I remember the first time I heard them. It must have been about 12 years ago, right after we moved here. “What in the heck is that!?” I asked my wife. She said it sounded like a baby was crying. Sounded more like some poor woman was screaming at the top of her lungs to me. Bone chilling is what it was. I thought, what kind of neighborhood is this!
Well, it wasn’t a baby, or any kind of evil doing going on in the hood. It was the famous Forest Gale Peakcocks.
Peakcocks?
According to the local rumor mill – a local farmer used to raise them nearby, long before Forest Gale Heights was fully developed. I’m not sure what happened to the farmer, but his brood of peafowl remained – and multiplied. At one point in time they were everywhere. Oh sure – they are pretty to look at. But once you get woke up by them screaming at 5am, or have to clean up after them, you may change your mind. I’ve had them on my roof, in my lawn, on the sidewalk, and everywhere in between. And they don’t just leave typical little bird droppings when they go. Oh no. Think more like – hairballs. Lots of them. Nasty.
Peacocks and peahens—are members of the pheasant family. Although most people Continue reading ‘Forest Grove Peacocks’
For all of us older folks, do you remember some of the things you grew up with, that have disappeared over the years? Things like the 8-Track player? Or how about the Betamax? I remember as a teenager going to the music store to buy the latest record album. (that’s those big, round, vinyl things us old folks played to listen to our music). Just 10 years ago I would have been typing this over a dial-up Internet connection.
My, my, how things have changed.
I was reading an article this morning from MSN Money about some of the current technologies that may too end up in the forgotten pile. The list may surprise you.
- DVDs. Thanks to services like cable On-Demand and Netflix, DVD rentals may soon be gone. Blockbuster has said it plans to close more than a fifth of its stores by the end of 2010. Adding to Blockbuster’s demise are those cute little red boxes that have sprung up everywhere. If nothing else, Blockbuster may soon be Blue Ray only, as it seems everything is going High Def.
- CD’s. Do you remember the last time you went to a music store to buy a CD? I sure don’t. Napster was the beginning of the end for music sales. Then of course came Continue reading ‘Going, going, gone’
If you like good dance music, pop on over to the Visitation School Gymnasium in Verboort on Friday, Feb 5.
At 6:30 dance lessons will be provided by the Banks Dance Academy. Come on, I know you’ve always wanted to learn a little Salsa Dancing, admit it. It all turns over to dancing at 7:30 with music provided by the Lake Oswego Dance Band. Two of our members from Everybody’s Hometown Band, Kip and Maureen Van Dyke play in this band, and from what I’ve heard, they are simply outstanding. Even if you’re not into dancing, you can at least stop by for some good music.
Admission is $5 for adults, $10 for the whole family. All proceeds go to Visitation School Tuition Assistance.
Open Enrollment for grades 1st through 12th
January 15th , 2010 through April 1st, 2010
503-359-4600
www.fgcschool.org
information@fgcschool.org
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The Forest Grove Community School is a free public charter school that engages students in scholarship, stewardship and citizenship with the goal of educating for sustainability. We provide a caring, smaller school environment that challenges students to reach their highest potential through learning rooted in the local community. Forest Grove Community School, like all public charter schools, is a school of choice intended to offer a unique educational program.
What led to the creation of this new school? On top of the normal challenges of growing into adults, we foresee that our children will face environmental and cultural challenges that are unprecedented in scope and that will require intelligent and flexible response. We believe that to meet these challenges our children will need the ability to adapt to change, knowledge of environmental systems, and an understanding of how to live sustainably.
As a result, we must prepare our children by teaching them the skills they need to assess and respond to information, to set and accomplish goals for themselves, and to develop strong community bonds. Scholarship, Stewardship, Citizenship Life lessons are learned by living. So, we created a school in which the students and teachers take the classroom into the world.
Yes, they will study reading, writing and arithmetic (and much more), but the lessons will be held in the school garden, the wetlands, or downtown as well as in the classroom. These lessons will have impact, meaning, and lasting value because they are hands-on, here at home, dealing with real life issues.
I love Forest Grove. But there is one subject I complain about when it comes to my town – and that is the selection of Grocery Stores. Namely the ONE and ONLY grocery store. Safeway.
I guess I’m just one of those people who loves to hate Safeway. Sure it’s local, and been in town a long time, and I try really hard to support my local businesses, but………… Every time I go to Safeway, I usually wish I had taken the extra trip out to Freddy’s. Why? Well – first it’s a giant corporation. I’m not too fond of giant corporations. Remember when they completed their remodel? Starbucks? That was like a slap in the face to all the local family owned baristas in town, including BJ’s just a few doors down. Second – their prices are steep, especially compared to say Winco. Third – I can usually find a much greater selection – especially with more Continue reading ‘Forest Grove Groceries’
Christmas and New Years have now come and gone, time to start taking down the decorations. But what do you do with that tree? Here are some options for Forest Grove.
Option 1: Recycle
Many nonprofit organizations offer pickup services or locations where you can take Christmas trees and wreaths to be recycled. They will charge a small fee or request a donation. These nonprofit groups accept trees at least one day on the weekend after Christmas. Nonprofit organizations provide this service as a fundraiser for many worthwhile projects and as a community service. Once these groups are finished with tree recycling projects, the yard debris processing companies in the region will still accept them.
Here in Forest Grove, the organization that has handled this for us over the last 25 years is Continue reading ‘Christmas Tree Recycling’
No, I wouldn’t recommend duct taping your cell phone to your ear, but I would recommend something, because as of today it is illegal in Oregon to chat on your cell phone while driving. If you decide to chance it anyway, and get caught, it could mean a $142 fine.
So what do you do? Look for a hands free headset, or one of those kooky looking bluetooth gadgets that wrap aroud your ear. Best Buy had some on sale today for $29 (I picked up the last 2 – sorry). But they had many more brands to choose from with an average price tag of about $50 – $75.
Where do you go look? Although I haven’t gone and checked it out myself, I would Continue reading ‘Hands Free Chatting’
Happy New Years Forest Grove. Here’s to a happy and prosperous 2010.
And – if by chance you celebrate a “wee” bit too much – remember that rides on TriMet buses and MAX light rail will be free of charge starting at 8 p.m. Yellow, Green and Blue line trains will continue running every 30 minutes until 3 a.m.
Don’t chance it, get a free ride home.
Have fun tonight, and be safe.
Forest Grove UPS Store
I finally got out to visit some of my old neighbors in the shopping center yesterday. For the restaurants like Quiznos and Cornerstone, who rely so much on Pacific University traffic, this time of year can be a bit slow. I was happy to find they are both still there, along with La Sierra, and seemingly doing ok.
But imagine my surprise to see the UPS Store with a Gone Out of Business sign in the window. The place was completlely gutted! I guess, as so many of us small business owners have already experienced, the tough economy got them a little behind in the rent, and the landlords decided to pull the plug.
You would think, espcially at this time of the year, that a shipping business would be booming. But what most people did not realize was that The UPS Store was a locally owned and operated franchise. As I was chatting with my old friend Nick, manager of Quiznos, he told me a story of an irrate customer who became very flustered Continue reading ‘UPS Store is now closed.’
Just off Cornelius Pass and Baseline in Hillsboro
I wondered if it might snow today when I saw the red sky this morning during the sunrise. Remember the old saying, “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight? Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning” ? Proved true today. I just don’t think people had any idea of how much snow we would get. I just measured 5″ out on my deck, and it’s still coming down.
I saw my first clue this afternoon. “It’s snowing!” the Facebook message said, from a friend in Hillsboro. Sure enough within a few moments, it was snowing here in the Grove too. I jetted off to Continue reading ‘It’s Snowing !’
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