It's great to hear about other communities that are promoting bee-friendly gardening. North-central Colorado, which includes Denver and Boulder, have started a project very similar to the Sabin Bee-Friendly Garden Project. The folks in Colorado are working on a project to "create living spaces where honey bees and other pollinators can propagate without the effects of toxic chemicals."  The Bee-Safe Neighborhoods project aims to "increase safe habitats for honey bees by landscaping with safe plants (uncontaminated by neonicotinoids or systemics) that can provide pollen and nectar to pollinators through spring, summer and fall."

To participate in Sabin's bee-friendly garden project, contact Diane Benson at [email protected]. Learn more about the project here.

The Sabin Spring Clean-Up is a perfect opportunity to get rid of those  unwanted items that are too big to put in your curbside trash or recycling. And it happens in our own neighborhood, so you save yourself a trip to “the dump.” Best of all, instead of paying fees to get rid of your stuff, you make a donation that funds projects right here in Sabin.

The Clean-Up will be held from 10 a.m. to 2p.m. on May 31 at Maranatha Church’s west parking lot. Vehicles should drive south from the corner of NE 12th Avenue and Skidmore Street, lining up on the west side of 12th to enter the parking lot. Vehicles going north on 12th from Mason Street will not be allowed to enter the parking lot.

HERE’S WHAT TO BRING: Household junk, furniture, mattresses, scrap metal, appliances, microwaves, large pieces of yard debris and treated wood. There is a $10 disposal fee for computers, laptops, monitors and TVs ($20 for large-screen).

REUSABLE ITEMS: If you have the following items in good, usable condition, we’ll be collecting them for donation to:  

   * Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which takes lumber in 5-foot lengths or longer (no nails or fasteners), doors and both home and garden tools

   * Community Warehouse, which takes furniture, kitchenware, lamps, clean linens (sheets, blankets and towels), irons, fans, alarm clocks, canes and crutches

    * Tools for Troops, which accepts all manner of construction and landscaping tools, including fasteners, tool bits and replacement saw blades. Tools are given to veterans.

DO NOT BRING: Tires, batteries, paint, hazardous or chemical wastes or motor oil. We will not accept any materials that are accepted in your curbside blue or green carts.  

PICK-UP NEEDS? We offer limited curbside pick-up service for seniors and people with disabilities. Contact Don Rouzie at 503-926-3922 to schedule.

The Sabin mural was painted in 1996 by Isaka Shamsud-Din, with the assistance of apprentices and volunteers. Learn more about it at Linda Wysong's Sabin blog.

Find out how well you know Sabin - and get to know your neighborhood even better! There are three different versions of the scavenger hunt form, each with 12 questions - complete one, or finish all three. Drop completed sheets into the Sabin Scavenger Hunt Box in the Albina Library. Come to the Sabin Picnic on August 5 to receive recognition and a Sabin Badge.

Click here for Scavenger Hunt forms