There’s nothing like celebrating the holiday season by grabbing some local seasonal ales and kicking back with friends. One event that every beer enthusiast should try to attend is the Holiday Ale Festival held in Pioneer Square from Nov. 30 through Dec. 4. This event is considered the premiere winter beer tasting venue on the West Coast and will have more than 40 breweries in attendance.
’Tis the season to be jolly, and what creates a more festive and fun holiday spirit than inviting friends over for a little arts and crafts time? For those who are looking to create a more seasonal spirit around the house or simply searching for gift ideas, here are some projects to try.
Winter is coming and there’s nothing better to beat those cold-time blues than by getting a little physical exercise. Portland State offers a wide variety of recreation clubs and intramurals that are available to all students. The feminist kickball and ice hockey clubs recently sat down with the Vanguard and shared their stories.
“It was going back to the roots. Who didn’t either play kickball, watch kickball or get upset that people wouldn’t let them play kickball in elementary school—at least within a U.S.-based society,” said Stesha Heselius-Mashinchi, club co-captain of the feminist kickball team and a post-baccalaureate student.
Waffle sandwiches, ribs, gyros, deep-fried pies, Vietnamese BBQ bentos—you name it and the food carts of Portland probably have it. Portland is known throughout the world for its local food cart culture and was recently chosen as the number one city for street food in the U.S. News Travel section. What makes Portland’s food carts so great is not only the wide variety of cuisine, but also the diversity of the people behind the counter and buying the food—and let’s not forget those awesome prices. For those who don’t know, the groupings of carts are called pods, and there are a growing number of them popping up throughout the city.
Freshly baked baguettes, macaroons, various rolls, cookies and other treats are just begging to be enjoyed at Ken’s Artisan Bakery located on Northwest 21st Avenue between Everett and Flanders. Owner and founder Ken Forkish opened shop in 2001, specializing in traditional baked goods resembling those found throughout Europe, especially France and Italy.
Before you even reach the front door your senses are treated to the delightful fragrance of fresh pastries just out of the oven. Once inside the shop, the dazzling array of the treats is a bit overwhelming at first, especially since they all look so good. For first timers, try out something sweet like a macaroon or perhaps a more traditional Morning Roll.
This Saturday, the men and women’s cross country teams will journey down to Corvallis to compete in the Beaver Classic Invitational. The meet will be hosted by the Corvallis Running Project and will take place at Avery Park.
The Beaver Classic event will conclude the regular 2011 season for Portland State. Some runners on the team will get the weekend off to rest up and prepare for the Big Sky Conference meet, which will be held on Oct. 30 in Pocatello, Idaho.
This past Saturday, the Portland State men and women’s cross country teams travelled to Fernhill Park in Northeast Portland to compete in the Adidas Cross Country Classic hosted by Concordia University. Portland State’s top finishers were sophomore Zach Carpenter and junior Brandy Castillo. Carpenter placed 11th in the 8,000-meter race with 25:23. Castillo finished 32nd overall in the 5,000-meter, carossing the line with a time of 18:49.
This Saturday the Vikings will be competing in the seventh annual Adidas Cross Country Classic hosted by Concordia University. The meet will take place at Fernhill Park in Northeast Portland, and includes cowbells, music, an awards ceremony and a live broadcasting stage with footage of the varsity races. According to the event webpage on Athletic.net, the event will also provide an athlete experience lounge and use chip timers to help track the individual runners’ positions during the races.
The Vikings took a trip to Duck country and competed in the sixth annual Bill Dellinger Invitational this past weekend. The top two finishers were junior Amber Rozcicha and sophomore Zach Carpenter.
With three successful events already under their belt, the Portland State men’s and women’s cross country teams are reaching full stride as the 2011 fall season marches on. Both teams are young, but have proved that a lack of experience won’t slow them down. The team kicked-off the season on Sept. 1 at the John Frank Memorial in Corvallis, then competed in the Portland Pier Park Invitational nine days later. Most recently the Vikings participated in the Stanford Invitational, which was their biggest meet yet with over 200 runners in most events. That meet was also the Viking’s first taste of competition against nationally ranked teams, such as Stanford, UCLA and UC Davis.
This past weekend, Portland State cross country headed down to Palo Alto, Calif. to compete in the Stanford Invitational, the team’s third meet of the 2011 season. Both the men’s and women’s teams have burst out of the gate quickly, including strong showings in their first two meets, the John Frank Memorial held on Sept. 1 in Corvallis and the Pier Park Invitational on Sept. 10 in Portland.