Portland
On Saturday, May 23rd, six Third Actors from Portland and Corvallis stationed themselves in front of Providence Park Stadium with signs asking the Portland Timbers to kick Bank of America out of Providence Park.
For over an hour, we held up our signs and handed out fliers informing fans about Bank of America’s role in financing fossil fuel development (along with its promise to pay off victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operations to settle a class action lawsuit accusing the bank of facilitating Epstein’s operations).
All the fans we spoke to seemed receptive to our message that the Timbers owners should end its sponsorship agreement with Bank of America. TAO Portland and Corvallis members also showed up at Providence Park Stadium again on June 21, to protest.
In May, Portland Metro TAO members wrote and sent 500 Environmental Voter Project postcards to New York voters advance of their June 23 primary election. From June through September we are meeting weekly to write postcards, alternating SW and NE locations, with the expectation of completing 500 postcards each month.
In June, we are writing Progressive Turnout Project postcards to Ohio registered democrat voters (postcards will be mailed in October), with a reminder to vote in the November 3 midterm election. In July, Activate America postcards will be sent to North Carolina voters, to encourage them to support and vote for Roy Cooper for the Senate.
There will not be a Portland Metro Gathering in July 2026.
Stay tuned for information about the Portland Metro Gathering in August!
On June 22, TAO tabled and members participated in a Climate Town Hall with Maxine Dexter, Congressional Representative from Oregon’s District 3. Rep Dexter spoke for 15 minutes, then answered questions relating to local and national climate issues. The event was well-attended, and the audience, constituents of Rep. Dexter as well as representatives of a number of Oregon’s climate action organizations, was enthusiastic, especially about Rep. Dexter’s final message: Encourage young people to vote.
Eugene
Several Third Act Eugene members continued the tradition of marking May 1 as May Day/International Workers Day at a large rally in downtown Eugene. They joined hundreds of others in honoring workers everywhere, but also contributions that immigrants have made to this country for hundreds of years. Calls were heard for protecting immigrant communities and respecting the contributions of all individuals. One of our partner organizations, 350Eugene, was kind enough to share a photo from the day of one of their signs created by their immensely talented artist members, “Connect, Respect, Protect,” a sentiment worthy not just for May Day but for every day.
Two members, Barb and Kurt, informed the group they had secured a grant to purchase a plug-in solar demonstration unit for future tabling events. Third Act Eugene didn’t want to be bested by our Corvallis sister group, which had received a similar grant, so took their lead in enhancing our tabling game. Having this demonstration unit should really make it clear to people stopping by the table that plug-in solar is the way to go for generating energy for oneself. Hopefully, this leads to Oregonians pushing state legislators to approve a bill making these solar panels legal in the state.
At the monthly meeting in May, our guest speaker for the month was the President of 350Eugene, Patty Hine. Patty described the various working groups that make up 350Eugene, underscoring how effective the organization is on pushing climate solutions towards success.
At the May meeting we also celebrated one of the group’s founders, Sandi’s, birthday with a favorite of hers (and others) chocolate cake.
Third Act Eugene will be back at writing postcards in June to likely voters in various states prior to the November mid-terms. We’re hoping for donations of postcard stamps before a price increase takes effect on July 1.
The work continues until the goals are met.
Corvallis
The City of Corvallis has awarded Third Act Corvallis a $550 Green Grant to educate people about plug-in solar. We will develop a set of educational materials including demonstration equipment, diagrammatic and informational posters, flyers and videos that can be presented at schools and community events.
Corvallis is busy writing postcards each month and in May we mailed 525 postcards to swing states! In July we will start writing postcards for Joanna Robinson, a local Linn County Democrat challenging a long-held Republican seat.
On Saturday, May 23, six Third Actors from Portland and Corvallis stationed ourselves in front of Providence Park with signs asking the Portland Timbers to kick Bank of America out of Providence Park. For over an hour, we held up our signs, talked to folks and handed out fliers informing fans about Bank of America’s role in financing fossil fuel development (along with its promise to pay off victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operations to settle a class action lawsuit accusing the bank of facilitating Epstein’s operations). All the fans we spoke to seemed receptive to our message that the Timbers owners should end its sponsorship agreement with Bank of America.
On June 21 at least nine cities will participate in a sportswashing protest in their cities for the World Cup, including at least one city in Canada. On that day, Third Actors and partners will go to Providence Park Stadium at 1:30 PM and stand for an hour with signs asking the Portland Timbers to drop Bank of America as a sponsor.
On June 8 Corvallis hosted an OCERA listening event at our monthly meeting. We were able to capture local comments on our experience with environmental damage and impacts to share with the OCERA team.
Corvallis Third Act supported a Benton County Indivisible hosting of the national event on June 14, in Avery Park to celebrate our freedoms and community connections.
Finally, we are starting a new practice. All are invited to meet after the meeting at Mexico del Sol for dinner, after each meeting.
We’ve also invited our membership to join a book group that will be meeting once a month. Our first book is Let This Radicalize You by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba.