Many of you know thirteen-year-old Dylan Mapston, the soccer player and Timbers fan in Arizona who has collected donations to provide comfort to children and families as they battle cancer, through his organization Keepers Care for Kids. Last year, Dylan collected over 500 toys and stuffed animals for Doernbecher OHSU when he and his dad came to Portland for a match.

This year, with a home opener weekend that includes TWO first team matches, Keepers Care for Kids will be leading TWO donation drives to benefit two organizations.

On Saturday 4/14, for the Timbers home opener, Dylan will be collecting new toys and stuffed animals to benefit Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, which is also the home to Providence Basecamp, where 107IST members provide monthly free CPR/AED courses. Bring your new toy or stuffed animal donation on 4/14 to the fanladen on 1633 SW Alder Street any time from 4-7pm to provide for children served by Providence St. Vincent.

On Sunday 4/15, for the Thorns home opener, Dylan will be collecting new toys and stuffed animals to benefit the Children's Center in Clackamas County. April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and the Children's Center is a private, non-profit child abuse intervention center. They see children for concerns of sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect. Children’s Center also teaches people how to prevent abuse from happening. Children’s Center provides:

• Medical Examinations: Complete head-to-toe exams to determine and document a child’s health and safety by medical providers trained to diagnose and treat child abuse and neglect
  
• Forensic Interviews: Digitally recorded interviews with specialists trained to talk to children of all ages – minimizing the trauma of multiple interviews
  
• Family Support: Support, consultation, referrals, and education to all families in Clackamas County facing issues of abuse or neglect
  
• Prevention and Education: Collaboration with community partners to increase awareness of child abuse and provide professionals, caregivers, families and the community with tools necessary to help keep children safe.
  

It was a beautiful spring morning this past Saturday as we joined our longstanding partners at Friends of Trees to plant 220 trees across the Arbor Lodge, Kenton, Portsmouth, and Overlook neighborhoods of North Portland.  While we had a handful of first time volunteers that are just getting stuck in (including some wee ones), there were many familiar faces that it was great to see and catch up with after the long off-season as we got dirty together in service to our community. 

Our relationship with Friends of Trees has existed for a decade now and has grown and evolved over that time.  Over their 29 years of service, they’ve grown in strength and effectiveness, and have a volunteer workforce that rivals any in the region.  As many of the things we do, this relationship started with a member who was involved with both organizations that wanted to bring in a group of us to have some fun and do some good.  Now, they know to call on us when they need help and we will answer the call with our spirit and vigor to help them accomplish their mission when they’re most in need.  As the tree planting season nears completion, we’ll raise a pint to solute the great work Friends of Trees does and our honor to be their partner. We’ll look forward to celebrating their 30^th year once the soccer seasons come to a close.  You'll be invited to the party. 

Just as this relationship started with a member doing great things wanted to fold us in, you too can grow what we have.  As a member of the 107ist who cares about our mission in the community, we rely on people like you to be our eyes on the street, our boots on the ground, our drum beat echoing through our community far and wide.  If you see something, learn of something, care about something deeply, raise the flag and let us know how we may be able to help.  That’s how we do what we do, how we’ve become the organization we are, and how we’ll grow into the future.

Let’s do this, Portland.

Do you love soccer? Do you love the Timbers and Thorns? Do you want to play but you've either never played or haven’t played in a long time?  Well, we at Timbers Army Football Club (TAFC) are developing a league for you! TAFC is in the beginning stages of creating a Recreational 7v7 Adult COED soccer league.  Playing the game is the best way to learn about it.  We are gauging interest at this point.  This league would be starting the Fall season 2018.  The league would be open to all skill and experience levels with an emphasis on player development of individuals who have never played or haven’t played in a long time
Our hope is to start with a field of 4-8 teams.  We have talked with the Eastside Timbers Academy to hold our games on early Sunday evenings at their brand new state of the art facility at SE 174th just south of Powell.  This facility has 3 full size soccer fields. The field surface is composed of brand new field turf.  Eventually this facility will have a clubhouse with food, drink and futsal courts

Referee development will also be one of our objectives.  We will financially support individuals who want to take the beginning referee class.  These games will be a great way for these new referees to practice their craft in a safe non-judgmental environment.
 
In case you haven’t heard, TAFC is an official Oregon Adult Soccer Association (OASA) league with our own referee schedulers.  Subsequently, all players will need to obtain an OASA player card to play in this league. 
 
Advance players are also welcome as long as they buy into helping their less advanced teammates develop.  If you’re looking to build a super team that dominates every game, you are NOT welcome to join this league.  Sportsmanship, teamwork, comradery and community are the pillars of this league.  If this interests you, please fill out the following survey: https://goo.gl/forms/TNgVpA5FdP9gu4Ef1

We will are working hard to make this league affordable for everyone. 

Contact Dale Montgomery from Timbers Army FC with any questions. soccerdad.tafc@icloud.com.  Please share with anyone who be interested regardless of their affiliation with TAFC or the 107ist.

For those that aren't aware, Timbers Army FC (TAFC) is the arm of 107ist that provides opportunities for roughly 600 individuals to play soccer and futsal in leagues throughout Portland, and it's been my primary focus for the last year or so.

Today marks a new milestone for TAFC. Previously, all of our teams have participated in leagues run by other organizations throughout Portland. Today, teams are playing in the first matches in the brand new, fully OASA/US Soccer sanctioned Timbers Army FC league.

We're starting things off with a 12 team men's league, with all matches taking place at Jefferson High School in Northeast Portland. As things progress, we're looking to potentially expand to offer other league options as well (our major limiting factor at this point is field space - if you have an "in" on field space at a reasonable price *PLEASE* hit me up).

This has been years in the making, and *A LOT* of behind-the-scenes work to bring this thing to fruition. Want to send a huge shout out to Scott Swearingen and Bill Packwood for their previous work on TAFC to get us to this point, Clifford Eiffler for helping with scheduling and other critical back-end pieces, Richard Sheals and Rachel Harrison for helping with the financial and putting up with my constant need to tweak that side of things, my co-chair Dawn Bauman for helping me concentrate on this effort to get things in place for today, and all of the TAFC teams for playing with TAFC.

-Ray

It's (FINALLY) almost opening weekend, and Timbers Army folks around the globe will be watching as the Timbers take on the Los Angeles Galaxy in Carson, CA this Sunday night at 7pm PST. If you're in the Portland area, we encourage you to go to the Timbers Army watch party at Spirit of 77 in Portland from 6-10pm, where the No Pity Van will also be making an appearance. But that's not the only place to catch the game with fellow TA.

Here's a partial list of watch parties around the country and beyond, along with the associated regional supporter groups. I'll keep adding to the list as I gather more watch party info from around the country and beyond. (If your regional supporter group has a place secured to watch the game, drop me an email or hit me up on Twitter and I'll add it to the list.)

United States

Arizona

• Phoenix (TA Desert Corp): Rose N Crown
  

California

• San Francisco (TA Green & Golden Gate): Big Rec Taproom
  

Illinois

• Chicago (TA Heartland Regiment): The Globe Pub

Montana

• Billings (Montana Volunteers): Hooligans
  
• Bozeman (Montana Volunteers): Pub 317
  
• Helena (Montana Volunteers): Bert & Ernie’s
  
• Missoula (Montana Volunteers): Meagher Bar
  

New York

• New York City (TA: Gotham Company) Smithfield
  
• Wappingers Falls (TA: Hudson Valley Dutch Infantry) Buffalo Wild Wings

Oregon

• Ashland (Jefferson Reserves): Smithfield's Pub & Pies
  
• Bend (Mt Bachelor Brigade): Sidelines
  
• Corvallis (TA: Mid Valley Platoon): Corvallis Sports Park Pub
• Government Camp (Govy Brigade) Ratskeller
• Grants Pass (Jefferson Reserves): Climate City Beer
  
• Jacksonville (Jefferson Reserves): Schoolhaus Brewhaus
  
• Medford (Jefferson Reserves): Rogue Growler (and possibly Growler King)
• Portland (Timbers Army): Spirit of 77 (No Pity Van will be making an appearance)

Washington

• Seattle (TA:Covert Ops): Kate's Pub, Wallingford

Other countries

Japan

• Tokyo (Tokyo Yosaku): PDX Taproom
  

I recently picked up the new book "Superfans", by George Dohrmann, at the suggestion of a member of the TA family. While I'm still reading the book, I couldn't help but jump ahead and read the chapters about Nevets and Timber Jim.

The Nevets story is fascinating, and as Finn said on the Twitters, should be required reading for any Timbers Army member since it lays out what is basically the birth of the Timbers Army. I've gathered a fair amount of the backstory organically over the years, and I still learned about 20 new things from this chapter. The Timber Jim story is incredible as well. I've heard the story many times, and it still brings tears to my eyes every time. Love you Jim.

At the recent 107ist Board "retreat" (a nice term for an all-day meeting) a few weeks ago, a lot of talk revolved around culture - The 107IST's role in sustaining/supporting supporter culture, Timbers Army and Riveters culture, etc.

With the stadium expansion and 2nd NWSL Championship, we're likely to see another major influx of new fans into the North End just like we saw with the move to MLS, the MLS Cup win, and the 1st NWSL Championship.

• As supporters - What do we want our culture to be?
  
• Who's going to help bring that culture to fruition?
  
• What is the role of the 107ist in sustaining and supporting supporter culture?

There's an old saying "You don't know where you're going until you know where you've been". Know your history.

*As soon as I'm done with it, my copy of "Superfans" will be at the Booked library at the Fanladen if you want to borrow it. See you on the terraces.

Updated: Link to the book if you'd like to buy yourself a copy. http://a.co/933OSwT

If you're reading this article, you're likely quite familiar with the incredible (and in my humble opinion, unparalleled) match day atmosphere with the Rose City Riveters and Timbers Army. But many longtime supporters and community members still aren't very familiar with the extraordinary work the 107ist does in our community year after year.

We've not done a great job sharing the work we're doing - and we're looking to change that.

This year, you'll see from us a primary focus on Telling Our Story.

For 107ist, we'll be focusing on documenting and sharing the work we're doing in the community. And from Timbers Army and Rose City Riveters, it'll be focused on the match day atmosphere.

Both in the stands and in the community, our members GET STUCK IN. And we're looking forward to sharing their incredible work with you this year. #RCTID #BAONPDX #GETSTUCKIN

--by Southland Irregulars

We are honored to say we are participating in a “Books & Bucks” Drive to benefit the libraries of Leapwood Avenue Elementary in Carson, and Children’s Hospital L.A.

If you donate a book from this list or this list at our tailgate, it will be used for the school library at Leapwood Avenue Elementary near the stadium. Their library sorely needs refreshing, and this is an opportunity for that to not only happen, but also be the cornerstone for use at a new garden space/outdoor classroom.

If you make a monetary donation at the tailgate, it will be utilized for the Literally Healing Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, which uses books as gifts for patients and their families to provide them with a source of entertainment and education during their recovery. This program gifts over 42,000 free brand new books to patients and their siblings every year. These monetary donations are suited for the hospital due to limited space to hold books and the flexibility to make “on-demand” book purchases based on need of patients.

We are also honored to be raffling off to those who donate at the tailgate a “You Are Loved” scarf, autographed by our own MVP, Diego Valeri. Each book donated, or each monetary donation in increments of $10, will receive a raffle ticket. The draw will take place prior to our entry into the stadium.

If you are outside of the area, or unable to make it to the tailgate, you can still participate in the drive.

Please ship books for Leapwood Ave Elementary to:

Timbers Army Drive
c/o LA Galaxy Foundation
18400 Avalon Blvd., Suite 200
Carson, CA 90746

Monetary Donations for the Literally Healing Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles may be made here. Enter Timbers Army in the “reference” section of the form.

Onward!

 

Photo by Darren Lloyd

Thanks to the members who came out to the Mission Theater for the 2018 107IST Annual General Meeting! Special thanks to board members Gabby Rosas and Drew Picard for organizing our Q&A and breakout discussion sessions this time, having learned how from our hired consultants last year.

As we do every year at this event, each committee shared their accomplishments from the previous season, plans for the current season, and current volunteer needs.

Here you can view some of last year's accomplishments in infographic form. As you can see, it was another great year.  Click the image to view a larger version. You can also download the 107IST 2017 infographic as a PDF.

Infographic by Lindsey Moore

Once again we had the Cascadia Cup in the house for photo ops (shout out to Darren and Ray for the photo station), and thanks to the Thorns Front Office, the 2017 NWSL Championship trophy also made an appearance. :)

 

Photo by Darren Lloyd

For those who weren't able to attend or who would like to look through the slides again, you can view or download the AGM presentation slides and notes as a PDF. Note that some sensitive financial data has been removed from this download, but the info is freely available to members by arrangement with the Treasurer. 

This year, at our February board meeting, we also ran our first one-hour Virtual AGM for members outside of the Portland area. We recorded it so that those of you who were unable to attend either event can still watch:

Volunteer Signup Forms

Across the organization, we need all types of volunteers at all skill levels. Please read both the presentation slides and the following signup forms for details about the types of new members each committee is looking for. Committee chairs will be getting back to applicants within the next few weeks.

• 107IST Membership Committee
• 107IST Communications - Travel/RSG Content Editors
• 107IST Facilities Committee
• 107IST Partnerships Committee
• 107IST Community Outreach Committee/GCSF Board
• Timbers Army Tifo Crew
• Rose City Riveters Tifo Crew
• Timbers Army Merch Crew
• Rose City Riveters Merch Crew
• Timbers Army Flag Crew
• Rose City Riveters Capos/DnT

If you're looking to be notified of one-off volunteer opportunities rather than applying to join a standing committee, visit our Volunteer Opt-In Page.

We're looking forward to another great year!