Friends of Midtown » don

Urban Landscape Contest winners

don — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:36:39 +0000

The winners of FOM’s Urban Landscaping contest were announced at FOM’s summer social held last Friday evening at Mantis Collective Gallery/Moviate. The winners are:

1^st place: Renee Swartz, 235 Hamilton $25 Lowes gift card, pair of Punk Rock Gardens gloves, Highland Gardens coupons
2^nd place: Bryan Moore, 409 Herr $15 Lowes gift card, pair of Punk Rock Gardens gloves, Highland Gardens coupons
3^rd place: students of the Math Science Academy, 1205 N Sixth $10 Lowes gift card, pair of Punk Rock Gardens gloves, Highland Gardens coupons

Honorable mentions: Jessica Sprajcar, 305 Fox Ridge Court; Bill Fritz, Patrick Brady, and Chad Cavanaugh, 270 Cumberland; Dot Montaine, 213 Hamilton; Denise Williams, 2030 Green; Eric Hoffer and Kurt Wagner, 1518 Penn; and Deborah Hughes, 223 Herr.

Thanks to those who participated and to the panel of 3 judges who volunteered their time:

Erica Shaffer: nursery manager of Highland Gardens; landscape designer and consultant.
Nikos Phelps: president of Utopian Landscapes LLC, Christmas Décor and NiteTime Décor companies in Harrisburg; 2007 graduate of Penn State’s Landscape Contracting Program.
Wendy Brister: landscape designer, Pennsylvania certified horticulturalist; garden topic presenter; Punk Rock Gardens blogger; adjunct faculty at HACC.

We look forward to more entrants next year. A few photos of the 1st place winner are shown below. Photos of all entrants can be found here.

7 New Flower Barrels on 3rd St.

don — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:27:22 +0000

In addition to our community cleanup, on July 10 two volunteers placed seven new planted barrels outside the following businesses along Third Street between Verbeke and Forster: Midtown Scholar, Broad Street Market, Historic Harrisburg Resource Center, the HodgePodgery, Gifted Hands, the Soup Spot, and Urban World. The barrels contain canna lily, variegated liriope, portulaca, and vinca. Thanks to all the businesses who agreed to water the plants.

These barrels were made possible by a generous gift of $500 from the Auchincloss Family Fund of the Foundation for Enhancing Communities on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. S. Sloan Auchincloss.

Summer Newsletter

don — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:25:13 +0000

Within the past few days, several volunteers have begun distribution of FOM’s Summer Newsletter throughout Midtown. Distribution is expected to be completed by early next week. Thanks to those who have volunteered to fold and distribute the newsletters.

July 10 clean-up results

don — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:22:29 +0000

Thanks to the 24 volunteers who, despite the threatening weather, showed up on Saturday July 10 for our first summer community clean-up. With so few volunteers, we still managed to remove 81 bags of trash and weeds from five miles of streets, alleys, and sidewalks. That is the same number of bags filled as the spring cleanup, which featured twice the volunteers. Much of this consisted of high weeds from outside the vacant building at Third and Muench Streets. Unfortunately, that weeding work prevented us from covering all of Third Street from Maclay to Forster, as planned.

Thanks to the Neighborhood Center for allowing FOM to use its facility as a meeting place and to Mercado’s on Third Street for discounted pizzas for the volunteers.

FOM Receives $500 Gift for Midtown Beautification

don — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:50:40 +0000

FOM is grateful to have received a generous gift of $500 from the Auchincloss Family Fund of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities on behalf of Mr. & Mrs. S. Sloan Auchincloss. The gift is to be used for the beautification of Midtown. We appreciate these members’ commitment to Midtown. We will keep you informed as to how this money is used.

Community Cleanup July 10

don — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:45:32 +0000

FOM’s next community clean-up is scheduled for Saturday July 10 between 9 – 1. This clean-up will focus on the area between Kelker and Maclay from Front to Seventh plus Third Street from Forster to Maclay. The meeting point will be the Neighborhood Center of the United Methodist Church.

Urban Landscaping Competition

don — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:39:36 +0000

FOM’s second annual Urban Landscaping contest recognizes those with green thumbs, whether on Green Street or Geiger Street, who are able to do most with the least – be it in pots, patches, or private parks. A prize will be awarded to the most exceptional example of urban greenery as determined by our panel of professional judges.

To participate, interested gardeners should submit the following to beautification@friendsofmidtown.org or Friends of Midtown, PO Box 5291, Harrisburg PA 17110-0291:

(1) NAME (2) ADDRESS (3) PHOTOS of your urban landscape entry

Last day to apply is Sunday, August 1; judging to occur Saturday, August 7

OIC Summer Reading Club event results

don — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:33:02 +0000

Hundreds of neighborhood children left the TriCounty OIC Summer Reading Club Kickoff event on June 5^th with potted plants, gold fish, painted faces, and their very own books. At the Friends of Midtown table, Judy Forshee, Ina Kane, Donna Opusznyski, and Shawn Westhafer helped parents and children choose age appropriate books and magazines furnished by FOM and Jump Street. Once the picnic food was devoured, faces washed, and visiting zoo animals just a memory, these new books provide lasting gifts to read and share all year.

Thanks to the following who helped our efforts in providing books and gift cards for this event:

Midtown Scholar Bookstore – 2 cartons of children’s books and five $10 gift cards
Jump Street – two cartons of teen books and a copy of “Jumper” for each attendee
Londonderry School families – several cartons of books
Wegman’s - $25 gift card
Giant, Weis, and Rite Aid – $20 gift cards
$91 from various donors including funds raised at the FOM spring social

Posted below are a few photos from the June 5th event.

Sixth & Reily Selected as Federal Courthouse Site

don — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:12:11 +0000

The long arduous fight is finally over and the will of the people has triumphed! As one of the founding Right Site Harrisburg Coalition members, FOM joined Senator Spector, Congressman Holden, and other state and local officials in the April 26^th announcement of Sixth and Reily as the site selected by the General Services Administration (GSA) for the location of the new federal courthouse. Many thanks to those who stood by us the past few years while pressing on with this fight. The official GSA letter and pictures from the announcement are found below.

GSA letter

Tri-County OIC Summer Reading Club Kick-off Event

don — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:11:58 +0000

Friends of Midtown is supporting the Tri-County OIC summer reading program and their June 5^th Kick-off Event.

We are collecting monetary donations and books, particularly children’s books and teen and pre-teen literature. Gift cards for purchasing supplies and prizes for the event are also welcome. Can you imagine a house with no books? Neither can we!

Please contact Judy@friendsofmidtown.org or leave donations at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore Reading Café, where we have a box for books and “fish bowl” for cash and checks. Deadline for receiving donations is May 16^th. Thanks so much for your help.