Wednesday, May 26, 2010

no rain on our parade

This past saturday, the second annual Alive on E185 parade stepped off at 10:30 as scheduled. While the weather looked ominous and it was sprinkling earlier that morning, the skies cleared just in time for the neighborhood to enjoy this wonderful event.

More than 30 units marched the length of the street. Bands played. Politicians threw candy. Children cheered.

The parade was followed by a sidewalk sale, which Mother Nature was not so kind to. At about 2pm, a brief thunderstorm washed out the sidewalk sale.

Overall, the event was great and plans for 2011 are already underway.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Alive on E185 Tomorrow

The buzz is growing. The parade lineup is squared away. The flowers are planted. the banners are up.

THERE WILL BE A PARADE TOMORROW!!

Hope to see you there.

The parade starts at 10:30 am (rain or shine).

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Recreation Center breaks ground!

On a beautiful spring morning, the new Collinwood Recreation Center broke ground this past Saturday, May 15th.

A large crowd was present as Councilman Polensek started off the flurry of speeches commemorating the special day. The crowd listened attentively as Polensek, Senator George Voinovich, Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher, Representative Marcia Fudge, and State Representative Kenny Yuko commented on all the hard work that made this day a reality.

After the speeches and the ceremonial dirt shoveling, the Northeast Cleveland Little League kicked off their annual parade to Humphrey Park.

The following day (Monday), work crews could be seen continuing the work on the building.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Census Worker at Your Door

The US Census may knock on your door if you did not complete your census forms. Please read the following to know how to tell if that door knocker is really with the census or it is a scam:

To ensure a complete and accurate count of residents nationwide, the Census Bureau on May 1, 2010 will begin Non-Response Follow Up field operations as census takers contact those households that did not mail back completed census questionnaires.

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau is mandated by the government to count everyone living in the United States. By achieving an accurate count of the U.S. population, census data helps form the basis for many important political, economic, and social decisions that affect our nation and impact our daily lives.

“We need the help and cooperation of every household we visit to answer ten short questions,” said Dwight P. Dean, Detroit Regional Director for the U.S. Census Bureau. “Answering the questions asked by the Enumerators helps every community get its fair share of billions in federal funds and the correct number of political representatives in the U.S. Congress.”

A U.S. Census taker will have a census ID badge that contains a Department of Commerce watermark. The census taker may also be carrying a bag with a Census Bureau logo. If asked, he or she will provide you with photo identification, supervisor contact information and/or the Local Census Office phone number for verification. The 2010 Census only includes the 10 questions found on the 2010 Census form. Census workers will never ask for Social Security numbers, credit card numbers or bank account information. Further, census workers will never ask to enter a home. If census workers are unable to reach a household member in-person, they will also attempt contact by phone to conduct the interview with a household member. Census workers will never attempt to contact individuals by e-mail.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Euclid Beach Clean-up!

A new initiative has started to help clean up Euclid Beach State Park. Thanks to several dedicated volunteers, the clean-up on April 24th was very successful.

Below is an account from the clean-up and how YOU can get involved:

On Saturday April 24th, volunteers from Cleveland Jobs Corps, Arts Collinwood, Tri-C, Baldwin-Wallace College, Case Western Reserve University, and John Carroll University came together to clean and screen the Euclid Beach! It is only April and we collected over 150 pounds of trash! Some of our top trash items collected included plastic cigar tips with over 800 collected, plastic caps and pieces with over 300 collected, and plastic bags with over 150 collected!

With summer around the corner, we are going to need your help! Join the Euclid Beach Adopt-a-Beach Team this summer along with 7,000+ other volunteers across the Great Lakes as we tackle some of the toughest months of the year for beach and water quality!

Remember, our Great Lakes constitute over 1/5 of the earth's fresh surface water. Let’s take care of them while we still have the chance!

Our next beach visit will be on Saturday May 22nd from 10am-12pm at Euclid Beach Park!

*For more information, contact Stephen Love slove@mail.bw.edu or call 216-571-0685

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Recreation Center Groundbreaking on May 15

In just over one week, the entire community is invited to come to the Collinwood Recreation Center groundbreaking!

After more than 10 years of planning and advocating, the neighborhood vision of having a top-notch community recreation center will begin the final steps towards reality.

All the details about the groundbreaking are below. Please, please make an effort to come out and celebrate this major community milestone.

You are most cordially invited to attend the official GROUND BREAKING CEREMONY for the new COLLINWOOD COMMUNITY & RECREATION CENTER

SATURDAY, MAY 15, 2010 at 10:00 AM

On-site at 16500 Lakeshore Boulevard (formerly known as the Big Lots property)
Plenty of Parking will be available

Join Mayor Frank G. Jackson, Councilman Michael D. Polensek, Ward 11, Councilman Eugene Miller, Ward 10, Director Mike Cox, City of Cleveland, Department of Parks & Recreation, Architect Paul Volpe of City Architecture, Panzica Construction and a host of other Elected Officials and Community Enthusiasts as we break ground for this new state-of-the-art, eco-friendly, recreational facility in the historic Collinwood community.

Any questions please feel free to call Councilman Polensek at (216) 664-4236.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Clean-up on East 185th

With the “Alive on 185” Parade and Sidewalk Sale coming May 22, 2010, its time to give the street a good spring cleaning.

On April 23rd, East 185th St. was swept and cleaned by a group of volunteers and the staff of Northeast Shores. Lucky for us, it was a beautiful day. We started at noon with our brooms at the Lithuanian Hall and worked our way down the street sweeping and cleaning as needed.

The East 185th St. Block Watch members JP Franczyk, his wife Bev, and Pat Lorek rolled up their sleeves to pitch in. They helped Laura Robinson, Vice President of the E.185th Merchants and Professionals Association, and the staff from Northeast Shores sweep and clean East 185th Street.

The City of Cleveland Division of Waste Collection provided a dumpster for free as part of their “Clean Sweep” program. PNC Bank donated garbage bags and Northeast Shores brought the brooms. Jeanne from the Harland Pub provided us with refreshments as we made our way down the street.

While we were stopping for refreshments, we noticed the Harland Pub had a butt collector in front of their establishment. Jeanne commented they had to get a butt collector because the bucket with sand they had out there before was not working. “Nobody was using it” she said of the bucket they had out there before. As we progressed down the street, the cleaners couldn’t help but notice that if there were more Butt Collectors in front of businesses maybe there wouldn’t be so many cigarette butts on the street. Yes, folks there were lots of cigarette butts along with the usual trash.

As we crossed the street and made our way back up East 185th St., Frank Barresi from Martin’s Men’s Wear was waiting for us with cold bottles of water. Around 2:30 we were joined by the Franczyk children, Tom and Hannah, who were a big help. Hannah, by the way, has her own clean-up business called Boop’s Poop. Hannah for a small fee will come to your house and pick up dog poop for you. If you would like to employ Hannah, you can call Denise at Northeast Shores and she will give you Hannah’s contact information.

By the time we got back to the Lithuanian Hall at 4:00, we were all tired, sore and dirty but the street was nice and clean. As Laura stood back and looked down the street she commented “the street looks so much more inviting when it is all cleaned up”. The clean up crew would like to thank those businesses who take the time to clean up in front of their stores.

*If you would like more information about a butt collector for your business, please call Denise Lorek or John Boksansky at 216-481-7660. They would be more than happy to help you obtain one.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Take those pictures early

The Living in Cleveland Center is kicking off a new contest for all you amateur (and professional) photographers out there. So, dust off those lenses and get snapping!

I am happy to announce we are working on a new marketing initiative for the summer. The "Show us Your Cleveland" campaign is intended to drive increased foot traffic into our neighborhoods. We are now focusing our marketing efforts (print, web, social media) on this campaign. We aim to have Cleveland residents, suburban residents and visitors discover and appreciate the many amazing aspects of city life. The Show us Your Cleveland campaign invites people to explore Cleveland neighborhoods and capture great city imagery through the art of photography. This photo contest is intended to appeal to amateur photographers and everyday people. We expect to compile a fantastic photo gallery that captures urban living through the eyes of many.

The Show us Your Cleveland photo contest is fully managed within our LiveCLEVELAND! website. We will soon be getting out postcards and flyers. Weekly and monthly prizes will be offered in order to attract specific photography that we are looking to collect - ie neighborhood events, specific cityscapes, and/or hidden city gems. Ultimately, we will hold a gallery event after the contest concludes to showcase the winning photography as well as other creative imagery of Cleveland's neighborhoods.

We would appreciate your help in promoting this campaign. I am attaching our contest logo, which you are encouraged to use. The direct link to the Show us Your Cleveland contest page is: www.livecleveland.org/contest

Jeff Kipp
Executive Director
Living in Cleveland Center