A few days ago Ryan, owner of Lam Tree Service, and I walked our property to assess the degree of our pine beetle infestation. He has an amazing knowledge of not only pine beetle behavior, but forest management in general. It was easy to sense that Ryan was giving away his experience only partially for business reasons. Mostly, he deeply cares about his friends and neighbors and the forest he has wandered for the last 45 years.
I’ve also walked our property with Matt Shepayo, owner of Preservation Tree Care and also sensed that he holds the same passion for the forest. Ryan and Matt have known each other since childhood, and though they are business competitors, I believe they both have a deep commitment to proper forest management for our community.
When Peter Jacobson called, I knew it wasn’t a social call, per se. I’ve known Peter for years, and I knew when he called, it would be about something good for our town. (It’s kinda like getting a call from Linda Kirkpatrick). Sure enough, he wanted to run an ad in support of the Evergreen Park & Recreation District. As Pete mentions in the Nonprofit Review on page 4, “A Yes vote on 6C will allow EPRD to take care of what we have, rebuild recreation, and expand services.”
Although I recognized the name, I had no idea why Kathi LaTourette was calling. Turns out, she wanted to place an ad (see page 12) promoting a lecture on Thursday evening, October 26 called “Learning to Love Your Enemies.” Now, you are likely not a member of First Church of Christ, Scientist and you may not be particularly religious, but who would deny that learning to love your enemies is a good thing for our community?
When Holly told me that we received a public service announcement from TallGrass Spa and Salon, I naturally thought of owner Gail Sharp and something about horses or a day at her spa, or both! Nope. It was about letting the community know that TallGrass is helping homeless veterans through their String Backpack Project called “soldier bags.” See their PSA on page 46.
Then there are the folks at Boogie at the Barn (originally founded by uber fundraisers John and Pandora Erlandson among others) presenting the Halloween BOO-GIE BASH on October 27 to benefit INSPIRE (Special Needs). See their ad on page 10.
Not to be outdone, the Mountain Metro Association of REALTORS® is hosting their annual Goldilocks event at Troutdale Tavern (see page 48) benefiting our local libraries.
What’s happening in the October issue of Serenity is only the tip of the iceberg of what our people give back to our community. Tell me I am wrong, but I believe that is what sets this community apart from wherever it is that the rest of us non-natives came from.
As someone famous once said, “Ask not what your community can do for you. Ask what you can do for your community!”
