The Parks and Recreation Department enthusiastically welcomes the start of Spring!

Aging Adult Services Highlights

The Sandy Community / Senior Center is open for social hours on Monday’s from 10:00am – 12:30pm, as well as Thursday’s from 1:00pm-3:00pm. The center is open for patrons to socialize, play cards, or work on jigsaw puzzles. There is plenty of laughter and fun conversation. As we hire for staff, we look forward to adding more programs and opening the center!

Here is a look at our April calendar.

For the month of March our dedicated Meals on Wheels drivers have delivered 955 meals! Thank you, to our dedicated drives. A special shout out to David Snider, the City’s Economic Development Manager who helped deliver meals when we were short drives – thank you, David! Young at Heart class that meets once a week is building up is gaining in popularity.  We look forward to bringing in more folks to enjoy this sit and fit class.

Young at Heart class that meets once a week is building up is gaining in popularity.  We look forward to bringing in more folks to enjoy this sit and fit class.

Recreation and Special Event Highlights

Carol Cohen, Recreation Coordinator has been busy planning spring and summer events. Carol has drummed up $10,300 in event sponsorships, which a record. Well done, Carol. Thank you to the businesses who have supported these events. In the May message, please stay tuned for a full list of all our generous sponsors. As a department we could not host these popular community events without their support.

The team continues to add contracted classes (i.e. Skyhawks Sports Camp). The staff is adding art classes, dance classes, and much much more.

Parks and Maintenance Highlights: 

Tiana Rundell, Parks Maintenance, is officially a Certified Parks and Safety Inspector (CPSI). This extremely challenging certification through National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and it takes a lot of hard work and studying. Good job, Tiana!

 The Park’s team continues to work hard making our parks safe and clean!

They continued their efforts making the City’s playgrounds safe. They continue to prune hedges a Hamilton Ridge, and repaired the retaining wall lower section of Hamilton Path. They and removed downed trees from Sandy River Trails. They cleaned the entrance to the Skate Park.

Important to note, the Gazebo and bathrooms at Meinig Park are open for the season.

The Community / Senior Center Portico project is complete.

Upcoming meetings:

Interested in Sandy’s Parks and Trails. Please feel free to watch the Parks and Trails Advisory Board (PTAB) meetings or share a public comment.

PTAB meeting date/time: April 13, 2022 @ 7:00 PM. Meeting is held both in person and virtually. For more information to watch the meeting live check click here.

What to Look Forward To:

Senior Egghunt on April 14, 2022 @ the library.  The trolley will be picking up seniors at the community center and will drive them to the library for this event. Call ahead to reserve a spot on the trolley.

April 15, 2022 is the annual Teen Flashlight Egg Hunt at Meinig Park.

Come hike Tickle Creek! April 21, 2022. Leave from the Community Center at 9:00am.

Solve it Clean up April 23, 2022 at Community Center from 9:00am-1:00pm.

The Parks team is hiring! If you know anyone interested in a great summer job, help spread the word. The Park’s division will be hiring for a Seasonal Parks Worker. Here is the link to the City’s recruiting website. https://www.ci.sandy.or.us/jobs

Here’s a glimpse at what the Department was working on for the month of February.

Aging Adult Services / Community Center Highlights:

On February 14th the center hosted a Valentine hunt for the seniors.  We had over 20 people attend and also live music by Robert Bassett.  He played some of his own music and other love song hits.  The seniors loved it and went around the whole facility and looked for valentine cards and painted rocks that we put around the center.  It was a fun scavenger hunt and it made them get up and walk around.  

The Center also experienced a 3-week closure due to a sewer blockage and repair. The Public works crews were amazing to work with, and we thank them for their exceptional customer service!

The facility is once again, open to the public. Hours are Mondays from 10:00a – 12:30p, and Thursdays from 1:00p-3:00p. These hours will be expanded as we bring in additional staff.

The ever popular “Young at Heart Class” continues to grow in popularity! The class is taught by our own Carol Cohen. The class is held on Tuesdays at 10:00a. It is a 30-minute class that includes gentle mobility, stretching, strengthening, and balance exercises. The classes have been drawing an average of 5-10 participants per class. Max class size, based on the Center’s COVID plan, is 20 participants.

The Sandy Senior Center continues to support Meals on Wheels services. The Center staff is committed to delivering Meals on Wheels to our valued community members on Wednesdays and Fridays, and on those days our dedicated volunteers deliver enough meals for 7 days. The Senior Center has experienced a shortage of drivers due to COVID. However, the staff has stepped up and delivered meals as needed. Go team!

As we look at the future with no masks, and possibly coming out of COVID the Senior Center continue to offer a litany of services. Such as financial assistance education and referrals, care giving referrals, housing / rental. assistance and applications assistance, energy assistance, mental health referrals, immigration information and other needs for legal services, translation, case management and reassurance calls, and food referrals. Staff also conducts home visits.

A much anticipated fix to the Portico at the Center will start on March 12, 2022. Here are some pictures before the fix. Stay tuned for pictures after the fix.

Recreation and Special Event Highlights

Summer Concerts and Movies in the Park are right around the corner! The Recreation Department successfully booked 2 big name bands Johnny Limbo & The Lugnuts and Petty Fever.  Save the date for August 3rd & 10th. 

The Department has also confirmed  2 very popular movies that are Encanto and Sing 2.  It will kick off on July 30th with Encanto and Sing 2 on August 20th.

The Recreation team had a goal to raise $4000 in sponsorship dollars, and we are currently at $7,500. Well done team! Thank you to the businesses who have provided support, we could not hold these free community events without their sponsorship.

Interested in sponsoring or know someone who might be? Check out the flier below for more information!

Keep up on the latest special event news on our website! https://www.ci.sandy.or.us/parks-rec

Staff is also working on spring and summer marketing campaigns and updating the seasonal guide and also developing more relationships with businesses! Stay tuned for a full list of sponsors!

Parks and Maintenance Highlights: 

The Park’s team continues to work hard making our parks safe and clean!

They continued their efforts making the City’s playgrounds safe. They improved the look to Hamilton Ridge by pruning hedges, and repaired the retaining wall lower section of Hamilton Path. They and removed downed trees from Sandy River Trails. They cleaned the entrance to the Skate Park.

Important to note, the Gazebo and bathrooms at Meinig are closed for the season.

The Park’s team has implemented an asset management, and work order software. This software will not only increase work efficiency, this is an exciting internal feature will improve documentation, communications, help set priorities, and identify and maintain parks assets. The Department has been

Upcoming meetings:

Interested in Sandy’s Parks and Trails. Please feel free to watch the Parks and Trails Advisory Board (PTAB) meetings or share a public comment.

PTAB meeting date/time: March 9, 2022 @ 7:00 PM. Meeting is held both in person and virtually. For more information to watch the meeting live check click here.

What to Look Forward To:

April 15, 2022 is the annual Teen Flashlight Egg Hunt at Meinig Park.

Summer camp registration opens in March. For the latest news check out the website, follow us on Facebook and look for our summer guide!

The Parks team is hiring! If you know anyone interested in a great summer job, help spread the word. The Park’s division will be hiring for a Seasonal Parks Worker. Here is the link to the City’s recruiting website. https://www.ci.sandy.or.us/jobs

Join Sandy Parks and Recreation and SOLVE for a Volunteer Community Clean Up Event!

We look forward to checking back in with our Community for our March 2022 report!

Welcome 2022!

The Parks and Recreation team is looking forward to 2022. We are working on summer planning, preparing our parks, and programming activities and services for the community.

Here’s a glimpse of what the Department was working on in the month of January.

Aging Adult Services Highlights

The ever popular “Young at Heart Class” started. This class is taught by our own Carol Cohen. The class is held on Tuesdays at 10:00a. It is a 30-minute class that includes gentle mobility, stretching, strengthening, and balance exercises. The classes have been drawing an average of 5-10 participants per class. Max class size, based on the Center’s COVID plan, is 20 participants.

The Sandy Senior Center continues to support Meals on Wheels services. The Center staff is committed to delivering Meals on Wheels to our valued community members on Wednesdays and Fridays, and on those days our dedicated volunteers deliver enough meals for 7 days. The Senior Center has experienced a shortage of drivers due to COVID. However, the staff has stepped up and delivered meals as needed. Go team!

As we continue to navigate COVID the Senior Center continues to offer a litany of services. Such as financial assistance education and referrals, care giving referrals, housing / rental. assistance and application assistance, energy assistance, mental health referrals, immigration information and other needs for legal services, translation, case management and reassurance calls, and food referrals. Staff also conducts home visits.

The Center continues to offer COVID vaccination clinics every Friday in partnership with Clackamas County Public Health.

The Senior/Community Center staff was thrilled to open its doors, but unfortunately, we experienced a sewer line issue which caused us to temporarily close. Public Works is working hard on fixing the issue and we anticipate being back up and running shortly (See below pictures). The Recreation / Senior Center team is still working on hard on planning programs, events, and services for the spring and summer. Once the Center’s sewer line is fixed, the facility once again, will be open to the public. Hours are Mondays from 10:00a – 12:30p, and Thursdays from 1:00p-3:00p. These hours will be expanded as we bring in additional staff.

Recreation and Special Event Highlights

The recreation team is busy planning summer camps, classes, and events. Their goal is to recruit contractors for new and returning programs, and classes. Additionally, they are busy formalizing the Department’s volunteer program to increase volunteer recruitment, training, and retention.

Kinder classes returned to the Center. The classes sold out in a few hours representing the excitement by the community to participate in Parks and Recreation events and programs.

Staff is also working on spring and summer marketing campaigns and updating the seasonal guide. Look for a full list of summer special events in the Feb. 2022 report!

Parks and Maintenance Highlights: 

The Park’s team continues to work hard making our parks safe and clean!

They continued their storm cleanup efforts, continued to manage facility maintenance projects, addressed safety hazards at Fantasy Forest, removed leaves at Tupper Park, and edged memorial pavers at Sandy Bluff.

The Department is proud to announce that Tiana Rundell, Parks Maintenance Worker, was accepted into a Leadership Academica offered by the Oregon Recreation Parks Association, in partnership with Portland State University. This is a 6-month training program. Tiana will be paired with a mentor, complete a capstone project, and learn about trends and the skills necessary to become a future leader in the field of parks and recreation!

We continue to explore options to address drainage issues at Meinig Park parking lot.  Anytime there is heavy rain the parking lot floods.  The Park’s team was able to demo a pressure washer/vacuum truck that acts as a pressure washer releasing the packed vegetation from the pervious asphalt as it vacuums the debris into a holding tank. The results were remarkable! Our goal is to rent this equipment to restore the pervious asphalt parking lot at Meinig Park.    

Important to note, the Gazebo and bathrooms at Meinig are closed for the season.

The Park’s team is implementing an asset management, and work order software. This software will not only increase work efficiency, this is an exciting internal feature will improve documentation, communications, help set priorities, and identify and maintain parks assets.  

Upcoming meetings:

Interested in Sandy’s Parks and Trails. Please feel free to watch the Parks and Trails Advisory Board (PTAB) meetings or share a public comment.

PTAB meeting date/time: Feb. 9, 2022 @ 7:00 PM. Meeting is currently held virtually. For more information to watch the meeting live check click here.

What to Look Forward To:

As the Senior / Community Center works towards getting back to pre-COVID staffing levels we can add back services and programs. Also, stay tuned for additional job postings. The Park’s division will be hiring for a Seasonal Parks Worker.

We are hiring! If you or anyone else is interested, please follow this link for more details!

More to come in our Feb. 2022 monthly report!

Hello Council and Community,

Welcome to the Parks and Recreation Department’s monthly update.

I hope you enjoy the overview of some of the things the Department has worked on this month.

A special thank you to the Parks and Recreation team. Your hard work is appreciated!

Aging Adult Service / Program Highlights

The Sandy Senior Center continues to support Meals on Wheels services. The Center staff is committed to delivering Meals on Wheels to our valued community members on Wednesdays and Fridays, and on those days our dedicated volunteers deliver enough meals for 7 days.

Kudos goes out to our hard-working staff and Meals on Wheels drivers who braved the weather to deliver meals. Thank you!

We continue to partner with Clackamas County to provide mental health counselors at the Community and Senior Center. During these particularly trying times, we have found clients desire mental health counseling and we are glad that we can help those who are in need.

The Center continues to offer COVID vaccination clinics every Friday in partnership with Clackamas County Public Health.

The team is also working on adding programs and services while hiring for key department positions. Keep an eye out for new classes starting in January. The facility is open for the public to come in and mingle. Hours are Mondays from 10:00a – 12:30p, and Thursdays from 1:00p-3:00p.

The ever popular “Young at Heart Class” is back. It is taught by Carol Cohen on Tuesdays at 10:00a. This class is 30-minutes long and includes gentle mobility, stretching, strengthening, and balance exercises. The classes have been drawing an average of 5-10 participants per class. Max class size, based on the Center’s COVID plan, is 20 participants.

The Senior / Community Center is hiring for two positions: Community / Senior Center Manager, and Parks and Recreation Executive Assistant. If you or anyone is interested, please click here for more details!

Recreation and Special Event Highlights

The department held a “Seasons of Giving” drive through event on December 4^th. Attendance was 215 people and we received $2,015 that will directly benefit our Meals on Wheels program. The MOW fundraiser stayed open through the end of December. From Dec. 4 – Dec. 31^st the Department raised an additional $992. Thank you, contributors!

Parks and Maintenance Highlights: 

The Park’s team weathered another storm! Thank you to their dedication and helping with snow removal and de-icing over the holidays.

The park’s team also took the time to complete the trimming at Cascadia Park. They removed two hazardous trees at Tupper and are working creating a replanting plan. Additionally, the parks team cleaned up the planting bed at Meinig Park.

We are addressing drainage issues at Meinig Park parking area.  Anytime there is heavy rain the parking lot floods.  We hope to pressure wash and vacuuming away the vegetation that has caused the pervious concrete to become clogged. Stay tuned for updates on our efforts!

Important to note, the Gazebo and bathrooms at Meinig are closed for the season.

The team is looking into the repairs of a section of trail at Sandy Bluff. Currently they are seeking bids on the removal and working through the required tree permitting process.

As a matter of strategic park maintenance and care, work efficiency and reporting, the team is also working on researching and implementing an asset management and work order software. This is an exciting internal feature that will improve documentation, work efficiency, communication, and help identify park needs, and maintain parks assets.  

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Upcoming meetings:

Interested in Sandy’s Parks and Trails. Please feel free to watch the Parks and Trails Advisory Board (PTAB) meetings or share a public comment.

PTAB meeting date/time: January 12, 2022 @ 7:00 PM. Meeting is currently held virtually. For more information to watch the meeting live click here.

Looking Forward:

As the Senior / Community Center works towards getting back to pre-COVID staffing levels we will have the capacity to add back services and programs. Furthermore, the Department is working on identifying and planning for summer and fall community and special events.

Also, stay tuned for additional job postings. The Park’s division will be hiring a Seasonal Parks Worker. What a great spring and summer job!

More to come in our January 2022 monthly report!

Hello Council and Community,

It has been a little over a month that I have been the Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Sandy, and what a wonderful first month. I have learned how hard the department staff work and how deeply they care about their work and serving the community. I truly look forward to what the future brings working with such a dedicated team.

I hope you enjoy this overview of some of the Department highlights for the month of November

Aging Adult Services Highlights

The Sandy Senior Center energy assistance program served and processed 53 applications.

The team has been updating and sending pending status NAPIS forms to Clackamas County list. This was a lot of work, and the team was successful at updating 70 NAPIS so far.

We partnered with Clackamas County to provide mental health counselors at the Community / Senior Center. During these particularly trying times, we have found clients desire mental health counseling and we are glad that we can help those who are in need.

The Center is also hosting COVID vaccination clinics every Friday in partnership with Clackamas County Public Health.

The Community Center / Senior Center also hosted a Meet and Mingle so I could meet the wonderful patrons of the Sandy Community Center.

The team is also working on adding programs and services. Keep an eye out for new classes starting in January.

Recreation and Special Event Highlights

The department held a “Seasons of Giving” drive through event on December 4^th. Attendance was 215 people and we received $2,015 in donations that will directly benefit our Meals on Wheels program.

This is a new event, and it was highly successful with new additional things like the Sandy High School band & choir, the petting zoo, and of course the Grinch.  The rain did not stop the community from coming out and supporting meals on wheels. Great work and a job well-done to the team that helped make it happen; Carol Cohen, Sarah Richardson, and Olga Gerberg!

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Parks and Maintenance Highlights: 

The Park’s team is continually working to make safety and aesthetic improvements to Sandy’s park system. Thank you to Joe Preston, Tiana Rundell, and Casey Perkins for their dedication to the City of Sandy’s beautiful parks!

The park’s team added playground bark to Meinig, Tot lot, Salmon Creek, Timberline, and Barlow Parks.

The team added Christmas lights on city buildings and new bark at the plaza for the tree lighting. They also replaced damaged playground equipment at Salmon Creek.

Important to note, the Gazebo and bathrooms are closed for the season. The team is also addressing some hurdles at Cascadia Park. The park is severely over planted and overgrown. The crew is teaming up with AntFarm to prune and thin – Thank you to AntFarm for your help.

Also, we are addressing drainage issues at Meinig Park parking area.  Anytime there is heavy rain the parking lot floods.  Our hope is to pressure wash and vacuum away the vegetation that has caused the pervious concrete to become clogged. Stay tuned for updates on our efforts!

Upcoming meetings:

Interested in Sandy’s Parks and Trails. Please feel free to watch the Parks and Trails Advisory Board (PTAB) meetings or share a public comment.

PTAB meeting date/time: January 12, 2022 @ 7:00 PM. Meeting is currently held virtually. For more information or to watch the meeting live click here.

Happy Holidays! I look forward to continually meeting the members of the community and building on the fantastic things the Sandy Parks and Recreation Department currently offers.