Pride Day May 18, 2013

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Just a quick reminder to set aside a few hours on Saturday, May 18, to participate in our Pride Day event at Garden Street Park, located off of Allen, between Melvyn and Barbara, in the Westway Gardens community. More than just a reminder, we desperately need a lot of help with this neglected community park.

Some of the plants that we are asking our Investors for, for this clean-up, are ‘no maintenance’ perennials, specifically, clumps of day lilies, (Stella D’Oro would be really nice!), clumps of daffodils, Hostas, and some clumps of forsythia. If you need some help getting these clumps split out of your garden or yard we can arrange that or to pick them up. If you can deliver these and help us plant them on the 18th, all the better! We really need to go ‘no maintenance’ at this park.

We know that this is a busy weekend for everyone, but we trust that you will be willing to volunteer a little bit of your day to make a bunch of children a lot safer during their play time. Please bring wheel barrows, shovels, rakes, gloves and personal protective gear, pruning shears or saws, hoes, and lots of community spirit. Because this is such a major clean-up, we need to know how many are coming (weather permitting!) so we can better plan to distribute the work more efficiently. Please drop us a note or RSVP on Facebook if you can or cannot make it.

Some more information on the park itself…no water, no johns, no parking lot, no picnic tables and no electricity…just a basketball court, a small shelter pavilion with two grills, playground equipment, and lots of open space! Parking will be on the street, unless it dries out by the 18th, but even then, there are ruts and holes hidden in the deep grass!

IE Introduces an ‘easy button’ for ANYTHING government related

Does BIG government give you a headache when you are trying to find information? Gives us one, too!

So, we went looking for some solutions and found a fabulous resource for anything relating to government! USA.gov.

While the following list (extracted from their site) is just a partial example of the kinds of information available, check it out, challenge it, and learn from it!

Click–> EASY BUTTON

Jobs and Education
Family, Home, and Community
Public Safety and Law
Health and Nutrition
Travel and Recreation
Money and Taxes
Environment, Energy, and Agriculture
Benefits and Grants
Defense and International
Consumer Protection
Consumer Publications
Reference and General Government
History, Arts, and Culture
Voting and Elections
Science and Technology
Business and Nonprofits
Government Sales and Auctions
Public Service and Volunteerism
Government Performance

Got Drugs? Outdated Prescription Drug Turn In Program

Outdated Prescription Drug Turn In Program

The Lorain County Sheriff’s Office Drug Task Force and other county participating departments will be holding prescription drug and medications TURN-IN-DAY at the locations listed below on Saturday, April 27th, 2013, from 9:00am to 3:00pm.

This is an excellent opportunity for you to dispose of outdated prescription drugs or medications you no longer need. This program helps keep medication out of the water supply and away from unintended users.

No personal information will be asked. Please remove all prescription labels.

Medications will be kept by law enforcement officers until they are disposed of.

Collection Locations:

Amherst Police Dept. – 911 North Lake St.

Avon Police Dept. – 36145 Detroit Rd.

Avon Lake Police Dept. – 32855 Walker Rd.

Columbia Township Fire Dept. – 25540 Royalton Rd.

Elyria Police Dept. – 18 West Ave.

Grafton Police Dept. – 1009 Chestnut St.

LaGrange Police Dept. – 355 South Center St.

Lorain County Sheriff’s Office – 9896 Murray Ridge Rd.

Lorain Lakeview Park Beach House – West Erie Ave.

North Ridgeville Police Dept. – 7307 Avon Beldon Rd.

Oberlin Police Dept. – 85 South Main St.

Sheffield Lake Police Dept. – 609 Harris Rd.

Sheffield Village Police Dept. – 4340 Colorado Ave.

Vermilion Police Dept. – 5791 Liberty Ave.

Wellington Police Dept., 117 Willard Memorial Sqr.

Kipton Village Hall – 299 State Rd.

Friendship Animal Protective League- April 27, Volunteer Project

Here is a brief ‘heads-up’ on the FAPL project on the 27th of April. The projects we are doing include two inside the APL building and three outside in the yard. The outside jobs are a great opportunity to work off some of that extra winter weight by putting those shovels and rakes to good use on these:

1) The outside exercise pens have developed gaps under them that need to be filled back in so that no more pets escape!
2) A small weedy tree that has sprouted in the chain-link fence needs to be removed.
3) Several small ‘sink-holes’ need to be located, filled and tamped. (real ankle-twisters!)

Wheel barrow handlers are especially welcome! (bring your own wheel barrow, shovel, rake and gloves if you have them!)

4) The inside job (No, it does not involve bank-heists!) will be to paint the new Kitten Room so that it will be all spiffy for occupancy! Bring your step-ladder, brush, paint roller, expertise, etc…we have the paint!

5) We will be completing a heavy-duty shelf construction project inside two separate rooms. If you are handy with an electric drill motor, pilot bits, three-inch construction screws, and understand basic carpentry instructions for plywood and two-by-fours then this is right up your alley! There may be some electric saw work going on as well!

If you are able to volunteer some time on the 27th to benefit the animals we would love to help you help us!

That address is 8303 Murray Ridge, just a couple of blocks south of Lowell Street.

Open Invitation for a SMALL spruce-up project

Driving towards Rt113 on Lake Avenue, we couldn’t help but notice one section in particular that was drowning in trash and weeds at Bell and Lake Avenues.  In checking on that spot we found out that a block watch group had been doing the upkeep on the planters that are on the curb lawn, but they have been unable to keep up with it for some time.

Invest Elyria stepped up to the plate and decided that this would be one of those good old-fashioned community service projects that could be done at any time, a little at a time, by any one, and NOT require a full blown mob to make it happen.  In addition to all the litter and trash that has accumulated all over the place, the planter beds have become choked with weeds and debris.

We are posting some photos of that location to help you decide whether you are able to pitch in and make a difference in your community.  Stay tuned!

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Food For Thought…Why Not Here!

“Cities are back, downtowns are back, and the places that we call anchor districts are leveraging growth in cities.”
~Chris Ronayne, President of University Circle Inc.

The accompanying article from HiVelocityMedia is just one of many that address urban development and revitalization, and may be just the inspiration that could move Elyria into the forefront of ‘anchor districts’.

http://www.hivelocitymedia.com/features/anchordistricts031413.aspx

IE Schedules Cleanups for City Parks

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Successful park cleanup initiatives last year have led us to begin scheduling this season’s efforts at creating cleaner, safer playgrounds in conjunction with the City Parks and Recreation Department and with the support of some of our local businesses. Cleanup efforts typically run from 10AM until 2PM with lunchtime Pizza provided by Sambino’s. Participants are asked to bring their own shovels, rakes, hoes, wheel barrows, gloves, and safety equipment (especially sunscreen and insect repellant). There may be enough tools to share if you do not have your own.

What does a park cleanup actually accomplish?
We provide opportunities to participate in a community-building exercise bringing citizens together for the greater benefit of those who use the parks for relaxation and recreation. We have provided volunteer labor for cleaning trash and litter from the parks, erasing graffiti, moving and spreading mulch, gravel, top soil, planting perennials, weeding playgrounds, identifying dangerous or broken playground equipment, painting sign posts, fireplugs, and basketball backboards, edging overgrown sidewalks and curbing, trimming overgrown shrubbery and removing eyesore collections of debris from fence lines, anything helping to create instant beautification for all to enjoy. We give families, and business owners, something that can be done together to make improvements within their community thereby creating pride in their accomplishments.

Garden Park, an acre-PLUS located between Melvyn and Barbara just off of Garden Street, with basketball court, picnic shelter and playground equipment has been scheduled for Pride Day, Saturday, May 18th.

Washington Village Park, a one acre playground at the corner of Monticello and Valley Forge Circles with basketball court and playground equipment has been scheduled for Saturday June 15.

West Park and Recreation Complex located at the end of Foster Avenue is a large fifty acre facility comprised of softball fields, soccer fields, basketball courts, recreation center, picnic shelter, playground equipment, restrooms, and skate park. An outdoor swimming pool is no longer being used due to maintenance and safety issues. Given that this playground is scheduled to be replaced, and new restroom facilities added, our cleanup has been scheduled for Saturday July 20.

East Park & Recreation Center, more than twenty-five acres at 1101 Prospect Street, has softball fields, basketball courts, fitness trail, playground equipment, recreation center, restrooms and outdoor swimming pool. August 17th has been established as our cleanup date.

On September 21, South Park and Recreation Center at 215 16th Street, will be our last scheduled cleanup for this year. There are 26 acres of open space, that also contain basketball courts, meeting room w/kitchen, picnic shelter, playground equipment, recreation center, restrooms, tennis courts, and a small creek that meanders through the park. The outdoor pool has remained closed due to maintenance and operational issues.

More information and mapping will be forthcoming on these specific initiatives, as well as other yet unplanned, spontaneous efforts at smaller evening projects that anyone can take on, at any time, so stay tuned!

More GREEN Elyria Ideas

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Lots of great articles listed down the right side, along with ideas and links to all the good green stuff.  Do YOUR Part!  Check it out!

If you are interested in more like this, there is a place on that site to sign up for a monthly newsletter!

http://www.doyourpart.com/category/eco-news/green-policies/

Newspaper Wrapper Bags Needed

Those lightweight blue, orange or clear plastic bags which keep our newspapers dry make wonderful ‘pooper-scoopers’.  If you have doggies you may already be using them for that purpose.  If not, please consider re-purposing them by collecting the bags daily (instead of just throwing them into the trash), placing them all into one of the bags and donating them to the Friendship Animal Protective League for use by their volunteers in cleaning up after the pets in their care.

If you do not wish to be bothered with making a special trip to the FAPL, please give a copy of this posting, along with your collection of newspaper bags, to your newspaper carrier.  Hopefully, they will know how to get these bags back into the hands of the folks at the FAPL!