Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) meeting 10/25/2006

Share your Vision for rebuilding the neighborhoods of Petersburg

Petersburg High School Cafeteria

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Dinner 5:30
Meeting 6:30-8:30
Childcare provided

See the LISC Web site for more information about this organization

~Mady

Community Forum On Black Entrepreneurship: The Roads Ahead

On Thursday, October 26, at 7 p.m. the Sycamore Rouge Performing Arts Center (21 West Old Street) will host its monthly Community Forum with a focus on Black entrepreneurship. BLACK ENTREPRENEURSHIP – THE ROADS AHEAD is the second in this series, and will focus on programs, opportunities and ideas to stimulate black-owned business creation and growth in Petersburg and the Tri-Cities. All interested Petersburg and Tri-Cities residents are invited to attend. There is no charge. For more information, please contact Larry "Akin" Smith at 804 605 6031 or at akintwo@aol.com.

~Posted by Mady for HPLA Board

Opinionated?

I know you guys have opinions. I mean, I've been to the neighborhood meetings. We've all got opinions in Poplar Lawn.

Air them. Use the comments button on the lower right, there. You don't even have to be a member of blogger. Anyone can opine on our blog. We're cool like that.

Better yet, go to Petersburg Vibe's Message Boards. There's a whole lot o' opinionatin' going on over there.

Roquentin should get a user name.

~Mady

Celebrity in our midst

I cannot tell you how many people in our neighborhood have written/approached/called me to announce to the neighborhood that Poplar Lawn's own Mr. Christopher Shorr of Sycamore Rouge was named one of the "Forty Under Forty" by Richmond's Style Weekly. It seems that Richmond is picking up on what Petersburg already knows: that Petersburg is a hotbed of creativity and growth. Congratulations, Christopher!

And thank you, everyone, for continuing to keep me abreast of everything, even if I am a little behind on updating.

~Mady

Update: Nuts for Petersburg

Here is an update on our peanut butter drive: Beta Sigma Phi sorority has made it a mission to help us with the drive. Mady went and spoke at the local chapter's meeting last week, and the sorority is working to help us in several ways. They will be working to collect peanut butter through members of their sorority as well as through members' businesses. We really appreciate their support. Mady was also asked to speak at Beta Sigma Phi's upcoming "town council" meeting that will expose the project to the leaders of their regional chapters.

Here is where we need your help: we need members to put up posters and to encourage people to donate. Letters to papers and Web postings would also be great. Collections at work, through churches and through other civic organizations would be greatly appreciated. If you would like a PDF of the poster, please e-mail us. We'll send you a high-resolution, color PDF suitable for printing.

Remember, our goal is 3,509 jars of peanut butter, one for each of the 3,509 children who live below the poverty level in Petersburg. It's a huge goal, and that's why we need your help.

Why peanut butter? Peanut butter is one of the most popular and needed supplies at food banks. It is high in protein and fiber, filling, and easy to prepare. Children and seniors love it. Plus, it's easy to remember. The next time you are picking up a jar for yourself, please pick one up for Nuts for Petersburg too.

Where can you donate? Several area businesses have risen to the challenge of helping to feed our city's hungry. You can donate at the following locations: Ukrops, 3330 South Crater Road; YMCA, 120 N. Madison Street; City Hall, 135 N. Union St.; Sycamore Rouge, 21 W. Old St.; M&M Ice Cream Parlor,105 W. Bank St.; Penniston's Alley, 102 W. Old St.; Purple Passion, 29 W. Bank St.; Kimberly Ann's, 246 N. Sycamore St.; and Sycamore Rouge, 21 W. Old St.

Additionally, many businesses in the area have donated prizes to Nuts for Petersburg. For every four jars you donate, you will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win prizes from businesses like Abraham Isaac, 22 Bolling Brook St.; Art from the Heart, 13 E Washington St; At the Globe, 201 N Sycamore St.; Kimberly Ann's, 246 N Sycamore St.; M&M Ice Cream Parlor, 105 W. Bank St.; Purple Passion, 29 W. Bank Street; Sycamore Rouge, 21 W. Old St.; and Therapeutic Massage and Boutique, 27 Bolling Brook St.

Thanks for any help you can give us, and please continue to donate peanut butter!

~Mady and the HPLA board

Fire Hydrants

Thanks to everyone who painted hydrants last weekend, both as a group on Saturday and on their own. Your time is truly appreciated. They all look great. It makes such an impact. In addition to looking great, it really helps the neighborhood to have concerned neighbors seen taking pride in doing work around the neighborhood.

We have plenty of paint left, as well as drop cloths, paint brushes, rags and wire brushes. If you would like to pick a hydrant and paint it on your own time, please give us a call at 863-2666 or e-mail us.

Traffic Circle Progress!

Thank you to all the people who showed up at the Traffic meeting last night. We had ten members in attendance at the meeting last night, which seemed to do the trick. Our Sub-committee chair, Jeff Abugel, did a great job of summing up the process that his HPLA sub-committee went through to make this proposed plan happen. He has really worked tirelessly, and I think everyone really agrees that he has done a bang-up job. (Thanks, Jeff!) Amos also spoke eloquently at the meeting, as did your president, Phil. We also had the great planning and support of Ron Reekes who has made this plan work.

The result of the meeting is this: the commission voted to give the neighborhood the requested traffic circle with the caveat that it is tested first with nailed-down cones in the area where the traffic circle will be. This is a safety measure that will assure that all the sizes and shapes of the emergency vehicles necessary to keep the neighborhood safe can make it through the newly narrowed intersection.

Traffic Commission Meeting TONIGHT

The traffic commission will meet tonight to consider the 4-way stop and traffic circle proposed at Marshall and S. Adams street. The meeting is at 7:30 in City Hall third floor council chambers. In order to get this traffic circle, it is imperative that the members of our neighborhood come out to the meeting. Please bring your neighbors.

Monday October 16th
7:30
City Hall, third floor

~posted by Mady

Paint Hydrants this Saturday

The first Fire Hydrant painting session will be Saturday, October 14, 2006. Spiff up the hydrants in this beautiful, fall weather with friends and neighbors. We'll have all the supplies and some treats, just bring yourself and a pair of gloves. Here are the details:
~Mady

When: Saturday, October 14, 2006, starting 10:30 AM, come by when you can and get what you need
Where: the front porch of 326 South Sycamore Street (Mady and Phil's place)
Why: High Street has already done their hydrants, and we don't want them to get cocky, right? Plus, fresh hydrants will look so good with our new street signs!
Details: We will give you what you need, and there of course will be some goodies to get your strength up
What you will be doing: We'll give you the fire engine red paint, the brushes, and assign you a hydrant, and you paint it.
In a nutshell: Bring a friend and do it together to make it go fast. It's up to you to do as little or as much as you want.

Traffic Commission Meeting: Rescheduled time

The traffic commission will meet Monday October 16th, to consider the traffic circle proposed at Marshall and S. Adams street. The meeting is at 7:30 in City Hall third floor council chambers.

Please come out to the meeting, and bring friends!

~Mady

And Now for an Encore: The Monday Night Non-Meeting

Okay, nature played a role in putting the cabash on Nostalgiafest. At least today there were a few signs pointing to next week for another try. But the folks who put together the city website's calendar should have remembered that Monday was Columbus Day, especially when they would likely be getting a day off.

At the last HPLA Meeting, where Mr. Reekes proposed an intelligent solution to Marshall Street's congestion and speeding problems, some of us eagerly jotted down October 9 as the date for the relevant Traffic and Transportation Safety Commission meeting.

So tonight, a few of us from Marshall and Adams Streets made our way down to city hall to attend the meeting and lend our support to Mr. Reekes' plan. Unfortunately, the place was locked up tighter than Charlotte the Crack Whore's....well, neurotransmitters. Did we miss something? Did we suddenly find ourselves in a surreal world of non-festivals and non-meetings?

At home again, we checked our datebooks and the city's online calendar. There it was (and still is, in all likelihood), in black and white, under Monday, Octover 09, 2006:
2006 Traffic & Transportation Safety Commission Meeting
City Hall Council Chambers
103 W. Tabb Street
7:30 PM

Curiouser and Curiouser. I suggest that if you want to know what non-event will happen tommorrow, simply Go Ask Alice.

PS: Any of you other board members who care to pipe in from time to time are more than welcome to, you know.