BDNA hosts ‘night out’ party for Brentwood-Darlington

Reminiscent of the “National Night Out Against Crime” gatherings once endorsed by the City of Portland, leaders of the Brentwood-Darlington Neighborhood Association (BDNA) hosted a neighborhood barbecue and party on Saturday afternoon, August 10th, at the Brentwood-Darlington Community Center

Inside the building and out – with activities spilling out into Brentwood City Park — some 300 adults and kids enjoyed the party.

Unlike many of the “Party On! Portland” events taking place on the first of August that are completely the work of City of Portland staff members, this was completely “home-grown”, pointed out BDNA Chair Stephenie Frederick. “Indeed, our neighborhood association is the event’s sole sponsor; we put on every scrap of this family event – with support from Southeast Uplift, which provided the event insurance.”

Screams of delight issued from the big bouncy castle, brought in and supervised by staff from the SUN Community Schools program – which is a collaboration between Portland Parks & Recreation and Multnomah County.

The savory aroma of beef and vegetarian burgers – and chicken hot dogs – on the grill filled the air. And, volunteers provided snow cones for cool treats. Volunteers also ran active games – such as a water balloon toss – that entertained both kids and grownups.

“In essence, this afternoon, we are celebrating the revival of our Community Center; it’s been kind of forgotten during the pandemic years,” Frederick remarked. “Here, today, our families have opportunity to enjoy live music, eat together, and play some games. Our goal is to create good feelings among our neighbors, and to help them realize that they are part of a real neighborhood – a community.”

Asked how the organizers managed to round up so many volunteers, Frederick later explained. “Our wonderful key event organizers, BDNA Board Directors Anna Cox and Stephanie Torgerson, invited candidates for City of Portland District 3 City Council positions to attend – but, only if they agreed to help!”

The candidates who came – and they all helped out – included Jaclyn Smith-Moore, Jesse Cornett, Tiffany Koyama Lane, Sandeep Bali, Terry Parker, Theo Hathaway Saner, Dan Gilk, and Kelly Janes.

For more information about the Brentwood-Darlington Neighborhood Association, go online – http://www.brent wood-darlington.org