Let the Worms Breathe!

Saturday, August 8 was a big day for us. We worked with Depave! The task: rip up 15,000 square feet of asphalt with the brute strength of nearly 100 volunteers and a few tools. Sounds crazy I know, but it was a ton of fun. The feelings of power you have while overturning concrete that has lay behind an elementary school for 80 years are pretty significant. Portland Mayor Sam Adams joined in the fun and Shannon and I were mentioned in the Oregonian story that came out the next day!

It turns out that the Depave folks were bringing in the backhoes later to finish what we started, but we estimated that with just our hands and determination, the volunteers took care of 5,000 square feet of the total. Think of all those people who have a new appreciation for "Freeing the Soil". The kids and teachers and parents at Vestal Elementary School will work to put in a new learning lab and the remainder of the space will become a Portland Community Garden. Storm-water will drain keeping the pollution out of the streams and rivers and the neighborhood will gain a significant new community space.

We had some friends staying with us from California so that's our second time with some long distance help with one of our projects. Cheers to Katie and Kenny for rolling up their sleeves and getting dirty with some concrete bashing Portlanders!