NEW GATHER-AND-GO PRESCHOOL AGE MEET UP: A few of our families with preschool age children (3-5 and hearty 2 ½ year olds) are hoping to get a great new meet up going in full force in January called the “Gather-and-Go.” Gathering in the Swap Shop 9-10 on Thursday mornings and then heading out for places near (like the fire station around the corner) and far (another favorite kid’s play place in town) with fun mom company for the journey. If you’d like to be a part of picking where to go or get started even earlier than January, contact Swap Shop board members: Karen Ehn or Christina Bedurka.
SUSTAINABLY MADE HOLIDAY WREATH FUND RAISER: Thank you to those of you who have already said you plan to order a wreath from Sarah Cox for the holiday season. Delivery is on Saturday, Dec. 5th. Sarah lives at Windward – a sustainability research center – where she is constructing the wreaths from fir and pine tree excess limbs helping to limit fuel for potential forest fires on Windward’s 127 forested acres up the Gorge off the Klickitat river. The wreaths are secured with decades-old barbed wire salvaged from the forest floor so you are improving a forest while decorating your home. Her website is regularly updated with all the wreath options and other homemade goodies. She will deliver the wreaths to the Swap Shop on Saturday, December 5th, and make them available for pickup that afternoon. Wreath and payment details are discussed on the site. Wreaths are $25 and 20% of every wreath purchase goes directly to support the Roost, as a partnership between our two communities.
DONATING OLDER LAP TOPS FOR THE ROOST: Scott Buntin of ASAP Mac and PC Services is putting a shout out for a few more old-model lap tops to complete The Roost homework stations. One of our Swap Shop members has done a great job coaxing internet wiring through this old building and now we need just a few more machines to bring The Roost into the digital age for youth to write and print homework papers and do their research work.
Scott adds – “Ideally, these laptops would be made within the last four or five years, though we can work with just about anything that is network-capable. I’ll securely wipe the hard drives before they are put back into use, so no worries about your data and private files ending up floating around out there.
I have a couple of older desktops, too. To save space and electricity, flat-panel (LCD) monitorsare also welcome!”
KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESSES – JACIVAS BAKERY AND CHOCOLATES: It just makes a whole lot of sense to interview one of the best bakeries in Portland (right near us at 4733 SE Hawthorne) in the week before Thanksgiving. I understand their pumpkin pies have quite a following. I’ll have Thanksgiving ordering details and whole lot more in mouth watering detail later this week.
