Festival of fun benefitsChildren’s Heart FoundationBrian Young

Mark your calendar for Saturday, July 16, when the Oregon chap-

ter of the Children’s Heart Foundation (CHF) will hold its second an-

nual fundraiser and festival of fun. Dubbed “Lion Heart in

Laurelhurst” by CHF Oregon chapter president Aimee Mooney, the

event will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the northeast quadrant of

Laurelhurst Park near Southeast 39th Avenue and Ankeny Street. The

event will include activities for adults and children.

The Oregon chapter of the Children’s Heart Foundation was es-

tablished in September 2004 by Aimee and Joe Mooney shortly after

their son Finnegan was born with a severe congenital heart defect. Al-

though their son seemed normal at birth, it soon was discovered that

the left side of his heart was underdeveloped, causing difficulties in

breathing and eating.

Finn had his first open-heart surgery when he was just three days

old. Two additional surgeries followed when he was five months old.

He spent the first eight months of his life at the pediatric center of

Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. In just a little over three years of

life, Finn has experienced eight major surgeries.

“Finn is living proof that research matters,” says his mother,

Aimee. “If people had not given time and money to congenital heart

defect research fifteen to twenty years ago, Finn would not be alive to-

day.” Today Finn uses a feeding tube and takes approximately fifteen

daily medications to maintain proper cardiac function. But his parents

are excited that he is eating and taking part in all the daily activities any

other “three-year-old rascal” would. “He’s laughing, talking, and run-

NE UPDATE

• There’s dirt ready tomove all over Hollywood,as half a dozen projectsare in various states ofreadiness.

• At long last the IrvingPark water feature is areality, thanks to manypeople.

• This summer offersopportunities to shop,run, parade and listen.

• Community groups findthe funds to reward someworthy causes - andpeople.

For more information on these

and other Northeast Portland

issues, turn to N.E Neighbor-

hood Issues.

MIDLIFE AND BEYOND -Malling co-authors book aboutsecond half of life. See page 18.

continued on page 10

LIVING TWO LIVES -Accountant by day, operasinger by night. See page 31.

Amy Nowatzki (left) andFinn Mooney enjoy

bubbles at Lion Heart inLaurelhurst, a fundraiserfor the Children’s Heart

Foundation - OregonChapter. This year’s

event will take place onSaturday, July 16th from11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in thenortheast quadrant of

Laurelhurst Park.

Mississippi Avenue becomes Mecca for music fansLarry Peters

Any serious music fan knows them: Sixth Street in Austin. Beale

Street in Memphis. Most anywhere in New Orleans. Amble down

those byways and you’re likely to hear everything from blues and

bluegrass toheavymetal andasolo folksinger. Insongwriters’words,

it’s music, music, music, and you know that can’t be bad. But unless

you’re leaving on a jet plane, those places are distant paradises, wist-

fully mentioned in hushed tones so as to not get one’s hopes up.

Well, music fans, whisper no more. There is a Mecca for musi-

cians and music fans alike right here in Portland. On the second

Thursday of each month, Mississippi Avenue between Fremont and

Skidmore streets comes alive with music. Already an area burgeon-

ing with restaurants and shops, on that one evening each month, it’s

the music that takes center stage.

On the second Thursday of last month, I strolled down Missis-

sippi. My trek started at 8:30 p.m. at the Bold Sky Café where I was

greeted with the following, courtesy of singer/guitarist

Dylan-Thomas Vance:

And daddy won’t you take me back to Muhlenberg County

Down by the Green River where Paradise lay

Well, I’m sorry my son, but you’re too late in asking

Mister Peabody’s coal train has hauled it away

- From “Paradise” by John Prine

Vance, a solo singer, accompanied himself on lap slide. He

held the acoustic six-string guitar on his lap, sometimes fin-

ger-picking, other times playing with a slide while patrons en-

joyed drinks and dinner. He was drinking Jameson’s neat and

sang an original tune titled “Coming Home to My Hot Toddy”

and Paul Simon’s “Gone at Last”. Vance was singing “You’re

Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” by Bob Dylan

when I decided to go, thanking him and heading back onto the

street.

continued on page 12

12 � The Star � July 2005

*SEUL BUDGET. The Southeast

Uplift Neighborhood Program is taking a

giant leap forward, a bigger one than some

of its members are comfortable with, in its

current budget. The draft budget calls for

more than $85,000 in grants and $39,000

in fundraising, far larger figures than the

non-profit has ever achieved.

Godarz Eghtedari of Laurelhurst was

one of the doubters. “I don’t know your

history of raising money or getting grants,

but it doesn’t seem to make sense to go so

far into the hole.” He suggested adopting a

six-month budget that could be reviewed

and adjusted if necessary.

Others said such a move would show a

lack of confidence that would be self-de-

feating. Kim Hill of the Belmont Area

Business Association said, “How long can

we have a viable organization when the

phone system completely shuts down?”

Another board member, Scott Yelton,

said, “We need to set the bar high. You

don’t leave computers out of your budget

and say you’ll buy them if you have the

money.”

Cece Noel, the non-profit’s new exec-

utive director, added, “It looks like a lot

because we’re starting from zero, but it’s

really not so much given how long we’ve

been around, how well connected we are,

the role we play in the community. We

just need to give ourselves permission to

ask.”

* N E I G H B O R H O O D E L E C-

TIONS. Several community groups in

Star Land held their annual elections last

month, resulting in votes of confidence

and a few new leaders.

Susan Lindsay, John Rusoff, G.T.

Meili and Gary Naylor were re-elected

as the heads of the Buckman, Center,

Kerns and Laurelhurst associations, re-

spectively. Stephen Doubleday replaced

Scott Plager as chair of the Irvington

Community Association, and Michelle

Martin took over for Wade Lange as head

of the Lloyd District Community Asso-

ciation. In both these last cases, the in-

cumbents stepped down after two years on

the job. Hearty congratulations to all.

*JOAN OF ARC. In the case of the

Laurelhurst Neighborhood Association,

they had reason to celebrate. Specially

decorated cakes paid tribute to Joan of

Arc, whose statue in Coe Circle was re-

stored this spring after being vandalized

last winter. �

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I slipped into Mississippi Studios where

two guys were playing guitar and singing to a

small audience in a cozy room with

movie-theater seating. It felt like a small party.

I enjoyed one song and then moved on.

Outside, I came across David Bellinger, a

self-described Low-rent Renaissance Man,

standing in front of his white station wagon,

complete with amp and speaker. Bellinger is,

according to his sign, the inventor of the

Volimba. He demonstrated his brainchild,

running a piece of “steel scrapping from the

exotic-wood store dumpster” across a violin,

creating New Age sounds reminiscent of

train yards, whale sounds and, in Bellinger’s

words, “ocean liners colliding in the night.”

He also displayed his handmade kalimbas on

the table in front of him and encouraged all

who passed by to try one. Grateful Dead

drummer Mickey Hart owns seven of Bel-

linger’s kalimbas, I was told.

I moved on to the vicinity of Laughing

Planet and Blue Gardenia, both housed in a

new retail building in front of which sat

Broadside Johnnie, perched on a stool on the

edge of the sidewalk. Broadside Johnnie spe-

cializes in pirate songs and accompanied

himself on a concertina. In response to a re-

quest from a passerby, Broadside Johnnie

sang this:

Oh Lord above, send down a dove,

With beak as sharp as razors

To cut the throat of them there blokes

Who sells bad beer to sailors

- From “The Sailor’s Prayer”

by Rod MacDonald

The requestor joined in and soon an im-

promptu duet broke out. When that song

ended, I left my sea-faring friends and

headed to Mississippi Pizza where The City

Lights Project was playing. These four musi-

cians first formed the group to accompany a

local showing of Charlie Chaplin’s silent

film, “City Lights”. That project never came

to be, “so we decided to try to be a band,” says

lead singer Joanna. The quartet offered up

“Willow Weep for Me” and a jazzy version of

Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” after which I

accelerated outta there.

As my musical tour of Mississippi Ave-

nue ended and I headed to my car, I knew I’d

been part of something unique, a heavenly

hangout for those in love with music. Right

here in Portland.

Mississippi Avenue musiccontinued from page 2