Booster News March 2010 Volume 76 Number 3

In this issue:
  • OLCC allows adult entertainment venue with restrictions
  • Casino Night returns April 22
  • Join in Conversations about Hollywood
  • My turn
  • Hollywood happenings
  • Celtic Corner spends 17th St. Paddy’s Day in Hollywood
  • Could your business be a crime target too?
  • Hollywood Clean Up needs YOU on second Sundays
  • 2010 Hollywood Boosters Board of Directors
Watch here for updates — or contribute your opinion at hollywoodboosters@gmail.com. Make sure you are heard.

OLCC allows adult entertainment venue with restrictions

Eric Fruits
Eric Fruits
It came as no surprise to Eric Fruits, Laurelhurst Neighborhood Association president, that Mynt Gentlemans Club received a liquor license in a 4-1 Oregon Liquor Control Commission vote Feb. 18.
 
His organization — along with Hollywood Boosters, the Portland Police Department and others — had opposed the adult entertainment venue on the site of the former Poncho’s Mexican Restaurant.
 
But he told Boosters at the February membership meeting that the best opponents could probably hope for was license approval with restrictions by the OLCC. As it turned out, nine restrictions were attached to the license.
 
Outright rejection of the application — based on troubles at nightclubs the applicant has owned in Portland and in Ohio — probably wouldn’t have kept Mynt out of the neighborhood for long, Eric predicted Feb. 3. The application could have been re-filed by the original applicant’s wife, whose name is not associated with a troublesome past.
 
So, in the absence of available legal means to keep the business out of Laurelhurst, Eric said restrictions the OLCC added to the license provided the best outcome that could be expected.
 
And that led to the neighborhood association’s revised strategy to rely on the OLCC process to make Mynt less of a potential nuisance. Violation of any of the restrictions will make the liquor license liable for revocation.
 
Restrictions include security personnel on site Thursdays through Saturdays from 9 p.m. to closing and parking patrols every 30 minutes after 9 p.m. Chief among the restrictions is stopping liquor service at 1:30 a.m., a full hour before other licenses require other bars to stop serving.
 
“You don’t want people to have their last drink of the night in a residential neighborhood,” Eric said.
 
“You want them to go elsewhere. “Restrictions placed on the license will get close scrutiny of Mynt’s operations by the OLCC.”

Casino Night returns April 22

Mark your calendar for Thursday, April 22, for the annual Casino Night from 6 to 9 p.m. at 42nd Street Station, 2000 N.E. 42nd Ave. Black Jack, roulette and craps will be available, along with food and prizes donated by Boosters. Proceeds are used to support Hollywood Booster projects.
 
Call Paul Clark at 503-281-8891 to make donations, volunteer and to purchase tickets — $12 apiece or $10 apiece for two or more.

My turn

Greg Mistell
Greg Mistell
Picture yourself sitting in a quiet shady plaza on a warm summer day. Sweet scented flowers bloom around you. The happy hum of children playing mingles with the bubbly sound of water churning in a fountain.
 
Maybe you are reading, or playing chess with a friend. Around you are your neighbors and friends — laughing, talking, smiling. In the distance, a modern street car efficiently moves people along. Bicyclists and joggers dash by…
 
Welcome to Hollywood, Portland, Ore., USA. The city within a city.
 
If a coalition of Boosters, Hollywood Neighborhood Association members, city council people, activists and interested others get their way, the above dream may come true. Maybe the plaza could be a permanent home for the farmers’ market. Or a place for music on summer evenings. Or somewhere parents can take their babies.
 
The plaza would be a positive accomplishment for our district. After dealing with topless bars, the renaming of 39th Avenue (the name not only changed — it magically became a boulevard!), graffiti, a recession and various other setbacks, we need a victory.
 
Now on the heels of everything else comes a rumor that Grant High School might be closed. The politics of this are too complicated to discuss here but ask someone who attends PTA meetings at Grant High and learn about a chain of events that could close a school that is as much a part of our lives as the Hollywood Theatre, the Hollywood Farmers’ Market and the Junior Rose Festival Parade.
 
The Boosters will be there to represent your interests. Come to the March 3 membership meeting luncheon to find out more.
— Greg Mistell, Hollywood Boosters president,
Fleur de Lis

Join in Conversations about Hollywood

Get ready to join conversations that will put some focus on your vision for Hollywood.
 
“Like many organizations, we do things that pop into our heads and we think are good ideas for our area,” said John Perkins, Boosters Planning Committee member. “In a broad sense, those ideas make things better, but they aren’t always working toward a defined goal.”
 
Making recommendations to the board to increase the vitality of Hollywood is the assignment of the Planning Committee, which includes Ellen Bergstone, Amber Kern Johnson, chair Kim McCulloch and Greg Mistell.
 
“So we’re going to hold Conversations about Hollywood, to get input from all the different stakeholders with an interest in seeing Hollywood thrive,” John explained.
 
Ellen suggested the idea and the committee is planning the first one for this spring. Check your e-mail, www.hollywoodboosters.com and BoosterNews for details about meeting with other business owners, residents, neighborhood associations, nonprofit organizations, churches and everyone else with a stake in Hollywood.
 
“We’ll start with Conversations about Hollywood,” John said. “We need an understanding of where we want to go first and then we’ll identify the steps to get there.”

Hollywood happenings

Roseway Heights School Foundation’s dinner/ auction is Saturday, Feb. 27, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Gateway Elks Lodge, 711 NE 100th Ave. The theme is 1940s USO. Tickets are $35. For tickets and/or details, contact Megan Peters at pdxpeters@comcast.net.
 
Beverly Cleary School Foundation’s Dream Big auction is Friday, March 5, from 6 to 10 p.m. at Bison Building, 419 N.E. 10th Ave. Tickets are $35 at https://beverlycleary.schoolauction.net.
 
21st Annual St. Paddy’s Parade, sponsored by Beverly Cleary/Fernwood is Sunday, March 14, beginning at 11 a.m. at Northeast Hancock Street and 32nd Avenue. For details, call Steve O’Slavik, 503-282-6370.

Celtic Corner spends 17th St. Paddy's Day in Hollywood

Noel Hislop
Noel Hislop
Some Irishmen may skip work March 17 to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Not Noel Hislop.
 
He normally takes Wednesdays off, but he’ll greet customers at his store, Celtic Corner, at 4142 N.E. Sandy Blvd. It’ll be his 17th holiday there.
 
“This is an ideal location,” he said. Celtic Corner attracts customers to the area and he appreciates the draw of neighbors like the Hollywood Theatre and Rite Aid.
 
Retail wasn’t on Noel’s mind when he came to this country from his native Dublin in 1980. He intended to spend two years traveling in Canada and two years in the United States. “The plan didn’t go according to plan,” he said. “I married an American and that settled my fate.”
 
Noel worked as a metal fabricator and occasionally shopped at Kathleen O’Connolly’s Irish shop downtown. When it closed, he seized the opportunity to fill the void. Now he opens the shop only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays — and St. Patrick’s Days. “That’s enough to keep me busy.”
 
His storefront is crowded with merchandise. Irish, Scottish and Welsh jewelry, clothing and kilts, teas and candies, and countless gift items bring in many Americans who are interested in Irish products. Irish people drop in for tea and candies, but tend to save their gift and clothing purchases for trips to the old country, according to Noel.
 
And he holds the local marketshare for Irish dance shoes. Noel estimates there are between 400 and 600 local dancers and most of them need at least two pair of shoes — one soft and one hard.
 
The popularity stimulated globally by the group Riverdance for traditional Irish step dancing has increased Portlanders’ interest in Irish dance, Noel said. He’s as proud of the dancers as he is of the shoes he sells them.
 
“We have some very talented dancers here who win regionally, nationally, in Ireland and internationally.”

Could your business be a crime target too?

Five businesses on Northeast Broadway Street and Sandy Boulevard were broken into during the early hours of Jan. 18. Although it’s too early to confirm whether they are related, there’s always time to consider anti-crime precautions recommended by the Portland Police Bureau.
 
“It’s like your home,” said Officer Ric Deland of the North Precinct Neighborhood Response Team. “You have to make a choice between security and access.”
 
That choice includes appearing secure against criminals or inviting to customers. Should window displays draw customers during the day and attract burglars after hours?
 
Crime protection options are wide ranging and include:
• Alarm systems
• High-quality locks
• Protection against window entry with safety glass, film applied to glass or bars
• Flood lighting on entries concealed from the street
• Don’t let anything inside or outside your business block the line of sight into the building
 
Burglars know they have five minutes or less to get in and out of a building before the police show up. So slow them down.
 
Call Mary Tompkins at the Office of Neighborhood Involvement Crime Prevention Program at 503-823-4763.
 
She can help you determine how to protect your business.

Hollywood Clean Up needs YOU on second Sundays

Bring your garbage bag, gloves, and enthusiastic attitude to Fleur de Lis on Sunday, April 11, at 11 a.m. to help spiff up our business neighborhood.
 
And the second Sundays of May, June, July, August, September and October.
 
It goes without saying that a clean business neighborhood is a thriving and lucrative business neighborhood. But, if you walk around here and there in the community, most especially in and near the Hollywood Transit Center, you will find cigarette butts, debris and graffiti in abundance.
 
Is that the face of Hollywood? Is that how our pedestrian and cycling neighbors will be greeted when they enter Hollywood? Are the sidewalks and gutters in the condition that truly reflects the heart and soul of our Hollywood business owners?
 
A clean district is a reward for everyone. Ice cream and coffee certificates — plus other donations from Boosters — are rewards specifically for volunteers who participate two hours any second Sunday.
 
For details and/or to get on the mailing list, contact me at 503-890-6865 or kim@kimcottrell.com.
— Kim Cottrell, Hollywood Clean Up Chair,
Speech pathologist and Feldenkrais practitioner

2010 Hollywood Boosters Board of Directors

Greg Mistell, Fleur de Lis Bakery and Cafe, gregmistell@comcast.net
Jan Tolman, Jan And…, jan_and555@msn.com
Brett Kucera, Tony Starlight’s Supperclub-Lounge, tonystarlight@hotmail.com
Mary Wohler, Able Business & Tax Service LLC., mary@abletx.net
Ellen Bergstone, Film Action Oregon, ellen@filmaction.org
John Perkins, Perkins Architectural, jwp@perkinsarch.com
Paul Clark, Township Properties, township@qwestoffice.net
Patrick F. Donaldson, Forbes & Associates Inc., pfdforbes@aol.com
Mark Halvorsen, Edward Jones, mark.halvorsen@edwardjones.com
Jeff Hurder, Albina Community Bank, jhurder@albinabank.com
Amber Kern Johnson, Hollywood Senior Center, amber.kernjohnson@hollywoodseniorcenter.com
Kimberly McCulloch, Sterling Savings Bank, kimberly.mcculloch@sterlingsavings.com
Linda Seals, Posh Designs, linda@poshdesigns.biz