Tree Planting with SPEA Students

South Roosevelt Street
Photo essay by Georgia Schaich.

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GANA Meeting Minutes

GANA (Green Acres Neighborhood Association) Meeting
1/31/07, 7-8 p.m.
First United Church on 3rd St.

Photo by Georgia Schaich

Attending
Georgia Schaich, Betty Byrne, Diane Dormant, Kathy Ruesink, Rob Turner, Ann Kreilkamp, Kevin Polk

Agenda

• Additions to the Executive Committee
• Small and Simple Grant
• Houses for sale
• City Repair Report, DVD, Discussion

Summary
We heard about who’s been added to the Executive Committee; talked about ideas for small and simple grants; discussed how we should respond to our alarm at the unusual number of houses for sale between Clark and the bypass; and both watched the 15-minute Intro to City Repair DVD and discussed our experiences at the recent City Repair Presentation in Bloomington.

The Process
Georgia opened the meeting with an announcement of changes to the Executive Committee (reduced to two (George and Ann) since Julia Jackson’s move from the neighborhood in September). The new members of this committee are Rob Turner, Nathan Harman, Noriko Hara, Phil Eskew, and Kevin Polk. Thank you for joining, one and all!

The next Small and Simple Grant from HAND is due February 19th. We decided to table City Repair ideas until later, and to focus for now on building active GANA membership through strengthening the block captain program. Georgia suggested that we use the grant to create "Welcome Wagon" type baskets for newcomers that would contain a brochure for GANA, trash and recycling info, coupons from neighborhood businesses and other relevant information. She will write the grant.

There are now 13 houses for sale in the eastern part of the Green Acres Neighborhood. Unfortunately, one of the them is the home of Betty Byrne, a long-time active GANA member. Betty is moving into a condo so that she doesn’t have such a big yard to keep up. We would like to help Betty, who lives alone, pack and move (at least her small things). So when the time comes, I will send out a message to the list for those interested in this next neighborhood work-party.

We realize that the ongoing and currently larger crisis of homes-for-sale is also an opportunity for GANA to focus its efforts on getting the word out to friends and acquaintances who are both looking for places to buy or rent and who also want to contribute to the vitality of neighborhood life. Kevin Polk has volunteered to take over both the GANA list-serve (from Jiangmei Wu, thank you Jiangmei!) and GANA website duties (from Julia Jackson, thank you Julia!). He will explore various web-based options and work with realtors to get easily accessible info and photos of Green Acres homes for sale on the internet for those who wish to promote or live in Green Acres.

City Repair DVD: the DVD is wonderful in that it shows lots of examples of the kinds of things Portlanders are doing to make their neighborhoods not only more friendly and liveable, but fun, creative, and even magical. On the Friday before his Saturday presentation to the city, a number of GANA residents had lunch with Mark Lakeham, an architect and City Repair co-founder, before taking a walking tour of Green Acres. We then showed him the original sketched visuals for the Green Acres permaculture/sustainability design. He liked it all, and his imagination was especially taken with the idea of turning several intersections into city-repaired gathering spaces that will express the creativity of Green Acres residents and lure the children outside to play.

His presentation on Saturday morning to the City Council drew over 100 people from various neighborhoods in the city and inspired us all to starting thinking about how to cooperatively "repair" our own little corners of the world in an imaginative, expressive way.

After a ten-minute break, we heard and discussed a short presentation on the UDO and city plans for 5th street, by speakers and city councilmen Tim Mayer and Michael Diekhoff. (Speaker Series report to follow.)

Next monthly meeting: February 28, 2007.

Blessings to all on this frigid Super Bowl Sunday!

Ann Kreilkamp GANA scribe

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Ice Cream Party

GANA Ice Cream Party
2-4 p.m., August 5, 2006
213 S. Bryan

Our “second annual” ice cream social drew at least 50 people, and what struck Georgia Schaich, who was there the whole time, signing people in and talking with whoever sat next to her, was the variety. Life-long residents, IU students, young families, adult children and grandchildren of long-time residents — all of us swirling about or sitting on lawn chairs with our cups of ice cream softened in the heat.

Georgia and I felt particularly happy to see students arrive, and mingle, and discover that they live in a location that is not just a a temporary dive from which they commute to and from classes, but one that is beginning to remember itself as an old-fashioned neighborhood and beginning to envision itself long-term as a sustainable village.

Actually, we were lucky; the heat wasn’t all that bad that day, and in the shade of Tom and Charlotte Zietlow’s side yard next to their large gracious, two-story house I could almost imagine us as at a garden party in the south. Or, taking a slightly different angle of view, the occasion felt like an extended family reunion, with people of different ages, interests, occupations, and so on, some of whom know each other well, some don’t; some of whom met for the first time at our Solstice party six weeks earlier, others regulars at GANA meetings.

Lots of us greet each other by name now, genuinely eager to say hello, and catch up on each other’s lives. Nathan Harman and Maggie Jesseph came with their quiet, vibrant little one, Laurelynn, as they have brought her to monthly GANA meetings since her birth four months ago — and she, with electric black hair and startled, intense, calm gaze, was passed from hand to hand, with us old ones amazed, as usual, at just how fast these young ones grow.

At around three o’clock, we announced that the new GANA tee-shirts, piled on the table next to the ice cream, were FREE — so of course, there was a general movement in that direction, sticky fingers pawing through small, medium, large, and extra-large.

I didn’t stay for the whole event, but was there long enough to note that, in comparison to last year’s first ice cream social, I sense an increased level of relaxation in each other's company that reflects our increasing sense of connectedness. I hope there will be a “third annual” — and, if we are to continue the tradition, it will depend on whether or not we win next year’s “Two Scoop Salute” contest from Edy’s Ice Cream. (Thank you Edy!) Last year, Diane Dormant penned the winning essay; this year, we basked in Charlotte Zietlow’s eloquence (thank you Charlotte!), and next year? Who will rise to the occasion, for we certainly like the ice cream, and the company, not to mention being the-neighborhood-that-won-the-prize-two-times-in-a-row on a hot, humid, leafy, summer Indiana day.

Ann Kreilkamp
GANA scribe

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Summer Solstice Party Report

4 p.m – 7 p.m. (actually, more like 8:30 p.m.)
East end of 7th Street

Photo by Georgia Schaich

Dear neighbors,

As usual, with any first-time event, planning for our first Summer Solstice party was filled with “what ifs.” What if nobody comes? What if it rains? What if it’s too hot? What if everybody’s out of town? What if they don’t find out about it? And on and on. Not that we voiced our fears that audibly, but they did simmer sotto voce—at least my mind.

Georgia Schaich and Stefano Conard and their committee are to be congratulated for their meticulous planning—two workshops to make decorations, hand-outs for 250 houses, signs on 20 Green Acre intersections, Jiangmei Wu’s new Green Acres logo on three new banners, and so on and on—they, and we, pulled it off! And we can thank Lady Luck, who had the state of Indiana come and mow the long weeds down on the morning of the very day that Stefano was going to load up his big mower way out in the country and haul it into town; and who scheduled a terrific thunderstorm that didn’t release until exactly the minute we finished cleaning up.

All in all, somewhere between 50 and 60 people came for all or part of the event, including some friends of Green Acres residents and—our fondest wish!—many, many children. And it was hot, as hot and humid as we had hoped it wouldn’t be. But it didn’t seem to matter; trees on the state-owned empty lot at the east end of 7th street provided plenty of shade. Amazingly, nor did it matter that this lot abuts the bypass. Greenery shielded us from its visual impact, and, as for the car noise, one person remarked, “just think of it as the ocean.”

As people walked towards the party area, they were greeted by wonderful music from Rob Turner and two other musicians and by “GANA babies” that lined both sides of the street (merry little critters atop sticks made of old CD’s that glinted in the sun, straggly, multicolored yarn, sprouts of orange curled paper, and other sundry recyclables). As each entered and signed in, he or she was invited to make a wish to string onto the Wishing Tree. “Public? Or private?” We asked, pointing to a large banner type piece of paper or a tiny slip of paper to be rolled and inserted into a tiny bottle. Most people chose a private wish. A few declined altogether, one with the remark, “If I got started I’d never stop!…”

The Center for Sustainable Living had an informational table there presided over by Lucille Bertuccio, Gina Weir and her son Sam. Next door stood the table for the Monroe County Citizen Corps Council, manned by Mark Brostoff and an I.U. intern, Kevin Caress.

Sylvia Von Bruggen stood under the shade of the largest tree with a table full of recycled odds and ends for kids to decorate flags and their bikes. Some of us put ivy garlands in our hair. A ping pong table set up for food began to groan under the weight of cole slaw, potato salad, hot dogs, fixings for “schmores,” fruit, several pies (including one from Green Acres mulberries — edible GANA!), plus drinks and chips. (Some of this food came thanks to our Small and Simple Grant from the city.)

Photo by Georgia Schaich

Stefano had cleared a circle and stacked wood for an open fire, and around 5 p.m. he lit the fire, so that it would reduce to glowing coals by the time we returned from our parade (Val Fernandez stayed back to tend the fire).

And what a parade! Led by children holding the Green Acres logo banners aloft and heralded by Nathan Harman’s incredible, booming marching band and Todd Davison’s clarion trumpet calls, we paraded with flags on foot and with bikes up 7th street to Hillsdale, over to 5th, then looped back to Overhill and 7th. A short haul, but then there were all the children, some of them carried, others wobbly on bikes, still others recalcitrant—so it took awhile.

By the time we returned the Sun was not so hot, and we all took turns with sticks at the fire with our hot dogs. Lots of visiting ensued, friends greeting friends and others meeting for the first time.

As the meal wound down, Georgia asked children to draw names for the door prizes that had been donated by local area businesses, making the five winners surprised and happy. Rob Turner, who received a fire extinguisher (!) as his prize noted in an email later, “First door prize I have ever won!”

As the Sun descended into the west, and while still licking sticky fingers from schmores, we were called to gather around the Wishing Tree. Spontaneously, the group formed a circle and held hands. Ann Kreilkamp talked about the ancient significance of Summer Solstice as a time of manifestation and renewal, where the Sun, the giver of life on our planet, stands still in the sky at its northernmost point, prior to turning back to the south. Summer Solstice as the point of most illumination, the longest day and shortest night. She compared the Wishing Tree and its hanging wishes to our neighborhood which joins earth to sky and supports us all, “no matter how weird we may be!” Then, to the beat of Nathan’s drum and a chant to thank the Earth and the Sun she led us in a spiral dance to the center of the tree, ducking under the branches with their waving public wishes and tinkling tiny private bottled wishes.

Four people had written out the larger, visible, public wishes. We read them aloud:

I wish that…

• “Humans learn to live sustainably and share the earth with other people and other species.”

• “GANA will continue to grow and come alive, and be an amazing prototype of a sustainable community within a sustainable community… A source of inspiration for other communities!”

• “For the interaction of many-a-neighbor through the exchange of fruit and other Green Acres local edibles. May our days be sweet.”

And finally…

• “May all beings be happy and create the causes for HAPPINESS.”

A fitting finale to a great GANA party—which however, didn’t end, but instead continued, people drawing up chairs in a circle to listen to Nathan and his Dad (who have been playing music together since Nathan was ten years old) drum and strum in such total harmony that they seemed like one being.

(By the way, your secret is safe. As the party wound down, all the wishes were cut off the tree and buried in an undisclosed Green Acres location.)

Be merry!

Ann Kreilkamp
GANA scribe

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GANA Meeting Minutes

Photo by Georgia Schaich

GANA (Green Acres Neighborhood Association) Meeting
5/31/06, 7 – 8 p.m.
First United Church on 3rd St.

Attending
Betty Byrne, Lucille Bertuccio, Tim Mayer, Sue Mayer, Jan Ley, Becky Hrisomalos, Frank Hrisomalos, John Stuckey, Peggy Stuckey, Kathy Ruesink, Noriko Hara, Phil Eskew, Stefano Conard, Diane Dormant, Nathan Harmon, Maggie Jessephs, Georgia Schaich, Kadhim Shabaan, Marion Shaaban, Kim Fernandez, Maggie Sullivan, Rachel Johnson, Vicky Provine, Laura Jesseph, Sylvia Van Bruggen, Ann Kreilkamp

Agenda
• New GANA logo
• Summer Solstice Event Update
• Sustainability Proposals
• City’s intro to Green Acres Neighborhood Plan Report
• Intro to Green Acres Permaculture Vision

Summary
We viewed the new GANA logo and decided to purchase signs. Stefano Conard reported on pre-event workshops for the upcoming Summer Solstice Festival. HAND and Planning Department officials conveyed the city’s framework for the collaborative neighborhood planning process. Ann Kreilkamp and Sylvia Van Bruggen gave a quick visual presentation of a short- and long-term permacultural vision for Green Acres.

The Process
This meeting felt very energetic, partly due to the larger-than-usual number of people present, and partly, I feel, to our deep satisfaction at the clear, warm feelings and beautiful design of the new Green Acres logo. Over the meeting hour the momentum seemed to build, so that by the time of the final agenda item, when we viewed a presentation for a possible long-range permacultural vision for Green Acres, we seemed to have collectively entered an unusually expansive atmosphere where we could more fully embrace the idea of devoting our time, talent and skills in various projects to further build and enhance community in our little corner of the world.

Logo: Georgia Schaich, who facilitated the meeting, introduced the beautiful new logo created by Green Acres graphic artist Jiangmei Wu with Julia Jackson. Our Small and Simple Grant money will pay for logo banners as well as logo signs with event notices to be placed at key neighborhood intersections before events.

Summer Solstice Festival Report: Stefano Conard and Georgia reported on the first pre-event workshop, where we made little “GANA babies” to decorate the festival grounds for our parade and potluck July 17th. Another workshop to finish the job is scheduled for next Wednesday, June 7. (So if you want to get wild and creative with your neighbors and assemble hilarious objects out of recycled materials, let us know!) Nathan Harmon and Rob Turner will coordinate and provide music for the parade and dinner afterwards. We will also have tables to make masks, create garland crowns, decorate flags and bikes, plus a “wishing ceremony”—for children of all ages!

Sustainability Proposals: Adam Lowe and Stefano both came up with sustainability proposals to send to the Sustainability Commission (due in June 2). Adam’s proposal, still in the idea stage, is to retrofit a Green Acres home for green design to be sold to a single mother. Stefano’s proposal—to build solar/greenhouse additions to three Green Acres homes—is more detailed, and he read it to the group. This proposal includes a pledge by Worm’s Way for a 40% discount on all materials for a hydroponic greenhouse system and will cost approximately $989 per greenhouse. (If anyone else has a sustainability idea, email sustain@bloomington.in.gov or drop your idea off at Showers (401 N. Morton St.), the officer of the mayor.)

Neighborhood Plan Report: Vicky Provine of HAND and Rachel Johnson of the Planning Department presented a time framework that they hope to use to work with us to prioritize our values and devise strategies to implement a long-range vision for Green Acres. The process will begin in September, take about six months and involve six meetings, with a formal or informal presentation and public release of the plan at the end. Any Green Acres resident or stakeholder is invited to participate. The planning documents for McDoel, Broadview and Prospect Hill neighborhoods are on file at the library, and can be accessed through the www.blooming.in.gov site.

Permaculture Design for Green Acres: Ann and Sylvia Von Bruggen attended their final week of a two-week Introduction to Permaculture course held at McCormick State Park where they and Kevin Polk (who will move to Green Acres in August) spent five days in intense walks and conversation to envision a long-term sustainable future for Green Acres that transforms it from a suburban neighborhood into a vital village that is at least in part self-sufficient and very productive, both in terms of human and natural values. In order not to get bogged down, the three participants in this thought-experiment decided to give themselves permission to act as if there were no obstacles, that whatever they wanted they could have. The results were shown to the group at our meeting in the form of a giant paper wheel that encompassed a number of sectors (e.g., community values, food production, transportation, education, etc.) and ranged in rings outwards from short to near to long-term goals.

Ann and Sylvia brought up one example to show the process. Agreeing that one of the things that Green Acres lacks is places for neighbors to meet, they came up with the idea of “pocket parks.” On a map of the neighborhood they pointed out small corners of land that jut out into the street, or seem to be otherwise unoccupied and uncared for and that could be loaned to GANA as an experiment to place picnic tables and swings or slides for children so that people who walk the neighborhood could have a place to meet and sit. The idea was eagerly received by others and Kadhim Shabaan pointed to one intersection where four pocket parks on each corner could constitute the beginnings of a village center. The visuals for this visioning process will be available to peruse — and discuss, correct, and add to — at the July 17th Solstice event.

The meeting then adjourned for fruit, nuts, cheese, lemonade and conversation before our Speaker, Lucille Bertuccio, gave her presentation at 8 p.m.

Next meeting
June 28th, 7 p.m. (last Wednesday of each month).

Happy Summer, and see you at the Solstice event, if not before (bring children, bring your friends, join the parade!)

Ann Kreilkamp
GANA scribe

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Featured resident

Our mailman, Rob Vernon 307 N. Jefferson

Our intrepid, courteous and ever-cheerful mailman, Rob, aka Robville Cleo Vernon, as of March 1, 2005, had been on the job for “32 years, months, 17 days, 13 hours and 45 seconds.” He says what he likes best is “watching everybody grow old. I see the students struggle to get through school but do well and graduate. And another batch moves in. I love all my customers but I especially love my long-time customers.”

When asked how we could make his work easier or more pleasant, he says,“Only one item comes to mind. Please shovel all snow no matter how little there is off walks and steps.”

Of the funny things that have happened to him on the job, this one is a doozer. “I got my belt hoop on my shorts caught in a screen door handle and ripped my shorts off. I called my wife to bring out another pair. Thank Goodness I was wearing my underwear!”

He won’t tell us who gets the most mail on his route, citing the World War II motto: “Loose Lips Sink Ships.”

Finally, Rob tells us that another thing he likes best about his job is “counting the days ‘til 8-18-07. That’s when I retire. Let me quote the Late Great Martin Luther King: ‘Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty I am free at last.’”

Not surprisingly, given Rob’s wonderful attitude, when people apologize for the volume of their mail, or when he delivers a particularly heavy package, he replies, “That’s fine with me, thanks for the business! Need all I can get.”

One resident who had just moved with her husband to Bloomington and Green Acres reports that, when her husband then died suddenly, Rob told her to put all the junk mail addressed to him back in the mailbox, and he would stamp “Deceased” on each envelope and sent it back. She says that he will never know how much she appreciated that generous act during her time of loneliness and grief.Original post by Melody

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Welcome new residents

It was difficult for those in Green Acres who knew Dorothy Spencer to accept the fact that her health was failing and that it was time for her to sell her home and move closer to her daughter in Mooresville where she could get more care and attention on a daily basis from her family.

But now that the transition has taken place we are so pleased that Phil and Noriko chose Dorothy’s house in Green Acres Neighborhood as their place to settle in Monroe County.

It was Indiana University that brought Phil and Noriko to Bloomington. Phil came in 1989 to earn his B.A. and stayed on for the laid-back lifestyle. Noriko arrived in 1994 and eventually earned a Ph.D. After post-doc work at UNC in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, she returned to work for the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) beginning in 2001. Phil says that the two met by providence in 2002. They were married in Bloomington in June 2004 and went to Kauai for their honeymoon.

Noriko teaches information science courses in SLIS and conducts research in the area of social informatics, which is the study of how computerization influences society. “My work keeps me busy,”she says, “but when I have time, I like to watch movies and work out at the gym, especially the kick-bo class.”

This summer they plan to build a brick porch onto the back of their house. It will provide a nice place to relax in the evening or to hang out with friends and have cook-outs.

Phil works as a reference assistant for the Monroe County Public Library in addition to teaching three classes at the IU library school. He’s an avid reader of science fiction, a semi-skilled musician, a fan of IU basketball (He’s been going to games since 1975), and he actually enjoys mowing the yard and trimming hedges. He,too, is looking forward to working on the new porch project.

The story of how “Ole Fat Bellers”, their cat, became part of the family is an interesting one...

Phil worked at Little Zagreb for four years before attending library school. One of the servers had allergies that were getting worse as she got older, and she asked Phil if he’d be interested in one of her cats. You could say that it was love at first sight. Ole Fat Bellers was two at the time and about 6 pounds lighter. He'll be nine in October and has settled comfortably into the new neighborhood at a steady weight of 15 pounds.

When asked what they like about Green Acres Neighborhood Noriko replied. “The original reason I decided to live in this neighborhood was because it's so close to where I work. I try to ride my bike as much as possible when the weather is nice. The lots here are bigger than newer developed sub-divisions, and people are willing to work to make the neighborhood better.” She also likes the fact that each house has it’s own character, unlike many newer neighborhoods where they all look so much alike.

Phil says, “I like being close to downtown Bloomington and IU. I can ride my bike to work or to grab a bite to eat (you've probably seen me tooling around the neighborhood on an old Little 500 bike). I also like the fact that the neighborhood association is so active. I was very excited to learn that there was a forum via which I could meet my neighbors and discuss issues of concern and interests relevant to the neighborhood and its place in the Bloomington community.”
Originally Posted by Melody

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GANA Welcomes You

Green Acres Neighborhood Association (GANA for short) would like to welcome you to their website. GANA's goal is to foster more communication amongst the Green Acres residents and provide them with a forum for their thoughts and concerns, as well as keeping them informed on upcoming neighborhood events. This site is intend to be a "virtual community," with the goal or maintaining and nuturing a physical community.

GANA meets in person on the from 7-9 p.m. on the last Wednesday of every month at the First United Church on 3rd St. We discuss neighborhood business for the first hour, break briefly for refreshments, then usually have a local speaker or video about community-building. The meetings are free and open to all Green Acres residents and friends, so please come, meet your neighbors, and join us for refreshments (did we mention those?)

To leave feedback on any article in these pages, just click the "comments" link directly below it. To join GANA's email list serve, just sign up at any neighborhood meeting or event.

Original post by Melody.

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