Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood Assn.

A New Path

Jun 06, 2000

4 Guys+Neighborhood Association
+City+Neighbors=New Path
by Janet Baker

Just four guys. Guys that run in the wee hours of the morning in Wilshire Park, guys that bring their dogs to the park, guys that bring their kids to the park. Just four guys that noticed the path around the park getting soggier and soggier over the years. Just four guys that thought, ?“hey why not just fix this trail; we can do that.?”

So that?’s how it started. Dale Allen, Tom Dearing, Dan Brody, and Bruce Niemann-?—four guys that decided to fix the wet trail in the park. Dale, their fearless leader, turned to the neighborhood association board for advice, then met with the city to arrange the first phase of the project?—digging up the low spots, applying new gravel and dumping load after load of bark chips. They advertised continuously with flyers in the park and solicited for donations from Coffee People, Marsee Baking, Trader Joe?’s, Nabisco, and Starbucks to feed the hungry volunteers. The last part of the equation came in the form of 100+ neighbors from all over Northeast Portland. They arrived early on a Saturday morning to spread the bark chips around the path. The group finished the project in a record breaking 2?½ hours and celebrated with a victory lap around the park. Many thanks to all of you that contributed to this very successful community project!!