Neighborhood News is a monthly Salem Reporter feature to highlight news or issues of concern to each Salem neighborhood association. Read previous editions here. Salem is divided into 17 neighborhood associations that meet monthly. They serve as a conduit to city officials for things like park i mprovements, road projects and planning and building. Learn more and find your association here. Leaders of each association are invited to submit a brief news item or report highlighting the association’s work, neighborhood concerns, upcoming activities or anything else of interest. Submissions are lightly edited for style and clarity. Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization CANDO is looking for new members to grow its board! Join us at our monthly meeting to learn how you can get involved. CANDO meets on Tuesday, March 17, 6 p.m. at the Neighbor to Neighbor Office at 347 Union St. N.E. and on Zoom. Hear from Salem Fire Chief David Gerboth on the REACH team pilot program for neighbors in crisis, updates on Riverfront Park playground construction and more neighborhood news.  If you live, work or own property in downtown Salem, you are a member of CANDO and are welcome to attend. For more information, follow CANDO on our Facebook page, or contact us at [email protected]. –Submitted by Spencer Rosenau, chair Grant Neighborhood Association Postcard recently mailed to households in the Grant Neighborhood resulting in increased awareness and participation. QR codes on the back encouraged newsletter sign-up and access to the Spanish translation version. (GRANT NEIGHBORHOOD photo) Our next meeting is Thursday, April 2, at Broadway Commons, located at 1300 Broadway St. N.E., starting at 6:15 p.m. with an informal meet greet beginning at 5:45 p.m. Thanks to our hosts, we are set up for Zoom and in-person participation. The Zoom link can be found at grantneighborhood.org. All are welcome! Highlights from GNA’s March 5 meeting: Councilor report Salem police report 50th anniversary celebration National Night Out New playground swings  Business outreach  Bylaws revisions Back-of-kiosk design Grant School vagrancy problems Recovery Outreach Community Center presentation Detailed minutes of our meetings are available on the city website. They are also included in the monthly GNA newsletter. The GNA website has the Zoom link for remote meeting attendance, information about the board, Grant neighborhood history, community information and more. Follow us on Instagram and  Facebook. Contact us [email protected] –Submitted by Susan Napack, outreach and communications chair Highland Neighborhood Association The Highland Neighborhood Association is welcoming spring with several upcoming events and opportunities for neighbors to connect and get involved. Neighbors are invited to join the next Highland Peace Walk on Saturday, March 28, at 4 p.m., meeting at Highland Park at 2025 Broadway St. N.E. Held on the fourth Saturday of each month, these walks bring residents together to build community, promote unity and support neighborhood safety through peaceful, visible engagement. Families can also participate in a Children’s Clothing Swap on Saturday, April 11, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Center 50+, located at 2615 Portland Rd. N.E. The free event will offer gently used clothing in sizes newborn through youth 14–16. Donations can be dropped off beginning April 5 or brought the day of the event. Volunteers are also needed to help with setup, organizing clothing during the swap, and teardown. Looking ahead, the association will host its third annual community garage sale day on June 6, when neighbors can host garage sales at their homes and be included on a shared neighborhood map to help shoppers find participating locations. The association is also seeking new leadership. Board nominations are open through Thursday, March 26, for positions including vice chair, secretary, treasurer, and board members. Residents may nominate themselves or a neighbor. –Submitted by Ryan Erikson-Kulas, chair North East Salem Community Association NESCA is excited to host another Candidate Forum this year! This year, we have invited city council candidates from Wards 2 and 6, as well as mayoral candidates! The forum will be hosted on Tuesday, April 14, from 6-7:30 p.m. As with last year’s forum, this will be a hybrid event, with the in-person component being hosted at the Jory Apartments, located at 909 Park Ave. N.E. For those planning to join online, a Zoom link will be shared at a later date. Questions for the evening will be based on what our neighbors submit to us. Please send any questions you would like to ask the candidates to [email protected], no later than Tuesday, April 7, at 5 p.m. We will be sharing these with the candidates in advance and want to ensure they have some time to consider their responses. We hope that many of you will be able to join us for this event: local government so critically impacts our day-to-day lives, and every single person’s vote truly makes a difference in elections at the local level. This will be a valuable event to help you determine who you would like to vote for! –Submitted by Stacey Vieyra-Braendle, chair Northeast Neighbors The two Oregon white oak trees slated for removal in April. (LYNN TAKATA photo) The city of Salem will sadly remove two historic Oregon white oak trees near the corner of Northeast 13th and Marion streets. One tree is estimated to be about 400 years old, and might be the oldest street tree in Salem. Both trees are being impacted by fungi that may cause them to be unstable and are considered a safety concern in an area with high pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Many are heartbroken, including the city. NEN Meeting  On Tuesday, March 10, at 6:30 p.m., the city’s urban forester will join us at the NEN meeting at Center 50+, at 2615 Portland Rd. N.E., to share more information about the historic trees.  The agenda includes a presentation by Councilor Paul Tigan, a presentation about the Englewood Forest Festival, public safety, neighborhood concerns and more. Centennial Celebration for Englewood Park NEN and the city are beginning to plan a celebration for Englewood Park’s centennial in September. If anyone would like to join us on the planning committee, please email [email protected] or call 503-970-1319.  – Submitted by Lynn Takata, land use co-chair Northgate Neighborhood Association March is here … yes, it is cold almost daily so Ides of March’s fingers are still hanging on right now but remember it leaves like a lamb at the end, so full of colorful spring flowers. In fact, we are starting to see the pink blooms on the plum trees.  And not to forget those brave and resilient crocuses that broke open from within the partially frozen ground. One of the first to push through and bloom. Spring daffodils in Salem. (KAETHE MENTRUM photo) The dazzling and dependable daffodils. Their cheerful faces are smiling now. They seem to bloom on cue whether the weather is damp and cold, or not. And the charming pink, white and blue hyacinths. We have a street with that name, and it might make one wonder if there were plenty of hyacinths on that street when it was named long ago. Spring is here, folks. The outside world is telling us so. Time to rejoice as Mother Nature waves her magic wand everywhere while she paints all sorts of colorful joy to the once barren and bare earth. Spring flowers in Salem. (KAETHE MENTRUM photo) While all that is going on outside, this association is busy inside trying to solve many issues brought forth by neighbors. Our neighbors complain about livability especially when they see graffiti on the walls or art murals and tenters all around. So, we have invited some police officers who are specialists in those fields as well as the manager of codes and compliance to our Zoom meeting on Thursday, March 19, at 6 p.m. We wish to be updated on what is being done in the Northgate area. All are welcome to attend. -Submitted by Kaethe Mentrum, secretary/park chair South Central Association of Neighbors You’re invited to join SCAN for our March meeting on Wednesday, March 11, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. This month’s meeting will be held at Pringle Community Hall, 606 Church St. S.E.  If you’re looking for something free to do in March and April, consider stopping by the Bush Barn Art Center, where the Salem Art Association is hosting the Young Artists’ Showcase. The exhibit features artwork by hundreds of K-12 students and runs through April 26.   Speaking of April, now is a great time to save the date for our April meeting. SCAN meetings take place on the second Wednesday of the month. Follow us on Instagram @scansalemofficial and on Facebook at Facebook.com/salemscan to see meeting agendas and learn about events happening in South Central Salem. – Submitted by Alma Whalen, SCAN neighbor Southwest Association of Neighbors Bonham Corner – A City of Salem Self-Help Project On the corner of South Bonham and King Streets, just a couple blocks north of South Salem Heights Avenue is a little green space that needs some love. Neighbors reached out to SWAN for a little help. This isn’t a city park, it’s a city of Salem easement area that was beautified by neighbors with the help of funding from Salem in 1996. It was called a “self-help” project.Neighbors originally asked the city if they could clean up the weed infested public easement on the corner and create a little park and flower area. The city said yes and contributed $900 towards the self help project. This paid for the installation of the bench and sign. Neighbors matched the money with in-kind labor.Over the years, local neighbors have taken care of the corner but many have aged out and moved away. Now a new neighbor who moved to Salem from Bend is asking for our neighborhood association to spruce it up again. We will be organizing our first Bonham Corner Clean Up on Monday, April 20, at 10 a.m. All are welcome. Any questions, email SWAN chair Ted Burney at [email protected]  -Submitted by Debbie Miller, board member STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: [email protected]. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS: What’s happening across Salem in March appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less