Reading through past years of Sabin Community Association files, we found an early print copy of the Sabin Community Association news bulletin — what would eventually become the Sabin Community Association Newsletter (SCAN) — that was mailed to neighbors in the summer of 1977.
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The five-page newsletter, typed on legal-size paper, featured a number of topics including an SCA survey stating three goals: 1) “to improve neighborhood communication through a newsletter and neighborhood hotline”; 2) “to support Sabin School in educational activities as well as other groups which strive to improve the community”; and 3) “to upgrade home improvements, beautification of neighborhood streets, lights, parks, and neighborhood facilities.”

Although community issues have changed and evolved over the years, SCA’s goals remain on point with those of the early SCA board. We have made available this 1977 newsletter on SCA’s website, www.SabinPDX.org/newsletter-archives. It is an interesting snapshot into Sabin history from over forty years ago.

See page 4 of the April Sabin Community Association Newsletter for more details about the Spring Clean Up

If you had up to $1,000 to spend on our neighborhood, what would you do? The Sabin Community Association is excited to announce our new small grants program, offering two grants of up to $1,000 each. The purpose of the program is to use SCA funds for community programs that support the association’s guiding principles: Engaging the community, seeking to understand and meet community needs, supporting diverstiy, encouraging local businesses, preparing for the future and supporting sustainable living, caring for our natural environment, and partnering with community organizations.

The SCA board is seeking ideas from Sabin residents to build strong community participation and partnerships. Engagement of historically under-represented and under-served communities is a high priority for this small grants program. Interested in applying? The process is easy. The proposed idea must:

• Be within Sabin boundaries
  
• Demonstrate how it improves the experience of living in Sabin
  
• Benefit the Sabin community, rather than an individual or specific group
  

All ideas are due by May 1. We have included an idea card on page 4 of the newsletter that you can either drop off at the SCA Small Grants Box at the Albina Library vestibule (3605 NE 15th Ave., next to Whole Foods), or email your idea and information to [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you!

A hundred years ago, drinking establishments were sprinkled throughout inner northeast Portland, which was then a separate city called Albina. Kegs were stored under the bar, and beer was drawn by a brass pressure tap or by a gravity faucet inserted directly in the keg. Men stood at the bar, as stools did not come into use until after Prohibition.

Prohibition was not well-received by many of the Volga German immigrants who lived in the neighborhood. Elder Peter Yost of the Free Evangelical Brethren Church reportedly gave his greatest sermon during this time, complaining that "food" was being taken away from his people.

In many families, it was common to send a young child to the tavern with a tin pail to fetch beer to drink with dinner. The bar-tender would fill the pail and the child would carry it home, careful not to spill a drop.

The photo below, courtesy of Shanna Minarik, shows the Ludwig Miller Saloon (circa 1913) which was located at 740 Union Avenue, now known as Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

This story is condensed from a longer version published on the volgagermans.net website, courtesy of Steve Schreiber.

April 18 from 10 to 3: make a seed bomb and help create pollinator habitat at Whole Foods on NE 15th and Fremont...

Our local Whole Foods has selected the Sabin Bee-Friendly Garden Project to receive bag credit funds, starting April 18 and ending July 12. Here's how it works: When you shop at Whole Foods and bring your own shopping bags, Whole Foods at NE 15th and Fremont will donate five cents per bag to a community organization – either the Sabin garden project or Xerces – you decide which one.

The Sabin garden project hopes to raise about $500 through this campaign, and reaching that goal depends on shoppers remembering to make the request. Please remind cashiers to donate the bag credit before they complete the transaction.


For more information about the project, see our Bee-Friendly Gardens page.

Sabin's 2015 Spring Cleanup will take place on Saturday, May 30 from 10 am to 2 pm, at Maranatha Church. The church is located at NE 12th and Skidmore. This event is a fundraiser for Sabin Community Association projects, so we request a donation of $20 for cars and up to $50 for trucks. 

Accepted materials:

• household junk
• furniture (including mattresses)
• appliances, TVs, computers and “anything with a cord”
• scrap metal
• untreated wood (but paint and nails are OK) and large branches

Not accepted:

• curbside recycling
  
• yard debris (except for large branches that won't fit in your compost bin)
  
• cement
  
• ceiling tiles (which might contain asbestos)
  
• motor oil, paint, hazardous or chemical waste
  
• tires
• batteries
  
• commercial by-products
  

Reusable items will be donated to community organizations:

• Tools4Troop - tools
• Habitat for Humanity ReStore - building materials
• Community Warehouse - furniture, kitchenware, lamps, clean bedding, fans, alarm clocks and medical supplies like crutches
• Community Cycling Center - bikes

Not sure if an item is in good enough condition to donate? Bring it and we'll sort it for donation, recycling or trash.