20th Annual SHiNA Potluck Picnic

We had over a hundred attendees who signed-in, some came with added partners, children and friends. There were three groups of musical entertainers, fourteen tabling booths, air rocket building, the fire truck, games, art & raffle items galore, six SHiNA Board Members and the Wayne Morse Family Farm Manager/SHiNA Liaison, that all helped to make it a successful neighborhood event. Thanks to those that marked their households on the Southwest Hills Neighborhood Association boundary map. Please check out the picnic raffle results, all winners have received their gifts. Picnic photos will be posted later.

The day at Wayne Morse Family Farm was overcast and perfectly cool for August. A few people brought potluck dishes to share. Food provided by Sundance Natural Foods and Papa John’s Pizza purchases were rapidly consumed. SHiNA supplied lemonade refreshments and made available popsicle treats.

The musical entertainment by GRRRLZ Rock and Kutsinhira’s Mhondoro Marimba Ensemble was enjoyed by all and we thank them for giving such wonderful performances.

Thanks goes out to those that were so generous:
Sundance Natural Foods, at 748 East 24th Ave, that gave a $25 gift card to purchase food for the potluck.
Papa John’s Pizza, at 30 West 29th Ave, that gave a $40 gift card to purchase four large pizzas for the potluck.
Mecca: Material Exchange Center for Community Arts, at 449 Willamette St, that supplied colored pencils, markers and paper for the art table.
Harlequin Beads and Jewelry, at 2833 Willamette St, that supplied wooden beads and stretchy string to make bracelets.
Genie H. and Erin B., for the use of their hand-painted cornhole games. They both were connections through southwesthillsor1.nextdoor.com and are in two nearby neighborhoods.

Thanks to the Tabling Booths that attendees visited which included:

• City of Eugene, Council Member’s Emily Semple of Ward 1 & Betty Taylor of Ward 2 that represent the Southwest Hills Neighborhood and were present to answer questions.
• City Accountability’s George Brown & David Monk that discussed the proposed initiative for an Elected, Independent City Auditor to be placed on the May ballot.
• Voter Registration Cards that SHiNA Board members had available for you to register or to update your voter registration information with a current mailing address for the next election in May 2018.
• Kid’s Art Table with Alida Bevirt supervising, provided a place to be creative with colored pencils and markers on her printed drawings.
• Wild Birds Unlimited, at 2510 Willamette St, with Barbara Gleason and helpers, who displayed wonderful products to support wildlife within your yard including bird food, feeders, nesting boxes and baths. They handed out their hobby guides full of information and did bird identification of bluebirds, chickadees, finches, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, etc. They also discussed birding activities & behaviors, feeding basics & solutions and other outdoor critters.
• Wayne Morse Historical Park Corp, Johnny Earl informed inquirers of the past Senator’s free speech history and the Family Farm property we all enjoyed during the picnic.
• City of Eugene, Urban Forestry, Scott Altenhoff answered questions about your trees, offered tree selection and planting recommendations, power line friendly tree options and urban forest information.
• Oregon State University (OSU), Lane County Extension Service, Master Gardeners & Master Food Preservers were available to supply gardening and food preserving knowledge. They also had a fun snail and slug wheel game with questions and gave answers as to the importance of these two gastropod molluscs.
• Chinese Language Immersion: K – 1st Grades in 2017–18.
  & Family School (Elementary): K – 5th Grades, both located at 1155 Crest Dr.
  The Chinese Language teacher present was very excited about their new school beginning this year that will expand a grade each following year. The Family School teachers present discussed their fundamental ideals, that the responsibility for learning is shared by children, teachers and families, and that an effective learning community is based upon mutual respect.
  Jennifer Hebard, Principal: hebard_j@4j.lane.edu
  Vicky Wilson, Secretary: wilson_v@4j.lane.edu, Phone: 541-790-3700
• Eugene Waldorf School: Toddlers – 8th Grade, located at 1350 McLean Blvd.
  The teacher present discussed their school’s mission, to educate the whole child for the future, equally engaging body, mind and spirit.
  Valerie Perrott, PR, enrollment@eugenewaldorf.org, 541-683-6951, Ext 103
• Youth House, at 3350 Willamette St, is a joint effort between St. Vincent de Paul, Hosea Youth Services and school liaisons with the goal of providing homeless, at-risk students (ages 16 to 18) with the secure housing, resources, casework and mentoring needed to stay in high school until graduation. Paula Berry, SVDP Director of Development and Ashley Hensley, SVDP Community Engagement Coordinator, displayed the project’s building design and shared materials about the new Youth House opening in December.
• City of Eugene, Police Department, Police Officer’s Paul Bishop (assigned to the SHiNA area) & Margaret Mazzotta provided Crime Prevention information and free Bike Registration.
• City of Eugene, Human Rights & Neighborhood Involvement, Rene Kane discussed the Police Chief Recruitment Outreach and other issues. The HRNI’s office provides SHiNA’s city funding and is located at 99 West 10th Ave.
• Science Factory, Talal Alajmi interacted with kids in making and launching Air Rockets in the playing field.
• City of Eugene, Fire Department, two Fire Fighters at the Fire Truck showed people their fire equipment in the parking lot.

Thanks for all the City and Local Business People with their great Free Giveaways and Fundraiser Donations.

A special thanks goes to the SHiNA Board Members joint effort in planning, setting up and cleaning up after this special neighborhood/community event. For the Boards presence at the SHiNA Welcome table and booths, by helping with sign-in, handing out smiley dots for household map marking and dealing with the raffle tickets, etc.

We appreciate all that attended the 20th Annual SHiNA Potluck Picnic. We would like you to join the SHiNA board and the special event planning committee for next year’s event because with more assistance it will be even better. We have 3,660 households and are asking for at least 10 people to volunteer for our neighborhood community. Also if each household donated at least $1 we could have more free food and entertainment to really improve the picnic. Please contact the Southwest Hills Neighborhood Association Board email: SHiNA_Board@googlegroups.com

Together we all made a fun Southwest Hills Neighborhood Association picnic happen!

Learn about us by visiting the SHiNA website: http://www.swHillsEugene.org
or communicate via SHiNA facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SWHillsNeighborhood