Happy May Day, Poplar Lawn!

May Day celebrates springtime with community gatherings, oftentimes featuring a Maypole, around which traditional dancers circle with ribbons. Poplar Lawn is having a Spring Fling celebration (sans Maypole) on May 17th from 5:00-9:00 in yards adjoining the park to celebrate spring and our community.


On May Day, May Baskets are left as a surprise at neighbors' doorsteps. Traditionally, the person receiving the basket would try to catch the person who left the May Basket. If they caught the person, a kiss was to be exchanged. Hear that, Tammy?! ;)


May 1 is also International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day. (See GuerrillaGardening.org for more information on using gardening to reclaim blighted areas.)


Please take some time today to spread some goodwill surprises to your neighbors and perhaps some wildflower seeds throughout some of our vacant spaces!

~Mady

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

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

HPLA: Mortuary appealing zoning denial for 530 Sycamore Street

Brought to my attention yesterday by a neighbor and verified by Joe Hatch today by phone:

Shirley P Johnson Funeral Home, which was formerly on Halifax Street across from the Tabernacle Church before a fire damaged the building in January, is hoping to reopen at 530 Sycamore Street, which is on the corner of Sycamore Street at Walnut. The building has been empty, and was previously a doctor's office.

The service is small, about 3 to 4 funerals a month, according to the owners. They were denied use of this building, which would initially be a leased property, and are appealing the zoning decision this Thursday, March 27 at 2:00 pm on the third floor of City Hall.

If you have an opinion and cannot make it to the meeting on Thursday, you may submit a letter to
Joseph Hatch, Zoning Administrator
135 N. Union Street
Petersburg, Virginia 23803

For questions, please call Mr. Hatch at 804-733-2309.

posted by Mady

Ward 4 meeting on April 3 at 6:30pm

The Ward 4 meeting will be on April 3 starting at 6:30pm at St Mark's Methodist Church. (Address and link to map below.) A rep from the Assessor's office will be attending, as will reps to discuss the new library project and South Side Train Station. The Old Towne Merchant's Association will be doing the reception. Councilman Moore will not be distributing fliers this time, but he will send out a telephone message.

St Mark's Methodist Church
225 Claremont St
Petersburg, VA 23805
(804) 733-4487

posted by Mady

HPF notification of 503 W. Washington Street approval by ARB

HPLA was sent a notification from Historic Petersburg Foundation of a recent decision by the Architectural Review Board to approve a commercial trailer as a temporary structure for the Islamic Temple at 503 W. Washington Street in the Folly Castle Historic District.

The concern is that the trailer was approved for a year's use, and it is believed by HPF that the approved commercial trailer will linger past its approved time period. HPF would like the ARB to work with the house of worship to find a more appropriate structure for their use.

HPF has filed an appeal with the ARB and requested that the issue be listed as a City Council agenda item.

HPF asked me to share this information with you and requests that write a letter to Isaac Ward, Chair of the ARB, expressing opposition to the the March 12 decision approving the temporary structure.

The ARB information follows:
Architectural Review Board
Department of Planning & Community Development
City Hall, Room 304, Petersburg, Virginia 23803
Telephone#804-733-2308

If you have any questions, please contact David Primeaux, president of Historic Petersburg Foundation, at the below address:
Historic Petersburg Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 691
Petersburg, Virginia 23804
Telephone: 804-732-2096 Fax: 804-733-0867
420 Grove Avenue, Petersburg, VA 23804

posted by
Mady

Police and Community Together, a problem-solving workshop

Petersburg Bureau Of Police Presents
Police and Community Together
Tabernacle Community Life Center
444 Halifax Street
April 12, 2008
9 AM TO 4 PM
The Petersburg Bureau of Police invite you and your neighbors to attend a neighborhood problem solving workshop. Together we will focus our efforts on solving the problems you live with everyday. With the help of schools, churches, city agencies and service providers, we will make a difference in our neighborhoods and our city.
You must RSVP by March 28, 2008—Please Call 863-2726
Neighborhoods Including the West End, the Heights, Pocahontas Island and Old Towne
Wards 7– Webb, 6-Coleman, 5- Mickens and 4- Moore
Breakfast and lunch will be served compliments of Motorola.

posted by Mady

Become an HPLA blogger!

If you are a Poplar Lawn resident and want to post on our blog, please sign up for a blogger account and email the neighborhood (PoplarLawn-at-gmail) for an invitation. All opinions are welcome. We do not censor, and we allow everyone to comment.

posted by Mady

Answers to HPLA Questions received in emails and through blog

Hi, everyone:

There have been some questions and concerns sent to me, and I will do my best to address them here.

Question: "When did Mady take over from Phil as President? Who are the board members?"

Answer: In name, I have been president this past year, but Phil and I have been working as co-presidents so the position would be filled.

Currently, the HPLA board is made up almost entirely of emeriti because we have not had parties interested in running for board membership. Despite requests for board members, many of these requests made personally to people in our community, there has just not been a resource for board members. That is understandable, as people in our neighborhood are just too busy helping our city and neighborhood in other ways. However, the board is now made up of the same people who have been doing this for years, and who are all stretched a bit thin. Hopefully, with the influx of new neighbors, we will have lots of new board members this year.

The board members are as follows:
Amy Rizzo, Mady Dersch, Kathy Fields and Phil Cheney are all emeriti who are staying on the board to try to help keep it going. Christine Shorr (past president) agreed to be on the board as an emeritus member as well. Jeff Abugel is in his last year in his term, but we don't ever want to lose him because he keeps his eye out for crime, always shows up when needed, and writes hilarious blog entries. Susette Kearns (who is one of our most dependable association members ever and shows up to everything but who does not reside in her home here in Poplar Lawn) was our only new member this year. Amy agreed to stay on in the VP position, and Mady stepped up to the President position for the year, with Phil's help.

--

Question: "Why didn't HPLA support High Street's Holiday Party last year?"

Answer: There have been several accusations that we did not promote last year's All Neighborhoods Party. While this accusation in and of itself seems sort of ludicrous, (Why would there be an organized attempt to systemically thwart a social event?) the HPLA board commits its support to the 2006 Holiday Party hosted by High Street.

On the contrary, the neighborhood was emailed last year with notification of the High Street-sponsored party. Mady also personally delivered to residents the hard copies that were given to us by High Street and did the usual call tree calls for the 2006 party at the same time that she called residents to inform them of the HPLA 2006 party. (not a lot of people came to the HPLA party in 2006 either).

The short answer: HPLA announced the 2006 Holiday Party hosted by High Street. The party was advertised by High Street and by HPLA. Not a lot of people went. A resonable guess is that people were busy with all the other parties and commitments during the holidays, which brings me to our next concern ...

--

Question: "Why didn't we have a Christmas Party this year?"

Answer: Everyone in our neighborhood was too busy: we all have careers and commitments and old houses that need fixing and families, etc. All of those things are priorities and should be. The holidays are a busy time. People are over-extended, and we all have a difficult time making it to all of the potential engagements.

Much discussion went around the board trying to justify a party that may not even be well attended: our last several have been a waste of money and really poorly attended. Ideas were thrown around to instead do something community-minded and improve the city with something other than a party that gets lost amidst all the other celebrating of the season or have a party at another time of the year.

We had very little budget to work with because we had not collected everyone's dues. We could not afford to rent a location, and no one wanted to offer a space. The usual players who balance the majority of the neighborhood association's workload were all stretched thin with work, moving, job searches, family commitments and illness, and travel.

--

Question: "Are we having a party to make up for the one we didn't have"?

Answer: A subcommittee has been formed by the fabulous Debra Robles to work on planning a social event. They are meeting and we will get back to everuone on the decision that is made about a social engagement for the combined neighborhood associations.

--

Question: "Why did we ask those outside of Poplar Lawn to bring anything to the party, back when we originally were scheduled to have a holiday party? I have never heard of guests from other Neighborhood Associations bringing anything."

Answer: In the past, we have been asked to bring things to parties outside of our neighborhood. Additionally, outsiders have brought things to our parties before. When the newbies on the board (the lot of us) came here, that was how we were told it was done, and how we'd been doing it. Otherwise, we wouldn't have shlepped all those ham biscuits to othe neighborhoods' parties. (And the invitation to our last all-neighborhoods holiday party, the one at At The Globe, had the same request on the invitation. No one set us straight that time.) We've learned our lesson now.

--

Question: "Why aren't we meeting regularly? Why don't we meet in peoples houses like we used to?"

Answer: Our bylaws say every other month. If we have a meeting with city officials made available to the neighborhood, we count that as a meeting. We actually have met a fair amount, but sometimes those meetings are poorly attended. if you would like to host a meeting, let us know.

--

Question: "To whom do I pay my dues? Are my dues paid for this year? Why are our dues due in June instead of Janurary?"

Answer: Pay dues to our treasurer, Kathy Fields. Our fiscal year starts in the summer per our bylaws.

--

Question: "...where is HPLA? Is the association on hiatus, or has it just died altogether?"

Answer: It's still around, with a few people doing a few things when they can. We need your help, though. If you like what we do, help us. If you hate our guts and everything we do, please, please throw a coup and take it over.

posted by Mady

Car break-in

Please read this account of an incident in Poplar Lawn that occurred February 27.

I was home early (3:00 PM) and unloading groceries from my car. I had made one quick trip into house, let the dog in the back yard and followed him to the driveway. He immediately started barking and when I got to my car, I saw a man walking down my driveway toward the street. I quickly looked in my car (which was unlocked - I know, I'm
stupid!) and saw that it had been gone through and items all about.

I called for him to stop, which he did, and asked him what he was doing in my yard. He said that he had stopped for a break and was walking down the street. I asked him what he had done with the things he had taken form my car ( I wasn't sure at this point what had been taken) and he said that he didn't take anything, but that Dave Harrison might have.

At this point I pulled out my cell phone and said I was going to call the police and let them get it straight. He then reached in his coat pocket and pulled out my XM radio receiver and another cell phone I own. He gave them to me and walked quickly across Fillmore to the park. In the middle of the park, another guy (the lookout?) called "Mike" to him and went over to see him. They both headed north on Sycamore. Later, after going through my car more thoroughly, I found that about $3.00 in change had been taken. I then called the police to
make a report. They sent an officer out and he walked the property with me.

Please let our neighbors know not to be as foolish (that's mild) as me. I honestly was gone from my car a total of five minutes in the middle of the day! I will never leave my car unlocked again, unless I can see it. By the way, the police officer encouraged me to report any and all
suspicious behavior, no matter how odd it may seem.