Historic Poplar Lawn on Skull-A-Day!

Check out this really cool site, both online and in person: the artwork is in our very own park.

skulladay.com

(Skull #328, Rock 'N' Skull)

Garden Week in Poplar Lawn

It may be raining for this Garden Week, but Poplar Lawn is spiffy and gorgeous anyway. Check out how lovely everything was looking before it started pouring:

East Marshall Street
Iris on East Marshall Street
Jeff and Bev's lovely yard
More at Jeff and Bev's

Amos and Joyce participated in the Garden Week tour
Amos and Joyce
The traffic circle is blooming
Irises on Sycamore, Kay and Jay's house
Kay and Tommy's garden
Liberty Street looks great after the clean up
The dogwoods blooming on Sycamore Street
Mady and Phil's irises
Mady and Phil's daffodils
DOGZILLA!

posted by Mady

Poplar Lawn Community Cleanup Day a Success!

Community Cleanup Day could not have been more beautiful: sunny with a breeze and friendly people dressed in safety orange vests.

We had some hard-working neighbors out there today. A group even worked crime prevention when they found a dumped pile of office garbage that had been stolen from a law office in Hopewell and dumped off of Jefferson Street. We started out with some coffee and donuts on Sycamore Street, and then everyone raked and shoveled and clipped plants and picked up trash and filled many bags with garbage and debris. Ralph rode his tractor and mowed several empty lots. Phil and Dave picked up all the neon orange trash bags and piles of brush in Dave's pickup, so it would all be gone for Garden Week.

Many, many thanks to Dave Alexander, Angie and Ralph (ROB!) Baldwin, Phil "Batman" Cheney, Tony Cooper, Judith Gruca, Kevin Johns, Suzette Kearns, Ralston Mims, Pam Roberts, Debra and Victor Robles, Amy Rizzo, and the guy cutting the grass with scissors on Marshall Street.

Ralph racing from vacant lot to vacant lot
Super Angie to the rescue!
Victor cleans up the neighborhood.
Debra is so fashionable, she always matches her safety vest to her trash bags.
Our new neighbor Judith joins in.
A team effort to clean up Jefferson Street.
Pam blows us all away with her power tools.
Suzette comes all the way from Richmond to help us clean up the neighborhood.

Dave and Phil cut back overgrown shrubs on Harrison Street.
Even the dogs help out in Poplar Lawn!

Ralston rakes up Marshall Street.

Tony 's set of wheel.Bright orange bags o' trash.

Pick up service is here...transporters of trash bags.

Nominate Poplar Lawn, your neighbors, their gardens, etc.

Below are several links to award nomination forms for neighborhoods, neighbors, even urban gardens. Please consider nominating Poplar Lawn, its sites and your neighbors for awards. Afterward, please email your nomination submissions to PoplarLawn-at-gmail, so that I may share them with the neighborhood and post them to the blog.

http://www.vsnconf.org/awards.htm

http://www.usaonwatch.org/AboutUs/AwardsProgram.php

http://www.cybergrants.com/pls/cybergrants/ao_survey.form?x_gm_id=1499&x_section_id=5108&x_quiz_survey_id=2266

http://www.apva.org/awards/

http://www.metroblooms.org/nominate.php

posted by Mady

Check out/post photos of P'burg

Beautiful, beautiful pics showing the gorgeousness of our city and its people.

Go here to see them.

Posted by Mady

Spring Cleaning on Tulip Alley!!

A swarm of police cars were a long-awaited vision as they headed down Tulip Alley on Thursday, April 10, to clean out the rat's nests that thrive there. About four "residents" emerged in handcuffs, including "Phlegmish girl", the foul-mouthed young woman who walks around our neighborhood screaming expletives all night long, and her apparent, verbally abusive boyfriend, aka "Fly", "Small Fly" and "Spanish Fly" , as well as at least two other drunken, drugged-out denizens. If the landlord keeps the place clean henceforth, our real estate values will soar. He is the blame for this mess more than anyone and should be fined or prosecuted for continually aiding and abetting drug dealers. Plegmish girl seems to be sad case and I do hope this serves as a wake-up call that prompts her to find help. But tonight we expect to see the regular crackheads driving by in new cars, walking by, or riding their bikes, only to be disappointed that the drug store is, for the time being, closed. Thanks to the police and the chief for a job well done..

—JA

Promoting Poplar Lawn Neighborhood

The board has been looking for ways to promote our lovely neighborhood, particulary the positive, friendly and active aspects of it. This includes entering our neighborhood into some contests, so you will be hearing more about that soon.

Nestled in the middle of downtown historic Petersburg, Virginia, Poplar Lawn boasts a lovely historic park, gorgeous old homes, and some of the friendliest fun-loving neighbors you’ll ever meet.

The neighbors in Poplar Lawn, a nationally registered historic neighborhood, are not only friendly but also community-minded. In addition to Neighborhood Watch and a very active neighborhood association, Poplar Lawn works to keep neighbors in contact through phone calls, flyers and an email distribution list as well as with a blog.

Lively conversation and wit on the blog and in neighborhood meetings is often inspired by local government, community projects and the trials and joys of being a part of a redeveloping urban community. Everyone’s opinion is welcome to be expressed, and at the end of the day, regardless of opposing opinions, the neighbors are always friendly to one another.

The neighborhood is a lovely walking community, and people visit on the porches in the warm months, often offering a glass of sweet tea or lemonade. Several neighbors throw themed parties, encouraging everyone to dress up. The neighborhood association has even hosted an Oktoberfest and a holiday party that featured belly dancers.

The neighborhood also works to serve its community by restoring and preserving historic spaces, maintaining and patrolling a centrally located park and participating in civic activities like a city-wide food drive, planting gardens in public spaces and participating in local clean-up days.

Since nearly everyone in the neighborhood is restoring historic homes, neighbors always chip in to help each other out when something goes awry during construction, or when neighbors need encouragement. We celebrate community successes and joys and mourn community losses, a built-in support system during times of both birth and passing. The neighbors are all very generous and work to welcome new members as well as check-in with long-time residents with friendly conversation and baked treats or some tomatoes from the garden.

Historic Poplar Lawn in Petersburg, Virginia is beautiful and historic, yes, but its charm and life come from its neighbors.

posted by Mady

Petersburg Preservation Workshops: Updated 04/08/08

Friday, April 4, 2:00 to 5:30 pm
"What It Means To Be In A Historic District"
Historic Petersburg Foundation headquarters, 420 Grove Avenue
Presented by APVA Preservation Virginia & the Virginia Department of Historic Resources
The registration cost for the workshop is $30 per person ($25 for members of APVA Preservation Virginia.)
This workshop qualifies as a continuing education & post license education course through the Virginia Real Estate Board.

Thursday, April 10, 7:00 pm
Historic Paint Colors
Free!
Union Station,103 River Street
Presentation by John Crosby Freeman "The Color Doctor"
Mr. Freeman has over 25 years experience selecting, naming and arranging palettes of historic paint colors, and has authored over 100 books, articles, essays, introductions, and bibliographies on historic visual arts.
One-on-one consultations are available with Mr. Freeman. Please call ahead to schedule.

Friday, April 11, 12:00 pm
"Translating Color Into Dollars"
Free!
Old Town Catering Company, 9 West Old Street
Light lunch provided, limited seats available. Please rsvp at (804) 733-2308
Presentation by John Crosby Freeman "The Color Doctor"
Mr. Freeman has over 25 years experience selecting, naming and arranging palettes of historic paint colors, and has authored over 100 books, articles, essays, introductions, and bibliographies on historic visual arts.
One-on-one consultations are available with Mr. Freeman. Please call ahead to schedule.

Saturday, April 12, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
"Classic Colors for Buildings: Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow"
Free!
Petersburg Regional Arts Center, 132 North Sycamore Street
Presentation by John Crosby Freeman "The Color Doctor"
Mr. Freeman has over 25 years experience selecting, naming and arranging palettes of historic paint colors, and has authored over 100 books, articles, essays, introductions, and bibliographies on historic visual arts.
One-on-one consultations are available with Mr. Freeman. Please call ahead to schedule.

Saturday, May 3, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
(Rescheduled from April 5!)
Restoring Historic Windows
Free!
Farmers Market, 9 East Old Street
Presenter- David Gibney, Historic Restoration Specialists, Inc.
David Gibney has been a practicing restoration craftsman and technician for the past twenty-five years. His areas of expertise include carpentry, masonry, decorative plaster, timber and log structure restoration. As founder and president of Historic Restoration Specialists, Inc., David's work focuses on the design, history, and preservation of high-end early American homes. He also teaches restoration at Harford Community College, Belair, MD.

For more information contact: Victoria A. Hauser, 733-2308, vahauser(at)petersburg-va(dot)org

Sponsored by the City of Petersburg, Department of Planning, in partnership with a generous grant from the Certified Local Government program.

The activity that is the subject of this flyer has been financed in part with Federal funds from the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of the Interior, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Department of the Interior.

posted by Mady 03/17/08, updated 03/21/08 and 04/08/08

City Assessor information---April 15 deadline for reviews

A reminder, if you feel the assessed value of your property does not represent the fair market value, or that the assessment is not equitable with comparable properties, or is otherwise erroneous, and wish to have the City Assessor's Office review the assessment, you need to submit your application for review before April 15.

Here is a link to the forms to have your assessment reviewed:
http://www.petersburg-va.org/assessor/review.htm

Here is a link to the records:
http://www.petersburg-va.org/assessor/records.asp

Mady