Brooklyn Centre National Wildlife Community

I See Reusable “Trick or Treat” Bags In Halloween’s future

Technorati Tags: Halloween,reuse,recycle,trick or treat bags,Seventh Generation

I saw this suggestion today at the Seventh generation website and thought it apropos to repost it here.

At trick or treat time, convert canvas shopping bags or old pillowcases into goody bags. Kids can have a monstrously good time decorating them beforehand.

This Saturday, we will be transforming ordinary canvas bags into reusable “trick or treat” bags at Brooklyn Memorial United Methodist Church at 2607 Archwood Avenue.  Each week area children “explore nature thru art and music” led by Brooklyn Centre Naturalist instructors.   The program begins at 10:30 am and includes a lunch for all participants  provided by some very nice church ladies. We will be out of there at 12:30 pm with a sturdy, reusable “trick or treat” bag ready for next week’s  festivities.

The church will be holding a Halloween Party for the neighborhood children from 3 to 5 p.m. on October 31st. Games, goodies, music and fun will be the order of the day. Costumes are welcome.  BCN will be manning a craft table and showing anyone who wants to how to make a spooky spider.  

There were other ideas for promoting a reusable and recyclable Halloween on this article. Check it out!

Brooklyn Centre Naturalists First Native Plant Sale Rated a Success

Thanks to the great weather, a dedicated group of volunteers and the graciousness  of Pastor Pam Buzalka from the Brooklyn Memorial United Methodist Church on Archwood Ave., the first annual Brooklyn Centre Naturalists Natïve Plant sale was a complete success.  We set up our little canopy and tables in front of the Brooklyn Memorial UMC at 2705 Archwood Ave. on Saturday and Sunday, September 5th & 6th to sell a collection of Ohio Native Plants and to raise awareness of using native plants in the garden and flower bed.  Native plants are easy to grow, drought resistant and are low maintenance. 

Along with selling our plants, we also passed out information about our upcoming children’s winter educational program that will be held at the United Methodist Church starting October 3.  The program is called “Nature through Art and Music” and we are very excited to partner with the church who will supply the Saturday afternoon lunches after our programs.  Children 10 and up will participate in art projects, music projects, gardening classes, field trips and much much more.  All programs are being conducted by members of the Brooklyn Centre Naturalists, whose goals are to instill an appreciation for nature and wildlife in the youth of Brooklyn Centre.

 
Our thanks to Pastor Pam for allowing us to use the Brooklyn Memorial UMC Center for the weekend. Also, a huge Thank You to Tom Pukelnick who arranged for all the plants from the Ohio Prairie Nursery in Hiram, Ohio, picked them up and took care of them.  Thanks also to Brooklyn Centre Naturalists volunteers Gloria Ferris, Joe Mestnik, Ellen O’Neill and her son Evan and Greg Cznadel for helping out at the booth and selling plants. And last, but not least a huge Thank You to Sharon Martyn who coordinated the sale with her usual aplomb.   

petition to ban ODOT barriers

Dear BCNWC naturalist--

The neighbors of Brooklyn Centre are uniting to stop the erection of unwanted barriers along I-71, barriers that not only wall off our historic, park neighborhood from the outside and also wall us in, but also cost 6-7 times what natural barriers like trees and shrubs would.

We united to tell ODOT in 2005 that we didn't want the sound barriers. We now have to do it again.

Please sign the online petition, and leave your address if you are a resident of Brooklyn Centre. You'll find the petition here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/BanTheBarriers/

Here's a snippet you can send to your friends, as well:

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Hi, I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I recently signed: "Ban The ODOT Barriers in Brooklyn Centre"

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/BanTheBarriers/

I really think this is an important cause, and I'd like to encourage you to add your signature, too. It's free and takes less than a minute of your time. Thanks!

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If you have questions or would like to see the verbiage of the petition reworked or expanded, please call me or send me an email. This is an augmentation to the handwritten petitions being circulated, and is not intended to be a substitute for them or a replacement of them.

Tim Ferris

4022 Denison Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44109 216-255-6640

 taferris@gmail.com

Address Correction For Community Meeting To Be Held At Brooklyn United Methodist Church Thursday, July 23

Hello all-
Please plan on attending one or both of these meetings concerning the erection of noise barriers along I-71.  Many issues to discuss--storm water run off, loss of habitat, loss of trees, air flow, potential loss of land by homeowners, soil degradation,noise pollution, air pollution.
There will be two community meetings for neighborhood residents to comment.
The first: Wednesday, July 22nd at 6:30 p.m.  at Applewood, 3518 W. 25th Street.
The second: Thursday, July 23. It will be on the Agenda of the BCCA meeting to be held at Brooklyn Memorial United Methodist Church, 2607 Archwood Ave. also at 6:30.
The Item to discuss:  Noise Barriers along I-71 in the Brooklyn Centre Neighborhood .  Here is where they would be placed.
Northside of I-71 from W. 25th Street/Pearl Road going west to Denison overpass, and
Southside of I-71 from W. 25th Street/Pearl Road going west to Fulton Road and also from Westside of Denison (other side of overpass) to the first railroad crossing overpass by the small residential section containing W. 46th and W. 47th and Denmark Avenue. 

Learn How to Use Native Plants Through Ohio Prairie Nursery

Thanks to Brooklyn Centre Naturalist member Tom Pukelnick for pointing us to this opportunity.

WHAT:  Ohio Prairie Nursery 2009 Open House

WHERE:  11961 Alpha Road Hiram OH 44234

WHEN:    Saturday, July 18th

Doors open at 10:00 am and close at 4 pm.

WHY:  Learn about prairie ecosystems, rain gardens and the sustainable aspects of using native plants in the landscape.

Take advantage of our summer native plant sale, great prices, great plants.

Call for more details:  Phone: 866-569-3380

thank you

On behalf of the Brooklyn Centre Naturalists (BCN), we wish to thank everyone who donated plants and planting materials and their time and efforts with the new landscape in front of the Brooklyn Memorial UM Church on Archwood Avenue.  Members of the BCN spent several days prepping the site and on Saturday, May 30, with everyone’s help, we were able to complete the landscape project.

The church will now have a low-maintenance, wildlife-habitat-friendly front garden.  The church looks great, which helps make the neighborhood look great.  The donation of plants and plant material as well as everyone’s  help and labor helped to keep the cost down and the results up. This was the first of many such projects we hope to complete this summer, so stay tuned to see what we'll be up to next.

Thank you all; you are what the Brooklyn Centre Naturalists are all about.

Gloria Ferris & Sharon Martynowski

Brooklyn Centre Naturalists Meeting on June 13th

Dear Brooklyn Centre Naturalist--

Here are the details for our regularly scheduled meeting for June. NOTE THE SLIGHT TIME CHANGE.

WHEN: Saturday, June 13th, 2:30 to 4:00

WHERE: Cleveland Public Library-Brooklyn Branch, 3706 Pearl Road

WHY: Lots of Good Ideas and Opportunities Await Us. "Strategic Doing" helps us achieve our goals.

Can't make this one? Our July meeting will be Saturday July 11th, same place same time. Mark your calendars. Hope to see you Saturday.

Gloria and Sharon, Brooklyn Centre Naturalists--

--your neighbors in a natural habitat-aware park neighborhood, where everything comes together