Volunteers primping NE Sandy Blvd. for big Parkrose Festival August 2nd

It’s more than just a Cruise-in – Parkrose business folks are getting ready for a day-long festival! See why they’re working so hard to make this event happen …

Parkrose Business Association Past President Wayne Stoll, of Century Associates, shows off the street banners about to be hung along NE Sandy Boulevard to promote the August 2 Parkrose Festival and Cruise-in.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
As we’ve been telling you – the “Rose Festival Parkrose Cruise-in” has been put to rest.

Traditionally poor early June weather led the sponsoring group, the Parkrose Business Association (PBA), to replace it with a brand-new event – the Parkrose Festival and Cruise-in on August 2.

Amy Salvador, of Century Associates, tells how flower baskets will hang from lamp poles along NE Sandy Boulevard to give the area some color – the sample basket is displayed here by the event’s originator, Gail Bash of Lucky Corp., and Mark Eves of Eves & Wade LLP.

Sprucing up Sandy Blvd.
Volunteers are asking city and agencies to spruce up NE Sandy Boulevard in preparation for the new Parkrose Festival and Cruise-in.

One project, Amy Salvador revealed at the group’s June meeting, is putting hanging baskets along Sandy Boulevard. “Many people have volunteered to help with this project,” Salvador said. “Rex Hollingsworth and his crew from Rex Heating & Air Conditioning (the title sponsor for the Festival) manufactured the brackets that will hold the plants – they will hang them. Joe Rossi is storing them until they go up; Freedom House is watering and maintaining them, and Century Associates is paying for the fertilizer and amenities.”

Other projects include street and bus stop cleaning and window washing along the boulevard.

Gordon Boorse, of Compaction & Recycling Equipment, and Marsha Lee, with Copy Express, tell the story of how the original Cruise-in program was started to support scholarships for local high school graduates.

Event sponsors scholarships
The reason the PBA started the event seven years ago was to raise a fund that would provide scholarships for graduating Parkrose High School seniors, explained Marsha Lee.

Lee introduced this year’s benefiting scholars – all of whom will be on hand to give out awards at this year’s Parkrose Festival & Cruise-in. Each of the scholars was vetted by a committee from the association consisting of herself, Mary Brown, Alison Stoll, Nancy Murphy, and Craig Mendenhall. Each scholar was awarded a $1,000 check.

Nancy Murphy gives Natasha Rose her award. Natasha will attend Mt. Hood Community College, working toward a degree in Secondary English, to become a high school English teacher.

Mary Brown presents her award to Renae Brown (no relation). Renae will attend Mt. Hood Community College, majoring in Psychology, with the goal of becoming a social worker.

Toyin Oyemaja gets her scholarship check from Mary Brown. Toyin will attend Portland State University, to major in Nursing, with the goal of becoming a Nurse Practitioner.

Alison Stoll presents a scholarship check to Tru Tran. Tru will attend Beloit College, studying Political Science and Pre-med.

Marsha Lee hands off a check to artist and scholar Cesar Pina. Cesar will attend Mt. Hood Community College, working toward his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, with the goal of becoming an animator.

Representing the “Dollars for Scholars” program that provides a matching grant, Carley Brown awards Justin Garvin. Justin will attend Oregon State University.

Meg Kilmer, higher-education counselor at Parkrose High School, accepts the plaque listing all of the benefiting scholars – past and present. You can see that they started out by sponsoring a single scholar!

Parkrose Festival and Cruise-in is August 2
What can you expect at this event? It’s a street fair on NE Sandy Boulevard, between NE 105th and NE 112th. It’s one the largest cruise-ins in the region. And, there’s fun for the entire family! It includes:

Cruise-in:

A wide variety of antique, specialty, and classic cars, trucks, and motorcycles
Over 55 trophies awarded to participants – including the giant 5-foot Grand Prize trophy
Goodie Bags for first 300 cars in the Cruise-in Show & Shine
Parade of Cars

Food:

Authentic Swedish Pancake Breakfast prepared by the Harmoni Club
Parkrose Lions’ BBQ Chicken Dinner
Bad Ass Barbeque favorites
Boss Hawg’s Beer Garden
PBA Chuck Wagon’s Burgers, Dogs, & Snacks

Activities:

Kids’ Area and Activities
Community Resource Booths
“Blow-up Car” contests – Guess how long a car can run without oil!
The Big Parkrose Raffle – Grand prizes are: A $1,500 barbeque center, sponsored by Rex Heating & Air Conditioning; and a set of four tires & wheels, sponsored by West Coast Bank & Bob Brown Tires. Plus, there are hundreds of other great prizes to be given away
Fun activities within businesses along Sandy Boulevard

The Title Sponsor for this event is Rex Heating & Air Conditioning; the main sponsors include West Coast Bank and Pacific Northwest Credit Union.

Comments are closed.