NEHALEM NEWSPAGE

L'Arche Nehalem 8501 SE Stephens Portland, OR 97216
(503) 251-6901 Fax: 251-6952 e-mail: mail@larche-portland.org web site: www.larche-portland.org

FEBRUARY 2004

Our mission is to create a place to call home
for people with developmental disabilities and those who share life with them.

NEWS

• Volunteer Appreciation Night Saturday, Feb. 28, 7:00 p.m., Neahkahnie House! Come and help us honor Nehalem’s volunteers &emdash; or be honored yourself as a Nehalem volunteer. We will be expressing appreciation to our board, friends who volunteer in our houses, volunteer members of community committees, Christmas tree lot volunteers, volunteers for Nehalem at the Shamrock Run and Starlight Run, and others who have helped us and on whose friendship and hard work we depend. There will be refreshments and a brief program at 7:30. Please plan to stop by!
• We are looking at the ways we structure and schedule our Nehalem "Coffee Houses," and have decided to try having a committee that will plan a quarterly celebration of some kind. These celebrations will be a time to invite people who aren’t yet connected with the community to come check us out, as well as to welcome familiar friends. We have some interested assistants within the community and would like to invite one or two extended community members to be a part of re-forming and re-energizing our Coffee House celebrations. If you are interested in learning more about this committee, please contact Amy Barcia at 503-251-6901 or 503-251-6940. 
• Rodney Gabriel and Matt Garrison gave a presentation on community to a retreat for the Lutheran Volunteer Corps at a retreat center in Cheshire, Oregon, on January 24. 

• One activity that was not cancelled during last month’s snow storm was a visit by volunteers from the University of Portland Urban Plunge program. The students took two hours on the bus to get to Neahkahnie on the first snowy Wednesday of January and were welcome guests. Former summer volunteers Tarry Le and Melissa Vaandering were among them. 

• Marilyn Petruzzelli, Adam Richards, Deborah Warren, and Lisa Ciranny will attend the annual regional core member retreat at Pilgrim Firs near Seattle. Mary Ann Ramey and Sarah Dulaney will lead the retreat together. The theme of the retreat, which will emphasize movement and creative expression, is "Dancing with the Ark." 

• Wed. Feb. 4, 7:00 p.m. Neahkahnie House: Sarah Dulaney’s Dance Party Birthday Celebration
• Wed. Feb. 11, 7:00 p.m., Neahkahnie House: Rodney Gabriel’s 11th Anniversary Celebration
• Wed. Feb. 18, 7:00 p.m., Neahkahnie House: Amy Barcia’s 5th Anniversary Celebration
• Wed. Feb. 25, 7:00 p.m., Nehalem House: Prayer Night
• Saturday Feb. 28, 7:00 p.m., Neahkahnie House: Volunteer Appreciation Night