May | 2017 | Welcome to SPEWW PDX

Platform Ticket

On Sunday, July 30^th, we will be partnering with McMenamin’s Kennedy School for a showing of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone! The magic will begin BEFORE the movie, with a costume contest, trivia, a raffle, and more! Wear your wizarding best, refresh your memory of “Hogwarts, a History”, and have your wands at the ready. House Points will be awarded!

We will also be collecting school supplies to fill the trunks of local students who are also headed back to school. Proceeds of the raffle and all school supplies donated will be going to benefit the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization. IRCO works to support the integration of refugees, immigrants and the community at large into a self-sufficient, healthy and inclusive multi-ethnic society. They provide vocational training, language classes, social services, and academic support to students in and around Portland.

Doors to the theater open at 10:45am, programming begins at 11:15, and the movie begins at 12:00pm.

Cost of the movie is $4 for adults and $2 for children under 11. Food and drink will be available to order.

You can find the FB event page here.

You can find the Kennedy School event page here.

And more information on IRCO here.

PDX HPA Meeting Recap

May 21, 2017

Belmont Library Meeting Room

Attended by: Bart Sylfae

Brandie Sylfae

Robbin Coon

Bas Porter

Accio Books

With the official Accio Books campaign wrapped, we talked about the books we had donated for both Beaumont and Words Alive. Of the initial list from Beaumont, there were only 10 books we didn’t get, and we fell short on our goal of 36 copies of “This Side of Home” by 6 copies. We’ll be delivering those books to Beaumont later this month.

The books going to Words Alive will be shipped in the next couple of weeks. (Thanks to Robin for the boxes!) Per the group’s agreement, the House Points reported to the HPA for our donations were given to Hufflepuff, as they were the clear winner of our chapter competition. I will make an official announcement regarding the final standings on Tuesday.

Harry Potter comes to Kennedy School!

On Saturday, Brandie and I met with Beth from McMenamin’s Kennedy School. They will be showing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on Sunday, July 30, 2017. Our chapter will be “hosting” the showing, with a costume contest, trivia competition, school supply drive, and raffle. The movie will begin at 12pm, with the doors opening at 10:45, and the activities beginning around 11:15.

Proceeds from the raffle will be going to IRCO (Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization), and if they have use for the school supplies, they will go to IRCO as well. If not, we will need to find a secondary charity to donate supplies to. If you have a suggestion, please let us know!

We will also need to gather up raffle prizes! We are planning to have a specialized prize for each House, as well as a Grand Prize. We will be contacting local businesses for donations. If you have items of your own you’d like to donate, including HP crafts, we’d love to have it!

Even more importantly, we need volunteers! The Kennedy School theater holds 200, and I’d be shocked if it wasn’t full. We will need 1-2 people at the raffle/donation drop off table, someone at the door to give out programs, and 1-2 people to assist during the costume contest and trivia. Volunteers would need to be available from about 10am until the movie begins. You are responsible for buying your own movie ticket ($4), but they may be other perks. (See below.)

Participation Recognition

We’ve talked at previous meetings about how to reward anyone who gets actively involved with our chapter. Already, we are recognizing people who have assisted on previous events by placing them in the appropriate Years. (For example, Morgan Johnson has been to both HEAP events, as well as Fantastic Beasts at the Bagdad, and she attended a meeting, so she is officially a Fourth Year. Someone who is a member of the FB group but has never participated is a First Year. Once all the Years are completed, you can pick your own title, such as Katie Anderson, Professor of Transfiguration.)

We are going to add collectable badge ribbons, one for each event. HEAP ribbons will be based on the year attended, rather than the total number we’ve done. So if you’ve been to both, you can get a HEAP Year One and a HEAP Year Two ribbon. If this year was your first year, you get a HEAP Year One. Does that make sense? We will also be getting “Wizard Activist” ribbons, which will be awarded for cumulative participation. (To be determined.)

FINALLY…

The Yule Ball. Yes, we want to make it happen. We will be researching possible locations and discussing what sort of event we want it to be in the near future. As we begin to plan, transparency is going to be a big part of what we do. We discussed and agreed that Kickstarter may be the way to sell advance tickets and gage the level of interest. We’d love to have an elaborate ball with a hotel partner, waltzing lessons, plated dinner, and live music, but we need to make sure that we could sell enough tickets to cover the costs.

You can help us out by giving us feedback as we plan and share the details of that plan. I know what sort of Yule Ball I want to attend, but it’s more important that it be a Yule Ball YOU want to attend.

We have not set a date for the next meeting, but I will share it as soon as we do.