—by Matthew Lindley

My two biggest passions on earth have always been music and football, and nothing pleases me more than when the two meet in the middle ground of supporter culture.  This marriage is never more apparent than in the Timbers Army. It’s in the electro call to action of Popinski Popcast and the punk pep rally of Green Flag; it's Ridgy and the departed Urruti dancing to Justin Bieber and Sean McAuley dropping classic rock earworms at the Championship Rally. And yes, ladies and gentlemen, this melding of support and song can even find its way into the realm of… country music.

We are pleased to announce that the Second Annual Duane Graf Homebrew Competition will be held Sunday, May 29th, at 9 a.m. at Lompoc Sidebar, 3901 N. Williams. The winning entries will be brewed at Lompoc, Widmer Bros, and new this year, Base Camp!

The categories are:

Pride of Cascadia: Pale Ale, IPA, Imperial IPA, Cascadian Dark Ale, and Northwest Red

Full 90: anything sessionable. The goal is a beer that you can drink for the full 90 minutes of watching a match: blonde ales, golden ales, Kölsch, and pale lagers are good examples, but this is a sessionable summer beer category, so whatever you think fits.

BundesOregon: A beer with both an Oregon and German twist to it. A German style with Oregon flair; Oregon beer with German flair; be creative! The only caveat is no long fermentation styles like lagers or sour beers. (Base Camp needs to be able to fit it into their brew schedule.)

The category winners are selected by a panel of judges who are not necessarily picking the best BJCP style, but what best represents the categories.

Entries may be dropped off at these locations:

• FH Steinbart Co. — 234 SE 12th Ave, Portland
  
• Bader Beer & Wine — 711 Grand Blvd, Vancouver
  

** Entries must be received by Friday, May 27th **

To enter, bring two bottles of each beer, tagged with this label, located here and a completed entry form. The fee is $10 per entry; $5 per entry for 107ist members. Please make checks payable to 107ist.

Judges will also be needed! Some experience would be wonderful, but not necessary. Please let me know.

If you have any questions, contact peter.keith.107@gmail.com. Also check out the Timbers Army Fermentation Corp on Facebook.

Crossing West Burnside has long been a concern of the community, city planners, and the 107IST with notable concern for the intersections of 18th, 19th and Alder at the Firefighters Park. On match days especially, with the large number of us taxing the system, accidents have been an unfortunate inevitability in this high crash corridor. As many of you know, one of our members was hit by a car here last season and really touched close to home the need for improvements. While her recovery has been going well, it is important for us to act to reduce the likelihood of it happening again, with more devastating results.

Some funding has recently become available for the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) to study this complex intersection and they are looking for comments from the community. If you are a transportation professional, active user of the city’s bicycle and pedestrian system, or simply interested in the subject matter, please review the project site, check out the presentation, submit your comments to staff, and participate in the dialog below to help the 107IST make collective recommendations and raise appropriate concerns. The window for comments only runs through February 29th so, please help us inform the process as best we can by participating. 

Additionally, there has been talk in the community of hosting a charrette to study the area and how the local transportation infrastructure can be improved. If you are interested in participating, please email Stephan.Lewis@107ist.org so we can gauge interest.

Other factors to consider:

• While the main presentation focuses on the “Preferred Alternative,” many other alternatives are not off the table. Some of these include decoupling 18th and 19th, and having car traffic both ways on 19th and bikes both ways on 18th; connecting the bus island to the Firefighters Park and having Alder traffic travel around the south sides of the park; and more.
• Trimet may expand the route of the Fremont line 24 to cross the Fremont Bridge and travel north-south along NW 18th and 19th into Goose Hollow. While this plan will provide better transit access to and from the stadium for those along its route, it could further complicate this W. Burnside crossing.
• If the Fix Our Streets Portland campaign is successful at the ballot this spring, 20th Ave is slated to become a “Neighborhood Greenway” with increased pedestrian and bicycle facilities. How will this connect around the stadium, and how will it affect the study area?

• If SW Alder St is to have two-way bicycle traffic, how will it impact the intersection being studied? Also, how would it connect to the stadium?
• Could this site contain more bike parking? Bicycle parking is at a premium in the area on match days and, with the FO’s bike parking on Morrison disappearing shortly after matches for them to reopen the street, many are forced to leave the area after matches when they could/should hang out for a while before beginning the journey home.

The 107IST is what it is because of the volunteer work of so many of our members. We have a great knowledge base within our ranks that can be tapped to address this issue. Together we can show the community how we do what we do.

Let’s do this, Portland.

107ist volunteers show off their work at The Children's Book Bank book cleaning day on 2/20/2016

Volunteers signing in for their 3 hour work shift. Participants noted how fast the time flew by!

THANK YOU to the more than 30 dedicated 107ist volunteers who spent the day before the Simple Invitational cleaning books for donation to local elementary-school children. Because of your hard work preparing more than 700 used books at The Children’s Book Bank, almost 100 students at Bridger, Chief Joseph/Ockley Green, Sitton, Rosa Parks and James John schools will be able to select 8-12 lovingly restored books to call their own. We also want to thank The Children’s Book Bank for hosting this volunteer event and for their tireless efforts to support children’s literacy in the Portland area.

Shawn Jaquiss from The Children's Book Bank provides detailed instructions on how to clean each book. Like the Timbers Army, the CBB is all about "Quality, not Quantity".

Even if you missed this chance to spread the love, there’s still plenty of time to support The Children’s Book Bank by participating in the 2016 Booked! Drive. We will be collecting gently used children’s books through the 3/19 match against RSL, so stop by with your book donation any time the Fanladen is open. Booked librarians also will be available before every pre-season and regular season match through the end of the book drive to accept your donations. Our goal is to collect 107 books before 3/19.

Inga and Matt Ward putting care and artistic flair into making these books ready for a child to love.

Bilingual and multicultural books are greatly appreciated! Only about 1 percent of donated books received by The Children’s Book Bank contain multicultural content, but more than 74 percent of children served by the nonprofit organization identify as biracial or ethnically diverse. Suggested titles are listed on the 2016 Booked! Drive page.

The following is a guest post from one of the No Pity Originals designers. As they don't like the spotlight, we won't post the name.

When I moved to Portland 8 years ago, I moved here in my shitty car filled with what few possessions I had and $1,500. I had no job and no prospects. All I knew is that I wanted to live in an art city and get a fresh start. The first year in Portland was filled with living out of people's dens and garages. It wasn't all bad though—it afforded me the opportunity to explore the city, find inspiration and create (also play a shit ton of disc golf, GOAT unemployed activity).

During these first few months in Portland, I read a Willamette Week article about how the Timbers (the local USL soccer team) were playing Seattle Sounders (arch-rivals) and the cost was only $10. The price was right, so I hopped on my bike, a Portland hand-me-down heavy steel bike made entirely of found parts, and headed to PGE Park (former name).

*I'm going to stop here, because we all know what happens as soon as we step in the stadium for the first time, and continue on.

As a full-blown shiny-eyed Timbers noob, I started attending more games, hanging out at tailgates and signed up for SCUSA (a infamous and now defunct Timbers Army message board). During all that I found my first full-time job in Portland, illustrating email blasts for an engineering software company (yeah, it was about as unenjoyable as it sounds complicated). As crummy as the job was, it afforded me the opportunity to buy into Timbers season tickets for the next season. That winter my contract was not picked up and I began another stint of unemployment. It wasn't all bad though, I got to refocus on my artwork and live in an affordable place with a basement that I could spend long hours painting in during the long and cold winter.

By the time spring came I had found another job at a publication company working on their website and online publications (was so desperate for this job that I lied my way in and taught myself Java, CSS and other outdated web coding as I went, with only having a basic understanding of HTML before being hired). As an artist who purposely tested out of math my freshman year in college, writing code and working on websites was not for me, but I needed the job. This was also around the time that i finally procured a No Pity scarf.

*Little educational break here: The way No Pities were distributed in those days was a lot different. One would have to check SCUSA for days waiting for a nice lady by the name of Gisele to start a new thread on SCUSA with the latest order. There you would put down your name and sponsor a set of five scarves. Eventually you would go to the next Timbers army meetup and pick up your set of scarves months down the line. It was a lot of waiting. Either do that or find someone with a set of five scarves that had extras they were looking to sell.

That Timbers season was pretty magical. With a found confidence I would go to tailgates and events to make friends and learn more about this (still) newfound obsession. There I started to see a few people selling their own specialty Timbers Army scarves and shirts out of the back of their cars or shady-looking bags, raising money for tifo. Tifo at this time was single overhead banners, a line of two-stick banners placed across the field's dugouts, or the occasional actual two-sticks. This sparked a thought in my brain: "Dude, you're a designer and an artist, let's make some TA graphics." Through the next weeks I flooded SCUSA and people's inboxes with ideas. I wasn't even trying to figure out what to put them on (tifo, shirts or scarves), I was just brain-dumping on anyone who would look. I don't think I was insufferable, but I was definitely relentless. It should be said that no one really cared (only thing I ever made were some spoke tags for the Bike Brigade), but what did pop up was a handful of people on SCUSA trying to organize a website committee for the Timbers Army. Obviously I wasn't the best web developer, but I signed up regardless as a way to help out and get more involved.

What working on the web team did for me was defining. I finally saw behind the curtain. Saw how many hardworking and caring people were out there using whatever skills they possessed to keep the Timbers Army legacy protected and DIY (I would go as far to say DIY as FUCK). There was a committee that met with the Front Office to keep our section GA and make sure they could bang drums and raise banners. There were legit lawyers (fans working pro bono) working to trademark the TA logo and the phrase "No Pity." As a punk kid, this just made everything all the more sweet. This was before MLS was even whispered. It also allowed me some face time with a group of guys interested in organizing Timbers Army merchandise under one umbrella. And after about a year and a half of being relentless in helping make graphics and constantly putting my name out there to help with whatever I possibly could, I was brought in for the first ever "merch" meeting.

Through the next year, two nonprofits were formed: the 107ist and No Pity Originals. I'm going to speak to the latter as I was an intricate part of that whole process.

*The NPO name wasn't going to come around for another year or so, but our standards and practices were set in stone. Rule #1 and pretty much the only rule: No one gets paid!!!! This was bittersweet for me, because I was broke as fuck and like any designer, I wanted to get paid for my hard work. But also being my mother's son, I knew what good I could do for my community (I grew up watching my mom volunteer her time to no end, whether it was Meals on Wheels or reading to the elderly). We felt obligated by Gisele trusting us to sell No Pity scarves hand to hand that all the profits from our little merchandise operation would go straight towards tifo and community outreach, period.

Due to the limited startup capital, we were really only able to make two different shirts (the green and white TA ringer and the classic crest tee) and No Pity scarves. We had an old trailer donated to us that was painted like the Sunshine Flag; we hollowed it out and started selling from it on game days. Since the very start and to this day, I'm still amazed by how many No Pity scarves are sold, and because of them we had enough money to expand and make more shirts and more scarves. By the end of the year I had made a bunch of awesome TA punk rock shirts, been the primary designer on the "Little Beirut" scarf, and helped with the "Your Magic is Real" scarf. I was out of control making graphics for this little brand we started. So much so that it affected my shitty job and I was fired (there's also a little more to this that involved me skipping work to go to Vancouver, BC and kinda breaking the handle on the Cascadia Cup, but that's another story on someone else's blog).

This began one of the most trying times of my life (and remember I was living out of garages and dens when I first moved here with barely any cash in my pocket). Here I am getting a chance to work on a brand from the very inception, I can see all the amazing successes we're going to have in front of me, but I'm unemployed at probably one of the worst times in recent memory. I remember a particular low day where I called an old apparel company I used to work for asking if they'd be able to manufacture headwear for NPO and then riding my bike to apply for food stamps.

By the time the next season rolled around, we had started selling product online (warehoused in a deep NE garage with no heat) and we bought an old step van to sell out of. I had also began a new job delivering wine around Portland for a company based up in St. Johns. So my days consisted of riding my bike from SE Portland 8-10 miles to St. Johns, working a 10-hour day, then coming home and cranking out designs until I passed out. That season our merch operation got a name, No Pity Originals, and we opened up with a fleet of goods: hats, hoodies, tees, scarves, stickers and patches. With the name came more legitimacy, branding our products with tags and registered Timbers Army trademarks. We even started making seasonal lookbooks, which are just great to work on because they're super-spontaneous and just one day winging ideas with your friends hoping the pictures come out in focus. That was the last year of the USL Timbers and was pretty much our breakout year as far as a merch operation goes.

I'd like to say that since then everything has been peaches and cream, but not really. I got fired from the wine job for accidentally flushing a key down the toilet (I'm serious) and started another all-too-familiar stint of being unemployed. During this time and probably the entire time I was delivering wine, I was getting a lot of pressure from the close people in my life (parents, brother, girlfriend at the time) about what the fuck I was doing. Here I am, constantly unemployed or in a dead-end situation and basically working another job doing what I wanted for free. It was a lot of pressure, embarrassment, self reflection and it did look all too familiar. I'm sure my answers of "Hey, it's different this time, this Timbers Army stuff is going to be huge," stopped being believable. But it was different though, because before this I had a college portfolio of work full of a bunch of irrelevant projects that were probably never that good to begin with. Now, I had a ton of actually-made apparel with lookbooks! With my newfound free time we were really able to organize probably one of my favorite seasons of product and lookbooks.

Coming into the spring of that season I started getting staffing agencies calling me, saying they saw my updated portfolio and that there's some interest from some local apparel companies looking for designers. Since that time my life has changed a bit: I got a decent paying job, I live on my own in a normal apartment and pay all my bills on time!

It's not over though, this story keeps going for 4 years before we're at the present day (also I think I might be missing a season in there, don't drink kids!). Because No Pity Originals is a nonprofit, I've been able to keep volunteering despite my job situation! Why would I? Because I believe in the No Pity Originals ethos and my love of this community has never changed. It's the right thing to do. Since the days of just a handful of us struggling, now we have these super-talented kids that want to work with us. I get to return the favor and help them the way NPO helped me. It's a wonderful cycle to be a part of.

During which we've done seasons of awesome swag. We opened the Fanladen, which I got to help decorate. I spent a long weekend in a warehouse with an amazingly talented artist helping him put together the largest non-traced tifo display America has ever seen. Countless amounts of products designed, times figuring out how to make a better web store, arguments about whether to sell No Pity Scarves online, miles driven in the No Pity van. As tiring and frustrating as having a pro bono second job can be, there's always been a silver lining: seeing a playground built for children of all abilities, child-specific soccer pitches, high school programs getting to keep offering soccer programs to their students. It's something that I feel will always keep me grounded and humble. Every morning when I get dressed, I stare at a piece of that little trailer we used to sell out of when we could barely afford to sell anything more than a couple shirts and No Pity scarves.

This isn't just a bio piece that I'm writing. The whole reason it started was because we were looking for a story as a way of marketing ourselves (and like everything NPO does, we all pitched ideas and this was mine)...No Pity Originals is constantly being accused of being non-inclusive (elitist), bogarting all Portland soccer merchandise or just being a bunch of jerks. Maybe the latter is true but there is good reason why we only want to work with certain folks. None of it is because we're elitists. In fact, technically we are a business and businesses bring in the right people for the job and a lot of people don't make the cut. It's not personal, but we have prided ourselves since our inception in making the best designs we can. We receive so many submissions and we want to review them all and give feedback, but sometimes we just can't. I always kinda wondered if we we are some sort of outlier? Do people send other big brands unsolicited ideas and do they even look at them? Regardless, it means the world to know that people want to help and are willing to hit us up! Hearts are definitely in the right place! There is also a reason why we're protective over our intellectual property or harsh towards people selling Timbers Army related product for a personal profit. The 107ist is a nonprofit that benefits and depends on NPO product profits to help the community that we live in and our team plays in. Not only are there other and better ways to make yourself a living, but it also takes money away from our community. A community where we are trying to build handi-capable playgrounds, soccer fields located in low-income neighborhoods (and running soccer camps), after-school programs for kids that may not be able to afford a camp, or any other myriad of community projects the Timbers Army funds. It's why we wake up in the morning. It's why after an 8-hour day of staring at a computer making apparel, we head home, crack a beer and keep on making apparel or head downtown to help pack shipping. Or show up 4 hours before a match to work the NPO van to get you those No Pity scarves. It's being my mother's son and putting my community first!

We were saddened to learn that Pantelis "Pondo" Kosmas, owner of the Mad Greek Deli and ardent Timbers supporter, passed away unexpectedly of a brain hemorrhage at age 49 this past Sunday.

Pondo was a huge presence in the community and soccer was his passion, as all knew who gathered regularly to watch matches at the Mad Greek.  A soccer prodigy as a child in Beaverton, he was a devoted Timbers supporter, traveling with many of us to Columbus for the Cup match.

His friends and family have requested that donations be made in his name to the 107ist to support youth soccer programs.

Details about Pondo's prayer service and funeral can be found in today's Oregonian. There will also be boxes in Timbers colors at the cathedral for cash donations.

(Note: Donations to the 107ist are not tax-deductible)

 

If you missed out on the Timbers Army section tickets for the World Indoor Track and Field Championships there is one more opportunity to get in on some of the action! Organizers have provided us with an allotment of free opening night tickets which includes the World Pole Vault finals.

The 107ist will be in charge of distributing these tickets which you can obtain on our eventbrite page HERE.

Your event ticket will also get you 2 free beers (or other beverages) during the Fan Fest at Pioneer Courthouse Square (read below).  

DEADLINE FOR TICKETS IS SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14.

 

TIMBERS ARMY AT PIONEER COURTHOUSE SQUARE

Pioneer Courthouse Square will also host a fan festival throughout the weekend and feature the medal ceremonies as 26 track & field world champions are crowned.

107ist members and those with tickets from the Timbers Army section will have access to two free beverages during the medal ceremonies on Friday & Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon (March 18-20).

 

Tye Ortega of OPI. Photo by Karen Gjerning

Thanks to the approximately 90 members who came out to the Mission Theater for the 2016 107ist Annual General Meeting, and thanks to Todd Diskin and Jerry Makare for organizing.

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. We've got a lot to be proud of:

Infographic by Lindsey Moore

Download the 107ist 2015 infographic as a PDF

Thanks also to Chris Wilson of the Timbers Front Office for bringing the Cup by for a photo op. We were bummed we weren't able to drink delicious victory beer from it this time since it's recently been polished by Tiffany, Chris was the only one authorized to handle it and he had to wear special gloves—but just having it there brought back all those warm fuzzy feelings again.

 

Karen Gjerning with the Cup

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.

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 what each committee is looking for. Committee chairs will be getting back to applicants within the next few weeks.

• 107ist Events / Fundraising
• 107ist Partners
• 107ist Finance - QuickBooks Data Entry
• 107ist Community Outreach
• 107ist Info/ Membership Table
• 107ist Membership Committee - Database Expert
• 107ist Membership Committee - Gift Selection / General Workgroup
• 107ist/TA Communications
• TA Travel
• TA Game Day Operations
• TAFC Committee
• Riveters Design Team
• Riveters Communications
• Riveters Sales/Membership Team
• Riveters Travel
• Riveters Capos/Drums/Trumpets

 

We're pleased to announce that Nike has invited members to the company store again this year. Those who are 107ist members by 2/11 may visit the Nike Company Store once between 2/13 and 3/12. Nike does have some strict rules for who takes advantage of this pass. Please see details below before setting out on your shopping trip. You will not need your membership card to enter, but you will need your photo ID.

Access is limited to one entry during the authorized dates.

• Everyone MUST provide a photo ID (e.g., driver's license) at check-in, including your spouse, permanent partner, and/or dependent children age 15 and older.
• The member signed up must be present for eligible family members to gain access.
• Your spouse/partner must provide proof of the same address to accompany you into the store.
• Your dependent children must be:
  • 22 or younger with the same address
  • 24 or younger with a valid college ID
• Please do not wear any competitor brands into the Nike Company Store.
• Merchandise may not be purchased for reimbursement/resale.
• Select merchandise may be available to employees only.
• No exceptions will be made to these rules.

ADDRESS:  Nike Company Store | 3485 SW Knowlton Rd., Beaverton, OR 97005
Phone: (503) 671-1601

STORE HOURS:  10am – 7pm (Monday – Saturday), 10am – 5pm (Sunday)

NOTICE TO ALL STUDENT ATHLETES: National Collegiate Athletic Association rules strictly prohibit student athletes from receiving special arrangements or “extra benefits” based upon athletic ability. Shopping at the Nike Company Store is considered by the NCAA to be an “extra benefit,” which may lead to the ineligibility of a student-athlete.

We're happy to announce you can now purchase tickets for the first few matches through our website! If you're going to San Jose, Los Angeles, Orlando, or New England, tickets for these matches have been placed on sale here: ta-tickets/away-tickets-travel/away-tickets

You'll want to buy early if you know you're going! Tickets are limited to the capacity of the section we've been allotted, which varies by stadium.

Unlike previous seasons, we won't be putting every single non-Cascadia game up for sale at the start of the year as we continue to explore options to improve away travel ticketing. Keep a lookout here, on Facebook, or on Twitter if the game you plan to attend isn't available for purchase yet.

As always, our Timbers Army tickets are purchased in the visiting supporter section. You will receive your match ticket from the TA shortly before the match, and the entire section is treated like a Timbers Army section (standing, drums and flags where allowed, et cetera).