Friends of ours

An article about Pringle Creek Community is in the Fall 2008 issue of Landmark magazine. The article is on pages 16 and 17. Landmark is the quarterly publication of 1000 Friends of Oregon.

Tom McCall and the organization he co-founded, 1000 Friends of Oregon, are pillars of environmental stewardship and smart planning in Oregon. Consider attending this upcoming event: Executive Director Bob Stacey reviews priorities for coming legislative session, January 7, 11:30 a.m. at Mission Mill.

Gov. Tom McCall (left) and Secretary of State Clay Myers in a photo related to Oregon's Bottle Bill circa 1971 [before the era of political stagecraft, apparently].

Goodall students at Pringle Creek for annual stream health analysis

Update: On Dec. 24 the Statesman Journal ran an article on this, "Students helping study water quality."

Students from Jane Goodall Environmental Middle School and Karen Hans from Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife came out for their annual fish and macro-invertebrate count. These students are comparing stream health & fish population in various waterways throughout the City of Salem. The big catch of the day was a very large cutthroat trout!

Students set up nets upstream and downstream, then wade through the creek catching fish.

Then they identified and documented each species before setting them free.

They also went through to catch insects; there is a significant correlation between the number of insect species and the presence of fish in any stream. Here they are dividing the macro-invertebrate water samples and identifying them.

They captured a good sized cutthroat trout! Pretty amazing given that we are just three miles from downtown.

Group photo under the Pacific Yew.

--santiago

Photo log

The new dry-creek landscaping at the Wilson’s Tallhouse was designed by their son, Andy Wilson. His web site is: http://www.awlandscapedesign.com/. That’s Alan up at the top right putting Christmas lights up.

Paco just finished laying the stones for this common pathway through what will be a cluster of five homes. The stones came locally from Rickreall.

These garages serve a cluster of five cottage homes. They have FSC cedar rain screen siding, and will soon have a 1,500 sqft greenroof, which extends the life of the roof, absorbs and treats rainfall during a storm event, helps insulate the structure for heat and cold, and provides diverse habitat for insects and wildlife.

This is Mark, our mailman! Very friendly guy, loves the project and eagerly awaits more residents to deliver mail to. He especially likes the idea of a central gathering place for mail pickup at Painter’s Hall (less driving!).

--santiago

Opsis and Nathan Good win design awards

Opsis Architecture and Nathan Good each won a first place Root Award, a Portland Spaces magazine design competition "celebrating Portland innovation, creativity and craftsmanship."

Opsis, the Portland firm of Pringle Creek masterplanner James Meyer (more about Opsis and James here) won the "Landscape/Community" category for Firstenburg Community Center.

Situated on a 10-acre parcel, the Firstenburg Community Center straddles two distinct worlds: a developing commercial street with strip malls and a verdant residential neighborhood. The east Vancouver, Washington, facility has two primary components: a single-level community wing and a vast recreational area with lofted ceilings. The community wing, which houses an indoor aquatic playground, acts as a protective park environment buffered from traffic noise and east winds.

Salem architect Nathan Good, who has collaborated with Pringle Creek Community on designs for carbon neutral homes, won top honors in the "House" category. The Cannon Beach area home is shown on the cover of the December issue of Portland Spaces. Nathan and the home were written about in the New York Times in January 2007 (discussed here). A comment about the house on the website: “Very Oregonian, very green, very beautiful in a timeless, earthy way.” —Iris Harrell

Congratulations to Nathan Good and James Meyer/Opsis.