Woodburn, April 4th, 2015. Hundreds gathered to celebrate spring at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm and kids of all ages jumped at the chance to hunt for Easter Eggs.
Labradors from Guide Dogs for the Blind delighted crowds with their bunny ears.
The farm also hosts a nondenominational Sunrise Easter Service which draws hundreds, including hot air balloonists.
Balloons lift off as morning breaks each Easter.
The service is a local tradition.
From the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm:
Our family farm began in 1950 with the marriage of Ross and Dorothy and their purchase of the main farm. They worked hard expanding the farm and getting their six children through college.
The Iverson family began growing tulips in 1974. The first tulips belonged to Dr. Holman who would ship part of the bulbs to Indiana every year for forcing. When he retired in the late 1970’s we bought a few acres of bulbs from him.
By the early 1980’s we had over 15 acres and needed to broaden the market base. Seeing this as an opportunity, in 1983 we started the Wooden Shoe Bulb Company which had a name change to Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in 2001.
In the first few years we printed up black and white order sheets and sales were slow. Then, in 1985, we opened our fields for Easter weekend. The rest you may say is history.
Now we open our fields for an entire month, end of March the first week of May. We have greatly expanded our operation to include taking bulb orders, cut flowers, potted tulips, a gift shop, and all sorts of food and activities on weekends for all members of the family.
The farm is located about 30 miles south of Portland in Woodburn at 33814 S Meridian Rd, Woodburn, OR 97071
Portland, March 14th, 2015. Edison High School hosted 280 guests at the Sentinel Hotel for the 2015 Brilliance Benefit including Brenda Samola and Frank Foti. The evening generated over $240,000 in revenue which will help support financial aid, technology, and professional development at the school. Edison is the only high school in Oregon and southwest Washington dedicated to students with complex learning differences. The benefit was co-chaired by Jessica and Robert Daughetee.
Heads and Tails winner Florence DiBenedetto (Photo courtesy of Moments By Anne Photography)
Edison board members Verna Bailey and David Carter (Photo courtesy of Moments By Anne Photography)
Edison board member Sharon Robbins, Edison supports Jan Mitchell and Patty Farrell and Edison board member Sandi McDonough (Photo courtesy of Moments By Anne Photography)
Edison board members Jim Kilpatrick and Patrick Becker, wife Tabitha Becker and Edison Director Patrick Maguire (Photo courtesy of Moments By Anne Photography)
2015 Brilliance Benefit co-chairs Robert and Jessica Daughetee with son Holden Daughetee (Photo courtesy of Moments By Anne Photography)
Portland, March 27th, 2015. A new sustainable savings coupon book is helping non-profit Trash For Peace expand their visibility and programs. Trash For Peace, which teaches urban kids about recycling and healthy eating, was featured at coupon book launch party and fundraiser at Slide Inn Restaurant.
Publisher, Raymond F. Quinton said, “I love what Trash For Peace does and what they stand for. They give urban kids a chance to have some hands on involvement with recycling and sustainability, and they get to see how to grow that involvement into business opportunities.”
Here’s an the website address with more information about the sustainable savings coupon booklet: www.globalmarketingconcepts.info
Organizers say sustainability should be a lifelong pursuit and should touch everyone in the community, regardless of race, color, gender or economic status. Global Marketing Concepts is committed to doing its part to make a difference, in part by publishing an exclusive coupon book that supports impacting sustainability everyday.
As a 501(c)3 organization, our mission is to turn “trash” into “peace”. To educate and spread awareness about the capacity we have as human beings to use our creativity and innovation to replace the concept of trash with resourcefulness and giving back. We strive to encourage people to reduce, reuse, and then recycle for a healthier and more peaceful planet.
Vision: Empowered, healthy communities living in a world without waste.
The event, sponsored by LoanStar Home Lending and Global Marketing Concepts had door prizes, from local sustainability focused businesses.
Trash For Peace, founded by Executive Director Laura Kuchner, works with schools to teach kids how to build recycling bins from recycled materials, teaches kids zero waste, healthy cooking techniques, and has plans to expand their coffee roasting project with a solar roaster to teach youths how to run a sustainable business.
Presenting Sponsor LoanStar Home Lending SVP of Marketing and Business Development, Kenn Bartley said, “We want to do our part and support the businesses and community who care about our future. We are demonstrating that sustainability can be fun, too! Everyone will also have an opportunity to learn more about energy conservation, indoor air quality, available remodeling and rehabilitation loans, loan incentive programs and discover the advantages of purchasing new energy efficient homes.”
From Trash For Peace:
As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala, our founder, Laura Kutner, helped create the youth development program that focused on integrating a life skills curriculum into rural schools. One of the schools she worked in also happened to need new classrooms. One day during recess she realized that a technique she had heard about through the organization Pura Vida Atitlan could be modified to build these exact classrooms using plastic bottles and trash! After proposing the idea to the community, that is exactly what they did!
Soon the streets of Granados were much cleaner, as the entire community worked together to stuff more than 6,000 bottles full of trash to build the walls of their new classrooms. Towards the end of the project, the Non-governmental organization Hug it Forward stepped in to help finance the rest of the cement, doors, and windows that were necessary. As a result, a wonderful partnership was born. Hug it Forward is now working on their 16th bottle school in Guatemala!
Not long after the bottle school was complete, Tropical Storm Agatha surprised Guatemala with its strength and endurance. Many villages flooded, homes were destroyed, and worst of all, some lives were lost. In San Miguel Duenas, the second village where Laura lived, the flooding was made demonstrably worse because thousands of plastic bottles were dragged by the river to the foot of the bridge that led into the town, creating a giant plug. The community was shocked to see that trash had created such a disaster.
The storm was a reminder to Laura that – although much great work had been done with the bottle classrooms, there was much work still to be done. When she returned to the United States, she wanted to continue sharing this story and teaching the lessons learned from it, by finding creative and innovate ways of encouraging people to incorporate the values of reducing and reusing into their lives, and to see waste as a resource for positive change. She loves working with communities to teach them how to turn their trash into peace, sharing these ideas and experiences through creative construction. It was in this way that Trash for Peace was born, and the incredible people and communities that become involved and volunteer their time and energy are what make this organization flourish.
Portland, March 12th, 2015. Serendipity Center hosted it’s annual benefit dinner and auction, Pearls of Hope, at the Sentinel Hotel in downtown Portland. Pearls of Hope master of ceremonies Tony Martinez of Good Day Oregon celebrated with Serendipity Center graduate speaker Mariah Roelfs. (photo credit Julianna Patrick)
Serendipity Center board secretary Jeff Austin with Phanna Pich.
The 230 guests in attendance raised their paddles to generously support Oregon’s oldest and largest therapeutic school. Located in southeast Portland, since 1979 Serendipity Center has served children and young adults with severe cognitive and behavioral disabilities. Board member Wendy Ricketts charied this year’s event, which raised $133,000 to continue supporting Serendipity Center’s mission of providing the best environment for students to heal, learn, and become productive members of their communities.
MC Tony Martinez kept the Pearls of Hope attendees in good spirits throughout the silent and live auction portion of the evening. The event culminated after dinner with a stirring, emotional speech from Serendipity graduate Mariah Rolefs. The powerful speech earned her a well-deserved standing ovation that left many in the audience searching for a tissue and thinking about how they could do more to support the kids.
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