Post-Cleanup News

Hello Garden Tract Neighbors!

What a beautiful weekend we had before this storm! We had a small, but strong turnout for our cleanup this past Saturday, Oct. 10th. There were 14 adults, 2 infants, and my 2 kids, ages 5 and 2 whose sharp eyes didn't miss a single cigarette butt! The RPD picked up our loot and reported it weighed 220 lbs. So there you have it, our neighborhood is 220 lbs cleaner! Here are a few photos.

We had a very pleasant potluck in my driveway afterward and discussed some neighborhood news. We presented Gil Murray with an honorary certificate for helping to refurbish all 14 of the Crime Watch signs in the neighborhood and saving us lots of money! We also discussed the idea of a neighborhood planting theme. Wouldn't it be fun to have the whole neighborhood, or just random lots of those participating, sprout up with daffodils in the spring? We are looking into having OSH give our neighborhood a discount for bulbs to encourage this effort. It would be great to use our "Garden" theme and make our name more known in the Redding community. We gave out 3 raffle prizes (daffodil bulbs).

The idea actually came about after Jim Kennedy and I met with Randy Smith, Commissioner, to discuss the possibility of traffic calming measures in the neighborhood. He pointed out that any pedestrian or traffic counts, any hard data will all have to be recollected and evaluated once both bridges are completed, which is 2 years out. In the meantime, art or gardening may visually attract motorists and slow them down. Our thoughts are 1) even if it doesn't slow down motorists, we can show our community spirit by using our garden theme and 2) in this way, we can start setting ourselves up for pursuing traffic calming measures and encouraging pedestrian activity in the neighborhood. Mr. Smith also suggested we look into commissioning a "mosaic ball" like those at City Hall and in the Parkview Neighborhood. We'll see if this is affordable, feasible, and where we could place it if everything else might work out.

Jim Kennedy and I also discussed the issue of foreclosures in the neighborhood and what can be done to improve appearances of unoccupied lots. He suggested we learn more about the City code enforcement standards and that pursuing these issues will also count in our favor down the road if we hope to pursue traffic calming measures.

Our next general meeting will be on Monday, November 2nd, 7 pm, Cypress Elementary School. We will complete a survey to develop our Mission Statement. We want your input, so please try to attend this one! We may also have a speaker on the Highway 44 Bridge project.

Hope to see you in November!

Sincerely,

Monique Gaido

795 Lincoln St

moniquegaido@gmail.com

October 9th, 2009

Hello Neighbors!

Our October 5th meeting had an unusually small turnout, most likely because I forgot to send out a group email to remind people. (Also there was an event at the Cascade that drew several neighbors.) We had planned to conduct a survey to help us derive a mission statement for our group, but we decided to postpone this until the next meeting in hope of a bigger turnout. So mark your calendars for November 2nd! To make it very easy and painless, we want to spend about 15-20 minutes on the survey, collect your ideas, and then compile a mission statement to vote on and fine-tune wording at the following meeting. The mission statement will allow us to focus our energy where you all would like to see it happen!

Our second Neighborhood Cleanup Day is tomorrow, Saturday, October 10th! Those who are available and able, meet in my driveway - 795 Lincoln St at 10 am with some gloves. We'll provide bags, maps, and pickers. It will not be strenuous! The idea is to walk the neighborhood, greet people and invite them to our potluck and get to know each other. It's also nice to pick up a little litter along the way, of course! Please encourage everyone to join us for the potluck at 1 pm. We're keeping it simple and there will be some raffle prizes! Grab a neighbor and join us! - 795 Lincoln St.

I'll update you with a photo of our potluck group next week! Thanks for your interest, support, and enthusiasm. It keeps me going and it has been so wonderful to get to know more of you. We have a great community and it has even more potential. It is and will be what we want it to be!

Stay tuned!

Monique