HHCA GOOD NEWS #29

FEBRUARY 10, 2023 Bob Meldahl

IS IN THE AIR!

Well – it’s the dead of winter and we are making a good go of it. We enjoy the distractions like Buckeye Lake Polar Plunge, Ground Hog Day, Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine’s Day and President’s Day and before you know it we through most of Ohio’s winter. It’s really a great time to plan for warmer weather, get taxes done, plan a spring get-a-way and of course – look forward to all spring has to offer. Love is in the air…and I hope to point out a little of February’s love in this edition of Good News HHCA.

I go for a dog walk literally every morning, feel like it or not, because my 2 “best friends” insist on it. We come across the most unusual things. 2 days ago we found a clump of beautiful yellow flowers that had just sprung up (February??), the day before that 2 opossums were huddled together for a photo op… and still another day a yearling white tail was making a meal of the Gartner’s sprouts. Fortunately – we haven’t discovered the skunks that live on the railroad tracks. We did discover the “family” of deer bedded down in a back yard across the RR tracks. Mom and the 2 yearlings. There have been many sightings of them in the Hudson Ave area near the tracks. Got to love nature sightings in the neighborhood.

Here’s a Good News story to love. A home at the RR tracks and North Street had fallen into disrepair, it was vacant & the owners were way behind on their taxes. The house stood very close to the Brininger’s home at 22 North Street. Given that it was vacant for so many years, there was a constant fear the homeless or vandals would find a way into the property and, has occurred in Newark so many times, set it on fire.

GOOD NEWS

The Licking County Land Bank took control of the property! They demolished the home and 1 unusable shed and filled in the hole with good soil and seeded it. They made it available to the Briningers for a manageable fee and they jumped on it… basically doubling the size of their property. We all win when this happens. The City has one less eyesore and will be able to collect taxes, the Briningers have peace of mind and more green space and HHCA has happier people as a result of the improvement. Congratulations to Olivia, Thom and Jacob Brininger for your good fortune and staying on top of the developing opportunity.

The location had what we needed. Big hall with lots of tables and chairs, a spacious functional kitchen, a one floor plan, appropriate lay out and nice rest rooms. The price was more than fair. Without an income from this event for 2 years we HAD TO HAVE A GOOD EVENT! Dwight and Liz McBride, Sherry Cass and I met in November to make our “hit list” – local businesses that we would approach for donations of goods and services and we started to the business of begging for the HHCA event. We were all pleasantly surprised that after 2 challenging years and a downturn in the economy – how willing over 70 businesses were to make a donation of items. We also received cash donations to help us offset the costs of the event including:

Rayco Appliances, The Community Bank, Park National Bank, Mark Fraizer and Monte Christopher (the new neighbors going in the former church building on Hudson Ave). This totaled $1,150 that allowed us to pay the hall fee, buy the items necessary to feed our guests… what a great start…Thanks to each of you for the jump start!

We had volunteer meetings to find folks to handle various functions: Walt Hinger – Beef & Noodles, Chicken & Noodles (BTW all hand made from scratch) and mashed potatoes. Bobbi Meldahl – Green Beans and Ham Hocks, Doug Pheneger – fresh salads (he got the salads donated from a company in North Carolina!) Liz & Dwight McBride – BJ Rolls & beverages (fresh brewed Iced Tea, Coffee and bottled water… and new this year – lemonade.. and Beth Pheneger who orchestrated over 200 donated home made desserts! Then came the all- important sound system and professional sound man Tony Barbuto came through in great form with a top notch system. We had a kitchen help manager in Jose Cabral who kept things running smoothly in the kitchen including the very important clean up. We had the great services of Penny Grisanti and Carol Floyd taking money for food and auction tickets and purchases. They were busy all night without a break.

On the day of the event I called upon the bright minds & young muscle of a set up team: Matt Ramsey and Andrew Heminger. They along with other volunteers including 2 boy scouts, got the tables and chairs necessary to pull off the event…. They then set out all the auction items to complete the job. Several other HHCAers helped in set up and clean up and keeping things running smoothly in the kitchen. By 4 pm we were ready for customers…. But would they come?

We had a line at the serving counter at 4:05 that stretched out past the dessert table (what a great plan – make them walk past the dessert table before they got their food!) to the lobby. They got their food and drinks and the two ever-ready Boy Scouts returned their trays and cleaned them before restacking them.. so we always had plenty. The line kept coming… in fact we fed (we estimate) 220 that night. The raffle ticket auction was busy, the Silent Auction was busy and then we started 21 items in the Live Auction. It was a very fun- busy night. Lots of laughs, smiles, well fed people and some great auction bargains. 3 young ladies came to my rescue to help me hand out trivia question prizes, auction items and later to draw Raffle Tickets. The Flanagan girls (ladies) and Luci Montella made the night fun for me and gave me energy (and boy did they have it!) when I was running low. So we had a great time…. But how did we do?

Walt Hinger told me on the side – “I’m going to donate the food I bought”! He fed 220 people and saved HHCA a great deal of money… let alone the man hours he put in. We had HHCA neighbors come through with wonderful donations of auction items including the Ginns “Super Bowl Starter Party” and Mid City Auto Repair’s “priceless” (they don’t offer the service to the public!) interior and exterior sponge car wash.

It all added up. After expenses it appears that we earned 54% more than our previous best ever dinner auction a whopping $5, 251 (vs $3,364). Love is in the air – we have a treasury that will remain healthy throughout the year!! Thanks everyone who made it happen!!

HHCA will tour the Midland Theatre Thursday April 13 at 7 PM. We will have a private tour of the facilities including back stage where theatre goers never get to see! I am opening this event up to HHCA members, their families and their guests. This will be done via a sign up list to keep it manageable for group size (like we did on the jail tour). You will need to contact to me with an email with the names of those attending in your party…bobqsp2@windstream.net. This will allow me to keep a record of attendees. I am asking for a minimal $5 donation per adult (18 years of age and older). The theatre doesn’t require this – I wanted to make a group donation to support the facility. Please send your payment made out to: HHCA to Penny Grisanti – Treasurer at either: HHCA PO Box 9211 Newark, OH 43058 or directly to her home at 555 Hudson Ave Newark, OH 43055

This is a very exciting opportunity few ever have and I am expecting a great turn ou for the event. Children are welcomed to attend with their parents/grandparents.

When the committee fund raising reaches $2,500 we will order the marker which will be cast in Marietta, OH. 

We hope to have it finished and ready for a September 8 (81^st anniversary of the crash) dedication. 

Garden News:

Jim Deering – HHCA Member and managing member of Deering Carpentry has volunteered to assist Paul Gregory and Jose Cabral in designing a storage shed and water catchment system for North Street Park Gardens. HHCA purchased a 275 gallon IBC container to store water for use at the park. It will be filled with rainwater from the roofs of the the shed and other structures at the park!

Paul Gregory (head of the garden) would like to hear from anyone who would like a bed for the coming year. There is no charge to HHCA members and Non Members pay $10 for the use of the bed for a season. Contact Paul @ pkgregory1988@gmail.com

Lindsey Brighton – Newark Storm Water coordinator, will work with volunteer groups to clean up log pond run creek during our clean up. It runs from Mt. Vernon Rd to Clinton St. and needs this attention.  Glad to have them

Next HHCA Meeting is March 9 7 pm USW HALL 350 Hudson Ave.

Historic Hudson Community Association Membership Application

Annual Membership January 1 to December 31

Dues required by January 31

Please check the appropriate box when sending in your application and dues.

Membership Classifications

❒ $5 Senior (62 and older) ❒ $5 Student (high school or beyond)

❒ $5 Associate member (non resident) ❒ $10 Regular member (resident voting)

❒ $150 Lifetime member ❒ $25 Business member

Please print

Name ___________________________________________________________________

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Phone Number E-mail Address __________________________________

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THANK YOU!

Make check payable to “Historic Hudson Community Association”

Mail to: HHCA P.O. Box 5211 Newark OH 43058-5211

(or mail to HHCA- Penny Grisanti- Treasurer 555 Hudson Ave Newark, OH 43055)