TrackersNEWS

Our grand opening is this Sunday (March 9). We are really excited to host the entire community. People from all over, even across the country are coming. Who knew we were this popular? Please check it out online at our Open House page. There will find a list of the days FREE events including: a Martial Arts class, a ride on the Umiak (our 30 ft traditional whaling boat), nature excursions with Rayne Miller and much more. Also, don't forget the family ho-down potluck at 6pm-9pm that evening. Bring an instrument if you have one, or a food dish and come do the Virginia Reel on our floor.

Over 18 only Later than that, Urban Scout will be hosting a Disco Ball (complete with an actual disco ball and fog machine) Please come in costume.

The Scout Pit is at 5040 SE Milwaukie Ave, Portland, OR Map It

Also for parents! Camp is now even longer! In our effort to meet the needs of parents, we have have extended camp days to 8:30am to 4:30pm!

And we are excited to announce our Nature of the Village week long intensive brings together our community, both locally and nationally, to recreate and learn from the experience of a working Village. When September 7-13, Overnight Where Portland All Ages

Urban Barn Raising: Finishing our earthen floor

by Thaddeus Koster

I’ve never been to a real barn raising before, and I doubt there’s many of us these days who have. But the events of this last week have been as close to that classic icon of community as any I have experienced before. It started as a call for volunteers to help us complete our new earthen studio floor, which is a very labor-intensive process. I had not expected nor imagined the numbers and dedication of the people who came to offer what they could to this project. And it wouldn’t have been done without all that unexpected help - as the ranks of volunteers grew, and the more work we did, the more we realized how big the project really was! In the end, I have a hard time keeping track, but it seems that there were at least 6 people, sometimes 12, working 10 or more hours a day for a full week to complete that floor. I think it’s a very conservative estimate to say that over 400 hours of work were required to get it to it’s current state. When I walk on that floor I literally feel supported by the friends and neighbors who joined me to put it there, and I feel joy for the memory of seeing young and old alike walk in to fill whatever role they could to make something magic happen.

Here are some picture of the floor taking shape:

Kids Need to be Outside

by Jana Spear

Please note: Jana will be leading the new TrackersTOTS Preschool Outdoors. We are very excited about this new opportunity for the families we support.

Why do this Outside thing? Because there's stuff to do outside. And it's fun stuff. And if you don't get to do it when you're little, when will you? What if you never got to touch or interact with your mother, didn't know what she felt like, smelled like, how she reacted to what you do. You'd hardly even know each other, much less form a lifelong, nourishing bond. You'd be so lost! As we all eat and sleep, even poop indoors, it's easy to forget that all the others who live outside are also part of our family. The bugs, trees, mud, flowers, birds, clouds, animals, wind--you could even say they're part of your body. We need the same kind of bond with them as with our parents--they'll support us throughout our lives just like a mother does. Kids need so much more of "playing outside" than the standard half hour at the playground or the walk on leash from the local preschool. Real experiences are so powerful, they fuse right into your memory and become part of you. This is true connection: using all your senses, instead of looking at a book or video about bugs, pond life or the wind; seeing where and how real animals live and making an emotional connection, instead of playing with tiny plastic ones; knowing, it's spring, not because the calendar told you, but because you see buds appear and the wind feels warmer than yesterday's; and feeling a place with your hands and feet and lungs and nose and ears and eyes and tongue. Knowing you are part of the world, not just in it.

What if I hadn't done all this, who would I be today?

-playing in the fields and creeks behind and between everyone's houses
-going out to see animals and plants and creek beds and hills in the desert with my grandpa
-catching millions of tiny frogs and setting them free again
-bare feet and mud and knowing what the bottom of the pond feels like
-climbing trees and becoming really tall
-freedom and independence
-scraping up my knees
-the sun on my face
-making up my own games
-watching birds eat worms
-catching a fish for dinner
-losing track of time
-flying maple seed helicopters
-peeling bark off of sticks
-burying stuff
-going to bed exhausted and dirty from a long day outside