In your neighborhood, March 31

Hazel Dell, Felida & Salmon Creek

Pleasant Highlands: How’s this for ongoing mental-agility maintenance? William “Bill” and Adele Brown have played one pre-dinner game of Scrabble nearly every day since Aug. 21, 2005. The Browns decided to play to keep their brains active, hopefully to prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s from setting in later in life. Bill has been keeping track of who wins and loses in a computer spreadsheet. He says there have been a few nights when the duo missed a game or forgot to record it, but on March 14, the couple completed 1,000 recorded games. Through the years, Bill has 558 game wins and a tallied 335,995 points. Adelle won 442 games and has recorded 122,119 points.

Orchards, Sifton & Brush Prairie

Brush Prairie: Margot Hodges-Tinner was acknowledged by the American Quarter Horse Association for logging 250 hours riding an American quarter horse with a $25 gift card from Drysdales Western Store. The spoils of 750 hours on an American quarter horse: a horseback riding denim jacket and a sore tush.

Truman: Early April will see the development of 5 acres out of 12 at Bosco Farm Neighborhood Park, which is east of Northeast St. Johns Road between 39th Street and Petticoat Lane. The project will focus on the east side of the property, leaving most of the park acreage undisturbed. Paved and soft-surface walking trails, a playground, picnic tables, irrigated open lawn play area, benches and landscaping are all going in. The park was named for the family farm that operated on this site for about 100 years. To learn more, visit http://www.clarkparks.org/projects/bosco.htm. Work may be seven days per week and is expected to finish up in the fall. The contractor is Larry O. Collins.

West Vancouver & Downtown

Esther Short: Potatoes don’t grow in trees — or do they? Nancy Noble found a heart-shaped spud in the branches of a tree outside 204 W. Fifth St. on March 24. “I don’t know who put it there or why,” she said. Noble was on her way back to work from the Plaid Pantry when she made the strange find. “Maybe there’s a bomb in there or something,” she joked. Don’t worry folks, there haven’t been any explosions, and Nancy said she wouldn’t be eating the potato, considering she found it on the side of the street.

Esther Short: Kelsey Wright, 12, has suffered from Type I Diabetes since she was 7. She handles her own insulin injections and understands the challenges diabetes presents. On National Diabetes Alert Day, March 23, Kelsey shared her story with 80 people and police officers at the Vancouver City Council Chambers. Kelsey spoke to raise awareness of the disease to help prevent it since one in five Americans at risk of Type II Diabetes. Type II is often diagnosed later in life and is associated with people who are overweight and not physically active. If someone is at high risk of becoming diabetic they can hold the disease off by loosing as little as 10 percent of their body weight, increasing their physical activity (even slightly) and eating healthier portions and types of food, said Sally Spaid Norby, executive director of American Diabetes Association Oregon. She said there are around 11,000 people in Vancouver living with the disease.

Central Vancouver, Minnehaha & The Heights

Meadow Homes: Jennifer Baker is one of six recent graduates from Guide Dogs of the Desert. Baker, who is blind from Optic Atrophy, spent 28 days at the training facility outside of Palm Springs, Calif., and was accompanied by her yellow Labrador retriever, Mary.

Central Park: Sometimes spaghetti bridges and marshmallow catapults can be so much more than an interesting snack. The food-based architecture served as an inspiration and exercise in science for a little more than 100 students from local middle and high schools on March 20. The students flocked to Clark College to participate in the Southwest Washington Math, Engineering and Science Achievement Day. The students spent the last few months working in teams of two to four on devices that harness wind power and use it to complete various tasks. A team from Mountain View took first place in the high school competition and a team from Jason Lee Middle School placed first place for middle school.

Rose Village: The closed-up building that housed a Smokey’s Pizza restaurant for years — at 2905 St. Johns Blvd. — is on its way to opening with differently delicious fare, according to the Rose Village Neighborhood Association newsletter. Pig Heaven BBQ, now located on Minnehaha Street, will move down the road to the St. Johns location and open up in April, “offering an expanded menu and slow wood-smoked BBQ with everything made from scratch,” the newsletter says.

Vancouver Heights: Here’s a passing glimpse of the local past: Can you picture a time when there were no homes south of St. Helens Avenue? The most recent neighborhood newsletter noted the passing of Frieda Pierce, who lived on the corner of Columbia Ridge and St. Helens from 1947 until her death in February of this year. According to Frieda’s daughter, also a Heights resident, there was nothing south of St. Helens when the Pierces bought their home in 1947. “She will be missed by neighbors and friends,” the newsletter says.

Fircrest: Some famous Fircresters were honored with new trees on March 20, when a Friends of Trees volunteer planting blanketed much of central Vancouver with 59 trees. One tree was planted in honor of Harley Hall, who led the Blue Angels and was the last pilot to be shot down in Vietnam. Another was planted for Ralph Peabody, a longstanding Fircrest organizer. And another was planted in honor of “Dr. and Mrs. Jones, longtime residents of Fircrest and huge supporters” of the neighborhood association, according to the Fircrest newsletter. The Fircrest Neighborhood Association bought 10 trees, with eight more donated by Friends of Trees, a Portland nonprofit, to be planted later.

East Vancouver, Cascade Park, Fisher’s Landing & Evergreen

Cascade Park: Craig Bowen and Esther Diez, owners of The GiftTree, were honored March 18 by the Cascade Park Kiwanis Club for their many altruistic contributions to the club’s service projects. Several members of the club gave special thanks for the couple’s support and generosity to the Kiwanis Club’s fundraising efforts for Doernbecher children’s golf tournament, Martha’s Pantry, Christmas baskets, the Key Club, Walk and Knock and other programs.

Fisher-Mill Plain: Avinash Naidu, a second-grader from Harmony Elementary School, earned a spot on Kumon’s Advanced Student Honor Roll list in math and reading. Kumon is a learning method that uses an individualized approach to help children develop a solid command of math and reading skills. The Kumon after-school math and reading program has 26,000 centers in 46 countries and more than four million students studying worldwide. Kumon “keeps me ahead of my class and makes me smarter,” Naidu said in a release. “I’m better at both math and reading now, and sometimes my friends even ask me to help them.”

Fisher-Mill Plain: Five out of Vandervort Neighborhood Park’s 8 acres are set to see development start in April. The project will focus on the north side of the property, leaving 3 acres undisturbed. It will feature a loop trail, playground, basketball half court, irrigated open lawn play area, picnic tables, benches and landscaping. The park was named for the family who owned and raised horses on the property before selling it to the county. To learn more, go to http://www.clarkparks.org/projects/vandervort.htm. Development may be seven days a week and is expected to finish up in the fall. Larry O. Collins is the contractor.

East Clark County: Camas & Washougal

Camas: More than 500 Clark County residents showed up March 20 for a 5k run and community fair to promote healthy living and prevent substance abuse. The 5k route started at Skyridge Middle School, wound through Lacamas Shores and ended back at Skyridge. Several community groups performed at the fair including: Vega Gymnastics, East West Martial Arts and the middle school band Changing Tide.