April 15th Meeting

• Welcomes and Intros.
  New neighborhood resident Susan W. attended her first meeting. Welcome Susan!
  

• Updates:

1. Annie Gillam - Updated us on sidewalk replacement.  Also asked if anyone had any ideas for a spot in downtown that we, as a neighborhood, would like to plant (a tree?) and beautify. Also, asked if anyone would want to clean-up/work on the corner of Wick and Lincoln at the University.
   
2. Gary Davenport -  Spoke about the "We The People" Mayoral Candidates forum on Monday April 29th. 
3. Marie Meeks -  Update on R&S store on Elm from Dominic Marchionda:  Negotiations with the owner of the Downtown Circle have fallen through.The store will not be rehabbed and opened any time soon, due to cost. When it is opened, the store will possibly be geared more towards the university, rather than a neighborhood-type store. (So no gyros for Marie)
   
4. Park Light Inventory - we had originally set the date for April 29th, but this conflicted with the 'We The People' mayoral forum, so are looking for another date, in May. We're in need of volunteers to help mark lampposts with blown out bulbs.
5. Neighborhood Picnic: We tossed around dates, decided on a Sunday, then decided on May 19th.  THAT date isn't going to work as there are way too many other things going on. So we're scoping out August 25th.  Discuss at our next meeting.

• New Business:   

1. Wick Park House Tour.  Rebecca Rogers brought us this idea - have a tour of 3 - 4 houses specifically in the WP neighborhood - 1 that needs refurbishing, 1 that is in the process  of being remodeled (John Cumpston volunteered his house), and 1 that is finished or nearly finished. This would hopefully create interest in the WP neighborhood, and bring in quality (for lack of a better word) residents.  Registration will be required, as well as a fee of $3 (a fundraiser, of sorts, for WPNA).  Tentative tour date: June 25th. For more information, attend our June 17th meeting for the details.
2. Fundraising Ideas - Looking for UNIQUE ideas for a fundraiser. We will vote on them at the next meeting, and the fundraiser will be in September.  To submit ideas, please email them to Peggy at peggy@wickparkneighbors.org. 
3. Painting the Wick Park exercise equipment.  This was suggested by Phil Kidd on our Facebook group, and I think we all agree this needs doing. Marie is contacting Bob Burke at Parks and Rec to inquire about this. Several residents have offered to help if needed. A possible date for this is June 1, when CityScape is planting at the park.  

• Next Month's Business: 
  
  1. Neighborhood picnic discussion
  2. Fundraising Ideas - we will vote on ideas IF we have 3 or more. 
  3. Painting park exercise equipment 
   

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Marie at marie@wickparkneighbors.org, or 
Peggy at peggy@wickparkneighbors.org.

WPNA's next meeting is Monday, June 20th, at 6:00 pm. 

UUYO, corner of Elm Street and Illinois Avenue

A Wick Park Easter

The Easter festivities at Wick Park on March 23 were a resounding success!

Hundreds of kids and their parents gathered at Wick Park on the north side of Youngstown, for an Easter egg hunt (with the eggs stuffed with candy and prize tickets!), a visit from a giant Easter Bunny, face painting, a coloring contest, and much more!

Many thanks to Maggie Pentz, Phil Kidd, Amber Beall, Ursuline HS student volunteers, and all of the volunteers for your hours of work to make the 4th annual Wick Park Easter such a fun experience!

And they're off!

Nice Easter Bunny!

The kids loved getting their faces painted. Apparently the adults did too. 

 

The indoor festivities were just as fun!

We hope to see YOU next year! 

New Local Food Brand

A new local food brand is coming to stores near you.  Just Add Love is the new brand, and is being produced by the Lake to River Food cooperative under the 30-Mile Meal program.

The idea is that you'll be able to go to your local neighborhood store and they'll have a kiosk set up with a package(s) containing all of the ingredients for a dinner for 4, complete with instructions.

Just Add Love is now available at Youngstown Nation in downtown Youngstown, and Tom's Gas 'n' Grocery at 1425 Logan Avenue, on the north side of Youngstown.  A cooking demonstration will be held Friday, March 29th, at 6pm at Tom's.

Go purchase tonight's dinner!

Minutes for March 18th Meeting

1.  Welcomes and Intros.
     We had a couple of new neighborhood residents attend our meeting.
     Welcome!

2.  Announcements -

• MVOC -sponsored Mayoral Debate, April 29 at 6pm. Union Baptist Church.
• Jim announced the roll-out of the Just Add Love local food brand, coming to local neighborhood stores. ALL of the ingredients, plus a recipe card with instructions printed on it, will be assembled in the bag/box, and for an approximate cost of $8-$11, you can feed a family of 4 for 2 days (dinner). Stay tuned!
• 239 N. Heights Ave has been purchased by Dominic Gatta for restoration and conversion to living quarters.

3.  Updates -

• Nate Pinkard - is working on getting Fifth Avenue paved.  He also stated that we are getting a Dollar General store on Belmont Ave where the Rite Aid used to be.
• Annie Gillam - reminded us of the on/off ramp clean up on April 6th, as part of the Great American Clean-up of Youngstown month.
• Maggie talked about the upcoming Easter festivities and egg hunt at Wick Park on the 23rd.
• Joe Parent talked about the purchase of 66 Indiana and the issues being encountered by the buyer at City Hall, due to the fact that the property is on the demo list. Annie told them that if they would provide to her a plan of action on the house/property, she would try to help them.

4.  Guest Speaker - Sharon Letson, Executive director of Youngstown CityScape.

• CityScape was the recipient of a Dominion Community Impact Award on March 11, in Cleveland.  There were 12 recipients of the award, with 4 of them being from Youngstown.  The award comes with a $5k grant to CityScape, which they are in turn going to use to purchase/install park benches in Wick Park.  She stated that there is much more improvement coming to the park.
• Sharon spoke of the importance of our group to continue working in partnerships with city organizations, to continue to improve the Wick Park neighborhood, and the park.
• There was also discussion of playground equipment; the park gates being open or closed at night, and a letter that we're sending to Bob Burke about the gates; and the fountain at the corner of Park and Elm.

5.  Agenda items for our April 15th meeting -

• Neighborhood picnic.  We need a coordinator (any volunteers?), and need to firm up a date (May or June?)
• Park light inventory.  It is time for a park light inventory, as there are reported lights out in the park.  This will take place after dark, hopefully near the end of April or early May. Volunteers are needed.
• Annual Fundraiser.  We need to discuss and settle on a fundraiser, and when we want to conduct it.   It was suggested that we combine the neighborhood picnic with a fundraiser.  Also suggested was a basket raffle, and a pie booth at the picnic.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:20 pm.

March Meeting

Our March meeting is this Monday, March 18th.  Our guest speaker is Sharon Letson, Executive Director of Youngstown CityScape, who will be sharing with us CityScapes' ongoing efforts to revitalize and beautify Wick Park.

We will also be discussing our annual Easter Egg hunt on March 23rd, as well as possibilities for our annual fundraiser. Rack your brain and bring your ideas!

As always, our meeting is held at the Unitarian Universalist Church. 1105 Elm Street (corner of Elm St and Illinois Ave).  Socializing is at 5:30, meeting begins promptly at 6pm.

We hope to see you there!

4th Annual Easter Egg Hunt!

On March 23, 2013 at 11am, the Wick Park Neighborhood Association (WPNA), with the support of Councilwoman Annie Gillam and Councilman Nate Pinkard, is hosting an Easter Egg Hunt in Wick Park on Youngstown’s north side for children between the ages of 1 and 12. 



Children should be accompanied by a responsible adult and upon arrival should go to the Wick Park Pavilion to sign in. The hunt will begin at noon. The Easter Bunny will be on hand and games, crafts and prizes will be available for the children. The first 300 children registered will receive a grab bag at the end of the hunt. 

Students belonging to the Community Service Club of Ursuline High School will be volunteering at the event.

The Wick Park Neighborhood Association was created in 2009 in order to address a broad base of issues that affect the quality of life in the Wick Park neighborhood. WPNA is dedicated to grassroots community organizing, green initiatives, historical preservation, and education. According to WPNA member Attorney Debra Weaver, “The Easter Egg Hunt is an event that provides an opportunity to bring children in the area together for fun and provides their parents the opportunity to learn more about the Wick Park Neighborhood Association and its efforts to deal effectively with systematic problems in the surrounding neighborhood.”

You'll find any updates on our event page on Facebook. Join us for a couple of hours of fun. We hope to see you there!

Meeting Minutes for January 21, 2013

I.        Welcome & Intros

II.      Speakers

a.       Annie Gilliam and Nate Pinkard did not attend

b.      John McNally, Mahoning County Commissioner and  mayoral candidate

                                                            i.      John introduced himself and thanked us for having him at the meeting

                                                          ii.      He is running for mayor on the democratic ticket

III.    Old Business

a.       Demolitions

                                                            i.      1501 Elm and 25 Woodbine are completed

                                                          ii.      206 Broadway is on the list- see post-meeting notes

b.      Neighborhood signs

                                                            i.      Thanks to Gary for finding funding to get the sign on Elm & Broadway replaced!

1.       We will sign a thank you letter to the funder

                                                          ii.      Sign installation- Rob, Peggy, Marie, and Jonathan will help install

                                                         iii.      We have $1400 to install lights in front of the signs

1.       The parks department wants us apply for grant funding before they match

2.       Peggy and Marie will write the grant, Jonathan will review

IV.    New Business- Plans for 2013

a.       We had a brainstorming session about potential projects for the upcoming year

b.      The hope is that this will bring cohesion and focus to our endevours

c.       See attached page for the list of ideas/wants/needs

d.      No formal leadership since Gary stepped down has caused some confusion.

                                                          i.      Marie M was elected President (will run meetings, communicate with city officials, delegate projects, etc)

                                                        ii.      Peggy G was elected Secretary (will handle the info@wickparkneighbors.org account, the website, Facebook group, and send out communications, etc)

V.      Post Meeting- Demolition

a.       To ensure we don’t use too much time on demos, anyone interested can talk about it after meetings

b.      206 Broadway is on the list- no one seems to be in favor of it coming down

                                                               i.      Marie will reach out to Demaine Kitchen with our concerns

                                                             ii.      We will work on forming a team at the February meeting to come up with ideas for the home, and ask it to be taken off the list

                                                            iii.      Right now, it is still in the intial title search phase of the demo process

·         Overall there was a call for more community engagement and fun activities

  o        A block party, more potlucks, etc

  o        Nextdoor.com is a great organizing tool- Please register at https://nextdoor.com/invite/ljd1rc43akqywhnims65

 

·         Forge a better relationship with Dominic Marcionda

  o        Owns the old R&S, and the project has languished – lots of speculation as to why

  o        Owns 805 Elm (the red house next to Dorian) and the purple house next to it

  o        Pat thinks he planned on demoing those properties for parking

·         Maggie is planning this year’s Easter Egg Hunt for March 23^rd

  o        Will need volunteers, we could also plan another fundraiser for this time

  o        We can use the event as a way to pass out info on other events

·         April is Autism Awareness Month, and April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day. Peggy has proposed a Walk the Wick for Autism Awareness fundraiser on April 6^th.

   o        The fundraiser will be sponsored by WPNA and the Autism Society of NE Ohio-Mahoning Valley chapt^er.

   o        This would draw people from a larger area, not just Mahoning Co.

  o        To prep for the event, decorate the neighborhood in blue on April 2nd

•         Blue house lights, blue ribbons in the park

•         Could hand out flyers at the Easter Egg Hunt

 •    More disucssion at the February WPNA meeting. 

·         Commonwealth survey on what to put in the retail space at the new food co-op

  o        Neighbors could fill them out, pass to other neighbors

  o        Could also pass them out at Easter Egg Hunt

·         Connect with Park Vista, Burdman, and Mental Health Board

  o        Could help with the Autism Walk

  o        Could provide some funding for park improvements (like benches on walking paths)

·         Continuing clean ups/ beautification

  o        Jonathon  and Community Colors Co-op will continue to help on those

  o        Mark P contacted Marie about surveying dead trees on devil strips throughout the neighborhood, then bringing that list to the parks dept

·         Code Enforcement

  o        Jonathon says some owners are being harassed- what can WPNA do?

·         Create a relationship with Parks & Rec

·         Demolition & Preservation

  o        In some ways, this issue has held the group back; we didn’t resolve whether or not we will continue to work on them

  o        If you want to actively work on demos and historic preservation email Marie at marie@wickparkneighbors.org