Tour de Cure in Merion Village

Hal & Al’s, located at 1297 Parsons Avenue and Team Think-Urban.com are hosting a pre-memorial Day Party to benefit the American Diabetes Association – Tour de Cure bike ride on June 6th for diabetes research and education. The Pre-Memorial Day party will begin at 4pm at Hal & Al’s, a full evening of beverage specials, food, fun and games is planned.

A professional bike mechanic will be available to tune up bikes so party participants are ready for a summer of riding. The bike tune-up service is free; however a donation to the Tour de Cure is suggested. All proceeds raised by Team Think-Urban.com will benefit the American Diabetes Association – Tour de Cure.

Tour de Cure is a series of fund-raising cycling events held in 40 states nationwide to benefit the American Diabetes Association.

Think-Urban.com is a Columbus-based company dedicated to showcasing the new urban lifestyle in Ohio’s major cities; Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton. See more information at www.think-urban.com

The University District Neighborhood Blog Arrives

We’d like to take a moment to introduce the University District blog as the newest “kid on the block”.

Not unlike Merion Village, the University District is a neighborhood that is constantly changing. Young and old, established and seasonal, and going through some of the same growing pains as most inner-city neighborhoods. Take a look, check in frequently. and participate in the discussion.

Urban Achievers 4H Program

Kerry, who is a Merion Village resident, asked me to post this information. I was pleased to have the opportunity to meet her last earlier in the week at the Merion Village Association meeting with Kroger.

We talked briefly about the Urban Achievers 4H program and I learned that the cost of sponsoring a child is only $16 per year. When I learned that a small investment could help give a child a chance to participate in such a program I offered to donate $16 so that the program could sponsor one more child this year.

I would encourage everyone to do the same. It amounts $1.33 per month, which is less than the cost of one cup of coffee. Sponsoring a child for the Urban Achievers 4H program is a very inexpensive investment for our neighborhood and our city as a whole.

Urban Achievers 4H would like to invite all youth ages 8-18 to join our club.

We are hosting an organizational meeting on Friday March 13, 2009. 5:30 – 7:00pm at the Columbus Metropolitan Library – Parsons Avenue Branch meeting room. (845 Parsons Ave.)
For more information about the Franklin County 4H youth program click here.

Urban Achievers formed in 2005 and offers a fun learning environment with a focus on volunteering and community service. To serve our community the club has been helping weed, maintain and even pick a name for the pocket park at Morrill & Bruck now called “Walker-Bruck Park” in Merion Village. This is an on-going volunteer project that began when Urban Achievers participated in Make a Difference Day 2005, the club created an action plan for the park and were awarded a grant from the Ohio 4H Foundation to put the plan into motion. Each year we plan learning experiences focused on the park. Our members have also volunteered for the Merion Village Association Pasta Dinner, the 4H BBQ at the Franklin County Fair, collected pop tabs for The Ronald McDonald House and canned food for the food bank.

Members are encouraged to select and enroll in a project for evaluation at the Franklin County Fair, but are not required to. Members can opt to participate in a group project completed during club meetings. In the past the club has pursued “Art as Expression”, “Let’s Explore the Outdoors” and “Ohio Ponds” as group projects. There are also opportunities for learning at 4H camp, participation in various workshops hosted throughout the year and on club field trips. 4H also offers State, National and International opportunities for learning and leadership and several scholarships for college.

If you are interested in learning more feel free to attend the meeting, we are more than happy to answer your questions. If you are interested but unable to attend the meeting please contact me directly at: kerry |at| think-urban.com or (614)507-5630.

Kroger to Meet with Merion Village

Kroger is planning to upgrade their Parsons Avenue store with the addition of a fueling station.The Merion Village Association is hosting this open community meeting to give Merion Village residents the opportunity to meet with Kroger management and discuss the operations of the Parsons Avenue store.

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 2, at the Merion Village Information Center, 1330 South Fourth Street.

For more information, please email Bob Leighty:   rleighty |at| columbus.rr.com.

Schumacher Place New-Builds go Green

Thanks to Walker at Columbus Underground for posting this story.

I think it’s great to see some modern new-builds coming to the area. Though it’s not in Merion Village, brining “modern” design into an older neighborhood sparks interest in what can be rather than what simply is. The fact that this development is seeking LEED certification is yet another plus for the area – offering an example of what can be done within the confines of an existing urban neighborhood.

Without the rigid historical requirements of our neighboring village, Merion Village is another place where such projects can take place. There are a handful of lots awaiting in-fill and with inner-city housing prices remaining relatively stable, it may be precisely the right time to begin planning for a recovered housing market by attracting this type of development into Merion Village.

Click HERE to see the Kossuth Green web site.

Parsons Avenue: North to South

Nationwide Children’s Hospital will begin investing in the nearby housing stock in an effort to improve the over-all quality of life for nearby residents.  Two articles appeared yesterday regarding the upcoming work.

The Columbus Dispatch article here, and the Columbus Business First article here.

At the south end of Parsons Avenue, the former Schottenstein’s at Parsons between Reeb and Barthman has been demolished to make way for the new John R. Maloney Health Center

Forty-seven properties along Parsons Avenue have been purchased for the redevelopment efforts and the former IGA grocery store, which was adjacent to Schottenstein’s, was also recently demolished.  The Mayor has set aside $750,000 to begin design work on the new Maloney Center and $4.9 million has been set aside for construction in the 2008 voted bond package to be voted on this November by Columbus residents.  Voter approval of the 1.6 billion, 6-issue bond package will allow the city to borrow money through the sale of City bonds to finance large capital projects at a cheaper rate and save the City nearly $30 million

Read the entire press release here.

Tip of the hat to ColumbusRetroMetro for noting them first.

Ganther’s Place

Take a look to the right.  That’s right, right here on the screen, just down a bit on this page and you’ll see a new link in the Blogroll.  It’s Ganther’s Place and the Merion Village blog is pleased to introduce them to you.

Residents of Ganther’s Place were the guests of tonight’s Columbus Social Media Cafe where they were presented with a variety of on-line tools to assist their community efforts.  After introducing the group to the great strides made and current challenges of the neighborhood, the group rolled up their sleeves and got to work.

In about hours time, a group of Columbus enthusiasts helped build the new Ganther’s Place blog where this community can begin to host an ever greater dialogue, not only with it’s immediate neighbors, but also with with neighboring communities such as Merion Village.

The neighbors of Ganther’s Place also set up shop at Twitter, another on-line tool that will allow for greater communication with various groups that are working towards the same goals.  Members of the Columbus Social Media Cafe offered introductions to the web tools of Flickr and Utterz as well as information on how to set up a neighborhood mesh network for wireless internet.  We also discussed how the neighborhood can involve the school children at Heyl Elementary in future class projects.

All of what was accomplished this evening was made possible by volunteers and neighbors and is a demonstration of what can happen when we open up the dialogue and work together as a community.  We welcome the continued success of yet another Merion Village neighbor.

WOSU Documentary to Include Merion Village

In celebration of Columbus’ bicentennial celebration in 2012, WOSU will begin work on a series of documentaries that highlight some of the city’s neighborhoods and will include a portion about Merion Village.

WOSU wants grassroots participation on this project and offers residents the opportunity to share their photographs, videos and stories regarding the various neighborhoods.  To reserve a time to share your insight into the neighborhood call WOSU at 614 292 9678.

The multimedia project will include web and television broadcasts as well as class-room materials for students and teachers.

Find out more about  WOSU’s Columbus Neighborhoods project by clicking here.

Merion Village Blog Gains Media Attention

Tim Eby, former national president of NPR and current station manager at WOSU makes mention of the Merion Village Blog at the July 9th meeting of the Columbus Metropolitan Club.

Tim Eby, along with Walker Evan of Columbus Underground and Helen Blowers of the Columbus Metropolitan Library discussed how social media is changing the way communities interact.

If you missed the luncheon you can watch the video by clicking here.

Newest MV Park Gets a Name

And there’s more new about outdoor space in Merion Village from This Week News:

Merion Village gained the park in 2001 after several neighbors turned the vacant, overgrown land into green space.
Soon after the 4-H group volunteered to tend the park as part of Make a Difference Day, after which the club decided to take on the project on a long-term basis.

This pocket park is located on the corner of Bruck and Morrill.