Portland City Council permanently banned the sale and use of all consumer fireworks within city limits in March 2022. This restriction includes Independence Day celebrations, often occurring during hot and dry weather. The ban also prohibits the purchase of personal fireworks outside the City and returning to Portland to use them, so Portland Fire & Rescue (PP&R) encourages people to attend the professional July 4th fireworks displays presented throughout the region. Montavilla residents can usually view the 10 p.m. Waterfront Blues Festival display from Mt. Tabor Park uphill from Reservoir Number 5.
The consumer fireworks prohibition passed the 2022 Portland City Council unanimously, in part due to a fatal fireworks fire the previous year and in reaction to the Eagle Creek Fire in the gorge, which started with the use of personal fireworks. Fire departments regularly experience a spike in injuries, fires, and fatalities during the fireworks season, which begins on June 23rd and runs through July 6th. People with pets also report significant stress inflicted on their animals during this time, with some dogs and cats becoming separated from their owners when they run away from the explosive sounds.
Portland Maps image with MV News illustration
On June 15th, Portland’s Fire Marshal issued a burn ban for the City due to forecasted high summer temperatures and ongoing dry conditions. Effective immediately, people must refrain from using recreational campfires, fire pits, or burring yard debris. Outdoor grills, smokers, and similar cooking appliances are allowed if they use clean, dry firewood, briquettes, wood chips, pellets, propane, natural gas, or similar fuels. Residents should exercise extreme caution when using the allowed outdoor cooking devices and place them at least ten feet away from anything combustible, such as siding, fences, or shrubbery. The burn ban will remain in effect throughout the summer weather season.
People can contact PF&R 503-823-3700 for additional information about the burn ban. Although the City prohibits the use of personal fireworks, emergency services request that people refrain from calling in reports of firework violations to 911 so that the dispatch system can remain open for reports of serious crimes, fires, and injuries. For non-emergencies reports of illegal fireworks displays, residents who witnessed the unauthorized use of fireworks can report the incident online (portland.gov/311/report-fireworks).
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Catalyst Construction & Kitchen Remodeling, a top-rated general contractor specializing in kitchen, bathroom, basement, and garage remodeling, as well as ADU construction and home additions. We thank them for their support.
On Monday, June 22nd, Portland Parks & Recreation’s (PP&R) Free Lunch + Play program returns to Montavilla Park on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with free lunch from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. for youth 18 years or younger. For many children, school offers activities and services that extend beyond education. Some students rely on school as their only structured playtime with peers and depend on the free lunch program for a midday meal. Thanks to funds provided by the 2020 voter-approved Parks Local Option Levy, the Free Lunch + Play program offers children weekday activities without registration or cost. From June 22nd to August 21st, kids can visit 23 parks citywide for recreational activities and a nutritious lunch.
Portland Public Schools closed for the summer on June 5th. With over half the city’s school-age children qualifying for free or reduced-price meals during the school year, PP&R’s Free Lunch + Play program is a critical tool in keeping young people fed during the summer break. However, the free lunches are available to anyone meeting the age requirements, regardless of enrollment in a school district’s free lunch program. Adults bringing 10 or more youth to a location for a free lunch should contact 503-729-0332 at least 5 business days in advance, so park staff can accommodate the group. USDA Federal guidelines require recipients to eat their meals on-site in the designated area, and youth are limited to one serving per day. Locations will have a No Thank You Table offering unwanted lunch items that youth can take to supplement their meals during the designated lunch hours.
Montavilla Park at 8219 NE Glisan Street, Gateway Discovery Park at 10520 NE Halsey Street, and Lents Park at SE 92 Avenue and SE Steele Street will host Free Lunch + Play activities for Montavilla area residents. Meal times vary by location, but Parks employees will organize games and other group activities throughout the four-hour sessions. The program staff will observe the July 4th national holiday on the 3rd and will take the day off.
All meal packs comply with USDA Federal Lunch Program regulations. Youth must attend in person to receive meals and eat all the food on-site. Foodservice occurs only during stated mealtimes. For Montavilla Park, that is from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. At Lents Park, food is available from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Gateway Discovery Park has a shorter mealtime window, 11 to 11:45 a.m. Staff will require everyone to wash their hands before receiving food.
Free Lunch + Play is part of Portland Parks & Recreation’s (PP&R) Summer Free For All program, offering more than 50 free outdoor events for all ages, including multicultural festivals, free outdoor movies, and concerts across the city. It also includes activities at PP&R outdoor pools, opening on June 18th. Six outdoor pools will host a weekly free swim session in addition to their fee-based swim lessons, open-play swims, and water fitness classes. Montavilla’s pool offers free swim sessions on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. People will find a complete list of Summer Free For All’s inclusive and family-friendly activities on the PP&R website.
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Catalyst Construction & Kitchen Remodeling, a top-rated general contractor specializing in kitchen, bathroom, basement, and garage remodeling, as well as ADU construction and home additions. We thank them for their support.
High temperatures and low precipitation in the area caused officials to implement a burn ban starting on June 15th, 2026, and lasting through the summer months. An Extreme Heat warning has triggered Multnomah County’s cooling centers to open for those who need relief from the heat, and TriMet will not turn away people who can not pay a fare when traveling to and from a cooling center between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. on Monday, June 15th.
Portland’s Fire Marshal issued the recreational fire prohibition for the City due to increased fire danger from the continued hot and dry weather conditions. Effective immediately, people must refrain from using recreational campfires, fire pits, or burning yard debris. Outdoor grills, smokers, and similar cooking appliances are allowed if they use clean, dry firewood, briquettes, wood chips, pellets, propane, natural gas, or similar fuels. Residents should exercise extreme caution when using the allowed outdoor cooking devices and place them at least ten feet away from anything combustible, such as siding, fences, or shrubbery. Residents should also note that personal fireworks are always banned in Portland, as their use can cause injury and fires that spread quickly in dry conditions.
People can contact PF&R at 503-823-3700 for additional information about the burn ban. Although the City prohibits the use of personal fireworks and has implemented a burn ban, emergency services request that people refrain from calling 911 to report violations so the dispatch system can remain open for serious crimes, out-of-control fires, and injuries. For non-emergencies, Portland residents can call the non-emergency line at 503-823-3333 after the holiday. Additionally, individuals witnessing the unauthorized use of fireworks can report the incident online (portland.gov/311/report-fireworks).
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Otter Wax, a neighborhood producer of small-batch specialty goods handcrafted in Portland. Using only natural ingredients, they make modern care products that are steeped in tradition. We thank them for their support.
In 2025, after a 12-year run downtown, the annual Archaeology Roadshow moved its educational and interactive showcase across the river to East Portland. For the second year, the organizers are taking over the grassy field at Gateway Discovery Park, 10520 NE Halsey Street, this May 30th with a theme of “Fire & Water.” Historians, members of universities, Tribes, government agencies, museums, and nonprofit cultural organizations will present over 30 exhibits at this free event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., sharing presentations and answering questions from inquisitive attendees. People can drop in anytime during the four-hour un-ticketed event. However, some presentations occur at specific times, including an opening “welcome blessing.”
This year’s Portland show features exhibits and hands-on activities demonstrating how fire and water are “fundamental to the human story for all times and places.” It features exhibits that showcase how the region’s Indigenous people engineered effective waterproofing technologies using materials crafted from the environment. People can practice using friction from a bow drill to build a fire, make stone tools, or throw a replica of an ancient spear. Attendees will also learn how ancient Ice Age floods shaped Portland landscapes in ways modern residents can still observe. Exhibitors will explain how Indigenous people and recent settlers managed water and fire to thrive in the watery and fire-prone Pacific Northwest region and expressed a deep connection to water and fire through arts and crafts.
Student exhibitors Phil Daily and Dianna Wilson 2017, courtesy Archaeology Roadshow (Photo Corey James)
Virginia Butler, with the Archaeology Roadshow, explained that the event’s name is a homage to the PBS series Antiques Roadshow, which invites people to bring items for expert evaluation. Students working on the inaugural Portland event wanted people to make the connection to the TV show because the Archaeology Roadshow similarly allows attendees to bring up to three objects for expert examination, with the experts attempting to determine the objects’ ages and possible functions. Unlike the TV show, volunteers at this event do not offer appraisals; they help people connect to the history contained in those objects. Presentations cover the full span of human existence in the region, and organizers try not to set date limits on what constitutes archaeology. “Science can tell us people have probably been in this area for over 15,000 years. But the Indigenous perspective suggests you can’t really put a time on it because some of their origin stories say they’ve been here forever,” said Butler.
The Archaeology Roadshow embraces all phases of human settlement in the region and aims to offer visitors an experience that entertains and informs them about that shared history through activities and face-to-face engagement. The Archaeology Roadshow began in 2012 at Portland State University, driven by the university’s desire to expose students to public outreach practices through a campus event. The yearly event expanded beyond Portland in 2017, when the roadshow opened in Harney County, with shows in Burns and Hines featuring regional exhibitors and historical societies. Post-pandemic, they have continued to expand into places like the Dalles and Bend.
Exhibitor with visitor 2025, courtesy Archaeology Roadshow (Photo Lucy Behrens)
Butler noted that the Archaeology Roadshow is more than an informative event. It is a valuable tool in connecting organizations and municipalities to understand the importance of historical preservation as communities grow. “This kind of work is really about relationships. The Archaeology Roadshow builds relationships at different levels between the organizations doing this work. Every time you start digging in the ground, you might open up and identify some archaeology. There’s a lot of effort to ensure that we don’t lose historical knowledge as we go forth with development.” The organizing group wants to convey the ethics and legal aspects of artifact collecting in context, its importance to people, and its significance beyond regulation. “We want to emphasize that when you simply dig into what may seem to be an archaeological site and remove objects, you’re losing the context. We lose our ability to understand the broader meanings of what those artifacts mean relative to each other. We’re also harming descendant communities that might have special connections to those places. So we convey some of the ethics and the legal aspects of collecting,” said Butler.
Two children starting a fire 2016, courtesy Archaeology Roadshow (Photo Kendal McDonald)
Overall, the roadshow project aims to expand people’s understanding of archaeology, a field often shaped by movies and school field trips. “I think most people think that archaeology is exciting; there’s an adventure and an explorer level to it. The Indiana Jones image is about finding things, and a lot of people think archaeology is a treasure hunt. I hope people come and realize it’s so much more than that. Archaeology is everywhere. History is happening everywhere. We are so much richer if we understand it, and we feel much more connected to a place if we understand its history,” said Butler. “People will walk in with one concept of archaeology, and then it’s going to get a lot bigger because of the cultural connections.”
Event organizers hope the Archaeology Roadshow’s move to East Portland has opened the event to more organizations and residents who do not always have the opportunity to engage with history in a hands-on, dynamic environment. Within the exhibits, guests will find people demonstrating skills, with the option to participate. Anyone interested in history will also find booths filled with people offering a museum’s worth of information, including Montavilla News contributor Patricia Sanders, who will join Paul Leistner from Mt. Tabor in sharing neighborhood history. Gateway Discovery Park is a fully accessible facility, and event staff will have translators available for Spanish speakers throughout the event so more people can participate in this community-enriching experience. The annual event is free and open to the public thanks to sponsorship support.
Title image: Chinook Tribal members give opening drum song at the 2025 Portland Archaeology Roadshow with Portland City Council President Jamie Dunphy for District 1, left (Lucy Behrens)
On May 20th, at the end of a marathon budget session, the Portland City Council approved an $8.5 billion city budget for fiscal year 2026-2027 with a $755,000 line item for a replacement Montavilla Park picnic shelter. Portland City Council Member Tiffany Koyama Lane’s amendment to the budget came back to consideration at the tail-end of the proceeding after a quick revision to specify Parks Local Option Levy money as the intended funding source. This budget addition passed seven to five at the end of an evening Council session that saw many failing amendments with 6-6 ties as city leaders addressed a $160 million revenue shortfall.
Montavilla Park picnic shelter demolition October 2021, photos by Weston Ruter
Political interest in funding a replacement picnic shelter ramped up recently; however, the community’s desire for its replacement began years before. In October 2021, demolition crews removed the aging picnic shelter at Montavilla Park and installed new grass turf rather than preparing the site for an already-designed replacement structure. Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) postponed the planned modern 2,000-square-foot open-walled replacement shelter due to a department-wide budgetary shortfall. Before its removal, the area was fenced off for safety concerns. Earlier this month, a community group began circulating a petition to build that Montavilla Park structure.
Proposed Montavilla Park Picnic Shelter from 2021
The petition effort, led by members of the Hope & Bread Street Church who gather in the park for Sunday service, gained community interest, with ABC Television affiliate KATU and MV News covering the campaign. On May 17th, Councilor Koyama Lane from Montavilla’s District 3 included shelter funding as part of her seven proposed budget amendments, later receiving expressed support from other elected officials, including Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards and Oregon Representative Thuy Tran.
Votes for the Montavilla Park picnic shelter did not fall strictly on Portland City Council District lines with District 3 and District 1 residents having local access to the park. District 3 Councilor Steve Novick voted against the funding due to reservations regarding project priorities, given the City staff reductions and program cuts necessary to balance this year’s budget. He expressed support for the project but worried about the potential to overlook other needed projects without an evaluation process to rank community needs. “I would love to be able to vote for this. This is important, but I think that we should make all of these decisions in the context of considering trade-offs, and parks as a huge maintenance backlog,” said Novick, preceding the vote. “I just can’t make this decision out of context. Maybe if we took a long look at all the things that communities have been promised in the maintenance backlog, this would rise to the top. But I can’t say that I’ve done that work, so I can’t support this today.”
1933 Portland Archive image. 82nd Ave roadwork looking north from NE Glisan St. A previous Montavilla park shelter is visible at the right but is not the one removed in 2021
Some petitioners supporting replacing Montavilla Park’s picnic shelter had been watching the proceedings since early afternoon and had to wait until nearly 9:30 p.m. for the session’s final budget amendment vote. The Tax Supervising and Conservation Commission will conduct a legal review of the amended budget. The council can make further adjustments to the approved budget, provided that no individual fund is adjusted by more than 10%. In June, the Portland City Council must formally adopt the budget ahead of July 1st, when the new fiscal year begins. At that point, Parks planners can begin project planning for the return of a Montavilla Park picnic shelter, restoring a nearly 100-year run of having a covered outdoor gathering space at this location.
By
Jacob Loeb
Portland City Council District 3 members and RepresentativeThuy Tranare up for reelection in November 2026. Julia Brim-Edwards is seeking the Multnomah County Chair position. Montavilla News does not endorse individual candidates or ballot measures.
Update: Portland Archive image description expanded to note that the sheltershown in 1933 photo is not the one demolished in 2021. It was removed at an unknown date.
The Multnomah County Midland Library at 805 SE 122nd Avenue will remain closed for repairs after the Monday, May 25th Memorial Day holiday closure, reopening on June 7th. Crews will use surplus funds from past upgrade projects to modernize the building’s original sewer line and enhance finishes inside and out. The Midland Library reopened on October 26th, 2025, after an extensive remodel that was part of the voter-approved 2020 Multnomah County Library Capital Bond.
Unused contingency funds from the library capital bond projects are the primary source of money for this next round of work. Library representatives explained that attentive financial stewardship during the system-wide facilities upgrades enabled this phase of work, which includes Midland Library sewer repairs and improvements to the original sewer line, as well as several enhancements that will extend the life of public-facing amenities and make the site more accessible. Crews will upgrade the community gallery, including picture rails and tack-friendly panels that will protect walls. They will also add a more durable finish to the “Gathering Circle” wood floor and update outdoor benches with durable materials. Workers will install chair rails in the community rooms to protect the freshly painted walls. Three Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)- compliant bathrooms will receive updates that include touchless wave-to-open automatic door operators.
Large community meeting room
The Albina Library closed for similarly funded updates on May 18th and will remain closed through May 25th. Midland Library users can visit the Holgate Library at 7905 SE Holgate Blvd., the Gregory Heights Library at 7921 NE Sandy Blvd., or the Rockwood Library at 17917 SE Stark Street during the closure. During the work dates, library staff will extend due dates, and items on the holds shelf will receive extra time. People do not need to change their holds location and can direct questions about due dates and holds to library staff.
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Otter Wax, a neighborhood producer of small-batch specialty goods handcrafted in Portland. Using only natural ingredients, they make modern care products that are steeped in tradition. We thank them for their support.
In October 2021, demolition crews removed the aging picnic shelter at Montavilla Park and planted new grass turf. Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) has postponed the planned modern 2,000-square-foot open-walled replacement shelter due to a department-wide budgetary shortfall. Now, half a decade later, without a functional covered park space, a community group is circulating a petition to build that Montavilla Park structure.
The aging picnic shelter at Montavilla Park fenced in 2020 and demolished in 2021
Before demolition work began, PP&R updated the Montavilla Park Picnic Shelter project webpage, announcing the pending deconstruction of the structure and noting the lack of funds for its replacement. That web page is no longer accessible to the public. Park staff planted grass seed on the worksite, and signs of the shelter’s past presence are near undetectable. In 2021, PP&R representative Mark Ross confirmed the project’s indefinite delay while emphasizing that staff would continue to seek opportunities to revive it in future budgets.
With Montavilla’s decaying shelter demolished and no longer a danger to parkgoers, the replacement shelter project eventually disappeared from the PP&R project page. However, the picnic shelter is still listed as a Montavilla Park amenity on the location’s official web page and park maps. Tired of waiting for the project to become a priority on its own, Hope & Bread Street Church decided it was time to launch a petition requesting that the project be returned to priority status with PP&R. The faith group uses the park 52 Sundays a year, in all weather. The lack of covered shelter is a significant burden for that group, and they understand it is impacting other park users as well. The petition will collect the digital signatures from all interested parties who want a new picnic shelter in Montavilla Park.
Proposed Montavilla Park Picnic Shelter from 2021
Hope & Bread Street Church’s volunteers pride themselves on adapting to conditions and set up portable canopies during the winter months. However, they note that wind and rain limit their ability to keep people dry year-round, and they want to serve attendees with dignity while remaining accessible to those who are not comfortable attending within a traditional indoor gathering space. Although the host petitioner’s need is specific, their request is generic: for all community members and all Montavilla Park users to have access to a covered area within the neighborhood’s public recreation space.
Hope & Bread Street Church’s representative says the petition has 70 signatures from its participants and hopes the community will join their efforts. This request comes at a time when the city faces a budget gap of over $160 million, and many city services will likely face significant cuts. However, even during budget shortfalls, PP&R has tapped System Development Charge (SDC) funds paid by eligible developers. That money is used for capital projects that expand the park system’s capacity, including the expansion of existing parks or facilities. People have until May 17th to sign the petition before it is delivered to the Portland City Council.
On April 25th, marchers held the 20th annual 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade from Eastport Plaza Shopping Center to SE Clinton Street. Former U.S. Representative for Oregon’s 3rd congressional district, Earl Blumenauer, and Nancy Chapin were the 2026 Grand Marshals. The procession featured community groups, businesses, elected officials, dancing horses, youth performers, and the diverse cultural flavors that fill 82nd Avenue and East Portland.
Grand Marshals Earl Blumenauer and Nancy Chapin
The parade drew significant crowds along its one-mile route, closing the busy roadway for a few hours on Saturday morning. Sunny skies warmed the morning air, but temperatures remained moderate for the marchers and fans lining the street. Organizers say it has never rained on the parade in its two-decade run.
With the 2026 parade completed, the 82 Roses Community Enrichment Coalition members will begin work on next year’s event, which they expect will continue to grow for another 20 years and feature more participants and enhanced production elements.
82nd Avenue is one of the most important city streets. I’m excited for the activity here to reconfigure it, to make it safer, to make it more efficient, and to help revitalize this important street, this is the number one transit street in the entire city. And the work that’s being done here is going to transform 82nd. It used to be kind of the dividing line. I think 82nd Avenue is going to bring the city together. I’m really excited about what’s happening here. This parade is an expression of that. – Earl Blumenauer
Colise Johnson and her husband, James, run a small food pantry from their home, a few blocks east of the Leodis V. McDaniel High School athletics fields on the corner of NE 86th Avenue and Brazee Street. As economic pressures push more people into food insecurity, they say the number of people served at this privately funded community resource has increased to an estimated 400 per week. They fund a sizable portion of these efforts through can deposit redemption and donations from people who wish to support the weekend lunch program and their Thursday pantry boxes.
Social media graphic courtesy Colise Johnson
Johnson explained that her home is filled with a fluctuating amount of food ready for weekly pickup by individuals and groups who visit her white house with purple trim. “We’ve got a big freezer out in the back and what we call a mini Winco upstairs,” explained Johnson. Nearly an entire floor of the home is dedicated to stocking canned and dried goods. Stacks of empty produce boxes sit on the front porch waiting to transport food. The couple and around 15 volunteers serve the majority of people on weekends with lunches. “Mike and Faye just brought over 300 sandwiches because we do 300 lunches a week, and a hundred of those go to veterans at least every week,” said Johnson. “We put in a bottle of water, a snack, a bag of chips, and the little fruit snack bags. If we have fruit, we use that as well.”
The volunteer staff only includes a bottle of water in the lunch if the person is unhoused as a way to stretch a slim budget and reduce waste. Additionally, on Thursday pantry box days that operate from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., they ask people what they want to eat instead of giving everyone the same items. “The reason I give them choices is because you see so many food boxes left on 82nd, or up on Glisan, or on Halsey because they take what they want out of the food box, then leave it,” remarked Johnson.
Pantry refrigerator filled with hundreds of sandwiches for lunch kits
Most of the food they give out is first-come, first-served. “There have been days that I’ve opened up at 9 o’clock, and our breads have been gone by 11:30 a.m,” Johnson said. But in those cases, they tap into reserves upstairs and give people anything they want so they will not leave hungry. “I’ll give them whatever I have here and just make the best of it.” The only time people need to sign up for food is on special holiday meals that require more planning. “For Thanksgiving and Christmas last year combined, we did 88 total dinners. We fed 537 people, and almost $2,000 of that was pop can money,” said Johnson.
In addition to accepting donated cans, Colise Johnson traverses the neighborhood in her motorized chair to pick up discarded cans. However, recent changes to the Green Bags bottle and can deposit redemption program limit people to 30 sacks per account per calendar quarter. This policy change has hampered the food pantry’s funding efforts, limiting its ability to scale up operations. Johnson has limited fundraising options, but the deposit collection has supported the feeding efforts for 27 years. “I have cerebral palsy and epilepsy. I can’t work, but I want to do something,” said Johnson.
The couple explained that funding restrictions will not prevent the pantry from continuing its work. They are thankful for the support of volunteers who keep the efforts going. “We’ve got Faye and Mike, we’ve got Corey and Garrett, we’ve got Terrence and his crew, and Don. We’ve probably got 15 volunteers. People come over and help me restock upstairs; they don’t think twice about coming over and donating their time,” recalled Johnson. “Danny comes in from the VFW and picks up the vets’ lunches and hands them out at Fort Kennedy.”
Johnson says they make a special effort for veterans who experience food insecurity. However, they serve all people and create a safe space by not tolerating abusive language directed at themselves or guests. Their goal is to be easy to access for people in need, and they are willing to give whatever they can source from private donations. “We don’t ask for ID. We don’t ask for any of that. We just give them the food,” said Johnson. “We give out school supplies, we give out sleeping bags, tents, we give out clothes, shoes, we make personal care kits.”
The community food pantry accepts donations to keep the program running. “We can’t take anything that’s open. We can’t take anything that’s expired. But we gladly accept donations,” explained Johnson. “If they do happen to bring donations of any cans and bottles, please bring them up to the porch. If you just set them over the fence, they’re going to get stolen.” The couple has dealt with theft of items from their property and some violence over the years. Overall, people are just grateful they are there year after year.
Colise Johnson explains that this multi-decade effort to feed people is her way of contributing to the support she received earlier in her life. “It was done for me when I was a single mom with two kids. People helped me, and we were able to start giving out what we had. We always tell everyone it’s a hand up, not a hand out.” What began as a simple way to pay support forward has only grown year over year as demand has increased. “The economy sucks, and the worse the economy gets, the more people we get. Grocery prices, gas prices, rent prices; you name it, it contributes to hunger,” remarked Johnson. She explained that some people who are not accustomed to needing support sometimes come in with the wrong attitude and need to adjust to current circumstances. “When you’ve got food insecurity, and you’ve got financial insecurity, we’re seeing a lot of entitlement. And it’s getting more and more as the times get tougher.”
This is a small community food pantry run out of a home in a residential area. They limited hours by locking their gate and had to shut down their self-service option due to abuse. Even with the added visitors to the area due to their efforts, Johnson says they have the support of the people around them and hope to keep doing this work as long as they are able. “We’ve got great neighbors. They have never had a problem with what we do.” Colise Johnson and James welcome donations of unopened food and personal care items. You can contact Colise on Nextdoor or Facebook to arrange drop-off times. Visitors are asked to wear a mask indoors for health reasons.
Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Otter Wax, a neighborhood producer of small-batch specialty goods handcrafted in Portland. Using only natural ingredients, they make modern care products that are steeped in tradition. We thank them for their support.
The 20th annual 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade returns on April 25th at 9:30, featuring over 70 groups, including many returning and several new participants. The event organizers will use the scaled-back route implemented last year, starting at Eastport Plaza and ending just short of Montavilla at SE Clinton Street. To celebrate its two-decade run, organizers are adding additional days of activities in the district on Friday, the 24th, and Sunday, the 26th.
The volunteer-led organization, 82 Roses Community Enrichment Coalition, produces the parade each year, having taken over the operation from the 82nd Avenue Business Association. For most of its run, the parade started at Eastport Plaza Shopping Center and ended on SE Yamhill Street. This year, the procession will start from SE Cora Street, across the road from Eastport retail complex, and march less than a mile north, ending right before SE Division Street. People can gather along the SE 82nd Avenue parade route to view the marchers and procession vehicles. However, with the parade no longer ending at SE Yamhill Street, Montavilla spectators will need to walk south past Portland Community College’s Southeast campus to watch the various groups walk, dance, or drive down the road.
Ken Turner started work on parade planning in 2006 when he served as the Eastport Plaza Manager and 82nd Avenue Business Association President. In 2007, the first parade participants marched along its route and quickly grew into a significant community event over the following years. It has been 20 years since the first event; however, they have had to skip the tradition four times during its run. Planned protests and safety concerns led organizers to cancel the parade in 2017. Leaders halted the in-person event during the pandemic and took the parade online for 2022. The traditional parade returned in 2023 to a crowd ready to see its revival. Volunteers bringing this East Portland event to fruition believe the parade shows appreciation for the diverse population that defines 82nd Avenue by celebrating the community’s art, music, and dance.
Sponsor logos for the 2026 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade
The Regional Arts & Culture Council and the Office of Arts & Culture provided funding for this year’s parade, along with sponsorship by several area businesses. Funtastic Carnival will set up in the parking lot of Hong Phat Super Center, 4200 SE 82nd Avenue, for all three days as part of the celebration. The Impalas Car Show will start right after the parade at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 25th. The parade features the Rose Festival Clown Prince, Rosarians, brass bands, premier Chinese dance groups, classic cars, America’s First Corps Band, City & Metro Councilors, costume characters, dance and theatrical groups, plus Middle and High school Marching and Jazz Bands.
Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards and State Representative Thuy Tran in 2024
People looking for a front-row seat can volunteer as parade traffic monitors. One or two volunteers control every crossing along the 82nd Avenue route, and staff coordinators still need people. Volunteer applicants can complete a form at 82rosescec.com. A little before the parade starts, and to its conclusion, unauthorized vehicles are prohibited on SE 82nd Avenue from SE Holgate Boulevard to Division Street. People driving to destinations in the area during that time should select a different route. APANO and the Parade are also holding a SOLVE Oregon cleanup on Sunday, April 26th, from 9:30 a.m. through noon to clean up after the event. People interested in volunteering can sign up at volunteer.solve.org.
