The Columbia e-Journal April 2011

April 2011
Columbia Tusculum e-Journal

Monthly Community Council Meeting, 7:00 - 8:30 pm, Columbia Baptist Church, 3718 Eastern Ave

Next Meeting: April 18

1. Larry Pauly, Director of Strategic Gifts, FreeStore FoodBank, will describe the PowerPack program and thank the community the support approved at the March, 2011 community council meeting.

2. George Frank will ask inform us about an opportunity to volunteer as a community at the FreeStore Foodbank, filling PowerPacks. The tentative date is May 12th, 5:00pm, location TBD.

3. Sean Crotty, owner Anytime Fitness, will present a proposal for CTCC to help fund a bike rack at Columbia Square.

C-T Calendar (see details below)

- Apr 1 Ohio River Trail Collins to Corbin Open House, 4 to 7 pm, Leblond Rec Center

- Apr 14 Ipsos Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Columbia Square, 10 am

- Apr16 "Great Amercian Clean-up" Day

- Apr 18 Columbia Tusculum Community Council meeting, 7 pm, 3718 Eastern Ave

- Apr 19 Columbia Tusculum, East End and Linwood Meet & Greet, 6:30 pm, Tostado's

- Apr 25 Columbia Tusculum Business Association meeting, 9am

- May 1 Flying Pig Marathon, CT Water Station, 3738 Eastern Ave

- May 16 Columbia Tusculum Community Council meeting, 7 pm, 3718 Eastern Ave

- Jun 18 Go-Green Summerfest, 4:00 - 10:00 p.m., Green Dog Cafe

- Jun 17-19 / 24-26 Columbia Tusculum Green-arama, Strafer St.

- June 20 Columbia Tusculum Community Council meeting, 7 pm, 3718 Eastern Ave

In This Issue

CT Calendar

CT Community Council Notes

MSD Street Closure Update

Columbia Square/CT Business District Article

Reds Green Team

2011 Neighborhood Summit

Hillside Trust Public View Ordinance

Great American Cleanup Day - April 16

Bike Path Extension is Open

Ballet - Coppelia

CT Community Garden - reserve your bed now

Neighborhood Go-Green Summerfest June 18

Greenarama Home Show

Neighborhood Composting site in the works

Friends of Alms Park is looking for new Friends

Getting to Know CT

Get involved

Columbia Tusculum Community Council Notes

March 21st Meeting Minutes

1. Public Library Hamilton County Kathleen Rieck, Hyde Park branch manager, announced the opening of a virtual library, allowing patrons to download e-books and audio books from the comfort of home. To find out about any of the many programs the library offers, visit www.cincinnatilibrary.org.

2. Columbia Tusculum Business Association Community approved CTBA use of 2011 Neighborhood Business District Support Funds of $2,500, to finance Go Green Summerfest ($1150) and the remainder ($1350) to pay for area beautification. Vote: For: 15 Against: 0 Abstaining: 0

3. FreeStore Food Bank Power Pack Program - Community approved up to $2500 be given toward the FSFB Power Pack program. Neighboring communities will be asked to contribute and their gifts would be subtracted from this total. Vote: For: 15 Against: 0 Abstaining: 0

CT Neighborhood News

MSD Street Closure Update

-Hoge and Widman is open, as of Thursday 4/7.
-Widman (between Hoge and Delta) will be open sometime in May.
-Eastern Avenue (between Stanley and Delta) - Work was stopped after the flood and started again this week, 4/11/11. If river levels remain down, work can be completed by May 1.
-Grading has been done on the MSD site in Columbia Square, abutting Columbia Parkway. MSD is waiting on approval from Neyer to proceed with restoration.
-All sewer work and testing is done on Stanley and Woodbridge. Should be able to restore streetscape to how it existed prior to MSD work by the end of this month.
-The final streetscape on Stanley to be completed once Neyer performs their scheduled work.

Columbia Square/CT Business District Featured in Article

Check out this link to the Soapbox Cincinnati article regarding Columbia Tusculum businesses.

Reds Green Team

The Reds Green Team is back for the 2011 season! If you don't remember, the Green Team is made up of community volunteers that want to help the Reds and Rumpke recycle at Great American Ball Park.

Volunteers are granted access to each game and get a free Green Team T-Shirt. Volunteers should enter at Gapper's Alley to pick up a credential and are free to find a place to stand and watch the game. In the middle of the 6th inning, volunteers should return to Gapper's Alley to pick up their instructions, gloves, green bags (which are also biodegradable), and their t-shirt (made from

recycled plastic bottles). The instructions will direct them to particular sections where they will walk up and down the aisles and collect plastic bottles and cans from fans. All full bags should be placed next to recycling bins on the concourse. Once the volunteer finishes their assigned sections or runs out of bags, they are free to enjoy the rest of the game.

All available date are either Friday, Saturday, or Sunday games. Contact Sean Brown, Director of Ballpark Operations for more information, at 513-765-7061 or sbrown@reds.com.

2011 Neighborhood Summit

Hundreds of local volunteers and community leaders attended the 9th Annual Neighborhood Summit on April 2 at Xavier University. The purpose of this event was to provide a forum where grassroots neighborhood volunteers could learn from their peers on how to effectively improve their community. The Summit included workshops organized into three general categories: policy, character and making impact.

CT Steering Team member, Jamie Cecil and former East End Community Council President, Laurie Kelleher presented on the topic of Neighborhood Collaboration. The theme of the presentation revolved around the fact that neighboring communities may have distinct differences but they also common ground that can be leveraged to benefit an entire region. Some examples of areas where Columbia Tusculum and East End are connected and working together are the Veteran's Memorial Garden, CT Business Association, Flying Pig Marathon and the Ohio River Bike Trail.

The presentation was well received. This presentation along with other topics discussed at the Summit may be viewed on-line at www.plancincinnati.org.

Interested in keeping up with the East End Council? Join their mailing list at cincyeastender.blogspot.com.

Hillside Trust Public View Ordinance

Several months ago the CT Community Council voted to provide a letter of support for the Hillside Trust's ordinance proposal to protect Cincinnati's river views. Below are examples of how new construction could impact the view. More information is available at www.hillsidetrust.org.

Great American Cleanup Comes to Columbia Tusculum

Saturday, April 16 9:30 - 11:30 am

Meet at Greener Stock, 3528 Columbia Parkway

Great Amercian Cleanup Spring is around the corner, and it's time to plan a "spring cleaning" for Columbia Tusculum. We will participate in the April 16 Great American Cleanup Day organized by Keep Cincinnati Beautiful.

We are targeting high visibility lots and sidewalks where we will:

** pick up trash

** cut back overgrowth

** maintain landscaping

Help beautify Columbia Tusculum

BYO rakes, clippers, gloves and garden shears and meet at Greener Stock for the community clean-up. Lunch will be provided by Tusculum Pizza.

Whether you join in for the community clean-up, or work on your own street, this is the perfect opportunity to make our neighborhood clean and beautiful.

For more information, contact Christine Carli at (513) 382-8328 or chriscarli@fuse.net.

Residents can also organize their own street cleanup. If you have litter, overgrowth or discarded items on your street to remove, recruit some neighbors to knock it out in one morning.

Keep Cincinnati Beautiful will provide a trash dumpster to remove large items unsuitable (tires, building materials, etc.) for residential trash pick-up. The dumpster will be located at Greener Stock.

Hope to see you there.

Ohio River Trail Ribbon Cutting

bike path riboon cutting

Ballet Theatre Midwest to Present Coppélia-Classical Ballet's Greatest Comedic Love Story

Ballet Theatre Midwest will perform classical ballet's greatest comedic love story, Coppélia, The Girl with Enamel Eyes, June 10-12, 2011 at the Walter C. Deye, S.J. Performance Center at St. Xavier High School, 600 West North Bend Rd. Young and old alike will be enchanted by this tale of mistaken identity and amused by the mischievous antics of two confused lovers, Swanilda and Franz.

Performances and Tickets

Friday, June 10 at 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 11 at 2 p.m.

Sunday, June 12 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for children under 12 and senior citizens 65 and older. High school and college students with a valid student ID can purchase $12 tickets at the theater box office prior to Friday night's show time only. Group discounts for 10 or more people are available. Tickets can be purchased by calling Ballet Theatre Midwest at (513) 520-2334 or by visiting www.ballettheatremidwest.com.

Columbia Tusculum Community Garden

The Community Garden at the corner of Columbia Parkway and Strafer Street is well under way..

The raised beds will be ready for planting by May 1st. Preparing the entire lot and accompanying greenscaping will take 2 to 3 years.

26 4'x'8 cedar raised beds are being provided at a reduced fee by Juliann Gardner, from One Small Garden. Juliann has a passion for gardening and will be available to provide valuable lessons. She has also agreed to provide a neighborhood discount to whomever would like to purchase a raised bed for their own yard. You can contact her by phone at 513-831-7686, e-mail at juliann@1smallgarden.com or click on the link above for her website.

Our water source will be installed and ready by the end of next week, April 22. Many thanks to Mike Tarvin at Tarvin Plumbing for the genorous donation of reduced labor.

Thanks to Jeff Kropp and his crew for committing to helping remove the downed trees from the Community Garden.

And last but not least, thank you to Hyde Park Landscaping for the donation of wood chips

A "Safe and Clean" grant porposal will soon be submitted to Keep Cincinnati Beautiful. If approved, this grant will be used for preparation and greenscaping of the Garden, and possibly for painting the retaining wall below the garden facing Columbia Parkway. Designs for designating "the Columbia Tusculum Community Garden" in decorative lettering on the wall will be considered. The deadline for grant submission is May 1.

Do you want to garden?

Gardeners will be asked to contribute a fee towards garden development and building the planting beds. The fee for 2 4'x'8 beds, including excellent soil, is $50, with an additional $30 to pay for water.

Anyone interested in gardening in this community garden is welcome. Reservations for beds are being taken on a first come first served basis.

Only a few beds remain available. So, don't wait - reserve your bed now.

If you have an interest in gardening, beautifying, or financially supporting this project, please contact Christine Carli at 513-382-8328 or chriscarli@fuse.net.

Neighborhood Go-Green Summerfest Planned for June 18th

A neighborhood party, coinciding with Greenarama, will take place on June 18th at the Green Dog Cafe in Columbia Square. The party will start at 4:00pm and end at 10pm. The schedule of events is below:

4-6pm: Help to paint/decorate a bike rack to be installed in Columbia Square.

4-5pm: Airbrush tatoos by Maddy Batteiger of Special Events Entertainment

5-6pm: Balloon animals by Maddy Batteiger of Special Events Entertainment

6-10pm Live musice by The Fun Size.

Green Dog will host, provide food and drink, for a nominal fee, and generously donate a portion of proceeds from the event to the Columbia Tusculum Community Council for use in neighborhood projects.

All entertainment is being funded by the Columbia Tusculum Business Association, through the City of Cincinnati, Neighborhood Business District Support Fund.

GREENarama highlights sustainable Cincinnati in first home show

Check out the GREENarama article from the April 12th, Soapbox Cincinnati issue.

For more information on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification see - www.usgbc.org.

For more information on the City of Cincinnati's Green Building residential Property Tax Exemptions see - www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cdap/pages/-3521-/.

Check out more information at www.greenarama.org and on their facebook page.

No Yard Waste Collection - What to Do?

In response to the City discontinuing yard waste collection, Columbia Tusculum residents are working together to create a neighborhood composting site. The plan is to have a designated place where residents can drop off their yard waste.

The proposed site is off Riverside Drive on Wenner Avenue, four blocks west of Riverview East Academy. The initiative will be in partnership with the Civic Garden Center.

Volunteers will be needed to clear out overgrowth and debris, and hopefully have the site functioning by early May.

If you are interested in taking part, please contact ctcc@columbiatusculum.org.

IN THE MEAN TIME you can take yard wast to BZAK Landscaping - 3295 Turpin Lane, Anderson Township. Open Saturdays and Sundays, 11:30am to 5:00pm and Monday - Friday, 7:30am to 5:00pm.

Friends of Alms Park - Looking for some new Friends!

Friends of Alms Park is a small group of local people interested in supporting and promoting Alms Park. FOAP is looking for new "friends."

Do you want to be a Friend?

FOAP needs new members who care about Alms Park and want to help out. Initiatives identified are:

1. Doing an invasive species clean-out: Honeysuckle, garlic mustard and lesser celandine

2. Encouraging citizen donations to purchase park benches and trees for the park: Purchase a gift that continues to give through the Park Board in memory or celebration of any individual or group. Donations are also welcome to just enrich our park.

www.cincyparks.com/parks-foundation/honor-your-loved-ones-with-a-commemorative-tree-or.shtml

3. Forming litter patrols: Help supplement reduced Park Board staff. This may be just picking up litter you see when you normally visit the park.

4. Possibly organizing an event to bring the neighborhood together to enjoy their park. The Park Board is unable to repeat the successful 2010 "Everyone's Neighborhood Picnic" that over a hundred residents enjoyed.

To become a FOAP member - or to just help on any of these - contact Arlene Golembiewski at ctcouncil@cinci.rr.com.

Getting to Know Columbia Tusculum

Let us get to know you or your business

Would you like your community to know more about you? Send us your description (business or personal) to Journal@columbiatusculum.org

Share your CT news:

It's easy to send us news. Do you have a local event to tell your neighbors about? Know of someone who's won an award, started a new business or some other noteworthy news?

Send us just the facts, ma'am, (who, what, when, where, plus your phone number) to journal@columbiatusculum.org.