Colonial Place/Riverview Civic League
COMMUNITY NEWS

December 2002

             Holiday Celebration

NEXT BOARD MEETING will be January 20, 2003, at 7:00 pm.

DEADLINE for the January issue is Tuesday, December 31, 2002.

THIS MONTH'S MEETING AGENDA:   Holiday Celebration

As Vice-President I have the honor to write this month’s column since Craig Reilly is currently out of town. He will be back for our Civic League holiday celebration on Monday, December 9th.

I take this opportunity to thank all of our residents and city employees that do so much to improve our community. Our continual progress is due to your efforts … and Colonial Place/Riverview keeps getting better and better. You can all be proud. We have enhanced the appearance of our houses/yards, our business districts, our common areas over the past year. Thanks!

While on the subject of appearance, we appreciate the efforts that many of you put into dressing up your property for the holidays. Again this year Audrey Webb, Chairwoman of the Civic League’s Beautification Committee, is arranging for judges to select and prizes to award those who do an especially noteworthy job of decorating.

Deborah Williams, our treasurer, has moved to Virginia Beach and thus has resigned effective January 1, 2003. She has done a terrific job and we all owe her thanks. One of the best ways would be to volunteer to replace her. Please call the President, Craig Reilly to volunteer.

Hopefully I will be able to wish you Happy Holidays at our celebration on December 9th. This meeting is for all the family; bring the children to visit with Santa Claus.

The residents of the Zoo could really do with your help this time of the year. Their stock of munchies is not as plentiful from now through winter. Here are some of the plants the Zoo accepts for "browse" (animal munchies): Crepe myrtle, butterfly bush (Buddleia), red tip (Photina), abelia and Bradford pear. Plant materials should be free of pesticides. They would also enjoy your leftover Halloween pumpkins! For information on drop-off times and location or the possibility of pick-up, please call the Zoo at 441-5240.

Mark you calendars now for another exciting performance by the Maury Theater Company as they present “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”. Under the direction of Colonial Place resident & Maury High School English/Drama teacher Mr. Clyde Berry, over 100 students will act, sing, dance, and provide technical support to bring this musical to life. Performances will be at 7 p.m. on December 12th, 13th and 14th in the Maury High School auditorium; a matinee will be offered at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $5 at the door. Come see what Maury High has to offer!

Bring your imagination (and all the neighbors you can find) to begin the discussion about our vision for our community. This day long discussion process, known as a "Charette" in urban planning circles, will be used to communication our goals, dreams and hopes to the other interested parties (the City of Norfolk, area businesses, etc.). Some areas of discussion will be:

Public Safety
Schools
Property Values
Transportation
Business Districts
Community Activities
City Services
Land Development

To register to attend, please call Margaret Bright at 627-2815 or email charette2103@aol.com

The Planning Committee met again in November to continue to address issues for making the February 1, 2003, Charette for our community a smashing success. We are hopeful that we will have a large turnout of concerned and thoughtful citizens. We fixed accountability for certain activities that will be necessary to complete in order to provide the opportunity for us to create a vision of our future. The following are committees that have been created. If you would like to serve on any of these committees, please contact the Chairperson directly or contact me.

Site Committee- Dave McDonald, Chair - 623-5739 mediate@pilot.infi.net

This committee is responsible for selecting the site, managing the arrangements for the rooms, ensuring appropriate audio/visual equipment and doing the set-up and clean-up of the site. We hope to have a site identified in the immediate future.

Publicity Committee- Steve Earnhart, Chair - 533-5581 scearnhart@erols.com

This committee is charged with making the public aware of what we are doing, specifically to attract as much participation as possible for the event. Other members are Jen Barbee and Theresa Nock.

Registration Committee- Margaret Bright, Chair - 627-2815 pulbright@excite.com

This committee is accepting registrations for participation in the Charette. In addition, they will organize and supervise registration on the day of the event.

Food Committee- Steve Tobias, Chair 627-8606

This committee will be responsible for making arrangement for feeding participants. We are not yet certain how we will be able to do this, but are hopeful that we will give restaurants along Colley Avenue and Granby Street an opportunity to show their stuff to our community. What we are able to do will be dependent on the venue.

Sponsorship Committee- David Block, Chair 624-1749 davidblock@williamewood.com

This committee will be raising funds through offering sponsorships to local businesses. For example, they may ask a printer to provide printing for flyers, invitations and other communications. They may ask others to help with offsetting the cost of a facility if we need to pay for it. Buz Jones of Riverview and Karen Priest of the North Colley Business Association have also volunteered to help with this committee.

Faculty and Guides- Michael Fitzgibbon, - 628-8338 lafayetteriver@aol.com

This committee is responsible for organizing and preparing people who will serve as Facilitators in the small break out groups, people who will serve as scribes to record what citizens have to say and individuals to serve as guides to direct participants to the various rooms we will have in the facility. If you want to volunteer to serve or to help recruit Faculty and Guides, please contact Michael Fitzgibbon. Some potential volunteer Facilitators are Glenn Sussman, Mike Glenn, Dr. Sheila Jones, Kelly Sorensen, Dave McDonald, Cheryl Copper and David Block.

We want you to attend. Call 627-2815 or email Charette2103@aol.com to register. We need you to register because of the facility and food constraints, but there is NO charge to attend. We can use your help. Please contact one of the people above who is already spending personal time and energy to help make our community a better place.

It's time for the next installment of the lecture series from the Norfolk Master Gardener Volunteer Program! On Monday, December 9th, Norfolk Master Gardener Volunteer Patsy Johnson will be giving a lecture on the newest Trends in Gardening. Patsy will discuss what's new and exciting in the world of gardening, so you can get started planning your garden early.

The hour-long program is free and open to the public, and will be held at the Ernie Morgan Environmental Action Center at 3pm. The Center is located in Lafayette Park, next to the Virginia Zoo. Space is limited, so reserve your spot now! Call 441-1347 or email holly.carson@norfolk.gov for more details.

Norfolk Environmental Commission
Ernie Morgan Environmental Action Center
3500 Granby St.
Norfolk, VA 23504
757-441-1347/Fax 757-441-5285
John Deuel, Executive Director

Contact: Holly Carson
Environmental Educator
757-441-1347
holly.carson@norfolk.gov

              The Colonial Place/Riverview Civic League
              P.O. Box 6130
              Norfolk, VA 23508

              E-MAIL: president@cprv.org (checked weekly)

              WEB PAGE: www.cprv.org

Community News Editor:   Kelly Sorensen, Phone 622-0437
Community News Distribution:   Margaret Bright, Phone 627-2815
Advertising:   Kelly Sorensen, Phone 622-0437

Please deliver typewritten newsletter items to:

              Kelly Sorensen
              Phone: 622-0437
              e-mail: cprvnews@earthlink.net