Your monthly news & updates |
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NANA EXECUTIVE BOARD MESSAGE |
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Hello Neighbors,
I hope everyone had a great summer in North Avondale! It's been wonderful seeing all the beautiful gardens and landscapes throughout the neighborhood during this wonderful weather.
Now that children are back in school (in one way or another) homework is back on the schedule and we're all adjusting to the new season. NANA is getting to work too with lots of new things on the horizon. We would love for everyone to join us for our next two meetings so that we can hear your thoughts on how to plan for the rest of 2020 and beyond.
In September we'll be updating everyone on the work that is ongoing to improve our business district along Reading Rd., talking about our fall litter pick ups and planning for the next couple months.
In October we will be reviewing our NSP funds for 2021 and voting on how we will allocate that money.
We would love to hear from you!
Join us via Zoom and let's work together to keep North Avondale Cincinnati's best address.
Ethan Perry
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NANA GENERAL MEETING
Tuesday, September 8, 7:00 pm
VIA ZOOM at https://us04web.zoom.us/j/4627492892
Meeting ID: 462 749 2892
Password: 9tTTPt
- Charmaine McGuffey candidate for Sheriff
- Aftab Pureval Hamilton County Clerk of Courts
- NSP Funds 2020
- NBID Grants
- Litter Pickups
- Halloween
Next NANA General Meeting October 13
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BEAUTIFICATION
Thank you to all the NANA neighbors who came out to help garden at the Seasongood Square gardens and the Marion Triangle garden this summer. We did some desperately needed clean up and mulching. Thank you to Tom and Mary Beth Ottke, Stacy and Josh Tilford, Teresa Harten, Camille Jones, Maura and J. Miles Wolf for coming out to help weed and mulch.
This fall we will be working with Xavier student volunteers on gardening and general clean up. The students are from the Xavier University X-Change weekly service program. That program connects small groups of 6-10 students for 1-2 hours of service each week over the course of about 9 weeks for meaningful service in the Cincinnati community. The NANA plan is a work in process but includes fall planting and clean-up of our neighborhood gardens. This will also include planting the flower pots with lovely fall flowers. We hope some of you will volunteer to work with the students in our neighborhood.
In addition to the Xavier student volunteers, we have a few gardens in the neighborhood that need attention and tender loving care. We continue to need neighbors who like to play in the dirt to come and join our gardening team. There is a small round garden with a few rose bushes in Seasongood Square
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and another garden in the Marion Triangle near the tree recently dedicated to past NANA President Marvin Masterson. |
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The Washington Triangle garden, near North Avondale school also needs a few gardeners. |
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With your help and dedication, we can continue to improve our beautiful neighborhood. Please email me at Kouckys@gmail.com if you would like to join the team. Sarah Koucky (Rose Hill Ave.)
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On a beautiful day artist Karen Heyl’s dolphin bench was dedicated at the North Avondale Recreation Center. Many people attended to commemorate Pamela Smitherman: a North Avondale resident and former Board Member; mother; wife and CPS educator who left us way to soon. They respectively wore masks and were social distancing. Daniel Betts, CRC Director, Councilman David Mann, Neighborhood Officer Anthony Hill, as well as Mayor Cranley spoke honoring Pam.
Thank you to Beth Ewing for spearheading this lovely remembrance and sponsors: The North Avondale Neighborhood Association and The North Avondale Recreation Center.
Thank you to everyone who donated to the Friends of Pamela
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In the family photo, the Smitherman children are from left to right: Isaac, Christopher II, Malcolm, Camille and Caleb.
Photos courtesy of J. Miles Wolf
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●North Avondale's Punch House featured on WLWT
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The sounds of people hard at work echo through the Punch House on Reading Road in North Avondale. The boxing gym trains athletes of all ages."All walks of life. Children from as young as 4 all the way up to elderly, maybe 70 or 80," said Yaazanyah "Israel" Yisrael, one of the personal trainers at the gym. Yisrael said he grew up down the street. "It was rough. My parents did everything they could for us," he said. "I saw the drug dealers and people out there just drinking, doing drugs or whatever. So to have something positive, to give you a goal, to keep you focused, that's everything." That is what inspires him to help children and adults reach their full potential. "Once I began boxing and began working out my confidence just shot through the roof," he said. "A lot of our youth around here are missing a positive male role model, father figures, and I feel there are many of them here that they can come here and get the things that they may be missing at home." The gym has inspirational sayings painted on the walls. For example, "The moment you want to quit is the moment you need to fight," and "Your only limit is you."
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Michael Caporale, president of the North Avondale Business Association, said the neighborhood is one of Cincinnati's best kept secrets. "This is a very welcoming community," he said. "These homes will rival anything in Hyde Park ... The cost here are a lot less here than what they are in Hyde Park." He has been part of the push in recent years to improve the business district, make it more pedestrian friendly and attract new businesses. "We have a vacant lot up on the end of the block here which when I moved in was just a dump. We've turned that around and had it sodded. We're now trying to get developers interested in doing something with that," he said. "We want to see and have the things everybody else has: a coffee shop, an ice cream shop, a bakery, maybe a little food store. All those kinds of things that bring people together where you get to be a part of a community and share your lives." Caporale is proud of the community engagement, low crime and partnerships with community organizations and police. He said that is part of what makes the area attractive for small-business owners. Tyler Wolf is one of them.
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"North Avondale is really nice for a small business to get started, affordable rent and really nicely centrally located," Wolf said. "We've really grown from an operation of about two up to four and now six full-time employees." Wolf runs Urban Blooms, a nonprofit organization he launched about six years ago while he was completing his degree at Ohio State University. Urban Blooms designs and creates living walls with an attempt to make Cincinnati neighborhoods specifically more beautiful and sustainable. There are walls in areas like Bond Hill, Corryville and Clifton, as well as at several Tri-Health locations throughout greater Cincinnati and even in other major cities in the region. "We've done work everywhere from Columbus, Louisville, Lexington, Indianapolis, with the majority here in Cincinnati," Wolf said. For example, the living wall the group built in Corryville cost about $50,000, plus maintenance. "These are very much at the intersection of art, technology and ecology," he said. "It's really a living piece of artwork." Wolf said the business is doing so well that it has outgrown the neighborhood where it got its start. "Fortunately, it's for good reasons. We're moving up and trying to find larger spaces for us," he said, adding that he is in the process of moving the company to another Cincinnati neighborhood, possibly to the West End. He profits North Avondale for giving the company its start and the opportunity to make Cincinnati more beautiful and sustainable. "These walls are designed to thrive for 30, 40, 50 years even," Wolf said.
●North Avondale residents launch construction project to halt devastating landslide
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By: Monique John and Andria Carter
Posted at 11:41 AM, Aug 28, 2020 and last updated 9:11 PM, Aug 28, 2020
After more than a year of sustaining property damage, petitioning, research and fundraising efforts, a group of families have started a construction project to stop a landslide that has been wreaking havoc on their homes at Wess Park Drive in North Avondale.
Workers have been at the site for about a week. It is expected they will finish the project to halt the landslide within the next one to two weeks.
“Now we have a Tonka truck rally down the street,” said Richard McKenzie, one of the affected homeowners who has been organizing the project. “We just love hearing the noise. We love hearing the diesel engines and it means progress. It means we're getting fixed, it means that there is a light at the end of the tunnel...”
The issue first arose last April. Earth from the hill standing up against a number of homes’ backyards on Wess Park Drive started slipping. One house’s foundation was so badly damaged from the impact of the landslide that it was condemned by the city and demolished a month later. The city of Cincinnati cited the incident for code violations and originally gave the residents 30 days to address the issue, declaring the landslide was occurring on private property.
Construction vehicles are parked where a house that was crushed by the landslide once stood.
However, the residents were struggling to resolve the issue in part because options to make repairs were highly expensive. One original plan to drive pillars into the bedrock as a way of securing the land would have cost almost $330,000. Without financial support from the city, residents could not afford to pay for the robust plan on their own. Furthermore, they grew frustrated that the city was paying more attention to landslides in other areas, like those on Columbia Parkway.
The city would go on to give the residents further extensions to resolve the issue and they settled on a second, less costly, plan at approximately $100,000. This entailed putting drains beneath the hill to extract water from the dirt, thereby preventing the land from continuing to shift. Residents say they managed to raise approximately $60,000 with donations from friends and family, as well as support from some of the residents’ churches, the People’s Church in Corryville and the Corinthian Baptist Church in Bond Hill.
“One of the really good things that has come out of this is that it's brought us all closer together as neighbors,” said Deanna Lane, one of the affected residents. “We've been all working together to try to raise the money to take care of the problem.”
Andria Carter is a reporter with the Cincinnati Herald. WCPO 9 and the Herald worked together to produce this story. The two news organizations are deeply committed to covering what is happening in our African-American community.
Copyright 2020 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
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ABOUT YOUR NEIGHBORS
●Mecklenburg Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio owned by the Harten Family of North Avondale was featured in "History In Your Own Backyard"
Established in 1865, Mecklenburg Gardens is Cincinnati's oldest restaurant. Located near the University of Cincinnati this restaurant is the cornerstone of the German community and even boasts Christian Moerlein as one of the previous owners.
View below this video filled with interesting and historical facts:
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●Join our "North Avondale Neighbors" Facebook group! This group welcomes all residents of our neighborhood to join and socialize, share events, resources, ideas, concerns, and recommendations. All opinions, voices, and perspectives are welcome!"
Constance Mara (Clinton Springs)
●Multitudes of scientists have been researching climate change (human behavior’s negative effect on the earths climate) for the last 50 years. They have checked and cross checked the results of their research and concluded their research is factual, the earths temperature is rising rapidly.
A few thousand politicians have said the scientists are wrong. The first license a politician gets when he becomes a politician is a license to tell you what you want to hear. Scientist do not get such a license. The only license Scientists have is to inform you of the results of their research. Which group is most likely going to always tell you the truth, Scientists or the Politicians!?
Scientific research determined the burning of fossil fuels, of all sources, is the major cause of rising earth temperature. Therefore the only solution to reduce the earths temperature is to develop means of producing power using renewable sources energy such as sun, atomic energy, ocean tides, etc. and other undiscovered power sources.
Spencer Konicov (Springhouse Lane)
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●Program Sends Free Children’s Books to Your Home
The Ohio Governor’s Imagination Library (OGIL) will send a free book in the mail every month to any child in Hamilton County under the age of 5. All parents have to do is enroll their child.
Imagination Library offers free, high-quality, age-appropriate books, and there are no income restrictions for participants.
“Sharing a book with your child and even starting at birth is an incredible bonding experience,” said Tiana Rollinson Henry, community engagement coordinator at Cincinnati Children’s for Imagination Library. “Research shows just 15 minutes a day of special one-on-one interaction with a book can make a difference in a child’s development.”
Parents can enroll their child online at www.ohioimaginationlibrary.org. Cincinnati Children’s is administering the program in Hamilton County. You can also find more information by calling 513.636.4271.
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Caption: Mom A’shan enjoys spending time reading with her son, Kemuel. Courtesy: Cincinnati Children’s.
Avondale Students Contribute Artwork to the New Critical Care Building
Artwork by students from across Greater Cincinnati, including Avondale schools, will be featured inside the new Critical Care Building at Cincinnati Children’s.
As part of the interior design process, Cincinnati Children’s design partner, Kolar, worked with local artists chosen by the hospital to host workshops with 17 schools. This happened before the COVID-19 shutdowns. Students’ artwork from North Avondale, South Avondale and Rockdale Academy will be heavily featured.
The artists provided the materials and tools needed to create 150 art pieces that will be displayed in patient rooms, corridors, ED waiting room, meeting rooms, and staff spaces in the new building.
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Caption: Rockdale Academy student Myloh works on her painting Pre-COVID-19 Courtesy: Kolar
The walls will also feature artwork from community groups as well as some of the hospital’s patients, families and staff. The Critical Care Building is set to open in the fall of 2021.
Michelle R. Hopkins, Senior Specialist, Community Relations, Cincinnati Children's
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IN MEMORIAM
●I just learned of the death of Atarah Jablonsky at age 92 on July 14, 2020 (see Obituary at Weill Funeral Home). She and her family lived at 49 Burton Woods Lane for many years. She was one of the first persons to welcome me and my husband into the block and the neighborhood. As a pianist, she called upon my husband frequently to tune her piano. She remained in the neighborhood for years after leaving Burton Woods Lane, living at the apartment building on Victory Parkway and at The Belvedere. As recently as the last concert season she was at Music Hall where I saw her and she told me she was still teaching piano! A lovely, cheerful, and unselfish person with lots of wisdom. Donations can be made to www.peasleecenter.org. See More in Praybook
Rosalie van Nuis (Burton Woods Lane)
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FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND NONPROFITS |
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● Census response period ENDS on Sept. 30.
Fill out the Census online at: https://my2020census.gov/ or by phone (1.844.330.2020). Mail-in questionnaires can also be requested.
WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT:
- Divvying up seats in Congress, state legislatures and more
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The calculation for determining congressional districts is based on total resident population — which means citizens and noncitizens alike.Credit...Kiichiro Sato/Associated Press
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States including Texas, Florida, Colorado and Oregon are projected to gain seats after the 2020 numbers are in. Illinois, Ohio, New York and West Virginia are among the states expected to lose seats. An undercount could shift those projections.
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Lawmakers also use census data to draw congressional district boundaries within states, an often-controversial process that can help decide partisan control of the House. Census data also underpin state legislative districts and local boundaries like City Councils and school boards.
- Handing out federal and state dollars
- Influencing business decisions
- Planning for various health and wellness programs
- Gaming out Social Security
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An undercount in the census could also impact forecasts about Social Security payouts, which are already increasing as a share of the federal government’s revenue.
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WELCOME NEW NEIGHBORS
- Donald E & Cynthia R Torrey at 3971 Ardmore Ave.
- Shanmugasundaram Chandrakesan at 810 S Fred Shuttlesworth Cr.
- Andrea Tolbert at 711 Gholson Ave.
- Matthew & Mishelle Lawless at 716 Gholson Ave.
- Itay Property LLC at 831 Glenwood Ave.
- Joe Hackworth LLC at 4227 Kessler Ave.
- Jds Holdings Ix LLC at 711 Mitchell Ave.
- Joshua Basler at 775 Mitchell Ave.
- Kenneth L Parker at 3666 & 3668 Reading Rd.
- Anita Shawver at 3900 Rose Hill Ave. Unit 603B
- Brandon M Watson at 3900 Rose Hill Ave. Unit 805A
- Michael J Thompson at 4215 Rose Hill Ave.
- Kimberly A Russell at 3843 Springhouse Ln.
- Allison Joy & Alexander Clayton Ratliff at 3940 Warwick Ave.
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Bad, Better, Best: The Climate Impact of Meat
Gemma Alexander August 21, 2020
Here are our suggestions to start a CO2 emissions campaign of your own by switching to more carbon-efficient meats and beginning to wean yourself off animal protein.
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●North Avondale Recreation Center - 617 Clinton Springs Ave. 513.961.1584
- North Avondale Recreation Center is open Monday thru Friday 9 am to 9 pm
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Weight Room is by reservations only
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Open Gym from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and after 6:00 pm - call for reservations
- Masks must be worn and your temperature must be taken upon arrival
Matthew Brown, Community Center Director
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●Hirsch Recreation Center - 3620 Reading Road ● 751.3393
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Many recreation centers are offering full daycare or afternoon/afterschool care. Check out cincyrec.org for your childcare needs.
- Our weight room has reopened by reservation only. There are seven one hour time blocks within the day that customers can call to reserve.
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If you had an active membership on or after March 13th, there was an automatic extension put on your card. Check with the center for details.
- Spinning classes have resumed M/W 6:15 – 7:00 pm.
- Teen and youth open gym is open for reservations. Call for availability.
Blake Williams, Service Area Coordinator
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●The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
Hours of Service
All open locations of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public library System are now operating from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays. The St. Bernard Branch has resumed limited in-building service. The following services are available:
- up to one hour per person per day of computer access
- printing
- faxing
- browsing for materials
- picking up holds.
Customers and staff are expected to practice physical distancing at all times. Furniture has been spaced out and items like plexiglass barriers have been installed. Masks are required per the statewide mask mandate. The Library is providing free masks for our customers who need them.
Kate Kraus, Kate.Kraus@cincinnatilibrary.org
Have Materials to Donate? Read this First!
The Friends of the Public Library will host the remaining Donation Days on September 12 at the Library’s Distribution Center where community members are welcome to drop off books and other materials. Drive through the Center’s lot and drop off gently used books, DVDs and CDs from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. The Distribution Center is located at 1130 Findlay St. The entrance to the lot is on Dalton Ave.
Featured Resource: Career Transitions
Career Transitions provides support as you create resumes, write cover letters, and apply for positions. Job search options and guidance for those seeking new career paths is also available. New users will be asked to create a password when they first access Career Transitions using their valid library card and PIN.
Paula Brehm-Heeger, Eva Jane Romaine Coombe Director
For More Information
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North Avondale Montessori ● 615 Clinton Springs ●
THANK YOU to all the amazing volunteers at our NAMS Garden & Trails Cleanup day August 14!!!
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A “Before, during and after” collage of the work done around our outdoor classroom! |
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The New School Montessori (TNSM)
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At The New School Montessori, we have welcomed our students and families back with a dual participation model, offering both online and in-person classes to choose from. We are grateful for our spacious campus with its shaded woods, awning-covered decks and expanses of lawn, allowing for numerous open-air learning spaces.
Over the summer, we equipped our classrooms and HVAC systems with ionization units, UV technology, and with increased intake of fresh air. Both indoors and out, children of all levels work, eat and play in cohorts to minimize the number of people they interact with.
Dr. Maria Montessori has been an inspiration in this difficult time with her words from long ago still instructing us today, "It is necessary that the human personality should be prepared for the unforeseen, not only for conditions that can be anticipated by prudence and foresight or success in life depends in every case on self-confidence and the knowledge of one’s own capacity and many-sided powers of adaptation.”
Having prepared as well as we can for the unforeseen, we step forward into this new school year ready to adapt. We will respond to new learnings in science, to methods shared by others, and to ideas offered up by our incredibly inventive staff, students and families as we navigate with an abundance of care, caution and compassion in this pandemic situation.
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Ann Baumgardner, Communications Director |
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NANA CALENDAR
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Tuesday, September 8 NANA General Meeting 7 pm Zoom: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/4627492892 Meeting ID: 462 749 2892 Password: 9tTTPt
- Tuesday, October 13, NANA General Meeting 7 pm Zoom
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NANA EXECUTIVE BOARD AND COMMITTEES |
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President: Ethan Perry
1st VP: Heather Herr
2nd VP: Laura Pike
3rd VP: Patrice Watson
Corresponding Sec.: Ilene Ross Tucker
Recording Secretary: Morgan Rottinghaus
Treasurer: Robin Senser
Block Watch: Carolyn Gillman
Law & Safety: Carolyn Gillman
Membership: Tristen Yarborough
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avonfields@yahoo.com
Ilene@eathotfood.com
tristen.yarborough@yahoo.com
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North
Avondale
Neighborhood Association
617 Clinton Springs Ave.
Cincinnati, Ohio 45229
513.401.5356
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