Archives for August 2011

Oregon Symphony Waterfront Concert – And Fireworks! (1-September-2011)

August 31, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

The Oregon Symphony 2011 Waterfront Concert takes place Thursday, September 1, 2011 at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

At 5pm the Portland Youth Philharmonic performs, followed by the Oregon Symphony at 7pm.

The traditional grand finale is a performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture with an elaborate fireworks show, which includes shots from military cannons from the Oregon Army National Guard 218th Field Artillery.

The concert is free, and no tickets are required. Bring your lawn chairs and blankets to Tom McCall Waterfront Park and enjoy the show. Visit the Oregon Symphony event page for more details and program notes.

August 31, 1997: Low-Floor MAX Cars Debut, Two New Stations Open

August 31, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

On Sunday, August 31, 1997 TriMet celebrated the debut of the new low-floor MAX trains at brand new Kings Hill Station. Yards away the Civic Stadium (now Jeld-Wen Field) MAX station also opened that day (The Oregonian, 1 September 1997).

Tri-Met introduced Portland to the nation’s first low-floor light-rail cars Sunday, putting smiles on the faces of riders, especially those who use wheelchairs.

The low-floor vehicles, costing $2.5 million each, eliminate the steps and mechanical lifts needed to board MAX’s high-floor cars. Within a year, every two-car train will have at least one low-floor car on the expanded rail system from Gresham to Hillsboro.

The first of the low-floor cars went into service Sunday, the same day Tri-Met opened two new stations on the line heading west of downtown.

“This really eliminates having to use wheelchair lifts and having to slow the system down,” said Bob Pike, sitting in a wheelchair on a low-floor car. “It enables someone in a wheelchair to get on the train in the same way everyone else does.”

MAX was the first light-rail system in North America to use the low-floor cars, which were manufactured in Sacramento. The Kings Hill and Civic Stadium stations debuted a year before the Westside MAX Blue Line opened.

Labor Day Weekend 2011 – Portland-Area Amusements

August 30, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

The end of summer may be nigh, but the summery events aren’t over yet. This Portland weekend has something for everyone: the Pirate Festival, the State Fair, Movies in the Park, a big ol’ union picnic, and much more!

Ongoing

Oregon State Fair 2011

The 2011 Oregon State Fair runs from Friday, August 26 through September 5, at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem. Heather and I had a blast at last year’s fair.

Competitions this year include 4-H of course, along with categories such as fine art, farm and garden, photography, floral, creative living, and grill offs. And of course there will be horse shows, and exhibits of livestock and the best part: small animals. [more]

Movies in the Park

Movies in the park this weekend:

Thursday: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 @ Columbia Park
Friday: Roman Holiday @ Director Park
Saturday: Gulliver’s Travels @ Wallace Park [more]

Chapman Vaux’s Swift Watch 2011

So here’s the deal. Every September thousands of Vaux’s Swifts come to Portland. They spend their days eating lots of bugs. In the late afternoon the Swifts begin flying in a giant undulating swirl in the sky about the school. Around sunset they swirl more tightly, like a ground pepper tornado, and begin disappearing, measure by measure, down the chimney. On the lawn below, hundreds of Portlanders gather on lawn chairs and blankets to stare at the sky, mesmerized. Boos erupt when opportunistic Peregrine falcons occasionally get lucky. The crowd cheers, however, when the predators are thwarted. Meanwhile unruly oblivious children scream and roll down the grassy hill. [more]

Soccer City USA: The Portland Timbers and the NASL Years, 1975-1982

The Oregon Historical Society‘s newest exhibit, Soccer City USA: The Portland Timbers and the NASL Years, 1975-1982, kicked off the day after the Timber’s home opener, and runs through Sunday, September 4, 2011.

The exhibit curators have assembled an exhibit which focuses on the years the Timbers played in the original North American Soccer League, and is the largest collection of Timbers artifacts in one place at one time. [more]

Friday-Sunday

Art In The Pearl

Our 15th annual festival will be held this coming September 3th to September 5th, 2011 and hopes to be one of our best ever. Our festival fills the Northwest Portland Park blocks with art, theater, music, and hands-on activities for people of all ages …

Art In The Pearl® is a wonderful community event. Over one hundred artists show and sell work ranging from fine wooden furniture to beautiful paintings to photography, glass, clay, metal, jewelry, and much more! Art In The Pearl is ranked in the TOP 25 Fine Art events nationwide by the Art Fair Sourcebook. [more]

OMSI Reptile and Amphibian Show

Crawl, creep, and slither your way to one of the largest gatherings of reptiles and amphibians in the Pacific Northwest when OMSI presents the Reptile and Amphibian Show, Labor Day weekend, Sept. 3-5, 2011. Over 100 exotic animals will be on display at this popular event, including a large variety of captive-bred snakes, lizards, turtles, alligators, and more. [more]

Friday

Cort and Fatboy’s Midnight Movie: Who Framed Roger Rabbit

This is the original 35mm film, filling the Bagdad’s screen with Bob Zemeckis’ genius, Bob Hoskins’ grumpiness, Roger’s ridiculousness and Jessica’s allure, with Bugs, Mickey, Donald, Daffy, Betty Boop, Droopy Dog and about a hundred other classic cartoons sharing the screen for the first and likely only time together. [more]

Saturday-Sunday

Portland Pirate Festival

The sixth annual Portland Pirate Festival invades Historic St. Helens, Oregon this Saturday and Sunday, September 3 and 4, 2011.

I have never made it to this event (for one thing I have no swashbuckling outfit), so all I can vouch for is what they say on the website – looks like fun! The fest features pirate-themed and non-pirate-themed music, dance and performance, historical reenactments (with cannons!), stuff for kids, and of course there grub and grog! [more]

Monday

Labor Day Picnic at Oaks Park

Oregon was the first state to officially recognize the Labor Day holiday in 1887, so it’s only fitting that to this day we throw huge Labor Day picnics throughout the state.

The largest local union picnic, which an estimated 20,000 people attended last year, is the Northwest Oregon Labor Council‘s Labor Day Picnic held Monday, September 5 at Oaks Amusement Park from 10am until 5pm. [more]

And for even more weekend events and activities, check out the Dave Knows Calendar, and visit Blogging Portland on the Cheap, PDX Pipeline, and Oregon Events at OregonLive.com.

Portland Polish Festival 2011

August 30, 2011 by Dave 2 Comments

2012 details here!

The 16th annual Portland Polish Festival, my favorite local cultural event, takes place this year on Saturday and Sunday, September 24 and 25.

The fest features non-stop music (much of it featuring accordions!) and dance performances, polka contests, and a can’t-miss Saturday night street dance. Enjoy Polish food like pierogies, kielbasa, gołąbki (cabbage rolls), placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes), and other delectable options – and of course delicious Polish beer! In the vendor village, check out the jewelry, clothing, Polish pottery, and sundries for sale.

Below the masthead on the festival website are the words: the best kept secret of Portland, Oregon. This statement hasn’t been true for several years – the Polish Fest is the premier fall festival in the Portland area.

Entrance to the Polish Festival is free. Hours on Saturday are 11am to 10pm and Sunday from noon to 6pm. The fest takes place on North Failing street, on the east side of Interstate, between the St. Stanislaus Church and the Polish Library (3832 N. Interstate). Take the 4 – Fessenden to Mississippi and Failing and then take the Failing Street Pedestrian Bridge across the freeway and you are there. Or take the Yellow Line MAX to the Overlook Stop – Failing street is two blocks north up Interstate. Check out the festival website for more information, and follow @PDXPolishFest on Twitter!

Heather and I have blogged the festival the past few years:

Mile73.com

Pierogi ruskie, Gołąbki, and My Favorite: Placki Ziemniaczane (2008)
A Night At The Polish Fest (2009)

Dave Knows

Protip: arrive Saturday evening after sunset to avoid the bulk of the crowd, and the ridiculously long lines. (Read more tips here!)

Stumptown Stories: Stay or Should I Go Now? Wildlife Migrations of the Pacific NW (30-August-2011)

August 30, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

The Stumptown Stories series, geared to everyone who loves this city we live in, takes place most Tuesdays at Jack London bar (basement of the Rialto, SW 4th and Alder). Free to get in, but must be 21 or over – there’s a full bar!

This Tuesday, August 30, 2011, the topic is Should I Stay or Should I Go Now? Wildlife Migrations of the Pacific Northwest.

Every fall the days shorten, the weather cools and many different animal species begin their annual migration south. Portland is stopover for some, and a destination for others. Steve Engel of the Portland Audubon Society will illuminate some of the mysteries of migration while focusing on famous and not so famous Portland migrants, from the Vaux’s Swifts to Birds of Prey to dragonflies and more.

Presenter Steve Engel has been the Adult Programs Coordinator at the Audubon Society since 2006, and has worked in the environmental education field since 1982.

Doors open at 5pm, presentation begins at 7:30pm. Go to the presentation, and then throughout the month of September check out the Chapman Vaux’s Swift Watch in NW Portland!