Living — Page 32

Citisphere: Environmental Affairs Symposium (October 10-13, 2011)

October 7, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

Southwest Portland’s Lewis and Clark College plays host to Citisphere, the 14th annual Environmental Affairs Symposium, on Monday through Thursday, October 10 through 13, 2011.

Each year, the Environmental Studies Program at Lewis & Clark offers a symposium on environmental affairs. The multi-day event brings together experts from around the country for a dynamic series of lectures and panels on contemporary issues in environmental affairs.

Keynot speakers at this year’s event are Dr. Janice Perlman, founder and president of the Mega-Cities Project, and Los Alamos research scientists and Santa Fe Institute professor Dr. Luís Bettencourt. Mr. James Rojas, an urban planner and co-founder of the Latino Urban Forum, is the symposium’s workshop leader.

Visit the website for the full speaker, panel, and workshop schedule.

All Citisphere events are open to the public, and free!

Weekend Amusements (September 23-25, 2011)

September 22, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

I am not exaggerating when I state that this weekend is my favorite of the year. The Polish Festival is my favorite annual cultural event, and the Oaks Park Oktoberfest, also this weekend, is near the top of the list too. In addition there are several other Oktoberfests this weekend, a Reed College community celebration, Retro Gaming Expo, and more – something for everyone, especially those who love beer!

Ongoing

Chapman Vaux’s Swift Watch 2011

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

All Weekend

Oaks Park Oktoberfest 2011

The 2011 Zenner’s Oktoberfest at Oaks Park takes place Friday through Sunday, September 23 through 25.

The authentic German beer and food (e.g. Zenner’s sausages, chicken schnitzel, braised red cabbage, sauerkraut, German Potato Salad, and Tater Tots!) is reasonably priced, and two festhallen and a multitude of outdoor picnic tables means there are plenty of places to sit down with your beers and friends. [more]

Friday-Saturday

Der Rheinlander Oktoberfest

The Rheinlander 2011 Oktoberfest takes place Friday and Saturday, September 23 and 24 at the restaurant (5035 NE Sandy).

The outdoor bier tent features beer directly from Munich, German – including Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier and Paulaner Salvator Dopple Bock. Live music in the evenings is provided by Oktoberfest band Paloma from Chicago, and participate in (or observe with a smirk) the sausage and pretzel eating contest and costume competition. [more]

Saturday

Museum Day

On the Smithsonian magazine website, you can print a free admission ticket to one of a dozen museums in the Portland area (or one of hundreds across the country). The ticket grants you and a guest free admission on Saturday, September 24, Smithsonian‘s annual Museum Day. [more]

Fun on Foster

From 10am to 5pm this Saturday, Sept 24th, Foster Road puts itself on display; an opportunity for the residents of FoPo, Lents and Mt. Scott-Arlete to demonstrate their pride; a show for the rest of Portland to see. Fun on Foster, the annual street festival organized by the Foster Area Business Association (FABA), should be bigger and better this year, just as it was the year prior, and the year before that. [more]

Reed College Centennial Community Day Celebration

The first classes at Portland’s Reed College started 100 years ago, and to celebrate this auspicious anniversary, Reed is hosting a Centennial Community Day Celebration on Saturday, September 24, 2011 from 8am to 3pm, and 7pm to 9pm.

Things start off at 8am with the Reed College 5k Odyssey Run/Walk (7am on-site registration at Eliot Circle) and a pancake breakfast (price included with 5k registration, or $5.95/person) from 8:30am to 11am. [more]

North 45 Oktoberfest

4th Annual OktoberFest party at North 45 will be Saturday, September 24th from 12 noon to late. All the staff will be sporting authentic garb. We’ll have German food & drink specials all day & night. Drinking boots and vessels will be available day of the event. Live Polka/funk band starts at 7pm on the patio. Patio will be open until midnight. Minors permitted until 9:30pm. There will be a Best Dressed contest around 11pm, so pull out your lederhosen. [more]

Saturday-Sunday

Portland Polish Festival

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. [more]

Portland Retro Gaming Expo

The 2011 Portland Retro Gaming Expo takes place Saturday and Sunday, September 24 and 25 at the Doubletree Hotel (1000 NE Multnomah Street).

PRGE is a convention attracting fans of video games and their history. It is made up of three areas: The Freeplay Arcade, the Theater and the Vendor Marketplace. [more]

Sunday

Northeast Portland Sunday Parkways

This year’s fifth and final Portland Sunday Parkways takes place in Northeast Portland on September 25, 2011.

Spend your Sunday afternoon (noon to 5pm) winding your way on bike or foot through mostly residential streets free of car traffic, from one park to the next. [more]

Oktoberfest at Edgefield

When you imagine Oktoberfest, what comes to mind? Oom-pah bands, loads of beer, bratwurst and hamburgers and more! One and all are welcome to participate in the German celebration that is Oktoberfest! Begun as a wedding party for Germany’s Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese in 1810, today Oktoberfest is celebrated all over the world with music, singing, dancing, beer, food and revelry. [more]

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

Reed College Centennial Community Day Celebration (24-September-2011)

September 20, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

The first classes at Portland’s Reed College started 100 years ago, and to celebrate this auspicious anniversary, Reed is hosting a Centennial Community Day Celebration on Saturday, September 24, 2011 from 8am to 3pm, and 7pm to 9pm.

Things start off at 8am with the Reed College 5k Odyssey Run/Walk (7am on-site registration at Eliot Circle) and a pancake breakfast (price included with 5k registration, or $5.95/person) from 8:30am to 11am.

9:30am to 2pm enjoy games, a climbing wall, bouncy castle, juggling, and more on the Great Lawn (on the South side of campus, along Woodstock Boulevard).

Watch a Reed College rugby match in the upper playing field (off Steele on the North side of campus) at 10am, tour the research reactor at 11am, noon, and 1pm, and lots more – visit the celebration website for the full schedule of the dya’s events.

At 7pm watch a Movie in the Quad: See a clip of Harrison Ford roaming around Reed’s Eliot Hall chapel in the 1977 film The Possessed, part of which was shot at Reed, followed by the 1981 feature film Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The day ends, as all great days should, with fireworks at 9pm, on the west lawn.

September 18, 1911: First Classes Begin at Reed College

September 18, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

Portland’s Reed College, founded in 1908, offered its first classes starting on Monday, September 18, 1911 (Morning Oregonian, 19 September 1911). That first year classes assembled in the Assembly Hall of the Reed College constructed at Eleventh and Jefferson streets. Most of the fifty students registered came from Portland high schools, including Washington, Lincoln, and Portland Academy. Though coed from the beginning, in most of the first courses men and women were segregated because, according to president William Trufant Foster, essential differences between men and women, in interests, temperament, and plans for the future, demand that they be given different treatment in the class room.

Some other Reed traditions, however, have survived to this day. Intercollegiate athletics and fraternities and secret societies were excluded from the curriculum from the beginning, instead the students’ time would be devoted chiefly, to scholastic pursuits (Morning Oregonian, 18 September 1911).

The strict entrance requirements and the rigid standard of scholarship demanded, are designed to attract thither only the most capable students, to eliminate the type of students who attend college for purposes other than advancement of his own education, and maintain a quality of scholarship that will set a pace for other institutions of similar scope.

Classes the second year began on September 23, 1912 at the brand new campus in Southeast Portland (Morning Oregonian, 24 September 1912).

Weekend Amusements (September 9-11, 2011)

September 9, 2011 by Dave Leave a Comment

Fall is here, so of course in Portland that means summer weather! Don’t worry, you’ve still got over a month of great outdoor fests to take in before winter rains force us inside.

Ongoing

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]

All Weekend

Muddy Boot Festival 2011

The 6th annual Muddy Boot Festival, a three-day grassroots event that promotes sustainable living, takes place Friday through Sunday, September 9 through 11, 2011 at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church (2408 SE 16th).

Health + Happiness: Sustaining Vibrant Communities is the theme of this year’s festival, which features live music, food vendors, workshops, panel discussions, activities for the kids, and an outdoor local vendor and exhibitor market. [more]

Saturday

Under the Autumn Moon 2011

This annual Portland multi-cultural festival is timed to coincide with the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.

The Portland version features Dragon Dancers, lanterns, moon cakes, and food and games. Entertainment (pdf) includes Monmouth Taiko, Portland Chinese Children Choir, Auco Dance Troupe, and more. And you won’t want to miss the ping pong tournament! [more]

Belmont Street Fair

The 15th Annual Belmont Street Fair takes place Saturday, September 10, 2011 from noon until 8pm. The fair extends from 20th to 48th on Southeast Belmont, with car free blocks from 33rd to 37th.

This is one of my favorite Portland street fairs. Car free streets make it more pleasant than the Hawthorne Street Fair. Most of the fair activities take place within a few car free blocks between SE 34th and 37th, so it’s easy to take in the whole thing. And the Belmont Street Fair is not nearly as crowded as the Mississippi Street Fair. [more]

Widmer Brothers Oktoberfest

The 7th annual Widmer Brothers Oktoberfest takes place Saturday, September 10, 2011 from 3pm until 11:30pm at the brewery (929 N. Russell Street) – take the Yellow line MAX!

Widmer’s beers, brats, chicken schnitzel wraps, sauerkraut, and pretzels are available, but that’s where the similarities to most Oktoberfests ends.

Bands playing throughout the day include the Dr. Theopolis, The Quick & Easy Boys, Empty Space Orchestra, Hey Marseilles, and Colin Lake & Wellbottom – not a whole lot of oom-pah, but plenty of good beer! [more]

KBOO Book and Record Sale

The annual KBOO Book and Record Sale takes place Saturday, September 10, 2011 at the Eagle’s Lode (SE 50th & Hawthorne) from 2pm to 9pm.

Some of KBOO’s finest DJs will be on hand spinning some of the great records we have available. [more]

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