Past Events 2009

2009 Past Events

December 27, 2009 - 4th Anniversary Indian Feast

December 19, 2009 - 5th Annual Holiday Cookie Bake

December 17, 2009 - Hanukkah Dinner

December 12, 2009 - Common House Decorating Party

Great food smells and music wafted throughout the Common House as a bunch of busy Daybreak elves put up and decorated our Christmas tree and put up lights and decorations in almost every room. Another group of elves cooked up mulled wine, spiced cider, and goodies for while we decorated and then a great meal followed. We were accompanied by harp during part of our revels. And then guitar, piano, and voices joined in carols and songs. Ahhh.

December 6, 2009 -Welcoming Ceremony for Tammy and Sarah!

December 6, 2009 - Social and Site Tour

November 29, 2009 - Meet and Greet with Jodi

One of several informal gatherings we had over several days while Jodi visited from the DC area. So we all could get to know each other.

November 28, 2009 - Daybreak mini-work party

November 18, 2009 - Social and Site Tour

November 15, 2009 - Welcoming Ceremony for John!

November 7, 2009 - Cohousing Association Portland Bus Tour

A full bus! Thank you Neil (and Katlin). And of participant energy. And an amazing outpouring of support from all five (5) host communities, particularly given the rainy down pour. We all rocked! Daybreak was proud to host lunch for 60, another first as we keep stretching our kitchen skills. Our visitors where more excited about cohousing and the possibilities for community after their day with all of us. Hopefully we will bring more interest to our existing communities and more excitement to forming communities, whatever and wherever they may be.

November 1, 2009 - Social and Site Tour

October 23, 2009 - First Community Meal

Of course, it was a scramble. We couldn't access the kitchen to 'move-in' until Thursday evening. Thankfully, it was a simple menu. Parts will become a tradition, I'm guessing. It was fun to inaugurate the kitchen, by cooking and with libations (greeted with glee or trepidation as we spilled ON the kitchen). And to use our new tables and chairs. And just to be together. Much fun.

October 20, 2009 - Social and Site Tour

October 14, 2009 - We start moving in.

October 4, 2009 - Social and Site Tour

October 3, 2009 - Planting Party 2

We continued planting along the perimeter of the community and in the courtyard. And lots more watering.

September 26, 2009 - Planting Party

The landscape sub has put in our trees. We started planting at our main entrance, "Berry Hill" and in the courtyard. And lots of watering. We also started putting in the soaker hose system to water our new plantings.

September 20, 2009 - Welcoming Ceremony for Baird and Karen!

Laura, Karen, and Baird designed beautiful aprons to go with all our community aprons. Laura offered a yummy carrot cake and lovely plants, because Baird and Karen don't need more stuff. Baird and Karen presented the community with a huge stock pot (and chicken!) and a binder ready to hold many of our recipes!

September 19, 2009 - Build It Green! Tour

Daybreak was one of eighteen sites on the BIG! Tour hosted by the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. We are estimating that almost 300 people visited us during the day.

September 10, 2009 - Social and Site Tour

August 30, 2009 - Community meeting

We officially moved from the Northminster Presbyterian Church (with much gratitude to neighborhood icon Pastor Bill for supporting us and allowing us to hold our meetings there for almost two years or more?) to the Common House tonight. We had our first meal together on the Common House Terrace. Warm and beautifully shaded by our maple tree. And we chatted away. It was hard to move inside for the meeting. And our first community meeting in our very own Common House. Since we're still under construction, we're eating and meeting back-packing style, bring it all in, don't expect any amenities, and leave it cleaner than you found it. We so appreciate being in our space and celebrate the opportunity!

August 30, 2009 - Social and Site Tour
Another great crowd of folks came to meet us and tour the site. A great day to be on the terrace and show-off all the big changes in the Common House.

August 12, 2009 - Social and Site Tour

We hung out in the Common House on our just laid floor (the Common House is changing every day, it is exciting each time we come on site) because the weather didn't allow us to use the terrace. Lots of folks came to visit after seeing The Oregonian article. We held many tours and talked and talked about community.

August 8, 2009 - Peyton's 5th Birthday and Game Night

It was fun meeting Peyton's friends, young and old, and seeing Daybreak friends we hadn't seen for a while. And after the 'young' went to bed, we played some games.

August 2, 2009 - Social and Site Tour

The new Common House terrace was the perect place for our social. Yes we had tours, but we loved hanging out with everyone in the shade of our tree.

August 1, 2009 - PSU Portland Farmers Market

July 22, 2009 - Portland Plus Cohousing Collaboration

Thank your to our hosts at Cascadia Commons. A wonderful shared meal on the terrace. Among other topics, we debriefed about the National Cohousing Conference and worked together to start planning for the November cohousing bus tour in which we all are participating.

July 16, 2009 - Social and Site Tour

July 15, 2009 - Community Site Tour

July 11, 2009 - Mississippi Street Fair

Our colorful booth and friendly members were well placed at the annual Mississippi Street Fair. We were close to the food, the music, the dancing, and the beer, and we had lots of visitors, many just learning about cohousing.

July 5, 2009 - Social and Site Tour

In many ways, we were unprepared for the level of interest in visiting our community this holiday weekend. We were expecting to have leisurely conversations getting to know folks and to have a little tour. And then over thiry-five folks came to visit. And it all worked out. We were so pleased to be with everyone, have the opportunity to chat together and have two tours of the place we will live.

June 25 - June 28, 2009 - National Cohousing Conference in Seattle

Wow! What an amazing, exhilirating, and exhausting weekend. Kristin, Martha, and Terri attended the conference and many inspiring talks and presentations. We'll be sharing our inspiration with the community once we recover. Kristin was the volunteer coordinator and worked her and our (the volunteers) asses off. Kristin, Grace (our architect), and Gabe (our contractor) gave a presentation called Three's Company on the community and professional relationship. Terri gave a presentation called Community without Walls exploring the many aspects of the people part of community building needed before you move in together. They were both very well received. Terri also got to make a fool of herself at the Saturday banquet as an auction spotter and on the dance floor.

June 21, 2009 - Sunday Parkways North Portland

Bikes and families! Another fun and eventful Sunday Parkways. Our tent at Arbor Lodge Park was packed with kids drawing, stamping and stencilling. We met lots of our neighbors and are grateful for the warm welcome we received.

June 16, 2009 - Social at Patton Square Park

June 6, 2009 - Daybreak Open House and Site Tour

Over 80 folks came by to visit the site, view our fabulous model unit and chat with members. We had a great time sharing out community with everyone.

June 5, 2009 - Movie Night at Laura's

June 4, 2009 - Portland Plus Cohousing Collaboration

Even the thunderstorm couldn't keep us from meeting at Columbia EcoVillage for a great meal, tour of the farm, and conversation about what is community 'glue'? Alex and Terri represented Daybreak again.

May 22, 2009 - Movie Night at Sterling's

May 18, 2009 - Social at Yetti's Wine Bar

May 13, 2009 - Springboard Innovation Forum

Sterling Newberry, representing Daybreak Cohousing, was one of the featured speakers at the Springboard Innovation Forum at Urban Grind East Coffee House. It was a presentation and discussion/short workshops by three social innovators on the subject of creating shelter. You can read more about the Forum at http://www.learninginnovation.org/forum.php.

May 9, 2009 - Movie Night at Laura's

May 3, 2009 - Social at Krakow Koffee House and 1st Sunday Site Tour

The combined social and site visit was well attended. Thanks for hosting, Sarah. And thanks for being the tour guide, Ken. It was a successful tour. Our guests enjoyed seeing the facilities and asking questions “on site.”

April 30, 2009, - Portland Plus Cohousing Collaboration

Helen, at Trillium Hollow, initiated the beginning of an ongoing conversation among Portland (and Corvalis, hoping Bruce and Jude can participate as much as possible) cohousing communities. We'll meet again on Thursday, June 4, to talk about Community glue. Mostly we expect to meet about once a quarter. After a great community meal with opportunities to socialize, we got down to business to determine what topics were of interest to our communities and what we might want to collaborate on (and how) in the upcoming year. Alex and Terri were pleased to represent Daybreak.

April 26, 2009 - Storm Water Management and Water Features Workshop

Maria Cahill, our stormwater engineer, spoke about what is stormwater management and why it is important. She also provided excellent information on maintaining the system, which also will be in the Operations and Maintenance Manual we receive as a community. Melissa Mederios, the landscape desinger, spoke about the water feature that we can have near the entrance to the Common House. This feature takes the stormwater from some nearby downspouts and conveys it to the stormwater system. But in the conveyance of the water, we can have art and movement and enjoyment of the water before it goes away. So the workshop participants played with ideas to do that.

April 25, 2009 - Earth Day at Wallace Park

For the third year, we were part of the Earth Day celebration hosted by City Repair and others. This year the 'show' was at Wallace Park in Northwest Portland. We had fun among the costumes, teepees, hulahoops, and folks offering alternate ways of living. It was a great day to catch up with old friends and meet new ones!

April 24, 2009 - Sharing Supper at Eddie's Flat Iron Pizza

Kristin and Julie 'hosted' a sort of short notice gathering at Eddie's. We had fun, even though our hosts got caught in a two-hour line buying baby stuff. They arrived in time for a second wave of socializing and sharing. It's nice to have Eddie's down the street!

April 16, 2009 - Social at Chapel Pub

April 5, 2009 - Social at Thai Food Cafe

March 27, 2009 – Better Living Show - Social Innovation Forum

The Forum was a gathering place for innovators from the greater Portland area. Sterling set up a table and represented Daybreak Cohousing at this event. He attended workshops on social innovation put on by Springboard Innovation, a Portland group that encourages people to start up innovative enterprises that build the health of our community. And he talked to several people about Daybreak, and participated actively in discussions about new ideas for building community in our fair city, state and country.

March 21, 2009 – Tamale Sharing Supper

Scot and Ken hosted a Mexican themed evening with tamales from the first weekend of the Portland Farmer's Market.

March 18, 2009 – Social at Yetti’s with Cohousing VIP

Joani Blank, a long-time cohousing resident and advocate, joined us for a lively evening. A large group appreciated the insights she offered based on her experience.

March 6, 2009 – Sharing Supper at Thai Food Café

One of our biggest sharing suppers. Hosted by Laura Spurell, we filled four tables at Thai Food Cafe. This cafe, owned by Laura's brother and sister-in-law, is a warm place with good food where we've held several of our public socials as well. It was noisy and much fun, with sharing of personal stories and just plain old fashioned jibber jabber.

March 1, 2009 – Daybreak Sales Agreement Signing

At last! We got the preliminary approval of our Home Owner Association documents and were given the green light to sign sales agreements. We celebrated with champagne and good cheer. Each member of the community came up to 'pick' their unit and mark it with a picture of themselves on the the big floor plans up for all to see. A very visual representation of who we are and who will be our neighbors! Oh, and then we all signed lots of paperwork.

March 1, 2009 - Social at Chapel Pub

February 22, 2009 – Daybreak Site Tour

On a cold Sunday afternoon, we had our second Community Site Tour. This tour included community members, friends, our architects (Grace, Mike, & Peggy from Schemata Workshop), and our contractor (Gabe from B&G Builders). It was a successful tour. Some members photographically documented the insides of their walls or measured off space for future closet organizers, furniture, etc. Overall there was lots of excitement in the air. We walked through both the first floor and basement of the Common House and got to imagine our lives hanging out there.

February 19, 2009 – Social at Eddie’s Flat Iron Pizza

We had a great social. Four people new to us came, including two women who work at University of Portland and one relatively new person to Portland and her brother. He lives in the neighborhood now and would love to have his sister close-by. We also had 6 Daybreak members attend.The pizza was excellent and additional orders of sides and salads were enjoyed. Eddie's new location was a great place to have a social and they were excited to host us. They offer dine-in, take-out, and delivery and will likely become another Daybreak favorite for our members. Thanks Ed!

February 6, 2009 – Sharing Supper at Café de la Soul

Laura hosted several community members at this great community-centered restaurant in Kenton. Besides offering us excellent meals, they also regaled us with information about their many other community projects. And we got to see this community 'living room' in action.

February 1, 2009 – Social at Mississippi Pizza

Yum! It was a good spot for interested people to gather to find out more about us, meet some of the community members and share a yummy mid-afternoon snack together.

January 31, 2009 – Sharing Supper and concert at Cascadia Commons

Several members of Daybreak Cohousing organized a sharing supper by attending an event at Cascadia Commons. Cascadia was hosting a folk music duo in one of a series of fireside gatherings that they advertised to other Portland area communities. Several of us attended, and in addition to the toe tapping music had time to connect with our fellow cohousers at Cascadia.

January 21, 2009 – Social at Thai Food Cafe

January 4, 2009 – Social at Chapel Pub

For 2008 Past Events, click here!