Author: SNA

Critic’s Corner: Tabor Bread

Review by Katherine Crosato, age 10, SES student 

Tabor Bread is a great local bakery that recently moved to Belmont and 44th from its original location on Hawthorne. Everything is carefully made and always fresh. Everybody there is welcoming and kind. They recently downsized so there is less seating, but this new location is more convenient for my family and still cozy. We always get bread there and we love it. Last Sunday I ordered a croissant sandwich with ham, cheese, aioli and sprouts and to top it off a very good quality mustard. It was great and I would recommend it to anyone. It was crispy and the inside was soft. I loved it! We had only planned to get a few things but ended up getting so many items. All of it smelled and looked amazing. The interior was very nice and comfortable to eat in. The customer service was great and they got things done fast. 

I do wish they had more food options. They used to have a huge variety to choose from and I feel like I didn’t have much to pick from but I’m sure that will come later. I’m excited for the future outdoor seating which will be a great thing to add considering I couldn’t bring my dog inside. I will definitely go back and this is a great local bakery if you’re looking for something fresh to eat. That’s why I recommend Tabor Bread as your local bakery. 

Tabor Bread, 4438 SE Belmont St.; see www.taborbread.com for their weekly bread schedule.  Open every day from 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

Please submit ideas for Critics Corner to Hannah at [email protected]  

News from the President

Hi Sunnyside neighbors! Welcome to February, where hopefully the worst of winter is nearing an end and the sun is starting to shine a little brighter in our neighborhood.

January was a busy month at our general meeting. Despite some technical difficulties, we had an excellent turnout. I love seeing new faces and hearing new voices at these meetings. Thanks to the great attendance, we were able to officially endorse the mission of Quiet Clean PDX. As noted in the January edition of the newsletter, Quiet Clean PDX is working to eliminate the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in Portland and the entirety of Oregon. I am very proud that the SNA has joined their list of endorsing groups. To learn more about Quiet Clean PDX’s mission and see how you can help, please visit www.quietcleanpdx.org.

We also heard from a Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) representative about a proposal to expand the greenway system through the Sunnyside neighborhood. PBOT is developing a plan to turn 34th Avenue alongside Sunnyside Environmental School into a bicycle-priority greenway from at least Belmont through Division. As part of this plan, they are examining the possibility of making car entry onto 34th from Hawthorne available only to cars turning right. However, much study needs to be done and the Hawthorne Business Association expressed concerns over the turn limitation onto 34th. This project is not currently funded, but if you care about our bicycle network, be sure to keep your ears open for more news and make your voice heard with the Bicycle Advisory Committee (www.portland.gov/transportation/bicycle-committee).

Lastly, we had a frank and open discussion with members about the need for the SNA to ensure we are viewing everything we do, everyday, through an equity lens. Our current presiding officer, Emily, is working with the entire board to develop policies and procedures to make sure that we see past any latent biases, approach all with respect, and work for the best interests of all of our neighbors.

Our monthly board meeting will be held on February 9th at 7 p.m. We will be back with our next general meeting in March. See you around Sunnyside! 

Preparing for “The Big One”

Through my eprep lens, I know about many of the people in my neighborhood and where they are on the preparedness continuum—and some of them are quite impressive. Here, I profile Bill and Amy in

the hopes that their dogged planning can help inspire you to prepare your family for an earthquake or other emergency. 

Bill and Amy are a married couple with a dog. They moved here about 15 years ago from Colorado—a wildfire-prone area. They experienced a few close calls, but never had to evacuate. Having a “go bag” was just a part of life.

Nonetheless, moving to Portland presented a few new challenges, including needing to prepare for an earthquake. Additional eprep included enough water and food for humans and pets for two weeks and the mundane: pee/poo buckets and first aid supplies. Also, Bill is an amateur radio operator, and recertifies each year as a Wilderness First Aid responder, and, coincidentally, is an active Sunnyside Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) member.

That’s a great neighbor to have! 

Their preparations also include the expectation that they may have to live without power/heat/electricity, perhaps outside, for at least two or three weeks. That might mean sheltering in place, depending upon the condition of their home after an earthquake.

It took them about six months to get prepared for “The Big One.” Then, they reached out to like-minded neighbors to assess their interest in getting prepared together, with the hope of helping one another. For them, community is important and a plan was developed and implemented for four households with diverse emergency prep needs. Pre-pandemic, this group of four neighbors met quarterly. They hope to meet up again soon. 

Bill and Amy acknowledge that eprep plans evolve as they age and adjustments have to be made. Simple, but not easy.

If you have done significant emergency preparedness and want to share what you’ve done for a future issue of the newsletter, contact Jan at [email protected].

Sunnyside Neighborhood: Getting to Know Your Neighbors

Q&A with Mike Schwartz and Casey Jones of Black Rose Coffee

If you’ve ever taken a midmorning stroll down SE 34th Avenue south of Stark Street, you might have noticed a distinctive aroma permeating the air—something between popcorn, malt, and not-quite-burnt toast. It’s the smell of roasting coffee rising over the fence line of a homegrown Sunnyside small business. Mike Schwartz is an award-winning coffee roaster who roasts small batches of coffee for neighbors far and wide. He is proud to specialize in decaf and half-caff blends; he will walk roasted beans to your door (delivery is free) the same day it is roasted. His wife, Casey, handles marketing and design for Black Rose Coffee, and runs her own business advising students on college and graduate school decision-making. 

How long have you lived in Sunnyside? 

We bought our house on 34th in December 2011 and it immediately felt like home. When we moved to Portland, it was basically love at first sight. We both grew up in places [Southern California and New Jersey] that never felt like home.

Continue reading our Q&A with Mike Schwartz and Casey Jones of Black Rose Coffee

News from the President

Happy New Year Sunnyside! 

The big news out of the SNA this month is the success of our annual clothing and gear drive to help our houseless neighbors in this cold and wet season. The event was held indoors this year on December 10th at SE Uplift (SEUL). Thank you to SEUL for providing a warm and inviting space for everyone, a big change from the wet, cold outdoors of past years! Also thank you to New Seasons, Grand Central Bakery and Fried Egg I’m in Love for your generous donations of food for our guests and volunteers. Thanks, too, to Crossroads Trading, Mix Tape, the Mountain Shop, and Next Adventure—all of which donated boxes of warm clothes or gift certificates. The biggest thanks of all goes out to our volunteers for taking the time during this busy holiday season to connect with neighbors living outside. Kudos to the SNACC team for putting together such a wonderful event!

The SNA board met on December 8th for our monthly board meeting. Emily stepped up to take over as the presiding officer for the next few months. She will be coordinating agendas and running our meetings through February. This new arrangement allows board members to share some of the responsibilities and decision-making power of the president, gain valuable experience and distribute some of the administrative burden. We talked about filling vacant, and soon-to-be vacant, positions on the board and committees as well as ways that the SNA can work to improve our diversity and equity lens in the work we do for the neighborhood. More on those topics to come!

Our next general meeting will be on January 12th. We will be talking about a proposed expansion to the greenways system in Sunnyside and a potential endorsement of Quiet Clean PDX’s quest to limit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers (see The Scourge of Gas-powered Leaf Blowers).