Wards Corner Civic League

The September 2016 Wards Corner Civic League meeting will be held on the 19th at 6:45pm at the Fitness and Wellness Center.

Invited speakers are Department of Emergency Response and Preparedness

Below is the President’s Message:

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
by Jim English ajim.english@gmail.com

Dear Neighbors,

Welcome back to the last half of this civic league year. The summer of 2016 is now almost in the history books as it has once again sped by very rapidly. I hope your summer was enjoyable and relaxing. Mine sure was and I actually was able to spend a lot of time at my summer home in Maine. Let’s hope we don’t have any more hurricanes or other significant weather events this season. I hope you are now ready to begin the fall activities. With fall fast approaching, school is in session and the Wards Corner Civic League will begin holding its regular meetings again, starting with our meeting at 645PM on September 19th to be held at the Norfolk Fitness and Wellness Center. This newsletter reflects some of the issues and concerns that we have been involved in and working on.

Congratulations are in order for our own Martin Thomas Jr. on his election victory to Ward 1 of City Council. Thank you for all who came out and supported Martin in this election. As far as I know this is the first time that anyone from our civic league has been elected to City Council. This makes the victory even sweeter. Our precinct had the largest turnout in this election and the most votes for Martin of the 5 precincts. Way to go folks. Martin has been with our civic league for 10 years and has been a vice president for 9 of those years. He has been an invaluable asset to our civic league. Martin has decided to step down as vice president so that he can focus his time full time on the needs of Ward 1. We understand that and respect his decision although he will be missed in that role. Martin has indicated he will visit us regularly and help us whenever the need arises.

To Martin, we sincerely thank you for all of your support and work for our civic league these past years. You have been and will continue to be a very important part of our community and we look forward to working with you in the future.

The bylaws allow the President with approval of the Board to appoint another VP. However since we will be having an election in December we are going to wait until then to fill that position when we elect other officers at that time. A slate of candidates will be presented at the December meeting by the Nominating Committee to be considered for election. Nominations will also be taken from the floor at that time.

We will have informative speakers on timely city topics for you to hear. Therefore, I want to welcome you back to another year of good productive civic league meetings. If you regularly attend our meetings, please bring a neighbor. If you have never been to a meeting or you are new to the area, please join us. A strong active civic league like ours gives us good and continued political clout, which we have built with our council representatives to this area. The Wards Corner Civic League is recognized as one of the strongest civic leagues in Norfolk.

We have a great fall program lined up and we hope to see you at the meetings.
Please enjoy this newsletter. Please join your civic league. Thank you and I look forward to seeing you on the 19th of September at 645PM at the Norfolk Fitness and Wellness Center.

Sincerely,

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WARDS CORNER CIVIC LEAGUE
408 Burleigh Ave, Norfolk, VA 23505

August 15, 2016

Dear Wards Corner Neighbors,

As you are aware there will be a special election to elect our next Ward 1 councilman to the Norfolk City Council. The Wards Corner Civic League Board of Directors and the members named below are enthusiastically endorsing and supporting Martin Thomas Jr. for our choice to fill that vacant council position. This is an unprecedented move for our civic league and Board of Directors but we feel compelled to do so for several reasons.

Since joining the Wards Corner Civic League 11 years ago Martin has been a faithful and productive member of our civic league. For the last 10 years he has served as our First Vice President where he has headed up our membership and communications social media. In fact Martin was the one who developed our website http://www.wardscorner.com when he first became a member. He has also helped increased our membership substantially. That website has been very successful and is to this day. Martin has also been involved in the Wards Corner Task Force, the Wards Corner Partnership and was founder of Wards Corner Now and its website http://www.wardscornernow.com. He has been our eyes and ears to city hall for the past several years and always keeps us updated on the important issues facing our community and city.

Martin has been actively involved in pushing for many of the issues in Wards Corner including the Suburban Shopping Center development, the appropriate development of the Collins properties, the Denby Park apartment demolition and revitalization and the improvements to the infrastructure in the business district. Through all of this and more Martin has stood tough to ensure that these projects were developed in the best interest of us all. He has been a tremendous asset to the Wards Corner area. Martin also won a small grant on behalf of our city league to develop a paved walkway from Newport Ave. to Granby Street on North Shore Rd. which walkers now enjoy.

As a member and Co-Chair of the Norfolk Planning Commission he has been an advocate, with the civic leagues input, for Wards Corner on many of the projects that have come to fruition. In this role he has also served Ward 1 well as he has for the entire city.

Martin is thoughtful, insightful and considerate and possesses those qualities that we need and want in our city council representative. It is vitally important and crucial that we support and endorse him as our next Ward 1 councilman. We have gained so much over that past 10 years in Wards Corner and to lose that momentum now with anyone else would be very unfortunate. Please join us in doing so when this special election is held on August 23rd, 2016.

Sincerely,
A. James English Jr., President
Sue Classick, 2nd Vice President
Joan Griffey, Secretary
Ray Duron, Treasurer
Barbara Ross, Newsletter Editor
Scott Gurlinger, Board Member
Daniel Graves
Fred Baker
Melissa Baker
Shirley Thompson
Scott L. Cravey
Sherry Romulus
Cynthia Baker
Pablo Yepez
Clem Blanco
Percy Peele
Barbara Vasko
James Pressler
Linda Pressler

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The June 2016 Wards Corner Civic League meeting will be held on the 20th at 6:45pm at the Fitness and Wellness Center.

Invited speakers are Robert Blizard from Norfolk SPCA and Jeanita Castille from Prime Plus Senior Services.

Below is the President’s Message:

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
by Jim English ajim.english@gmail.com

Dear Neighbors,

Summer is just around the corner and schools will be out and hopefully we will all enjoy some relaxing vacation time. Hopefully this summer will be great and we will once again be spared any major hurricanes just like we were last year. However make sure you are prepared just in case. Over the summer please continue to enjoy the Norfolk Fitness and Wellness Center. There are many great activities to be enjoyed at this facility.  If you are not a member yet please consider joining. Please take advantage of this exceptional facility in our back yard. Also please consider joining our social media Next Door Ward Corner at www.nextdoor.com .  It is a great way to keep up with many of the things happening in our civic league area.

The June meeting marks the last meeting of the first half of the civic league year until we resume our schedule again in September. We will not have a newsletter in July and August. We will, however, post any news that you should know about on our Wards Corner Civic League website and the Wards Corner Now website. We will not have a meeting in July and August unless absolutely necessary.

           This brings me to the critical point of electing a replacement councilman for Ward 1. As you are aware Councilman Andy Protogyrou will no longer be our councilman as of July 1. At its July 1st meeting the newly elected city council will determine when a special election will be held to fill that seat. We are pushing for an August election. If the election date is held in August then we will have an election forum or meeting in July, a date to be determined. As you are as aware I have endorsed Martin Thomas Jr. for this seat and our Board of Directors has also done the same at its meeting on June 6th. Therefore please look for announcements about this important election on our website www.wardscorner.com as well as the Next-door website. It is vitally important that we elect Martin Thomas Jr. If the election is not held in August, then I will let you know when it is planned.

This is the time of year that I like to thank all of those folks who have made our civic league great over the course of the year. First, I wish to thank Barbara Ross for her dedicated service as our newsletter editor and board member. She has done an excellent job of preparing the newsletter each month. This takes a significant amount of time to complete and Barbara’s newsletters are informative and always on time. Barbara, we thank you for your service and look forward to your newsletters again in the fall. Enjoy your two months of newsletter free time. Speaking of keeping us informed a hearty thanks goes to Martin Thomas Jr. for keeping our website www.wardscorner.com up to date and informative. He also manages the website www.wardscornernow.com for the Greater Wards Corner area. We also thank Martin for the good work he is doing on the Planning Commission for our area and the city. Also a special thanks to Joan Griffey and Ray Duron for keeping the records of our meetings and ensuring that our finances are in order. Joan, also thanks for your continued efforts as Chair of the Beautification Committee with the Wards Corner Task Force. A thank you also goes to our 2^nd VP, Sue Classick for organizing the delivery of our newsletters each month with our many newsletter carriers. Thanks also to our many newsletter carriers for their time in delivering our newsletters to you. This also is no small task. It is yet another valuable service that we are providing to all of the residents of the Wards Corner Civic League area residents. It is also the envy of many of the civic leagues in the Greater Wards Corner area as well as citywide. Thanks also to Betty and Ray Duron for organizing and conducting our adopt-a-street cleanups over the past several years. Thanks also to the members of our civic league who help in each of these cleanups. I thank Scott Guirlinger for all his help as a board member. Thank you for organizing the evenings at Guads and planning our civic league picnic. We are pleased that you have joined us. Lastly I want to thank Socko Pearson who is now coordinating and soliciting the ads for our newsletter.  He has already brought in several new advertisers that you will see in the future. Thank you all for your service.

I also wish to thank our Police Officers who keep us safe every day and also provide us with needed information each month at our meetings. They do an outstanding job. We especially thank Officer William Old for his service to our civic league. Please make sure we follow their advice about how to keep ourselves safe. With the rise in car larcenies this means keeping our cars locked at all times and not keeping any valuables    in our car. It also means calling the police at either the 911 number or non-emergency number to report any and all crimes that are witnessed. If they don’t receive the calls, the crime is not registered with them and there is no record.

Finally, I extend a very grateful thanks to all of our paid members for your continuing support and attendance at our monthly meetings. Your presence and input at our meetings is much appreciated. Please tell your neighbors to join us in attendance and membership as more numbers mean a bigger voice at city hall.

One thing is for sure. The Wards Corner Civic League is one of the strongest and most powerful civic leagues in the city and you helped us with getting that distinction. The dedication and commitment of the membership of the Greater Wards Task Force, and area Civic Leagues (including and especially ours) will continue the push with our city elected officials and senior city management staff to help us correct and develop the area and rid it of the dysfunctional and criminal element that has unfortunately been drawn to the area. We will not be taking the summer off but will continue our fight. Please join us in that fight as numbers speak to elected officials. Maybe by the time the September meeting comes around we will see new businesses open or opening in the shopping center on the Northeast corner of the business district. You know that shopping center with all the vacant parking spaces that exist now!

Please have a safe, relaxing and enjoyable summer. We will continue our work to improve our area throughout the summer. We hope to see you again in June and then in the fall at our September meeting. Please also join us for our civic league picnic on June 25^th at the Northshore Ave playground.  There will be food and fun for all.

Sincerely,

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The May 2016 Wards Corner Civic League meeting will be held on the 16th at 6:45pm at the Fitness and Wellness Center.

We will have a speaker from the Norfolk Health Department to speak about the Zika Virus and Rabies.

We will also discuss new bylaws.  A draft can be viewed here:  Proposed bylaws

Here are links to the May newsletter: May 2016  May 2016 Ads

Below is the President’s Message:

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
by Jim English ajim.english@gmail.com

Dear Neighbors,

As you read this message we will have elected a new Mayor, a Superward 6 Councilman, and a member to the Norfolk School Board for our area. Perhaps your candidate/s won, perhaps they didn’t.  Nonetheless we are all going to have to recognize that they are our elected officials and while we may or may not agree with them they will be with us for four more years (at least) and we will and should make our voices heard to our elected officials if we do not agree with the policies that are being proposed. This is our right and obligation as a free and democratic society.  To sit idly by in apathy as decisions are made without our input or voice oftentimes (or should I say many times) allows poor policies to be put in place that don’t represent the best interest of the majority of us. It allows the few and vocal to get what they want. Exercise your free speech right and speak up to your congressmen or elected official/s if you disagree with them. Also let them know if you do agree with them. It works both ways. I know I like to be vocal (sometimes to the point of being borderline obnoxious I suppose) if what I see happening isn’t right or makes no sense. I challenge you to do the same – but civilly.

Should Andy Protogyrou become our next Mayor, we will have a vacancy for Ward 1 on city council. Because of a ruling in our city charter/constitution, a sitting councilman running for another office (i.e., Mayor) must give up their seat whether they win or lose their election. This means that Andy cannot finish out his term of two more years on city council. Interestingly that does not apply to other candidates running for office (i.e., Sheriff and Senator) who can keep their seats if they lose their election. While we may agree that this is unfair and foolish, nonetheless we must live with it. Therefore it is vitally important and imperative that we get behind Martin Thomas Jr. as he enters the race for councilman for Ward 1. Please sign the petition for Martin for city council, pledge to help his campaign and let us vote him into office when that election is held sometime after July 1, 2016.

In other news, the Board of Directors, after several months of review and discussion, has now approved a new set of constitution and bylaws for our civic league. These can be viewed on our website at www.wardscorner.com so that you may become informed of what they say before we vote on them at our June meeting. They will also be introduced to the membership at the May meeting. Your feedback is encouraged and welcomed. We will consider all feedback and respond to them at the discussion phase of this process prior to voting in June.

The Board of Directors has also made a decision regarding the printing of our newsletter after considering several options. Our concern has been with the increasing cost of our newsletter and the sustainability of printing it at the current level and frequency. Thanks to Ray Duron who spoke with our printer recently, the printer lowered his price to a more manageable level rather than lose our business. Therefore the Board of Directors has agreed to keep our current printer for now as long as we don’t go in the red each month printing the newsletter. By doing this we will not increase the dues at this point, endeavor to maintain 10 ads per month and gradually increase the advertising fee as current ads expire or we pick up new advertisers. This way we still have a sustainable newsletter based on fees from ads and membership dues received while still having funds for such events as our picnic. Hopefully this can be maintained.

Finally summer is almost here and with all of the good things that happen in the summertime we must also realize it is a time for mosquitoes and mosquito bites. Mosquito bites are becoming more of a concern because of the potential of spreading the deadly Zika virus. In addition, summertime usually sees an increase of animal bites and the potential of contacting rabies through the bite of an infected wild animal or an unvaccinated domestic pet. Therefore for our May meeting we will have a representative from the Norfolk Health Department talking about this these issues. You won’t want to miss this presentation.

I hope to see you at our next meeting of our Civic League on the 16^th of May at 645PM at the Wellness Center.

Sincerely,

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The April 2016 Wards Corner Civic League meeting will be held on the 18th at 6:45pm at the Fitness and Wellness Center.

Speakers include Candidates for Norfolk School Board Dr. Noelle Gabriele and Carter Smith.

Below is the President’s Message:

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
by Jim English ajim.english@gmail.com

Dear Neighbors,
On May 3rd our area has a real chance to boost its influence on Norfolk City Council by electing Andy Protogyrou as its Mayor. I normally don’t show my support or endorse a candidate for any election, but this year I believe I must do so. While I know all three of the candidates running for Mayor and know that they are good people, it is Andy Protogyrou that stands above them and should be our next Mayor. Andy has worked very hard for the betterment and revitalization of Wards Corner for the past 6 years as our Ward 1 councilman. I should know as I have worked for this revitalization effort for 16 years and along with him for the past six years. During that short time we have made far more progress than in those first years of effort. If you look around the Greater Wards Corner area you can see the signs of progress that he has championed. Whether it is the total remodeling of the K&K Shopping Center which has a zero vacancy rate, to the acquisition and demolition of so many blighted apartment buildings in Denby Park to the signature Public Art at the gateway to Wards Corner on Granby Street, his influence is there. Besides that, Andy has been a force to reckon with on City Council and has made successful alliances with other council members to ensure that when a vote is needed for Wards Corner or other important projects or issues in the city, he has the votes to get it approved. He has been a remarkable quick start and has accomplished much in his 6 years on city council.

His vision is right for Norfolk. “As your Mayor, we’ll have a city that works for everyone. I have a vision for a Norfolk that is better, stronger, cleaner, and safer. A Norfolk that attracts and grows businesses; whose port is the preferred east coast destination for maritime commerce; a Norfolk that is a model for fiscal responsibility; that takes pride in its schools; a city that weaves the threads of its communities into a vibrant fabric that attracts people to live, work and play.” Andy Protogyrou.

For these reasons and many more I am supporting Andy Protogyrou for Mayor and endorsing his candidacy. I urge all of you to consider doing the same. https://andymayor2016.com/

And now for the second part of this election campaign stuff. When Andy is elected Mayor (and even if he is not) his seat will be vacant. Our own Martin Thomas Jr. has announced his candidacy to fill that seat and become the councilman for Ward 1. According to a longtime friend of Wards Corner, Louis Eisenberg, “Martin is the best choice to succeed Councilman Andrew Protogyrou. Martin is tenacious. When Martin sinks his teeth into an issue that he believes in, he doesn’t let loose. He is just the advocate that we need to represent Ward One and our city. He will bring his forward thinking ideas to City Council on what a 21st Century Norfolk should be. Martin Thomas Jr. listens to the citizens before he acts. His decisions are made only after he has considered the “what ifs”, thus preventing hasty decisions that need to be reversed. Not only is Martin an accomplished attorney, he has a background in City Planning which he uses quite effectively on the City Planning Commission. I have seen Martin take on powerful developers who present mediocre developments before the Planning Commission, and he gets those developers to improve their projects.

Martin Thomas Jr. has paid his dues. He is not a Johnny-come-lately to Ward One issues. He has been a consistently powerful voice in his advocacy for the removal of the sub-standard multi-family housing in Denby Park and Monticello Village. He is knowledgeable about sea-level rise that affects us all in Norfolk. He knows that good city planning can be a deterrent to crime and a factor in improving the  economic development opportunities of our city.

And lastly, Martin Thomas Jr. knows that good schools and the educated populace that they produce is a necessity for Norfolk to attract quality companies that will create high paying jobs.  When City Council decides on the date of the Special Election to fill the vacant Ward One seat, I urge you to consider voting for Martin Thomas Jr.

I am also supporting and endorsing Martin Thomas Jr. for Norfolk City Council for Ward 1.

Just consider the possibilities and future opportunities for the Greater Wards Corner Area. Wards Corner will one day be a destination to go to and a once again a vibrant shopping and residential community. We are almost there – let’s not stop now. We need both of these gentlemen on city council.

Let us also not forget that we have two other elections that affect us, that of Super Ward 6 and Norfolk School Board. While I am not showing my support to any of these candidates let me say they are all capable individuals.

The other candidates for Mayor are:
Kenny Alexander http://www.kennyalexander.com/
Bob McCabe http://www.bobmccabeformayor.com/

The candidates for SuperWard 6 are:
Andria McClellan http://www.andriamcclellan.com/
Warren Stewart  http://www.friendsofwarrenstewart.com/
Incumbent Councilman Barclay Winn Candidate
https://www.facebook.com/councilmanbarclaywinn/

The candidates for Norfolk School Board are:
Noelle Gabrielle http://www.noellegabriel.com/
Carter Smith http://cartersmithnorfolk.com/

I urge you to become informed about these candidates and make your choice for the person you believe will be the best person to represent us in Wards Corner and the city. Remember the candidate with the biggest signs and most and flashiest mailers or website is not necessarily the best candidate for the job. They just have the most money and bought influence.

I hope to see you at our next civic league meeting on April 18th when we will hear the candidates for Norfolk School Board tell us why they are the best candidate.
Thanks and see you at the next meeting.
Sincerely,

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The March 2016 Wards Corner Civic League meeting will be held on the 21st at 6:45pm at the Fitness and Wellness Center.

Speakers include Senator Lynwood Lewis, Delegate Robert Bloxom, and CRO Old.

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The January 2016 Wards Corner Civic League meeting will be held on the 25th at 6:45pm at the Fitness and Wellness Center.

Speakers include Robert J. McCabe, Candidate for Mayor, and Warren Stewart, candidate for City Council Superward 6.

Below is the President’s Message:

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

by Jim English ajim.english@gmail.com

Happy New Year and here is wishing all of you a prosperous 2016.  As we begin the New Year there are continuing signs of improvement in the business district as new or renovated businesses emerge. Here is a list of those improvements so far. This information has also been provided and posted on Wards Corner Now by Martin Thomas Jr.

• The Pancake House and Grill which should to fully opened this month.. The new design and location should not scare any loyal patrons away as the restaurant is slated to maintain its family casual atmosphere as well as its breakfast and lunch menu offerings. The most notable change, aside from moving next door to the location of a former podiatry office, will be the added dinner hours and the change in name from “The Pancake House” to “The Pancake House & Grill” which reflects the dinner menu offerings that will be available such as crab cakes, seafood, and steaks. The breakfast and lunch menu will still be available during dinner hours. Dinner will be served Tuesday through Saturday for now with potential expansion to Sundays and Mondays in the future.
• Starbucks will be bringing “Evenings” to Wards Corner. This location in the Harris Teeter shopping area has applied for an ABC license. In fact our civic league will vote on it at our January 25th meeting. Starbucks Evenings is a fairly new concept that Starbucks has been testing and now expanding across the country.The Starbucks Evenings menu features a thoughtful selection of wine and craft beer alongside the signature coffee and tea beverages you know and love. Enjoy one of their savory small plates – whether it’s our creamy Truffle Mac & Cheese or a delicious flatbread.
  So take a moment to unwind, meet up with friends and enjoy a glass of wine and a delicious little something—with us at http://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/starbucks-stores/starbucks-evenings
  According to their special exception application filed with the City, beer and wine sales are to be 2pm – 10pm Monday – Friday, noon – 10pm Saturday, and noon – 9pm on Sundays. No entertainment or live music is being proposed. The new location will have 75 seats at approximately 24 tables including an 8 seat bar with wine, beer, and mixed drink offerings.
  The City’s Department of Development recently reported that the Wards Corner Starbucks is ranked second in sales regionally.The PDF application can be viewed here: https://wardscornernow.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/starbucks_wardscorner.pdf

• Virginia ABC Store. They will be occupying the old nTelos location which is between the current Your Pie and GNC in the Harris Teeter anchored K&K Shopping Center.According to the regional ABC office the store is meant to be more convenient to those who live in the surrounding area and to alleviate some of the traffic at the Tidewater Drive location across from Southern Shopping Center. The lease for the property commenced on December 1 and the store is planned to open before the end of January.
• Self-Storage Facility on West Little Creek Road. A three story self-storage facility is planned for 801 W. Little Creek Road between Superior Pawn & Gun and the State Farm insurance office. The site is directly across W. Little Creek Road from the 7-11.
  A storage facility is permitted by right at that location so no rezoning’s or approvals by the Planning Commission or City Council will be required.A proposed site plan, subject to change, is attached here at https://wardscornernow.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/2015-12-31-prelim-004.pdf
• Yield to pedestrian signs coming to Wards Corner.
  Many thanks to local business owner, John Knight, for contacting the City about the crosswalk between the Midtown Shopping Center and the K&K Shopping Center. It seems there have been a number of close calls for pedestrians crossing E. Little Creek Road at that location. The City’s traffic engineer studied the location and agreed that it was dangerous. New “Yield to Pedestrians” signs will be installed shortly on the appropriate traffic signal poles at the intersection. John Knight owns the Book Exchange located in the Midtown Shopping Center. These improvements are good news for our area and we should be pleased with the continued redevelopment and improvements to the Wards Corner Business District and Greater Wards Corner area, We all benefit from these improvements.

I have followed all of the postings on Nextdoor Wards Corner with great interest. I am happy to see so many of you using this venue to post interesting issues that all of us can relate to or are able to help each other. I read with particular interest the postings regarding criminal behavior that you witness or that affects you. Please know that the police do monitor Nextdoor Wards Corner but I would urge you to please call the police when you see these events going down. A quick response time is essential to catching these thugs and bringing them to justice. There is too much lag time to wait for the police to read Nextdoor and respond.

Also the Wards Corner Civic League has almost 200 residents from our area on Nextdoor. This is fantastic and I am pleased with its membership. I would urge all of you who are not WC civic league members to join us at our meetings and if you choose to do so become a member. Dues are currently $5 dollars per year per family. You may attend our meetings as a non-member but need to pay dues to vote and become a board member. Keep in mind that your dues pay in part for the newsletter that we deliver to about 1000 homes each month. This is a costly endeavor and we rely on dues and ads to fund our newsletter. So please consider joining.

As the New Year begins we will be once again provide you with speakers on timely and relevant issues at our civic league meetings. We also want you to attend and bring your issues and concerns to us so that we may help address and/or rectify those issues and problems. You may keep track of the civic league happenings in our monthly newsletter but your presence at the meetings is greatly appreciated. Please consider attending. Please also visit us at http://www.wardscorner.com or http://www.wardscornernow.com
Finally please note that our meeting date for January and February has changed due to the holiday on our regular meeting day. The January meeting is the 25th and the February meeting will be the 22nd at 645PM. The meetings will be at the Wellness Center. I hope you can attend.

Thanks for allowing us to continue to serve you as officers of the Wards Corner Civic League.

Sincerely, Jim English

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The December 2015 Wards Corner Civic League meeting will be held on the 14th at 6:45pm at the Fitness and Wellness Center.

Speakers include Andria Mclellan, City Council Candidate for Superward 6, and Andy Protogyrou, Candidate for Mayor.

Below is the President’s Message:

Dear Neighbors,

Holiday Greetings to all. The holiday season is once again upon us. It is a time for great anticipation, reflection and joy as all of us celebrate our respective traditions and religions. It is also a time that we need to reflect on those in our community, city, nation and world who may not be celebrating a joyful season and reach out to them when and if we can do so. Helping those who are in need or are shut-in is perhaps the best gift we can give them. As we gather with our own families this holiday season let us not forget that there are those folks out there who may not be able to celebrate. They need our thoughts and prayers. A simple smile, hello or can I help you goes a long way to show them that someone cares. Let us also pray that our city, state and national leaders make sensible and responsible decisions for all of the residents of Norfolk, Virginia and the United States in the coming year.

As I indicated in my September message, for fifteen years it has been the mission and goal of the leadership of the Wards Corner Civic League to print, publish and deliver nearly 1000 newsletters each month to the homes in our area.  To that end, we have been quite successful.  It takes a lot of effort to write, edit, publish and deliver those newsletters.  We have believed that every household in our area should have a printed newsletter to read each month.  For the most part, our ads pay for the newsletter. We also indicated that we have other methods to bring this newsletter to you via our social media options.

Right now we find ourselves at the point where we cannot continue to deliver a printed copy of the newsletter to every household each month. The cost of printing 1000 copies each month is no longer sustainable with the ads that we have every month. The cost of the last newsletter was over $150.00 for the copies we have printed. This is approximately $50.00 more than the previous few months. With the 8 ads that we run each month we are at the breakeven point while also dipping into membership dues a little each month. Therefore we must find other ways to bring you this newsletter and still try to at least deliver printed newsletters to our paid up members. We are also exploring other options which include:

• Raise the dues.
• Raise the cost of posting an ad each month.
• Posting to our website and Next Door neighbors.
• Printing and delivering newsletters to paid up members.
• A combination of several of these.

We would also like to hear your ideas on this so please email me any ideas. Also we will be discussing this issue at our January meeting if you are interested in weighing in on it.

The holiday season can be dangerous so follow these tips from Parents magazine originally published on AmericanBaby.com, November 2005.

1. Merry and Bright: Carefully inspect holiday light strings each year and discard any with frayed cords, cracked lamp holders, or loose connections. When replacing bulbs, unplug the light string and be sure to match voltage and wattage to the original bulb.
2. Lights Out: Always turn off holiday lights when you leave the house unattended or when going to bed.
3. Fresh Is Best: Try to purchase a freshly cut tree, as they are more resistant to ignition. Keep your tree watered and away from open candles.
4. Timing Is Everything: Use an outdoor timer certified by CSA International to switch lights on and off. Lights should be turned on after 7 p.m. to avoid the electricity rush hour.
5. Check for the Certification Mark: When purchasing light strings, extension cords, spotlights, electrical decorations, gas appliances, or carbon monoxide alarms, look for the certification mark of an accredited certification organization such as CSA International, UL, or ELT to ensure that the products comply with applicable standards for safety and performance.
6. One and Done: Never connect more than one extension cord together; instead use a single cord that is long enough to reach the outlet without stretching, but not so long that it can get easily tangled.
7. The Great Outdoors: When hanging outdoor lights, keep electrical connectors off the ground and away from metal rain gutters. Use insulated tape or plastic clips instead of metal nails or tacks to hold them in place.
8. Climbing Up: Using a ladder when you put up lights? Choose the correct ladder for the job and double check for a certification mark to ensure your portable ladder complies with applicable standards.
9. Keep the Gas Behind Glass: Do not use your gas fireplace if the glass panel is removed, cracked, or broken, and only allow a qualified service person to replace fireplace parts.
10. Sound the Alarm: Test your smoke alarms monthly to make sure they work, and be sure to install smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms on every level of your home — especially near sleeping areas.
11. Filter-Friendly Furnace: To help prevent CO hazards in your home, have a qualified heating contractor perform a yearly maintenance check of your furnace and venting system, and clean or replace your furnace filter frequently during the heating seasons.
12. Clean the Clutter: Do not store combustible materials such as gasoline, propane, paper, chemicals, paint, rags, and cleaning products near your gas furnace. Gasoline or propane cylinders should be stored outside the home.

Finally from my family to yours, please have a safe and enjoyable holiday season with the best of wishes for a prosperous New Year.

Sincerely,

Jim English

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The November 2015 Wards Corner Civic League meeting will be held on the 16th at 6:30pm at the Fitness and Wellness Center on Newport Ave.

The Commissioner of Revenue, Evans Poston, is scheduled to speak.

President’s message:

Dear Neighbors,
By the time you read this edition of the newsletter, another election day has come and gone and we have elected two new people to represent us in the Virginia General Assembly, a Senator and a Delegate. Whatever the outcome of these two races we will have to work with these people for the next several years. Let’s wish them well in their respective
offices and trust that they serve us with dignity, honesty and integrity.

Now with that election over we will be preparing for another election his May. Those of the Mayor and Superward 6 are the face-off elections this spring. Candidates are already starting to line up for this election. This means that we will be having at least two candidate forums in the coming months for each of these positions. We will also probably be holding
those forums jointly with other civic leagues in our area. First up will most likely be the Superward 6 candidates possibly in January.

So far we have three candidates each running for the two positions. For Superward 6 this is: Andria McClellan, a member of the planning commission; Warren Stewart, a member of the school board; and incumbent Councilman Barclay Winn. Running for Mayor is: Andy Protogyrou, city councilman for Ward 1 (our Ward); Norfolk Sheriff Bob McCabe and
Kenneth Alexander, Norfolk State Senator to the Virginia General Assembly.

During the next several months prior to the election we hope to be able to introduce all of these candidates to you to help in your decision making. Please look for more information about this in our upcoming newsletters and civic league meetings.

Please take the time to read the many interesting articles in this edition of the newsletter. We strive to bring you the latest
news of the Wards Corner area that we are aware of since the last newsletter. Sometimes we have slow news months and struggle to find something to write about and other times there is a lot to write about.

I hope you have an enjoyable Thanksgiving as we mark the beginning of the holiday season. Thanks, and I hope to see you at the next civic league meeting on November 16th, 2015 at the Wellness Center at 645PM.  Our guest will be the Commissioner of the Revenue, Evans Poston.

Sincerely,

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