Good News is coming in all the time but I took the month of August off from sharing it in the Newsletter.
We have a record number of HHCA members! We have 75 members and 7 businesses… the most since I have been president (6 years). One of the benefits of membership (and there are many!) is you receive email updates! These are both – the minutes and treasurer’s reports as well as Good News Newsletters…and from time to time any significant updates (like the round about – calming circle updates). I want to welcome the newest members Cheri and Jim Deering who live at 296 Hudson Ave who attended their first meeting with their son Jake. Also at the meeting and requesting a membership application was David Wyant. I just got another request from Stacy Curry. My hopes are that we can hit 80 by years end! In fact – the two HHCA signs (Entrance to Hudson on the south end at the freeway exit and across Mt. Vernon Rd at Channel) have been updated to read: Stay Informed – Join / Membership App. / HHCAOHIO.com.. I’m hoping that will bring in a few more…BUT the best advertisement is word of mouth. Please invite neighbors and friends to join us and be active in our programs.
Our next membership meeting is October 14 and it will be a Debra’s Pizza Night Meeting! We will have “Deb” deliver her pizzas across the parking lot to the USW Hall. Water will be provided (pop machine is in the hall for purchase or bring your own beverage) and lots of delicious piping hot Pizza! MARK your calendars – as we may have an exciting guest or two.
GOOD NEWS at North Street Park: We are growing! Literally – with a call to 
Parks Director Jeff Hoskiss on Monday – not only did he send a crew to service the park (mow, weed eat and trash pick up), Jeff met me there to open the garden gate so they could remove the rolls of chain link fence that had been stored in the area for many years. This was a request from Paul Gregory who oversees the gardens as we need to add more beds. We will grow from 6 concrete beds to at least 8 with several other
beds available. At our most recent meeting – Paul shared for the taking a dozen picture perfect red ripe tomatoes that came from the 8 foot tall plants in the Green House. The Gardens at North Street Park have been one of the greatest success stories in recent time and it going to get even better! KUDOs to Paul Gregory and the gardeners!
And while we are on the subject of gardens… I literally just learned yesterday that the garden walkway at 430 Hudson Ave was selected by the Columbus Dispatch to win a prestigious award! The Dispatch: Each year the Columbus Dispatch has a contest on Backyard Gardens Award winners. Anyone can enter this contest. Sandy Gartner entered her walkway this year. The Columbus Dispatch then goes through all the entries submitted for each category and rates each one. They then judge each category and pick a winner for each category of garden. Many types of gardens are submitted such as; Vegetables, Native Plants, Perennial, Container, Home Landscaping and even Community gardens. This year, again, Sandy entered her flowered walkway into the Columbus Dispatch’s Backyard Gardens contest. Last year she received an ‘Honorable Mention”. This year she stepped it up! She is this year’s winner of the “Home Landscaping Award”. It was titled “Landscape Path” by Sandy Gartner.
Congratulations to Sandy and I’m sure if you are passing by, she wouldn’t mind you taking a good look!
We deposited a generous check for $1,395 to offset the final costs of restoring the median at Wyoming St on Hudson Ave. Again we owe a debt of gratitude to The Jerry McClain Company for helping us with the project.
While we are on the subject of the median, Dwight McBride spent several hours on Tuesday digging out the stubborn weeds in the median making it ready for additional dirt in the coming week to prep it for fall planting. He watered the big planters on either end of the median (Water complements of Vickie Christiansen) and helped me put up the beautiful WELCOME fall banners.
HHCA has two people who have stepped up to serve as administrators for the FACEBOOK site. Sherry Cass is turning over the reins to co-administrators Penny Grisanti and Sandy Gartner. It will take a month or so to get this admin thing figured out, meanwhile HHCAOHIO.com is our “go to” site and Admin. Jim Amore does a great job of keeping it relevant. BTW if you wish to renew your membership for 2022 – the form is there and you can mail the dues to the address on the form or to Penny Grisanti directly at 555 Hudson Ave Newark, OH 43055. My thanks to Jim, Sandy and Penny for their help in making our information available to the public.
As was noted by Nick Schultz (City Engineers Office) at our September meeting – Hudson Ave will not be paved in the coming years as the street will be torn up extensively for the storm sewer, sanitary sewer separation project. Water and gas lines will also be updated. It is only logical that if the street is going to be removed that taxpayers not pay for a repaving project in the interim. As the engineers office gets closer to the time that designs for the new street are presented – we were informed that our input will be requested on how we can make appropriate designs to “fit” in with the historic neighborhood. What a great opportunity for us to determine what we would like to see. Not unlike what we did in assisting with the design and building of the median (it was going to be a concrete slab with a boatload of signage). With our input we now have an attractive design and functional median. It is surely a great thing to have a city willing to work with us on this project.
We have a request from visitor to our last meeting– and soon to be new member – David Wyant, who resides in the apartment complex at 376 Hudson Ave, made several notes to the group on the apartment complex. The new management has done a great job of screening renters, the clientele is vastly improved over a couple years ago. They have made many upgrades to the building including concrete sidewalks, repairs to the grand staircase to the second floor and replacing windows with more energy efficient ones.
David who uses a mobility scooter to travel the area noted that it is very difficult to use many of the sidewalks because of heaved-up concrete or missing areas of some slabs. He says he frequently has used the street to travel as it is far more passable. PLEASE residence of all of the streets in the HHCA area – fix your sidewalks. It’s not just walkers, runners, bicycles, baby strollers, dog walkers…. It’s everyone’s safety and it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to keep the sidewalk in front of your house safe. If you don’t have the finances to do it but see the need – I can steer you to a City Development Program that can assist you if you will file.
Fall is coming… you will feel it in the air soon. Walnuts are falling, some leaves are turning and it won’t be long before we see the beautiful colors in our neighborhood. We are also hosts to one of the most popular Beggar’s Nights (Trick or Treat) in the city of Newark. We commonly have 450-550 “beggars”! Many residents decorate in a big way to make it that much more fun. I don’t have the date of the event officially from the city, but if it is consistent, my guess is it will be October 28 Thursday typically from 5:30-7:00 PM. It would be my suggestion that you stay tuned to the weather predictions and prepare accordingly if you plan to hand out candy…. Even on a cold, rainy, Covid night, last year we had over 350! We get lots of very well-mannered kids who are in this for all the right reasons, dressing up to be scary or silly and saying trick or treat for a reward – then thanking you for the reward. Dressing up to hand out candy is also a big part of the night for many residents. Make it fun for everyone, especially you! 
Prepared by: Bob Meldahl – HHCA President