Banks Post Weekly Newsletter | June 7, 2025
Volume 1, issue #5
Good afternoon Banks Post readers! This newsletter contains this week’s news, and an important notice about some weather patterns coming this weekend. Please take care of your loved ones, especially those who are elderly or need help with their day-to-day activities.
This week’s newsletter has:
-Details about free fishing weekend
-The Gales Creek Strawberry Festival is back, has several Banks-area vendors and businesses and the big new feature: giant chess!
-A reminder about wildfire evacuation levels. Please read this, and familiarize yourself. I personally witnessed people evacuating from the Lee Falls Fire in Cherry Grove. Manning residents were under evacuation levels in recent years It’s just a matter of time before residents in and around Banks need to evacuate because of a wildfire. It would behoove you to know the terminology that officials will use next time there’s a wildfire in the area.
– The city would like you to stop leaving your dog’s poop in city parks. I even included links to a guide on picking up after your pet’s poop. You’re welcome.
– At the very bottom of this email, there’s a new section called “around town.” It’s for little bits and blurbs that I either ran out of time to turn into a full story or are just smaller pieces that don’t really make sense as a full story. We’ve got: a brief statement from a winning candidate that was too late for an earlier story, a message from the mayor, and more.
P.S. The events calendar will return next week.
-Chas Hundley, editor.
On to the news!
Free fishing weekend is back June 7 and 8
Fishing, crabbing, clamming are free this weekend, and a free Hagg Lake—freshly stocked with trophy-size trout—event will present an opportunity to learn how to fish.
Gales Creek Strawberry Festival returns for 55th year Saturday, June 14
What’s this?! Gales Creek news in Banks? Never fear – there are several Banks-based crafters and small businesses expected to be present at this year’s shindig, including the editor of the Banks Post, who will be assisting with the info station, roving around to take photos, and serving shortcake for three hours as a volunteer. If you too would like to volunteer, please contact 503-332-7675 by text or call.
The Gales Creek Strawberry Festival is back for its 55th year—featuring strawberries, live music, 50+ vendors, and new this year, a giant chess set. Several Banks-area small businesses, crafters and…
Heat wave expected starting Sunday
With temperatures expected to reach between 92 and 96 degrees throughout the region starting Sunday, the Portland office of the National Weather Service is urging local residents to prepare for…
Brush up on wildfire evacuation levels now
Manning residents in 2023. Cherry Grove residents in 2024. Areas less than two miles from Gales Creek in 2022. Evacuations in recent years due to wildfires have become more commonplace…
‘Please pick up’ your pet poop in parks, city pleads
If your dog poops in a public place and you don’t pick it up, you could be on the hook for a $1,000 fine.
ODF crews sent to Alberta, three states to fight wildfires
The Oregon Department of Forestry deployed 22 firefighters Friday to Canada and three states in what the agency said would be their “last big out-of-state resource push” until rains return…
1925 in Banks: Farmers reseed after a damaging rainstorm
A Banks wedding, an account of a damaging cloudburst, and a forecast for a bumper strawberry crop from 1925 in Banks.
Around town
Things that didn’t quite make a full story
Community concert at UMC
Everybody’s Hometown Band will perform a selection of film scores at a free community concert at the Banks United Methodist Church Sunday, June 8 at 2 p.m. Themes from James Bond, Back to the Future, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pixar films, and more will be played.
Following the concert, strawberry shortcake and other refreshments will be served. The Banks United Methodist Church is located at 42451 NW Depot Street.
Corissa Mazurkiewicz on her school board
victory
Following the May 20 special district election, several winning candidates spoke with the Banks Post on their victories. One was too late for print and the prior story and is included here now.
“I am honored to be able to serve our community again on the Banks School Board,” said Banks School Board member Corissa Mazurkiewicz in an email to the Banks Post.
Mazurkiewicz was elected to another term on the board with more than 96.3% of the vote in her uncontested race.
“I am incredibly grateful for all the community support I receive, and I look forward to continuing to serve our children, our community, and the district to the best of my ability. Thank you!”
Find Forest Grove news at newsinthegrove.com.
While our sister paper the Gales Creek Journal covers some Forest Grove news, especially school district and occasional Forest Grove Fire & Rescue news owing to the Gales Creek area being in the school district and FGF&R serving Gales Creek’s Forest Grove Rural Fire Protection District, we haven’t added the city to our coverage territory.
However, I am in the process of launching a newspaper in Forest Grove called News in the Grove. It is my intent to return the entirety of far western Washington County to being robustly covered by a responsible journalism outfit that is locally owned, actually shows up to cover community events and local government, and is written by people (real humans, not AI slop) with a keen understanding of the area. News in the Grove will cover the city of Forest Grove, and the rural communities of Dilley, Verboort, and the portions of the Hagg Lake area within the Forest Grove School District.
I know we have quite a few Forest Grove readers here, so I wanted to make sure you had the opportunity to join us at this early stage. Subscriptions are currently free, with an optional paid subscription.
Much like in our sister publication the Gales Creek Journal, there will be some inter-paper stories; for example, we published a story this week about Free Fishing Weekend. That story appeared on all three websites (bankspost.com, galescreekjournal.com, and newsinthegrove.com) and our print newspaper that combines the Banks Post & Gales Creek Journal.
News in the Grove will not be joining our print publication at this time.
Thank you for reading, and stay safe this weekend! – Chas Hundley
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
