Whew – what a brisk start to February! Cold and snowy … what is this… Winter! If you have taken a few minutes to get outside – despite the cold – it is beautiful! It also a great time to check on your neighbors, shovel walks and go for walks. Please keep in mind there are folks who have to walk to work, school, delivery people, mail carriers and dog walkers… try to keep a clear path on the public sidewalks. And speaking of SIDEWALKs…. Good News – our HHCA Sidewalk repair and replacement grant was extended through December of 2021. Of our $7,000 grant we have spent only $1,225 in 2020, we have committed another $1,265 from our 2020 applications that didn’t get finished, and another $625 has been approved from 2021. So there are $3,875.40 remaining in the budget. If you are interested in a matching grant to repair or replace “squares” of sidewalk this summer- a match of up to $625!! – email me and I’ll let the committee know. The committee is targeting Hudson Ave as priority 1, then Elizabeth St and Kibler Ave. Our goal is to use all of the grant money by December 1! Sidewalks – more good news. I have been in touch with Melissa Seville with the City of Newark Department of Development on the advice of Sherry Cass who made me aware of a sidewalk replacement program within the city of Newark. The goal is for the City to help those who meet a financial need criteria to replace dangerous or crumbling sidewalks… at no cost to the owner!! There are criteria that have to be met for both owner occupied homes and rental houses. I was pleasantly surprised at what the criteria were and if you have an interest, we will put you in touch with the right folks at the Dept. Of Development.
New Neighbor Welcome Baskets – Rachael Ooten Recently I had the pleasure of taking one of Rachael’s Welcome Baskets to new neighbors! It was heartwarming to both the new neighbor and myself to have such a nice gift to offer from HHCA. Rachael is happy to put the baskets together but wants some help from neighbors as the purchased items she puts in the baskets have all come from her purse. We also have several items donated from local merchants. She is looking for anything for the home… and if you’d like to contribute… please let her know. Email Rachael: rachelbower110@gmail.com
NORTH STREET PARK “swing into spring” HHCA has been working with Jeff Hoskiss Newark City Parks Director this winter to find a cost effective way to bring a swing set to North Street Park. A huge thanks to HHHCA member Jane-Ann Crowley who has offered to offset a portion of the cost by donating $500! To make it work – Jeff will order the swing set with equipment needed at another park – making the huge shipping cost for our swings 2 -disappear (that was $700!). Furthermore Jeff will have his staff install the modular swing set this spring! We liked the modular as it allows us to add on. Our initial purchase will be 2 child swings and one toddler. We can add on pairs of swings as our needs grow. The city park dept. will pay the balance of the first swing set module (beyond Jane-Ann’s $500 donation) effectively – not costing the HHCA anything. If we see the need for an additional module – Jeff will let us know what is left in his budget this fall and we can determine what money is needed for that purchase. Another benefit of this new system is they are very easy to mow around. THANK YOU JANE-ANN CROWLEY!!!
And while we are on the topic Paul Gregory has offered to oversee the garden program at the park. The HHCA Board decided the beds will rent seasonally for: HHCA Members Free Non Members $10. There are limited beds. Paul has one – the rest are up for grabs. Contact Paul if you are interested. By agreeing to maintain a bed for a season you agree to assist with the overall garden program chipping in to help fill beds with soil, keeping your garden looking nice, doing seasonal work (cleaning up the bed for the off season)… etc. The Board encouraged families to participate and allow children the opportunity to be part of the experience. We also look to encourage pollinators (insects that pollinate) and hope to plant wild flowers on the back banks. Email Paul at: pkgregory1988@gmail.com . We have a very nice tool loan shed at the park and now are ready to open our water barrel system this spring. We could use the donation of a few hand tools for the shed (trowel, transplant trowel, hand fork, hand rake and the like and a good wheel barrow).. The objective of the free tool loan shed is to make it easy for gardeners to come and do their work without lugging tools or water.
HHCA SCHOLARSHIP Joe Kennedy Scholarship (In honor of HHCA’s First President and Organizer!)Despite not having a fund raising dinner and auction this year – the board, after reviewing our finances – elected to sponsor the $500 portion of HHCA Scholarship. Rod Nelson has agreed to chair the Scholarship Committee and will also reach out to see if we can get a matching donation in an effort to award $1,000 this spring. The application will soon be available at our website. The deadline has been set for April 1, 2021. The scholarship application is for anyone who has graduated from high school pursuing a post-secondary education who lives within the HHCA area (not limited to college). Website: HHCAOHIO.com or Historic Hudson Community Association on Facebook or by contacting Bob Meldahl. Our scholarship winners have been great and so appreciative of both the money and the honor of being chosen. This past year’s winner Hailey Jendanklang attended Ohio University. What a bizarre year for a college freshman! Distance learning from a dorm room. Hailey has adjusted well! Here is this from an email she sent me: College has been quite strange during this pandemic. For both semesters I was given the opportunity to live on campus and during the first semester it was quite lonely, but now I feel more comfortable getting up and going to class virtually. Some good news as of today is that I made the dean’s list at the college of Health Sciences and Professions and I’m so proud of it! I started off my college experience with an outstanding GPA and I hope to keep it that way! As for the Hudson Association, I really wished I could’ve participated in the normal events that would’ve been hosted under normal conditions, like the community clean up, but I tried to make up for it by picking up trash off Hudson whenever I found the time and compliant weather. When I come home for the summer, I still plan to do that but hopefully by then we can meet during events hosted by the HHCA. I am really interested in getting to know more about the area and interacting with the neighbors as well. Well – we picked another Good One!
Recall the fire on Beggar’s Night that destroyed the old Newark Meat Supply Building? Good News… in December it was demolished.
The NEWSLETTER is coming!! MARCH 31 is the deadline for submitting articles for the HHCA Newsletter…The printed newsletter will be delivered to over 500 households throughout the area sharing what we are doing – who we are – projects (sidewalk, scholarship, banners clean up, park news, committee happenings, and your articles… etc.). Paul Gregory will serve as editor and articles should be sent directly to his email: pkgregory1988@gmail.com Pictures can be included! Our goal is deliver the Newsletter by the week of April 12. We will need volunteers to go door to door to hand deliver them. Contact Paul PLEASE as many hands make short work and we need you! Note – I only have the email contacts for HHCA current members to get the word out of what is going on in our community. The newsletter is our only way to communicate with potential members and share what is going on in OUR neighborhood. Please be a part by contributing articles or a hand in delivering. It is OUR neighborhood.
NEIGHBORHOOD CLEAN UP WILL HAPPPEN! It is currently scheduled for April 24 and the City of Newark is providing a trash truck in the empty lot across from Rayco Appliances (by the old church) from 8 am – noon (or until it is full!). We may do this as a group function and meet at the park at 9 am OR we may organize this virtually and get trash bags out to teams who are given a dedicated area to clean up. I am currently looking for a person to head the event. CONTACT ME PLEASE! Bob Meldahl: bobqsp2@windsteam.net
LIMBO The following projects/programs are in limbo pending Covid restrictions and HHCA board approval. Stay Tuned
March 11 Membership Meeting 7 pm USW Hall (we will await the board’s decision)
April ___ Banner Cleaning Day!!! (this will happen – date will be announced) we need volunteers to join the fun! A group is needed to remove, clean, add protectant and re hang all of our banners (2 teams of 3 each on ladders… 3 people working cleaning station at least 9 people total) contact Bob Meldahl if you want to help (we do it on a nice weather day!)
April 24 Neighborhood Clean-up – this will happen – we just need to find how we can do it and stay safe.
May ___ Neighborhood Yard and Plant Sale. We will first wait to see what the Master Gardeners decide to do, then the HHCA Board will decide if we are hosting the event. Of course you can do a yard sale independent of our decision.
July 24 Picnic at the Park (North Street Park) sponsored by HHCA – we will wait to see what the HHCA Board elects to do
Consider this – our only income for the HHCA this year will be dues from memberships. As we haven’t functioned “as usual” due to the pandemic – we haven’t had face to face contact with our members. Our memberships have dropped off as our contact with members has been limited. Please do this, Ask your neighbors to join the HHCA so we can include them in our numbers (important when asking City Hall for assistance!!) and to our email communications. That will help us in many ways but as well -financially in this challenging year.If you would like to consider making a donation to our group – even to a specific cause or project within the group… that would be wonderful. I think of Jane-Ann’s donation helping us buy the swing set, Mark Fraizers cash donations to make the community garden concrete beds, Paul Gregory and myself buying items for the park and gardens and I’m sure I’m overlooking others. $10-$20-$50 it all adds up and it will all go to the cause you want. Simply send a check made out to HHCA – to Penny Grisanti HHCA Treasurer 555 Hudson Ave Newark, OH 43055 and let us know what you’d like us to apply the money toward. We’ll do the rest!