“They may carry guns, but they’re friendly...”

That memorable quote came from a fellow dinner-goer in Green Hill Cafe at Ananda Laurelwood.

Photo taken a couple of evenings ago

Some background: our Ananda friend & neighbor Byasa had told us how he likes to gauge (no pun intended, as you'll see) the tone of places he visits by seeing what magazines are most popular in the racks.  He said that at Gaston Market he counted 18 gun-related magazines.

Gaston is 5 miles away, the nearest city to Laurelwood.  It's the smallest city in Washington County, with a population of 800.  (The largest is Hillsboro, population 92,000.)

There's a fun book Creek With No Name—How the West was Won (and Lost) in Gaston, Oregon that mentions Ananda!  After narrating how the Seventh Day Adventists' communitarian ideals here rose and ebbed from 1904 to 2004...plus how a Swedish Baptist utopian community in nearby Cherry Grove went bust in 1913...the author writes:

"In 2011, 100 years after Cherry Grove's founding, new religious life flowed in Laurelwood.  The Ananda religious community purchased the old Academy campus with an eye toward creating a worldwide spiritual retreat.  With a philosophy of harmony with nature, the Anandans' worldview nearly mirrors the Adventists'.  The community's leaders talk of bringing new commerce into Laurelwood, but slowly and on a sustainable scale... Now with the Anandans, God's followers feel a new groundswell of hope, and once again the epicenter is Gaston."

Nice, huh?

Well, since we're talking about it, you're probably wondering how the efforts have gone to raise the funds to purchase the 175 acres surrounding the College, with the deadline racing towards us!

Here's the latest info, excerpted from an email yesterday:

                           

URGENT:

Conference Calls
for Laurelwood Land Purchase
Investment Opportunity

Greetings,

For those of you who have been following the progress of this land purchase initiative, and are not sure whether to participate, we have two opportunities to receive more information.

CONFERENCE CALL #1: Wednesday, November 6, NOON with Chris, from Semble

CONFERENCE CALL #2: Saturday, November 9, 10am with Chris from Semble
(IF you cannot attend, and wish more information, please call Chris at 206.276.5135)

These conference calls are an opportunity to get your questions answered, discover the value and security of this investment, realize more fully how rare is this opportunity.

NOW IS THE TIME! November 24 is the date of the payment. We are very close to the goal - only $300k of $2,000k is left to be raised! If you have been considering helping out -

HELP US CLOSE THE GAP:

Invest in Valley Village, LLC (the Investment Group for Ananda Laurelwood) will help us all realize something greater than ourselves - Click Here to start an investment with returns...in more ways than one!

Bridge Loans can help us complete the purchase while seeking longer-term solutions. Talk to us, if this is possible.

Believe in this new property and growing community.
 
Share this opportunity with others who may have the means and be looking for a socially responsible, secure investment, or who believe in Ananda's vision of spiritual community spreading around the world. 

Visualize the land purchased and being developed into a full community that provides housing and neighborhoods while preserving farming, forestry, recreation and open spaces.

Forward this to any friends or family members, inviting them to speak with Semble directly, give Daiva their contact information, or have them contact Daiva directly.

Tour the land, hear the vision - view this two minute video Laurelwood Community Land.

We offer our warmest regards to those who already have committed to this one-time opportunity to create a full rural community in Oregon.

 

Blessings,

Daiva and Gangamata Glazzard

Directors

Ananda Center at Laurelwood

Email Daiva

So, that's the BIG local news... Please add whatever energy you can to our efforts!  :)

____________________

...Oh, but wait... what about that quote in our title?

Well, across the street from Gaston Market is Gaston Feed, a farm & ranch supply store.  I stopped in there for the first time the other day.  As I walked through the front door, a man came toward me with a really big rifle.  Whoa!  Turns out he was a friend of the clerk, borrowing his gun for the weekend.

Recounting that story over dinner at the Green Hill Cafe, Manisha and I also commented that ALL the folks we’ve met in the stores, banks, insurance office, etc. here are SO genuinely friendly.

That’s when someone said "They may carry guns, but they're friendly!" :)
____________________

So how and what are Manisha and I doing?  Well, just recently, we were asked to help be the umbrella coordinating & facilitating the various marketing, promotion, program & membership efforts here among the various Ananda entities.

Those entities include:  in Beaverton, the Ananda Temple & Teaching Center, Living Wisdom School, and the Ananda Portland Community; in  Laurelwood, Ananda College, Ananda House (Assisted Living), and the Ananda Center at Laurelwood.  Also related: New Renaissance Bookshop in Portland, owned by Ananda members Jamey and Darlene Potter.

Manisha just taped 9 different-colored sheets of paper to our office wall, for writing various ideas on (OK, if you’re counting, the other 2 entities are “Meditation Groups” in other cities in Oregon, and “Bakery”, which has to do with a building 2 minutes down from us Laurelwood Road that Ananda owns, and hopes to operate as a bakery in the future).

This all should be fun!
____________________

We'll close this post with some local color.  Oregon is seriously scenic!  There's a gorgeous bike ride here, the Banks-Vernonia State Trail, that's a great example of a "rails to trails conversion"... an old railroad bed turned into a scenic trail.  Here are 7 photos revealing its autumnal glory.

Lastly, here are 8 more photos of Oregon color, from the Portland waterfront, and the Laurelwood Valley.

The hotel lobby is the Embassy Suites, formerly the Multnomah Hotel, once Portland's finest.  Yogananda stayed there and held 10 days of lectures and classes in 1924.  Nice vibe!

The one of the Beach Boys is from the Pendleton Home Store in Portland.  The Beach Boys were first named the Pendletones!

And the Vineyard and Valley Scenic Tour Route goes right past the Ananda Center at Laurelwood.

Blessings, joy, and all our love,
Dambara & Manisha