Author: Robert Sylvain

Levitt Foundation Funds New Festival

On By Robert SylvainIn Uncategorized

Coming August 1st 2026 to the Bayside Trail:

2026 BPM Drum Festival

The Bayside Neighborhood Association presents the first inaugural BPM Drum Festival on the Bayside Trail this summer thanks for a generous grant from the Levitt Family Foundation which leverages the power of free, live music to strengthen the social fabric of communities, creating places people love while amplifying local pride, activating underused public spaces and fostering more healthy, equitable, and thriving communities one city, and one concert, at a time. A perfect fit for Bayside!

Drummers from the Penobscot nation graced our beloved Bayside Trail at the tree-hugging event

We believe that the BPM Drum Festival is the first EVER to synchronize the beats of several groups performing simultaneously. The impetus of the idea, however, came from another unique local festival called Vigorous Tenderness which features avant-garde chamber music in plein air. Both festivals invite the audience to move freely along a route from one sonic space to another, sometimes blending performers’ work, as well as the surrounding sonic environment. The idea for using drums came naturally from the plethora of ethnic drum groups in our culturally diverse neighborhood, as well as a wildly successful tree-hugging event we staged on the Bayside Trail featuring a local
Penobscot tribal drum group.

West African drum master Namory Keita and friends at the Bayside Block Party in 2025

Bayside is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the State of Maine. Long neglected and red-lined by cynical city policies, it is now the subject of intense land speculation. Meanwhile the vacant lots and unkept promises can make it
hard for residents and visitors to enjoy our few greenspaces. The Bayside Trail was designed to connect the neighborhood and create positive change, and the Bayside Neighborhood Association is committed to making that promise a reality. The BPM Drum Festival is our chance to do just that, and celebrate our shared hope for the future.

working logo — looking for an artist to donate a better one— is that you?

This will be the first inaugural year for the BPM Drum Fest. Many block parties, fairs and community events over the last 25 years have brought us to this moment. We also have strong partners at the City Office of Sustainability,
Portland Downtown, Creative Portland and other community organizations who have helped us in the past. We’ve reached out to several drum groups who are excited to participate, including the Keepers of the Penobscot Drum, Taiko Maine, Namory Keita, and others. We’re looking for volunteers, fiscal sponsors, and other collaborative partners to help make this dream a reality. Can you help? Contact eventsteam@baysideportland.org

Bayside Welcomes NBT Bank

On By Robert SylvainIn Uncategorized

NBT Bank Opens a Branch in Bayside — and Invests in the Neighborhood.

On March 10th, NBT welcomed neighbors and community members to their new location at 191 Marginal Way for a ribbon cutting and branch tour, before continuing the celebration at Rising Tide Brewery. It was a warm, well-attended afternoon — and a nice way to mark the occasion.

We want to say a genuine thank you to NBT Bank for their $2,500 donation to the Bayside Neighborhood Association, made in conjunction with the opening of their new Bayside branch this month.

NBT’s decision to expand to Bayside is something we don’t take for granted. It reflects a belief in this neighborhood — in its residents, its businesses, and its future. And their contribution to the BNA shows that their interest in Bayside goes beyond opening a branch. They want to be part of the community.

That matters to us. The BNA exists to support and strengthen Bayside, and having partners who share that commitment makes that work more possible.

We’re glad NBT is here, and we look forward to what we can do together.

Bayside Garden Gets Updated Beds

On By Robert SylvainIn Garden

This fall, the Bayside Community Garden welcomed a group of Baxter Academy students for a hands-on volunteer workday focused on replacing aging garden bed sideboards. Working alongside garden volunteers and members of the Bayside Neighborhood Association, the students helped improve the garden’s infrastructure while learning about community care, collaboration, and stewardship of shared green spaces.

This project was made possible by a micro-grant from the City of Portland’s Office of Sustainability through its Sustainable Neighborhoods Mini-Grant program, with support from Sustainability Associate Karly Meyer. Funding from this program helped cover materials for the garden bed repairs, demonstrating how small, targeted investments can create lasting benefits for neighborhoods and the people who care for them.

Welcome our new Safe Streets Team Lead

On By Robert SylvainIn Safe Streets1 Comment

Thanks to John Van Hoewyk for stepping up to the lead role in the BNA’s Safe Streets Team. John is a longtime Bayside resident and supporter of the Bayside Neighborhood Association.

John will be facilitating an exploratory meeting along with Jennifer Rogers of Midtown Community Policing and other neighborhood leaders to reconvene the team next week. Please contact safestreets@baysideportland.org if you’d like to join us. Details below.

Wednesday, January 14th, 1pm

in the Steve Hirshon Community Room at Unity Village, 24 Stone Street Portland

Everyone is welcome to attend and encouraged to speak their mind. We want to hear your struggles, your ideas, and your hopes for the future of Bayside. For more information reach out to safestreets@baysideportland.org

Here’s a news spot about the formation of the team last year:

Here’s a report put together for the original safe streets team by Deborah Van Hoewyk:

Engaging BaysideDownload

Neighborhood Meeting Dec 1st

On By Robert SylvainIn Events Team, Relevant Developments, Safe Streets, Uncategorized

The Harvard Kennedy School of Government is calling all Baysiders to participate in a forum to discuss the impacts of climate change and attendant severe weather events in our community. We want to hear from you, and hope you’ll take time to gather with your neighbors to share our thoughts, concerns, and ideas on how to move forward together.

Please share and post this flyer widely. Here are translated flyers for speakers of other languages:

“Join us for an interactive, in-person community engagement session focused on stormwater, flooding, and climate impacts in Bayside. Over about 90 minutes, residents will work together around a large neighborhood map to identify valued community features, share past experiences with flooding using simple color markers and optional notes, and highlight what kinds of resources or support they have used, or might need, in future events. It’s an opportunity for residents to share their own experiences and contribute to supporting the future of Bayside.”

PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT:

November Board Meeting

On By Robert SylvainIn Governance, Uncategorized

The November BNA board meeting was moved to November 11th to make room for election day. Monthly meetings are held online on odd-numbered months, and as always the public is welcome to attend. Email info@baysideportland.org for a link to the zoom meeting. Below is the agenda, team reports, and minutes from the October meeting.

2025_011_04 BNA AgendaDownload
BNA Team Reports 2025_11_04Download
BNA_Minutes_2025-10-7Download

Remembering Deb Van Hoewyk

On By Robert SylvainIn Garden, Governance, Uncategorized, Welcome Team

The Bayside community is reeling from the loss of our longtime friend, mentor, guiding light, and superhero Deborah Van Hoewyk. Deb was a powerhouse member of the BNA board of directors for over a decade and was instrumental in creating programs like the Bayside World Market & Fair, Black Frame Art Sale, summer lunches at Unity Village, funding and operating the community garden, ESOL at the Immigrant Welcome center, and so much more. While nothing will replace her wisdom and power, she helped forge a community organization that fosters and empowers new leaders, and we’re committed to continuing the work she started.

Here is a repost of Deb’s obituary and memorial arrangements on funeralalternatives.net

“Deborah Van Hoewyk of Portland and West Bath, Maine, passed away on August 28, 2025, following a brief illness. 

Deborah was born in Barrington, Rhode Island, the daughter of Schuyler S. Sampson and Alice Mansur Sampson. Deborah moved to Cumberland, Maine, with her parents and brother as a young child and attended the Cumberland School system and graduated from The Waynflete School in Portland.  She attended Wellesley College and Columbia University for her undergraduate studies and earned a Masters in English from the City University of New York. 

Deborah lived in New York City for several years working as a writer and educator. It was here that she undertook the first of what would become a lifelong passion: home renovation. For a time, she lived on a barge in the Hudson River and later a houseboat in the Bronx.

Deborah moved to Michigan and with her husband, John Van Hoewyk, purchased a farm, and raised sheep, pigs, goats and an assortment of cats and dogs. At the same time, she was a lecturer in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, teaching technical communications. She retired in 2010.

After retiring, she returned to Maine with her husband living in Portland. In the winter months they resided in Huatulco, Mexico. Later they spent summers in West Bath, Maine. As expected, all their homes just needed a “little” work, which Deborah happily took on. 

Deborah had a remarkable ability to build community wherever she lived. In Mexico she volunteered for a local spay/neuter project, helped organize a major annual fund raiser supporting rural schools, and wrote and edited articles for The Eye, a local English language monthly.  She loved Mexico and used her writing skills to bring the history and culture of Mexico to the English language community. Though a fluent speaker she never stopped taking Spanish lessons.

In Maine, she was a board member of the Western Maine Wellesley Club and The Bayside Neighborhood Association. She used her experience as a grant writer to support several local non-profits. At the time of her death, Deborah and several Bayside residents  were developing plans for a community center that would serve, among others, the Portland immigrant community. She was also the unofficial organizer of her high school graduating classes’ monthly meet ups.

She was a strong supporter of Charlie’s Friends Dog Rescue in Woolwich, Maine. Deborah and John fostered many wonderful dogs awaiting their forever homes.

Deborah was preceded in death by her parents and brother-in-law, Jeffrey Armstrong. 

She is survived by her husband of 39 years, John Van Hoewyk, her brother Schuyler S. Sampson, Jr., (Patricia), her sisters Patience Sampson (Robert) and Priscilla Armstrong and her many nieces for whom she had such fondness, Sharon, Samantha, Caroline, Juanita, Janetta, Katherine, Tabor and Schuyler as well as many great nieces and nephews.

Deborah’s family would like to thank the staff at Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick for their compassionate care during her stay. 

An outdoor celebration of her life will be held on Saturday October 18, 2025, from 2-4 PM at 359 Fosters Point Road, West Bath ME.  Online condolence messages can be submitted at Funeral Alternatives, 46 Bath Road, Brunswick, ME 04011. (https://www.funeralalternatives.net/)

Please consider making a memorial donation to Rescue Charlie’s Friends Dog Rescue, 90 Road B, Woolwich, ME 04579 (https://rescuecharliesfriends.org/)“

Tree Hugging Event Success!

On By Robert SylvainIn Events Team, Trees & Greens

Reposted from Portland Protectors:

“A powerful event took place in Portland today. Portland Maine Parks, Recreation & Facilities Department and the Burnurwurbskek Singers of the Penobscot Nation in conjunction with the Bayside Neighborhood Association held a blessing of the sapling forest on the Bayside Trail (part of Portland Trails) along with an immersive forest bathing walk. The Burnurwurbskek Singers, including three generations of drum leader Ron Bear’s family, performed a series of sacred songs, each a prayer. The drumming drew in visitors to the often lonely trail, while others stood behind Trader Joe’s chain link fence listening. The music also drew something surprising and unusual which none present had ever seen soaring over Bayside: A bald eagle. Ron Bear wasn’t surprised, however, saying eagles show up when the group performs. The drumming and singing were followed by a Shinrin-Yoku Forest Bathing experience led by Portland’s Supervising Park Ranger Elizabeth Collado. This event culminated with a tea ceremony using white pine tea. As Ranger Liz reminded the group, the Eastern white pine is the Maine state tree and the Tree of Peace of the Haudenosaunee nations. Those assembled breathed in the here and now and envisioned the area when the young trees are mature and casting shade across a parkway surrounded by hundreds of new apartments. Parks and trees are essential to current and future residents of Portland. Today this baby urban forest was hugged and blessed. We look forward to watching it grow.”

Call for Artists!

On By Robert SylvainIn Arts & Music

Bayside is Painting Outside the Box!

Kerrin Parkinson with her utility box painting on the corner of Pearl and Cumberland Streets. 2021

The Bayside Neighborhood Association is partnering with Portland Downtown on a project to repaint utility boxes in the neighborhood with designs by local artists. A panel of judges, including a prominent gallery director from Bayside will decide what designs are approved and funded. At least one utility box in the Bayside neighborhood has been identified for repainting by the program. The deadline for submissions is September 3rd. Go to the Portland Downtown website for more information and to submit a proposal for consideration.

Also…

If you are an artist living or working in Bayside, the Bayside Neighborhood Association wants to hear from you! We have lots of programs and opportunities for artists in the works. In addition to the Painting Outside the Box program, we have a mandate to create a sculpture of some kind from the trunk of a huge oak tree that was recently felled on Oxford Street to make way for the 89 Elm Street housing project by Reveler. The raw piece of material will be on display with more information at the Bayside Trail Tree Hugging Event on September 13th. Also The BNA is planning to reboot our popular Black Frame Art Sale and is looking for artists to participate. Reach out for more information and join us!

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Thank you for your response. ✨

and…
Here’s another opportunity for artists in Bayside from our friends at Maine Clay Collaborative: https://www.maineclay.org/consign
#MaineClay