Good news is on the near horizon. Governor Brown has said she will likely open the state up in the coming weeks. Currently Multnomah County (Portland) is under High Risk status while nearby counties are now are at "Lower Risk" (the lowest level of risk).
Photo via Wix
With cases of Covid-19 dropping dramatically, it is possible to see mandates being dropped completely. Currently, as with most states, Oregon has an indoor mask mandate but allows business to wave that if persons present certification of their vaccination at the door. Only a very few businesses are offering that option, and requiring masks to protect their employees and customers.
In short, there is a great deal of uncertainty and a high degree of caution among the people of the Portland Metro area.
Sue Parker will bring some of her collection to Lincoln City
Churches (we will meet at First Christian Church) have their own internal criteria and state guidelines. Currently, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Portland, have not issued guidance on allowing people in the building.
Even with these changing guidelines, we are still planing on having the Convention, but the FOTC Board will meet in 8 weeks to give me the go/no go guidance.
A special zoom meeting will take place on August 7th (send an email to mail4creche@gmail.com to register). in this meeting we will cover many important topics from weather (what clothes you will need), status of the hotel and church, and decisions about certain parts of the program that will need to be altered.
Photo via Wix
We are rapidly making plans for the Pre-Convention event in Lincoln City. We will be offering some special opportunities to purchase some rare sets from one of our members that will only be available on November 4th! We have secured 2 busses, paid for by your pre-convetion registration. We are currently at a break even point for the total cost for the trip. All buses have bathrooms and wifi.
We have secured a 37 passenger bus for Sunday at 1 p.m. Pacific Time to take you to the Multnomah Falls and back for Sunday, November 7, 2021. While the Falls (Oregon's #1 tourist attraction) has no entrance fees, we will ask the riders to share the cost of bus (estimated at @$25-if the bus is full, as several have said they are not interested in the extra trip). Please note there are cheaper and more expensive options available to get you there and back to downtown, or even the airport. Ride time from downtown to the falls via bus is around 1 hour or less (traffic). Allow @ 20 mixtures via car to the airport and longer if you are taking other options. You can call Neil for scheduling assistance if you are planing to make an afternoon flight from Portland International Airport after seeing the falls. BTW, it is spectacular and well worth your time. We might be able to add an additional stop at Vista House with it's specular views - a.k.a "The Million Dollar Toilet" - the cost of the project durning the Great Depression. From that view you can see the rock Meriwether Lewis climbed to scan the Columbia River on the Lewis & Clark expedition. You will also see the most beautiful Columbia River Gorge from that view point.
(Fair Trade nativity from Swahili 2017 - Allen Collection)
We are currently at 66 registered and partially registered guests, so it does appear we will have enough to justify that bus size (and can expand or contract the buses as need) - even eliminating that option completely if not practicable). Please contact Marilynn if you have not identified your preference for that trip.
We are working to make the Portland Convention successful. Thank you for your good thoughts and prayers.