains are always inspiring.” She has Bachelors in Business Administration from Eastern Oregon University with concentrations in Hospitality and Management. After graduating college, she worked at Timberline Lodge for 7 years in their Sales and Catering Department. Chelsea started as an Administrative Assistant and Catering Coordinator, which gave her a great base of office structure and flow. She worked her way up to Sales and Catering Manager where she contracted and finalized weddings, conferences, and day trips for up to 250 people. For the last 2 years, Chelsea fulfilled a long standing desire to work with Seniors by working at a memory care/assisted living facility in Gresham where she did a variety of activities with their 60 seniors. That opportunity showed her how much she truly enjoyed working with seniors and how incredibly rewarding it can be. Outside of work, Chelsea enjoys reading, baking, hosting parties, and all things home design. Chelsea and her husband love to take weekend camping trips locally, along with regular trips to Leavenworth and Palm Springs, they are looking forward to some upcoming International travel as well. Chelsea’s exceptional customer service skills are already coming through! She writes, “I am excited to join the City of Sandy’s Parks and Recreation Department where I can incorporate my administrative, event management, and senior skills. I’m looking forward to growing with the team.” 
John Wallace is the Community Center Manager (and recreation dabler!). John has lived in Sandy with his family for the last 3 years.  His wife, Kayla, two sons, Quincy and Winston, have loved the transition from the city.  John enjoys the fact that they are closer to the mountain, family, and the community. All these things bring him an enormous amount of Joy.  Before starting his career with the City of Sandy’s Parks and Recreation Department, he spent 14 years working in public education.  Most recently, he worked for the David Douglas School District.  During his time at David Douglas he served many roles.  John was a PE teacher, a 5th grade teacher, a Student Behavior Specialist and the school’s Student Achievement Specialist.  Working in education afforded him summers off which let him do the work that he was most passionate about.  For the past 5 years, during the summer, he worked as an Administrator for the Camp Kiwanilong Summer Youth Program, a small summer camp in Warrenton on the Oregon coast.  This is a camp that he attended as a child and worked at all through high school and college.  This is where he met his wife working there as a young counselor and many years later, after his first son was born, he was able to work for them again helping to develop staff, program and operations.  John’s passion and collaborative leadership shines through. He writes, “I take pride in working in positions where I get to serve people, especially people within the community I live.  I feel fortunate that I get to continue this work in the city that my family calls home as the new Community Center/Senior Center Manager for the City of Sandy’s Parks and Recreation Department.”

Here is a look at our May Calendar- as you can see it’s growing- we’re looking forward to offering even more activities for the month of June.

John, Chelsea, and the rest of the team are working hard to get trained on Sportsman (the center’s software program), get it updated, and get a point of sale system in place for our reopening in May. They’re also working to get our website updated. John has started accepting applications for building monitors.

John and Marc are putting in hours towards their Ride Connection Training.

Our Meals on Wheels drivers delivered a total of 1,399 meals for the Month of April.

Recreation & Special Events Highlights

Carol Cohen, our Recreation Coordinator has been busy finalizing sponsorships for the music and movies. With her hard work, we have reached $11,000 in Sponsorships including Sponsors such as Trimble Rentals, Washman, Everfresh Fruit Co, Clackamas County Bank, Les Schwab Sandy, Timberline, Hometown Lenders, Hoodview Disposal, Whippersnappers, and Konnell Construction. Way to go Carol!

Carol is also working to promote more of the programs by going to some of the local businesses like daycares, preschools, churches, and Sandy Vista apartments to get the word out more.

Sandy’s Solve It annual clean up was on April 23^rd.  We had over 50 people and the 20 yard dumpster was completely full.  The volunteers felt so proud of what they accomplished.  Total volunteer hours that day was 184 hours.

The Sandy Senior Egghunt was a blast.  We had close to 30 seniors who searched for eggs and golden eggs that were painted.  Those that found the painted eggs received gift cards from local Sandy businesses.

The Teen Flashlight Egghunt had over 100 kids and it was dry.  The Parks Department did a great job cleaning up the park for that event.  Golden egg prizes were also gift cards from local businesses

Summer sport camps that are contracted with Skyhawks are filling up. Those camps will be at different Sandy parks like Tupper, Sandy Bluff, Bornstedt, and the Sandy Community Campus.

Softball sign- ups are coming in.  Our goal is to have at least 6 teams and we’re well on our way!

Parks & Maintenance Highlights

Upcoming Meetings

Parks & Trails Advisory Board Meeting- May 5th, 2022 at 7:00pm

What to look forward to:

Senior trips for May: Dinner at Bigfoot Growlers and a viewing of the Sandy High school play Freaky Friday (May 13th), a hike at Wildwood and lunch at Wraptitude in Welches (May 26th), and a Mystery drive (May 23rd). These events are full but a waiting list is available.

The Community/Senior Center will be closed on May 30th in observance of Memorial Day.

We’re gearing up for the Longest Day Parkway event on June 23rd and Noah’s Quest on June 25th.