This month’s board meeting is on Wednesday, April 14th. All BAC board meetings are open for the public to join.
It will be held as a Zoom meeting. You can join from your computer, tablet, or smartphone, or call in from a phone. Meeting details can be found on the event page.
The recent violence in Atlanta that resulted in the murders of 8 people, 6 of whom were Asian women — 4 of those elders, at the hand of a 21 year old white man was both racist and sexist.
Silence when white supremacy takes this deadly form supports more of it, thus Brooklyn Action Corps explicitly condemns these violent acts against Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community members and all misogynist and racist acts of hatred and violence.
We offer our anger, grief, and empathy to our AAPI neighbors. We mourn for each life that was taken. Please practice self care during this traumatic time and reach out to us for any support: board@brooklyn-neighborhood.org or socialjustice@brooklyn-neighborhood.org.
This week (and always!) we encourage you to support our local shops. One friendly suggestion — make a day out of it! Coco Donuts in the morning sunshine, Hamono Sushi for a date or special take out, and Bob’s for a pint of ice cream or drinks to go with dinner.
There are many other ways to support and learn from our AAPI communities. Read on for more details, resources, and information.
Don’t forget to fill out your neighborhood survey! To fill it out online, head to tinyurl.com/BrooklynPDXSurvey (English) or tinyurl.com/BrooklynEncuestan (Spanish).
Completed surveys will be entered in a drawing for 4 gift cards from Brooklyn businesses! Make sure you fill out your contact info to enter the gift card raffle. The survey closes today, March 19th.
Brooklyn Pharmacy is a coronavirus vaccination location. This means you have the option to get vaccinated in your own community! Please check out the info below for important information on registering to get a vaccination appointment. You may not get an appointment the first time you try! This system is not ideal — please support your elder communities at this time.
Eligibility varies, but folks 65+ are now eligible. News regarding vaccine eligibility is updated frequently and subject to change. Please see the HealthMart vaccination schedule page to check your eligibility and search for a vaccine appointment.
3131 SE Milwaukie Ave
Portland, OR 97202
For support or questions, please email us at board@brooklyn-neighborhood.org.
Please take the 2021 Brooklyn neighborhood survey! We’d love to hear your feedback. You can fill it out online at tinyurl.com/BrooklynPDXSurvey (English) or tinyurl.com/BrooklynEncuestan (Spanish).
If you prefer to fill it out by hand, there’s a printed survey in the March/April 2021 newsletter. (You can also print your own at home.) You can fill in the survey and mail it or drop it off at a local business (see below). Fold the completed survey in thirds with the address portion visible, tape or staple the bottom shut, and return it via mail or drop it off.
Completed surveys will be entered in a drawing for 4 gift cards from Brooklyn businesses! Make sure you fill out your contact info to enter the gift card raffle. Please complete the survey by March 19th.
Drop off locations:
Mailing address:
Brooklyn Action Corps
PO Box 42341
Portland, OR 97242
If you have questions or comments, contact us.
Make sure to fill out the neighborhood survey included in this issue. We want your feedback!
Also, check out the expanded web version of the print article Invasive Plant in our Neighborhood.
By Julia Bond
You may have recently seen this yellow flower popping up around our neighborhood. With shiny heart-shaped leaves and bright yellow flowers, it can be a real eye catcher. But don’t let its looks deceive you. It is called Lesser Celandine and it is a highly invasive plant.
Like other invasive species, Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) is an aggressive plant that can easily crowd out other plants and quickly take over large areas. How? First off, it emerges earlier in the season—in the winter or early spring—giving it a head start on other plants. It also can spread in more ways than the average flower. It has three ways, while most have only one or two. This allows it to grow rapidly and with little competition to create dense patches.
With these tricks, Lesser Celandine can take over lawns and gardens, smothering and killing other plants.But it doesn’t stop with gardens. When Lesser Celandine escapes from our yards into natural areas, the dense patches it creates displace the native plants. Unlike most other plants, Lesser Celandine dies back in the spring, leaving nothing but dirt for much of the year. This creates barren areas that are vulnerable to soil erosion, but also provide little food for pollinating insectsor habitat for wildlife.
We don’t have many plants in Portland that look like Lesser Celandine. It has shiny dark green leaves that are heart- or kidney-shaped. It has bright yellow symmetric flowers that usually have around eight petals (the number of petals can vary from 6 to 26) and a slightly darker center. Timing is also important, you’ll only see it growing in the winter and spring.
If you see Lesser Celandine in your yard, remove it as soon as possible. Once it gets established, it can be hard to rid a garden of Lesser Celandine, so it is best to remove it before it takes over. When digging it up take care since it can spread in three different ways. Like many plants it spreads by seed, but it also produces small bulblets under the leaves that can create new plants. Underground, it creates finger-like tubers that also sprout new plants.
When digging up Lesser Celandine make sure you remove the whole plant, including the underground tubers, but avoid putting it in the compost as composting doesn’t kill the bulbs. Instead, bag the plant and any contaminated soil and place it in the trash. Once you’ve tackled an area, it’s a good idea to check it each year to make sure it doesn’t return.
For more information about Lesser Celandine, visit the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services’ Lesser Celandine page. To learn more about invasive species in Portland, visit BES’ Invasive Species Management page.
The Brooklyn Action Corps is holding a food & hygiene drive for the Grout Elementary Food Pantry. Bring items to Brooklyn Park (near the playground) on Saturday, March 13th, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. For details on specific items to bring, check out the event page.
This month’s board meeting is on Wednesday, February 10th. It will be held as a Zoom meeting. You can join from your computer, tablet, or smartphone, or call in from a phone. Meeting details can be found on the event page.
We will be having our annual visioning session this Wednesday, January 27th, at 7:00 PM. It will be focused on providing a time for the community to share with the board what they want to see this year, and an opportunity for the BAC board to share what we have done recently. Rob Nosse, Brooklyn’s Oregon State Representative, will also be joining us. He’ll be sharing info on upcoming initiatives, discussing a draft letter on sanctioned camping in the city of Portland, and taking questions from the community.
Come share your comments and suggestions! We’d love to see everyone there. Check the event page for Zoom login info.