Discover Why Lake Oswego Farmers’ Market Is Such a Popular Gathering Spot

Posted on July 13, 2011 by lovelakeoswego

Now in its 11th year of operation, the Lake Oswego Farmers’ Market has grown in size from 50 vendors to over 80 with more than 100,000 visitors coming to shop, sample, and visit during the course of its 22 week schedule from May 14 to October 8. What’s the secret to its success?

  • VARIETY– Farmers’ Market coordinator, Kathy Kern-Schilling, points out that shoppers can choose from organic, no spray, as well as traditional growers.

    Fresh flowers are one of the many offerings at Lake Oswego's Farmers' Market

    While it is  primarily an agricultural market, vendors also offer a variety of produce, meats, eggs, honey, nuts, cheeses, artisan breads, jams and jellies and fresh seafood, not to mention flowers. In addition, over 36 refreshment vendors offer everything from cheesecakes to tamales with a cup of coffee or raspberry lemonade to wash it all down.

  •  ENTERTAINMENT – The sound of music winds its way in and around the market booths with live entertainment every week. The lineup of musicians reflects the variety of the vendors with Andean Music coming up this Saturday followed by the Millennium Brass on October 8 with jazz, flamenco, marimba and more on the Saturdays in between.
  •  DOGGIE DAY CARE– Complimentary day care is provided for your four legged friend while you shop. Staffed by volunteers, dogs are provided with water, shade and TLC.
  • LOCATION – Located in the heart of downtown Lake Oswego at Millennium Plaza Park on the corner of Evergreen and 1st, the Lake Oswego Farmers’ Market offers a chance to explore downtown shops once you’re done as well as  enjoy a fantastic view of Lakewood Bay. Walk the steps down from Lake View Village and enjoy the outdoor fountain where kids can be found cooling off on a sunny Saturday morning. Park in the Lake View Village parking garage and you are only steps away from the Farmers’ Market. Convenient for everyone, it proves to be a popular place for friends to meet, run into each other and visit.
  • POSTER CONTEST – Each year market fans are invited to submit entries in either the adult or youth category for a chance to be designated as  the official Farmers’ Market Poster. This poster art is used throughout the season to promote the market and reinforces what a community event the market continues to be.

For more information about the Lake Oswego Farmers’ Market, click here.

Photo: taken by Brady Costello

 

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Lake Oswego kicks off Summer Concert Series

Posted on July 6, 2011 by lovelakeoswego

Lake Oswego’s Summer Concert Series kicks off this week in two of its three locations. Local country rock duo Cloverdayle, featuring Chad and Rachel Hamar, start things off July 6 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at Foothills Park followed by the acoustic Latin jazz sound of Key of Dreams on July 8 from noon to 1:30 at Millennium Plaza Park. There will be 24 performances by the time the September Symphony wraps things up September 4.

There are four different series as part of Lake Oswego’s summer musical lineup, each one having its own personality, according to events coordinator, Kathy Kern-Schilling. The Summer Splash Concerts, held from noon to 1:30 pm on Fridays at Millennium Plaza Park tend to be more casual, featuring smaller groups and drawing an eclectic mix of listeners from businessmen grabbing lunch-to-go from St. Honore, to moms packing a picnic.

Moonlight and Music Concerts from 6 to 7:30 pm on Sundays at Millennium Plaza cater to a more sophisticated sound from jazz to opera. Vendors sell food, beer and wine to a packed crowd that reaches upwards of 1,000 people who prefer listening to the sounds rather than dancing.

The Sounds of Summer Concerts on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at Foothills Park in July and Westlake Park in August cater to all age groups with a lineup from rock to swing that gets people up and dancing. The Foothills Park venue, located on the Willamette River, enables fans to come by land and by water, with boats docked on the river listening to the tunes.

For the fourth year in a row, the  Summer Concert Series will draw to a close with the September Symphony from 4 to 6 pm in Foothills Park.

Summer is a time to kick back and enjoy the things we don’t make time for the rest of the year. With its Summer Concert Series, Lake Oswego has done its best to accommodate all musical tastes and schedules to ensure that everyone has a chance to listen to their favorite tunes in beautiful outdoor settings around town. Check out the Summer Concerts schedule and make plans to attend.

Photo: provided by Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation Department

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4th of July brings Lake Oswego community together

Posted on June 29, 2011 by lovelakeoswego

On the 4th of July, Lake Oswego is at its small town best! Complete with pancake breakfast, children’s parade and fireworks over the lake, residents come out to eat, greet and celebrate.

Before moving to Lake Oswego, Independence Day was near the bottom on my list of favorite holidays. Now it competes for a spot in the top three. What can I say? I’m a sap for tradition and have passed it on to my kids. My son, who now lives and works in San Francisco, is taking valuable vacation time to make sure he’s here in Lake Oswego on the Fourth. Here’s why when Independence Day rolls around, Lake Oswego is the place to be.

  •  Brady Costello: When asked for a favorite memory of the Fourth, my son Brady, was hard pressed. “I don’t know if I have one favorite memory because the Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday,” he explains. Why? His list runs long from that infamous pancake breakfast in George Rogers Park to water fights on our boat during the boat parade, to backyard parties, to the fact that it seems like the sun always waits until the Fourth to finally emerge and signal the start of summer. But, in a recurring theme he adds, “It seems like the Fourth brings the entire town together.”

    No mistaking what day we're celebrating at our house!

  •  Riley Costello: “It feels like everybody comes out for the Fourth,”Riley echoes. Now a lifeguard at the Lake Grove Swim Park, she views the fireworks show from the dock at the park along with hundreds of other Lake Oswegans. As a kid, however, she remembers our annual backyard bashes complete with relay races, a bike parade down our street and as the kids got a little older, a DJ.
  • Casey Costello: “If you ask any of my friends, they’ll tell you the 4th of the July is the best day of the summer. There’s just a good vibe–everyone is in a good mood because there is so much to do.”
  •  Maddie Vislocky: Maddie doesn’t know where she’s going to live once she is out of college and living on her own, but wherever it is, she’ll always come back to Lake Oswego for the Fourth of July. “I’ve been looking forward to it since sixth grade,” she admits. “I guess it’s the sense of community starting with the Lions’ pancake breakfast,” she explains, to which I can attest as she has joined us at our table many years.
  •  Gretchen Schauffler: “It’s not just about the fireworks,” explains Gretchen. “It’s about a community that actively engages everyone in the celebration. There’s something for all ages throughout the day that makes you feel part of the community.”
  •  Wendy Aldrich: “For me, the 4th of July is about bringing the community all together at the Lake Grove Swim Park—it’s like a good old-fashioned party,” she explains. She should know. Wendy has been watching the fireworks launch out on the lake from the swim park for the past forty years, bringing up her three kids in the same tradition.

Check here for a schedule of events 4th of July weekend. What’s your favorite 4th of July tradition? I’d love to hear it.

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The arts take center stage during Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts

Posted on June 22, 2011 by lovelakeoswego

Lake Oswego is a small town that thinks it can and does. Entering its 48th year, it will play host to the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts June 24, 25, and 26, considered a major regional arts event and one of the centerpiece programs put on by the Lakewood Center for the Arts. Featuring a cornerstone exhibit this year on “The Language of Sculpture,” visitors will have a chance to explore sculpture through lectures, displays and demonstrations.

Our daughter, Riley, (second from left in rear) in her not-quite-starring role in the 1997 festival production of Pinocchio

The Festival is truly a celebration of all the arts, however, with not only visual arts on display, including an open show of over 1000 pieces and a student exhibit, but also musical entertainment, a children’s play put on by Missoula Children’s Theatre, Kids’ Day featuring hands-on activities and a craft faire featuring 116 artists. Activities take place both at the Lakewood Center at 368 State Street as well as George Rogers Park nearby at the corner of State and Ladd Streets.

When our kids were growing up, the Festival was one of the harbingers of summer. My wife and I would take them to George Rogers Park to have their faces painted, their imaginations stretched and their curiosity piqued. This year’s schedule promises to do the same for the up-and-coming generation with demonstrations and a workshop by Thor Myhre, a found art sculptor, and appearance by Radio Disney. My oldest daughter’s claim to fame is garnering a role in Missoula Children’s Theatre production of Pinocchio. To this day she can still rehearse her lines, “Mama! Mama!” as one of Gepetto’s dolls. And all my kids remember the Yo Yo water balloon demonstration we watched, after which we purchased enough to serve as party favors for my son’s birthday that year.

More than 25,000 visitors are expected to attend the Festival over the course of its three day span. It has grown in size and stature over its 48 year history thanks to that volunteer power that drives programs like the village baskets mentioned in an earlier post, with over 500 helpers as well as the support of local businesses and government agencies. Though only 36,000 strong, the city of Lake Oswego shows it has what it takes to leave its artistic mark on the region with a festival that offers sights and sounds to feed the artistic spirit in each of us.

Click here for a schedule of Festival events.

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To Market To Market to buy a nice painting

Posted on June 14, 2011 by lovelakeoswego

One of southern California artist Fred Babb’s posters reads: “Art is one of the few things left worth doing.” Fortunately there are artists in Lake Oswego who feel the same way. Many of them will be displaying their creations at Lake Oswego’s Art Market scheduled for June 16, 23 and 30 in Millennium Plaza Park from 4-8 pm.

“We’re always trying to think of new things to get people downtown,” explains Kathy Kern-Schilling, Events Supervisor for the Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation Department. That coupled with an overflow list of artists who have asked to be in the city’s Farmer’s Market, led Kern-Schilling and the City to decide to give artists their own event. Besides the art, which will include crafts, glass, garden art, jewelry, painters, photographers and more, attendees can also enjoy beer and wine, food from local vendors and live music, making it a festive outdoor happy hour.

To celebrate the kickoff of Lake Oswego’s Art Market, here is an updated version of the children’s nursery rhyme, To Market, To Market.

To market, to market to buy a nice painting

Home again, home again, I hope it’s not raining.

To market, to market, to buy a diamond ring

Home again, home again, to hear my wife sing.

To market to market to buy garden art

Home again, home again, I hate to depart

To market, to market to buy handmade toys

Home again, home again, to happy little boys.

To market, to market, to stroll and sip wine

Home again, home again but not before I dine

To market, to market, to catch up with friends

Home again, home again, don’t want it to end

Photo: morgueFILE: PdCBYK


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How flower baskets and volunteers show Lake Oswego at its blooming best

Posted on June 6, 2011 by lovelakeoswego

Flower baskets in full bloom

In these times of budget cutbacks and dwindling resources, the Lake Oswego Village Flower Basket program is a testament to what volunteer time and donations can accomplish. Entering its 21st year of operation, the program with annual costs of $70,000 is completely funded by donations from private citizens and businesses and is made possible by a partnership between these groups as donors and volunteers and the city of Lake Oswego.

“That’s what people don’t realize,” explains Lori Lauber, Office Manager for the Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce. “The Village Flower Basket Program is managed by a foundation through the Chamber and all the funds are donated.” The money that comes in goes out to cover the $300 cost of one basket from purchase to maintenance which includes daily watering and feeding. This year, close to 50 volunteers hung 247 baskets throughout Lake Oswego, fanning out in four teams with specific job descriptions from “ladder and safety support” to “flower basket hookers.” It’s a team effort that draws veterans and newcomers beginning as early as 4:30 am on a Saturday in May. Baskets stay up as long as funding and flowering allows.

Why go to all this trouble for flower baskets? It enhances the quality of life, bringing an aesthetic beauty to the city as residents as well as visitors travel along the main rights-of-way. The flower basket committee takes pride in the fact that Lake Oswego won the “America in Bloom” award in 2003. Their efforts helped Lake Oswego earn a 5 out of 5 Bloom rating for floral displays. In addition, the chamber is frequently sought out by other communities hoping to replicate the program in their towns. For volunteers, the reward is one of feeling a sense of community and ownership. “It’s gratifying for volunteers to walk by the baskets in the middle of summer and say, ‘I hung that!’” explains Michele Baker, coordinator of the Village Flower Basket Foundation.

The flower basket program is also a very visual and public way of saying, “We care about this town enough to invest in its beauty.” That message can be appealing not only to residents but newcomers.  Just a few months ago the Chamber’s Lauber received a call from a new resident who said, “I decided to move here because of the baskets and I can’t wait to donate.” That’s quite an endorsement of a program that is totally volunteer funded and run.

To learn more about the Village Flower Basket Foundation, check our their page on the Chamber of Commerce website at: http://lake-oswego.com/village-flower-baskets.htm or their facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Lake-Oswego-Village-Flower-Basket-Foundation/214345888590671.

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Lake Oswego earns title of pet-friendly town with Pets on Parade

Posted on June 1, 2011 by lovelakeoswego

If Dr. Doolittle could talk to the animals, he would hear them say, “Move to Lake Oswego!” It’s a pet-friendly town by any critter’s standards. In this small residential community of over 36,000 there are more than three doggie day cares including one that offers specific breed playgroups as well as a complimentary one at the Saturday Farmer’s Market, several pet sitting businesses (not to mention the neighbor’s kid who is looking to earn a few extra bucks this summer), pet supply stores, pet photographers and portrait artists, veterinarians, an Invisible Fence store and an off-leash dog park.

And since everyone loves a parade—even pets—on June 5, the Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation Department is sponsoring Pets on Parade, a popular event returning to the summertime lineup of activities at Millennium Plaza Park beginning at 2pm (registration starts at 1pm).

While dogs and their masters are the most common entrants, last year featured a horse. Participants can compete in four categories:

  • Dressed to Impress – everything from tutus and overalls have been featured on the animals as well as their masters
  • Entertainers – these range from a dog who did a piggy back on his master’s back to the pet with a sudden case of stage fright that does nothing and still manages to entertain
  • Me & My Shadow –owner and pet look alike contest
  • It’s a Small World featuring small pets

Trophies are awarded for first and second place in each category by a panel of judges from the community which in the past has featured such local celebrities as the mayor and city councilors. Close to 25-30 entrants strut their pet’s stuff in each category, with an enthusiastic audience cheering them on.

All comers are welcome at Lake Oswego's Pets on Parade

Immanuel Kant once said, “We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.” I have a feeling I know what Kant would say about the heart of a city with doggie day care, pet sitters, a dog park and even a parade—it’s a doggone good place to be!

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All roads lead to Lake Oswego…or at least mine did!

Posted on May 24, 2011 by lovelakeoswego

Over twenty five years ago, my wife and I quit our jobs, packed up a ‘74 VW Westphalia pop-top camper and headed out in search of a new place to call home. Determined to live on a lake we made special stops in Minnesota, the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” the 1000 Lakes region of NewYork/Canada and tracked down the lake On Golden Pond was filmed on –Squam Lake in New Hampshire. As beautiful as these places were, they were too far away from family for us to seriously consider a change of address. Returning to California, we spent three months living at Bass Lake, outside of Yosemite, but realized it was too isolated to be a realistic year-round home base.

Then my brother-in-law invited us up to visit his new home in Lake Oswego, Oregon. It was love at first sight. I recall driving by the Lake Grove Swim Park filled with picnicking families and kids jumping off docks into the water and envying people who actually lived here. Soon we counted ourselves among them. Our first impressions did not lie.

The family that boats together stays together

We bought a house on one of the canals leading to the lake and started a family of three kids who grew up to be lake rats. Summers of boating, tubing, skiing and swimming in the lake made summer our favorite season here but we have found lots of reasons to be grateful we call Lake Oswego home. I hope to share many of those reasons with you through the course of this blog. If you’re thinking about moving here, hopefully my personal insights, as well as those of neighbors and friends, will help you decide whether Lake Oswego is a fit. If you’re already lucky enough to call Lake Oswego home, perhaps these “Reasons to Love Lake Oswego” will remind you of how blessed you really are while helping you discover some gems you may have missed. Keep checking back—I’ll update weekly giving you 52 Reasons to Love Lake Oswego.

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