Lake Oswego has the most wonderful library with lots of great programs. One of those is the summer challenge for kids. It includes:
Start out by registering for the challenge at www.lopl.org/summer. When you register, you will receive a free book.
Read all summer long and receive raffle tickets for the grand prize, which will be given out at the end of summer. Participate in a scavenger hunt with ten different locations throughout the city.
Attend one of the events at Rossman Park. (555 4th St) Wednesdays (June 18 & 25, July 2,9,16, 23, and 30, and August 6th) 2pm. Activities include live music, crafts, Japanese drumming and more.
Visit the children’s library in July and receive a free roller-skating rental at Oaks Park.
Visit the children’s library in August for a free Blazer’s game ticket.
There is even a program for adults. Read books, attend events, and complete challenges to earn points. Every 60 points earned means another entry into a drawing for weekly prizes as well as gift baskets that will be given out at the end of summer.
Living in Lake Oswego is an experience of community. That’s why we post these little snippets of activities offered by various groups! Here are my picks for what to do this week in Lake Oswego:
Mon, May 19, 2025 – 6:30 PM ~ Sustainability Advisory Board Meeting – (Online )- Lake Oswego is committed to acting and preparing to recommend plans and programs that help the community meet and prepare for the impacts of climate change. Read the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan & learn more about this valuable contribution to Lake Oswego’s continued livability. ~ CLICK HERE
Tues, May 20 , 2025 – 6:00 PM ~ Adult Cornhole League– Every Tuesday at the Lake Oswego Rec & Aquatic Center you can find the Adult Cornhole League doing their thing! Check it out & get involved ~ 17525 Stafford Rd Lake Oswego More Info: CLICK HERE
Wed, May 21, 2025 – 10:30 AM ~Public Works Story Time ~ In honor of the national “People, Purpose, Presence” Public Works Week you can come to the Lake Oswego Public Library and hear stories of diggers, excavators, bridges & more! Celebrate these indispensable people keeping everything running for us.~ Lake Oswego Library, 706 Fourth St, Lake Oswego ~ More Info :CLICK HERE
Thurs, May 22, 2025 – 5:30-7:30 PM ~Mental Health & Suicide Prevention Forum ~As detailed in Dianne’s piece last week, Dr. Sarah Present and Suicide Prevention Coordinator Galli Murray will discuss the importance of mental health awareness, who is at risk for suicide, trends we are seeing nationally and regionally, and how we can support someone who is struggling. ~ Lake Oswego City Hall, 380 A Ave, Lake Oswego ~ More Info :CLICK HERE
Fri, May 23, 2025 – 10:00-11:30 AM ~Digital Estate Planning Class~ Learn from the legal experts at Samuels Yoelin Kantor Law Group everything needed to prepare for the management of your digital assets and how to avoid any problems in transferring things to your heirs.~505 G Ave, Lake Oswego ~ More Info:CLICK HERE
Sat, Apr 12, 2024 – 3:00PM-4:00PM (repeats every Saturday)– Lake Oswego Farmers Market ~ C’mon down & enjoy local artisans, music and the bounty of local produce and goods provided every Saturday from now till October! ~ Millennial Plaza Park, 200 1st St Lake Oswego ~ More Info :CLICK HERE
On May 22nd, the City, in partnership with Clackamas County, will be hosting a Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Forum. Occurring from 5:30 to 7:30pm, the event is free.
At this forum, presenters Clackamas County Health Officer Sarah Present, and Suicide Prevention Coordinator Galli Murray, will discuss the importance of mental health awareness, who is at risk for suicide, trends we are seeing nationally and regionally, and how we can support someone who is struggling.
Three other events will be happening:
Hands-on Narcan training. Learn how to recognize the signs of an overdose and how to safely administer Narcan.
Holding an drug take-back event to allow people to safely dispose of unwanted and expired prescriptions. They are taking back veterinary and over-the-counter medications as well.
Safe disposal of syringes and EpiPens.
Giving away handgun lockboxes and medication lockboxes with cable locks, while supplies last.
Informational booths will be on hand from 14 different mental health related services including the Clackamas County Crisis and Support Line and the Lake Oswego School District.
Mental health affects all of us. This will be 2 hours well spent. The location of the event is Lake Oswego City Hall, 380 A Avenue.
A super exciting event is happening on April 26th: the grand opening of the Lake Oswego Recreation and Aquatics Center. This is so overdue. LO pretty much has it all. Beautiful neighborhoods, top-notch schools, wonderful dining and shopping, but it’s been missing a decent aquatics center.
There has been a pool at Lake Oswego High School, but public use is problematic due to heavy use by the school district. It was built decades ago, and it looks its age. So, getting a new swim center is a wonderful improvement.
There are 2 pools (lap and recreational), basketball, a gym, exercise rooms and Lockeroom’s.
The ribbon cutting is April 26th, 9:30-1:00, with ribbon cutting speeches, self-guided tours, and refreshments. The facility is located at 17525 Stafford Rd.
Living in Lake Oswego is an experience of community. That’s why we post these little snippets of activities offered by various groups! Here are my picks for what to do this week in Lake Oswego:
Mon, Apr 7, 2025 – 10:30 AM ~ Early Childhood Music and Movement In Mandarin Chinese (Repeats on Mondays )- This outstanding program is for young learners ages 2-5 ranging from little or no to high levels of fluency in Mandarin. The series includes movement, play, instruments and stories and is sponsored by the Friends of the Lake Oswego Public Library and admission is free/first come/first served. 706 Fourth St, Lake Oswego ~ CLICK HERE
Tues, Apr 8 , 2025 – Departure: 11:00 AM ~ Let’s Do Lunch!– Bring a group of friends or get to know your neighbors ! – This event happens once a month, and this April 8th you’ll enjoy authentic German cuisine at Otto & Anita’s Schnitzelhaus – Depart from: ACC, 505 G Ave, Lake Oswego More Info: CLICK HERE
Wed, Apr 9, 2025 – 10:30 AM (weekly on Wednesdays) ~Toddler Story Time ~ Bring your 2-3-year-old and have fun reading stories together and singing songs! ~ Lake Oswego Library/Children’s Library, 706 Fourth St, Lake Oswego ~ More Info :CLICK HERE
Thurs, Apr 10, 2025 – 5:45-8:00 PM ~Year of The Oak: Arborist Workshop & Film Screening ~Come join this free learning opportunity and film screening all about White Oaks! Doors open at 5:45 and event begins at 6:00. Refreshment purchases available/encouraged. Pre-registration required. ~ Lake Theater & Cafe, 106 N State St, Lake Oswego ~ More Info :CLICK HERE
Fri, Apr 11, 2025 – 6:00-8:00 PM ~Outside the Art Room – Teen Art Showcase + Auction~ Support local artists & benefit Children’s Healing Art Project (CHAP) by attending this exciting and worthwhile event. Enjoy live music, amazing art, kids art clinic & so much more! Applications for artists are open now. ~CCP, 1060 Chandler Rd, Lake Oswego ~ More Info:CLICK HERE
Sat, Apr 12, 2024 – 3:00PM-4:00PM (repeats on 2nd & 4th-Saturdays)– Lego Club ~ Open to Parents & K-5- Bring your kids for a Lego Adventure! Lego bricks & Labels to name your artwork provided. All creations stay on display till the next Lego Club! ~ Lake Oswego Library/Lower Level, 706 Fourth St, Lake Oswego ~ More Info :CLICK HERE
Lake Oswego is all about themwater…in so many ways! Celebrate National Drinking Water Week, May 4-10, (yes, there is such a thing : ) by taking a tour of Lake Oswego’s Water Treatment Plant. We are lucky enough to have one of the highest quality water sources int he state, the Clackamas River, and the Lake Oswego Public Works Department works 24 hours a day every day of the year to make sure the water you rely on is there for you. Sneak a peak behind the scenes! Learn more HERE.
Bring your kids and stop in to the Lake Oswego Public Library any day March 24th-28th 10AM till 7PM to join Sarah Walker in creating your own vision of what a box could become! It’s the Cardboard Building Project! CLICK HERE for more info : )
If you follow local news, you have likely seen and heard articles about the controversy over public access to Oswego Lake. 13 years ago a local gentleman began a court battle to allow public access to the lake. After winding through various courts, a judge deemed that the lake, because it is navigable, is a public waterway. Over the past week or so, various kayakers and paddle boaters have been accessing and using the lake.
I feel like I see this from both sides. There’s an inherent philosophy in Oregon that water belongs to everyone. Oregon historically deemed many years ago that beaches on the coast are public and not private. If you can get to the sand, you can walk on the sand. This seems to mostly hold true for rivers, creeks and lakes as well. Certainly some bodies of water are so small that they are merely scenic and not useful for recreation. I’ve been in many homes that have small streams in their yards and no one would question that the property owner does not have to allow all of the neighborhood on their property to wade in the little stream. Their right to private use is just not questioned.
I think that this is the basis for the controversy over the lake.
Oswego Lake historically was a very small body of water. Much of it was marshy. It was enlarged and improved by the Oregon Iron and Steel Company beginning in 1850 (before Oregon was even a state). The purpose for the enlargement was to create a dam and to power the steel company’s manufacturing efforts. They cleared out the marshes and excavated to allow water to come in from the Tualatin River, to flow the length of the lake, and to exit via a dam to the Willamette River. With these efforts, the lake very much became navigable. But bear in mind that most of the lake is man made. It is also currently man maintained.
Silt and debris fills the lake. It takes man to remove the silt and to keep the water as clean as possible.
In 1942 the Oregon Iron and Steel Company deeded the lake bed and the rim of the lake to the Lake Oswego Corporation. The Lake Corp is privately funded by the people who have access to the lake via living on it or having deeded easement rights to it. The funds come from annual assessments that are privately paid and do not involve public money, such as property taxes. It is completely funded, privately.
If you buy a house on the lake you have a one-time fee of about $7500 and then annual dues of several hundred dollars. The easements are less expensive with one-time fees of $500-$3500, and then annual dues of several hundred dollars. There are about 4000 households in Lake Oswego with access to the lake.
In the many years that I have lived in Lake Oswego I have watched the water quality deteriorate and then be improved. For decades people dropped grass clippings into the water. Add to that the run off from fertilized lawns, and it created a smelly mess. The Lake Corp stepped in. They established rules to stop the behavior that was creating the problem. They put in several aerators at various locations to infuse the water with air. Several years ago they drained the lake and excavated the silt from the bottom of the lake.
The Lake Corp has a paid staff of eight people. To put anything into the lake, even a paddle board, you have to have the vessel inspected and then pay an annual licensing fee. This helps assure that invasive species don’t contaminate the water. The Lake Corp also has a security boat that patrols the lake during heavy use to assure that only licensed crafts are on the lake and to insure the use of life vests.
All of this is done at no cost to the public.
My question now is this. If the public has access, will the public start paying for the cost of maintaining the lake? Do people in Portland, Beaverton and Oregon City want to be taxed to maintain the water?
Yes, I understand the logic of seeing a body of water and feeling like everyone should be able to use it. But the situation at Oswego Lake is pretty unique. I don’t have the answer here, but it will certainly be interesting to see how it plays out. I also hope that people who use the lake will take every precaution to stay safe. I am aware of at least one incident in which someone chose to swim across the lake and got severely injured by a power boat. Is the public aware that if you are not in a boat you need to stay between to buoys and the shore line? Bottom line, in my opinion, is that if the public is going to use the lake, they need to start paying the cost of the upkeep, and they need to know the rules for safety if they go into the water.
This year is the 19th annual presentation of the Lake Oswego Reads event and the selected book is “How to Read a Book” by Monica Wood. It certainly seems like an appropriate selection! The book centers around a young woman who is released from prison. It’s about forgiveness, second chances, the value of work, and so much more.
The annual book is selected by a steering committee that consists of teachers, students, librarians and volunteers. One member of the steering committee commented:
“This book left me with a glow of love which I would wish the community to share. But the book offered more than feelings—fascinating content about animal intelligence, the prison system, Spoon River Anthology, forgiveness and redemption,“ relates Steering Committee member Cherie Dupuis.
The month of April is choc full of free events to explore the book throughout the community. There are discussion groups, an art show and the culminating event, a presentation by the author. Take the time now to read the book so that you will be ready in April. The library does have multiple copies of both hard copies and eBooks.
For more information about LO Reads 2025, click here.
I’ve been reading the LO Reads selections since the beginning 19 years ago. They have consistently been great selections and several of the authors have become favorites of mine, whose books I turn to each time a new one is published. I feel like reading is a gift that I give to myself. Enjoy!
Hunger Fighters Oregon is a local food resource for those experiencing food insecurity. Located across the street from the Mountain Park Shopping Center, 4 Monroe Parkway, it distributes food on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. They are in need of volunteers to help with cleaning and gleaning.
The cleaners work in small teams organizing the food donations so that the food pantry is organized and ready to go before they open to the public.
The gleaners travel to Gleaners of Clackamas County and collect the food that is donated there and then bring it back to the pantry and organize it.
Please also remember that donations are accepted 24/7 at the donation closet that is outside of the pantry next to the front door.
