Vol10 Issue1 Spring09 final - UMHN

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• Neighborhood Garage Sale • Gardening in Mark’s Park • Bringing your kids to planned Children’s Activities

Of course, these events need to be planned weeks or months in advance; there are always opportunities

for you to join in preparations for an event. We also have a Children’s Activities Committee [email protected] and a Safety [email protected] which are looking for new people to join them. Another way to help is by assisting in delivery of our quarterly newsletter. We hand-deliver over 900

newsletters, and there is always a need for more people to help with that. Contact Cindy Knox at

[email protected] or by phone at 244-0309.

Interested? Need more information? You are always wel-comed to attend our monthly meetings held in the Meeting Room at St. Anne Church on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. If you would like to talk to someone about getting involved, you can email our President Dan Hurley at [email protected] or contact him by phone at 442-8106. If you want to be noti-fied about important neighborhood information, crime alerts, reminders, updates, etc., subscribe to the UMHN e-mail list at www.umhn.com

A publication of the Upper Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association Volume 10 Issue 1

Neighborhood View

Mark your Calendar

April 14: UMHN Monthly meeting, St. Anne Church, 7:00 pm.

April 18: Canal Trail Clean-up Kickoff, Kendrick Road parking lot, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

April 25: Tom Knight - A Children's Performance Extravaganza! South Presbyterian Church, 10:30 am.

May 2: Rochester Clean Sweep. Mark’s Park at West-moreland Drive, 9:00 am.

May 12: Spring General Meeting, St. Anne Church, 6:30 pm.

June 5-7: Annual UMHN Garage Sales.

Upcoming activities are:

M aybe you’re new to the neighborhood, or maybe you’ve lived here for years… have you heard about us? We are

a group of concerned residents living in the upper Mount Hope neighborhood. If you received this newsletter, and are reading this, you’re “one of us.” Our group, known as UMHN, exists to enhance the assets of the neighborhood and make living here more meaningful. We work together with our business and city leaders, as well as our own neighbors, to continue the maintenance and im-provement of our properties, our shared streets, sidewalks, parks, etc. We believe that our planned activities enhance the neighborhood and enrich our own lives, as well as those just “passing through.” Our organization is recognized as being the “go to” group if questions or issues relative to our area arise, and the media wants an answer or comment. Visit our web site www.umhn.com for details.

We Need Volunteers

There are a number of areas where residents of the neighborhood can get involved: we encourage and seek your participation in the following areas: • Being a Block Representative for the street you live on • Joining in activities such as Canal Clean-Up • Clean Sweep • National Night Out

Getting Involved in UMHN

A ll neighbors and friends in the Up-per Mt. Hope Neighborhood are

invited to attend our Spring General Meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, May

12, beginning at 6:30 pm. This meeting will be held in the Com-munity Room at St. Anne Church. Guest speakers will be representatives from the City of Rochester. We will hear information about updates on the renovation of Mt. Hope Avenue, and improvements being planned for East Hen-rietta Road. These changes will affect everyone who lives in this area. If you have comments or questions, this meeting will be a perfect opportunity for your voice to be heard. We look forward to having a SRO (standing room only) meeting. Come out, bring a neighbor, and discover what wonderful changes are planned for our neighborhood.

Spring General Meeting to be Held May 12 Everyone is Invited!

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Upper Mt. Hope Neighborhood Spring 2009 www.umhn.com

Dan Hurley, President [email protected]

Vice-president—available

[email protected]

Barb Sanko, Secretary [email protected]

Frank Scarcelli, Treasurer [email protected]

Barb Sanko & Irma Abu-Jumah, Editors

[email protected]

Cynthia Knox, Newsletter Distribution [email protected]

Mary Tyndall, Patrick Tyndall,

Joanne Felzer, Safety Committee [email protected]

Nicole VanDerMeid, Kids’ Activities [email protected]

Irma Abu-Jumah, Webmaster

[email protected]

Upper Mt Hope Neighborhood Association

95 Southview Terrace, Rochester, NY 14620 www.umhn.com

Massage, Reiki, Acupuncture, Foot Reflexology,

CranioSacral Therapy, Spiritual Readings

Hours: Mon – Sat 8am-7pm

By Appointment Only 585-442-3998

www.ahealingsanctuary.com

1722 Mt. Hope Avenue

Future Newsletters… HELP!

We are always looking for different voices from around the neighborhood to write, reflect, report or to share photographs. Please contact Barb Sanko & Irma Abu-Jumah at [email protected] with anything you think may be newsletter worthy. Student writing is always welcomed. Also, if you are able to help with the delivery of our newsletters, please contact Cindy Knox at [email protected]. There are always various streets in the neighborhood where we can use extra help.

Neighborhood View

PUBLISHER: Upper Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association EDITORS Barb Sanko & Irma Abu-Jumah PLEASE WRITE: Upper Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association 95 Southview Terrace, Rochester, NY 14620 BY PHONE: (585) 442-8106, Dan Hurley ON THE WEB: www.umhn.com E-mail: [email protected]

If you need to contact a block representative, please visit our web site www.umhn.com to see if there is one assigned to your street, or contact our

President Dan Hurley by e-mail [email protected] or by phone at 442-8106. If your street does not have a block representative, please consider joining and becoming a rep for your street.

Subscribe to UMHN E-mail list and receive important neighborhood information: crime alerts, reminders,

updates, invitations… For more information visit www.umhn.com

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www.umhn.com Spring 2009 Upper Mt. Hope Neighborhood

President’s Letter

T he days are getting longer, air is warmer and the flowers are popping up all over. It’s nice seeing people out walking, running, biking, picking up the remains of last fall’s leaves and

taking advantage of these longer, warmer days. If when doing any yard work, you know of someone who needs help getting their yard in order, offer to help them. With a little elbow grease, we can really get our neighborhood looking sharp. And speaking of cleaning up the neighborhood, the

City-wide Spring Clean Sweep starts Saturday, May 2, 8:30 AM at Cobbs Hill Park. There is an article on page 4 with more information. I will be out with many of our neighbors taking part in this as it’s not only a great opportunity to help clean our neighborhood, but also to get to know one another.

Take care, Dan

Happy Spring Neighbors!

Canal Trail Clean-Up Set for April 18 Volunteers Needed

We will meet at 10am at the Kendrick Road parking lot (by the exercise course), just west of the Ronald McDonald House. We will work on the path until Noon, when we will head back to the parking lot and enjoy some refreshments. Bring any tools you feel will be useful: brooms, rakes, loppers, wagons, etc. Work gloves are also useful. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Contact Sue Schickler [email protected] or 473-1159 with your questions. In case of inclement weather, a sign at the parking lot will inform you of a cancellation. For more in-formation on the Canalway Trail, visit www.ptny.org

O ur neighborhood is privileged to have the Erie Canal and Canalway Trail in our “back yard.” We want to remain good stewards of this resource and help

to maintain and preserve its tremendous environmental, cultural and historic nature. In light of that, we are announcing our annual Canal Trail Clean-up Kickoff, to be held on Saturday, April 18th. This date coincides with the NY State Canal Corporation’s Canal Clean Sweep. Ours is one of the many statewide events being held along the Canal System and Canalway Trail to coincide with Earth Day. This annual event will help the canal to be ready for the 184th consecu-tive navigation season on the Canal System.

We need your support to sustain our efforts to remain a strong neighborhood association, to continue communicating area news and to sponsor meaningful events. If you would like to become a supporting member of YOUR neighborhood association, please consider a donation of any amount.

You can make your donation at our Spring General Meeting on May 12, or send a check, made out to UMHN, to our Treasurer Frank Scarcelli, UMHN Treasurer, 133 Raleigh St., Rochester 14620.

Help us to continue working for you! Thanks!

Raising Funds to Cover Our Expenses

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R ochester’s Clean Sweep is about showing pride in our city. Help beautify our city as we pick up trash, clean graffiti and plant our way to a better

Rochester.

A Project in our very own Neighborhood

Join your neighbors and other volunteers on Saturday, May 2 when our neighbor-hood focus will be on cleaning up Mark’s Park, located on Westmoreland Drive. Cindy Knox is the Team Leader for this project site. Please let her know (NOW) if you will be volunteering on May 2: [email protected] or 244-0309. You can report directly to the work site (Mark’s Park) that morning, or you can go down to Cobbs Hill Park, get your t-shirt and a bite to eat, and then go back to Mark’s Park.

Registration on May 2 begins at 8:30am at Lake Riley, Cobbs Hill Park, corner of Culver Road and Norris Drive. At the registration table, let them know you’ll be working at the Mark’s Park site. T-shirts and gloves will be handed out at the registration on May 2; you should dress appropriately; long pants and hard soled shoes or boots are recommended. A continental breakfast will be served. After-wards, everyone is invited back to Cobbs Hill Park for a picnic lunch.

Saturday, May 2 Rain or Shine – 9am-1pm

Parking Issues for Mt. Hope Neighborhood and Businesses

If you suspect there are cars belonging to UofR employees parking in front of your property, or on the street where there is restricted parking, please call the numbers listed below.

Be prepared to give the location and the license plate identification. Your phone call will be addressed. All University employees are to be parking in designated parking lots only. The UofR is committed to working with the Business Association and the neighbors to minimize employee parking on neighborhood streets.

Glen Sicard, Dir. of Parking & Transportation, 275-5310

Patty Hudson, Mgr. of URMC Parking Operations, 275-1533

High-end designer labels at low prices

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They intercept rainfall and slow erosion and storm water run-off. Besides providing shade, trees actually cool the air itself on hot summer days. Cooling and heating energy savings of as much as 25% result from properly positioned trees. Trees en-hance the attractiveness of streetscapes, which results in in-

creased property values. Trees reduce urban noise by blocking, absorbing and diffusing sound waves. And finally, trees soften the hard surfaces of a city and connect us with nature. Taking all that information into consideration, the importance of trees in our neighborhood is immense. We are concerned that trees have often been removed, but not replaced. After speaking with the Forestry Division, we were informed that tree re-planting is often hastened after hearing from the homeowner whose prop-erty is adjacent to the area where a tree was removed. Based on demand and tree availabil-ity, the Forestry Division offers tree plantings

from April to June, and occasionally in November. If a tree has been removed from the City-owned area (between curb & side-walk) in front of your property, and if you would like to request that the City consider re-planting a tree in that same area, please call Carol Kodweis, Forestry Technician, at 428-7710.

O ver the past few weeks, you may have noticed that city trees in our neighborhood have been either trimmed or

removed. There are a number of reasons for both of these ac-tivities. The information below was found on the City Forestry web site www.cityofrochester.gov/PRHS/Forestry/index.cfm Reasons for Tree Removal: tree removal is a necessary management practice to ensure pub-lic safety, urban forest health, and responsible fiscal management (when alternative tree man-agement practices exceed the value of the tree or will not prolong the tree’s life beyond 5 years). Tree Maintenance: trees require periodic care. Pruning, watering and fertilization ensure long-term health, increase longevity and limit storm damage. As trees grow, limbs may block street lighting or traffic control devices. Providing adequate clearance over the street and sidewalk is necessary for pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The immensity and beauty of Rochester’s urban forest are visi-ble every day, but the benefits are often overlooked. Trees fil-ter toxic pollutants from the air and release life-giving oxygen.

City Tree Removal and Replacement

A Children’s Performance Extravaganza

featuring Tom Knight

Great Music, Songs & Puppets

Sat., April 25 at 10:30am South Presbyterian Church

4 E. Henrietta Road

Call 461-4250 for tickets Tickets $5./Family max. of $20./under age 2 free

This event is a fundraiser for Ellwanger-Barry Nursery School.

For more information, go to www.tomknight.com or www.EBNS.org

Subscribe to UMHN-News Group to receive crime alerts, invitations and

important neighborhood information: www.UMHN.com

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Lynn & Glenn Miller “Your Neighborhood Realtors”

T here is something to be said for doing things the old fash-ioned way. I have been walking my daughters to pre-

school at the Ellwanger Barry Nursery School (EBNS) for over two years. It is located in the basement of the South Pres-byterian Church, on the corner of Fort Hill Terrace and East Henrietta Road. EBNS has existed, in one form or another, as a cooperative nursery school over the past thirty years. Being a cooperative means that each family is involved in the existence and function of the school in some way, big or small. We like to think of it as a spectrum of involvement with big and small jobs for all different kinds of family schedules/needs. As part of the EBNS parent board, we are having to visit the question: “how does a cooperatively-run school exist and com-pete in this time with universal pre-kindergarten, an abundance of good pre-schools such as the one at the Strong Museum, and busy working par-ents?” We are surviving because of a few key factors. Our community. We are a small school with just twelve children per class. By Novem-ber, most of the families know one another and the children by first name. When babies are born, meals are arranged; when children are ill, others step in to help in the classroom or with a ride. This is my third year in this community and it has been easy to make connections with other parents. Another reason we can keep our enrollment up is our teacher and the learning environment he has built. His name is Tom Moore; he has worked with children for over 20 years and he has created a beautiful atmosphere of love, socialization, and fun for the children. EBNS is not the type of place where you will find children being drilled in letters and numbers. But, you will observe a number line stretching along an entire wall where the children are counting which day of school it is. I think we are at 117. And you will also observe other things in the classroom like a compost bin, a worm box with corn grow-ing in it, an entire room for imaginary play and another room

with a climbing structure, in which the children spend time every day. Tom’s philosophy incorporates seasonal activities too; children used a hand mill to grind corn and then bake corn cakes in the fall. And this spring, Tom has tapped two of the maple trees on the school playground, and is boiling sap into syrup. Do three and four year olds really understand all that? Well, the other night my daughter told me that the moon was “waxing” and “a half crescent.” I asked how she knew, and she replied, “Tom taught me.” The school’s philosophy supports a play-based learning envi-ronment. The children are also learning about being a part of

their own community, how to listen to one an-other, help each other, what it means to be com-passionate, how to be a friend and why that’s important. For more information about EBNS, enrollment, applications, and contact information, please visit our website: www.ebns.org. We still have a few openings for the 2009-2010 school year. Katie Mousaw Irvington Road

A Wonderful Nursery School in Our Neighborhood

The EBNS kids pressing apples for cider.

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T here has been a whirlwind of activity at the Westmoreland Ronald McDonald House this year. Our newly-formed

RMHC Garden Committee will continue working with Mike Tanzini and the Gardenscape Professionals Association to help create a relaxing and peaceful outdoor environment for families staying at our Ronald McDonald House. The varied projects last year started with heavy pruning and clearing of overgrown trees and shrubs and included the addi-tion of a garden at the east end of our new parking lot. Volun-teers planted the trees and shrubs donated by the members of Gardenscape as well as several hundred flowers donated by Wilmorite. An overgrown garden was transformed into an at-tractive new Butterfly Garden with help from the Seneca Park Zoo Society. Of note, our special garden is now officially iden-tified on the NYS Butterfly Beltway map depicting registered butterfly gardens across the state. The newly-established Guon Woodland Garden is our largest undertaking to date. Armed with a donated mini-excavator, volunteers installed a new drainage system, moved topsoil and mulch, planted flowering trees and shrubs. Keep watch for the 800 daffodil bulbs that should be coming up any time now. The gazebo, a focal point of the garden, is now set off by a dry stone wall created by Chuck Eblacker, who kindly donated his labor.

Our children are now playing on a totally renovated playground made possible with a generous grant from the Glover Crask Foundation, and a thoughtful donation of all the playground equipment by Danny Bears, President of Bears Outdoor Play Products. Stay in touch to hear what big projects are being planned for this year, including a new front landscaping pro-ject, made possible by a generous grant from the Rochester Garden Club. If you have an aspiring green thumb, give the Westmoreland house a call at 442-5437 and find out how you can get involved.

Ronald McDonald House Shows Off New Gardens

Butterfly release at Ronald McDonald House Garden

A re you looking for a safe way to dis-pose of unwanted pharmaceuticals?

Many people have thrown expired medica-tion in the garbage. We now know, how-ever, that medicine can actually get into our soil, creating an environmental hazard. Others tend to flush their outdated drugs

down the toilet. This can cause contamination in our aquatic environment because wastewater treatment systems, includ-ing septic tanks, are not designed to remove many of these medications. You should never flush unwanted medications down the toilet or down a drain. So what should you do?

There is a collection scheduled for Saturday, April 18th from 8am until 1pm at the Monroe County Operations Center lo-cated at 444 E. Henrietta Road (follow signs on site). No ap-pointment is necessary. For more information, call 753-7600 (option #3). This collection is for outdated, unwanted and unusable medications. Proper drug disposal is an emerging environmental issue. As with any household waste, the disposal method chosen can have a direct effect on safety and health of the environment. Please do your part to keep our water and land safe and healthy.

Safe Disposal of Your Medications

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J oin in the fun as UMHN once again sponsors an area-wide garage/yard sale. This is the 6th year for this hugely success-

ful event. As before, it will be held the first weekend in June, beginning on Friday, June 5 and continuing on Saturday, and Sunday. Participants are invited to plan their sale on this week-end, and hold it either 1, 2 or all 3 days – whatever your sched-ule allows. We will compile a listing of participating (“paid for”) house-holds, and make the list available for you to hand out to your shoppers. Last year we had 36 participating households! Classified ads will be placed and signs will be located at the ends of the streets on which there is a sale. You may also place your own signs. Interested? Fill out the form below , and drop it, along with $5.00 (check payable to UMHN), to help defray costs of advertising, to: Barb Sanko, 123 Raleigh (corner of Raleigh & Norfolk), or bring it to the Spring General Meeting. Deadline is May 29. 1511 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620 – 256-1939

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Please enclose $5.00. Deadline to sign-up is Wednesday, May 29.

Check payable to UMHN.

UMHN GARAGE SALE Registration form

Name ______________________________________ Address (where sale will be held) __________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Phone Number ______________________________ Day(s) of your Sale, (check all that apply): Friday Saturday Sunday

Stories in the Park T he UMHN Kid’s Activities Committee is

pleased to once again offer our “Stories in the Park” series during the summer months. Please join us for stories and songs each Wednesday morning at 10:30 in Eastmoreland Commons (playground). Our first story time of

the summer will be July 1st and we’ll run through August 26th.

Story time is open to neighborhood children of all ages. In the event of rain, story time will be can-celled for that week. We hope to see you all there! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Nicole VanDerMeid at 271-8477 or [email protected]

Vol10 Issue1 Spring09 final - UMHN

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