The Greenway Urban Gardens E P N I A M O N T H L Y M E E T I N G

June 9, 7pm

3rd Presbyterian Church

Bergen & N 7th

Grady Chronister will be the guest speaker. He will be announcing a new partnership between Qik n Ez and EPNIA.

Report Crimes to Crime Stoppers 217-788-8234

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

June, 2015 Volume XXVI, Number 6

We are excited to be a part of the urban gardening and agriculture movement in Springfield, IL… right here in the Enos Park neighborhood!

Our VISION for our garden is that it will be space where Organic, Non-GMO, Heirloom produce, herbs and flowers will be grown abundantly under best practices methods. This is more than just a garden! It is part of our family mission to help revitalize our neighborhood and create a sense of community by giving us a gathering place where amazing, posi-tive and fruitful things are happening on 4th Street!

We as urban growers and you as our neighbors will be able to watch and be a part of the growing season from SEED TO PLATE and enjoy this being a part of our daily lives. This will help build a sense of community and ownership in our food and what we are bringing into our homes to feed our families.

This is an opportunity for us to make a living, fund our family mission (Gifts of the Family) projects, and raise money to pay for off duty patrols in our neighbor-hood.

A few of the garden sections we will be growing are:

A Monarch Waystation: Monarch but-terflies are our state’s official insect. By creating and maintaining a Monarch

Waystation we will be contributing to monarch conservation, an effort that will help assure the preservation of the spe-cies and the continuation of the spectacu-lar monarch migration phenomenon.

A Salsa Garden: We will grow all ingre-dients for a local Mexican Restaurant’s salsa!

A Native Wildflower Garden: Native wildflowers are a practical solution to diminishing environmental resources.

They grow in poor soil, and after the 1st year, they need very little water, never need any fertilizer… chemical or organ-ic. They attract pollinators and a number of beneficial insects that feed on pests… there will be no need for insecticides!

Last but not least, we will be participat-ing in the Plant A Row For The Hun-gry initiative. All produce grown in this area of the garden will be donated to our local food banks.

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E n o s P a r k N e i g h b o r h o o d I m p r o v e m e n t A s s o c . I n c

Friends of the Neigh-borhood Gardens

2

Compass Appreciation Dinner 3

Did You Know? 3

View from City Hall 4

Work Days 5

At Home in the Park In Memoriam,

Lola Lucas 6

Calendar 8

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We are SO excited to be on this journey to owning our path to health and wellness, and helping spread this excitement and ownership to all of you! To know where your food comes from, how it is grown, and how to use it is an invaluable privilege and resource. We pray that all of our families are healthier, happier, and stronger as a result of The Greenway Urban Gar-dens.

LOCATION: 4th and Rafter. This is a temporary loca-tion for the gardens. There is something in the works to move the gardens to a permanent location else-where on 4th Street where they will not be in compe-

tition with land for future development, as that is part of the Enos Park Neighborhood Improvement Associ-ation Master Plan. Stay tuned for more details in the near future regarding our new permanent location.

Please join us this growing season to watch our gar-dens grow and know your food from SEED TO PLATE! Visit our web site: www.thegreenwayurbangardens.com to learn more about our gardens and family, for garden work days and events that we will be hosting, and ways for you to help with your time, talent or treasure.

Amity Frey

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Report Nuisance Issues

Call 787-ENOS

Friends of the Neighborhood Gardens... Just a reminder that we've started our weekly gardening nights. We're at the Neighborhood Gardens at the Art Association on Mondays at 6pm and at the Neighbor-hood Gardens on N 5th Wednesdays at 6pm.

We're still planting, so come on out, meet neighbors, work together.

Peace, Cory Blackwell

Neighborhood Gardens Planting day 2015

Neighborhood Gardens Planting at SAA

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2015 EPNIA Officers Michelle Higginbotham, President ........................553-4629 Dawn Mobley, Vice President ...............................572-1500 Linda Maier, Treasurer ............. (cell) 971-9138, 547-5526 Amber Rigor, Secretary .........................................370-7653 Chris Becker, Director ...........................................685-2612 Fletcher Farrar, Director ........... (cell) 502-9149, 523-2801 Jane Buis Henry, Director......................................572-1773 Steve Hughes, Director ..........................................371-0942 Jack Kriel, Director ................... (cell) 622-1943, 546-5157 Calvin Pitts, Director .............................................638-7720 Danyel Pitts, Director ............................................717-5346 Marcus Stewart, Director .......................................816-4928 Owen Anderson, Past President .............................528-9107 Betsy Dollar, Associate Member, SAA .................523-2631 Bill Barton, Associate Member, Westside ..... 630-340-1903 Heidi Wareham, Associate Member, RCC ............498-9264 Marilyn Piland, Executive Director .......................522-9381

Nearly 300 high school students and their adult team leaders will be in Springfield this summer for the Catholic Heart Work Camp. The students will be working in small groups to complete service projects at various locations around town, and they have offered their services to Enos Park homeowners.

We are trying to identify residents in the neighborhood who are senior citizens, people on a limited budget, and/or people who have a disability and need help with projects at their home. This could include minor projects at their house such as interior/exterior painting or yard work such as landscaping, weeding, trimming bushes, etc. The volunteers will bring their own tools.

The camp is from Monday, June 29 to Friday, July 3, so the work projects will be completed during that time frame. However, we need to identify potential projects as soon as possible so that we can plan accordingly for manpower and materials. Please contact Michelle Higginbotham at 553-4629 or president@epnia.com to request assistance for yourself or a neighbor.

Did You Know By Michelle Higginbotham, President EPNIA Compass Appreciation Dinner

Family Service Center held a volunteer appreciation din-ner on May 18 to recognize volunteers for the Compass after-school programs. There are currently eight differ-ent sites throughout District #186, and one of the new sites added for the 2014-15 school year was McClernand Elementary. Danyel Pitts, who volunteers at this site, was recognized as the volunteer of the year. Danyel is dedicated to our Compass after-school program by at-tending every week to mentor, tutor, and develop healthy, life-long relationships with our students from McClernand Elementary. She's a symbol of community volunteerism and neighborhood leadership.

I've had the pleasure of getting to know Danyel this year from the Compass program as well as working alongside her through the Enos Park Neighborhood Improvement Association (EPNIA) and, trust me, she's someone to look out for! If she's not working hard with our youth, she's coaching her high school all-star track team or helping out her neighborhood by undertaking a project. Danyel Pitts is truly a “Volunteer of the Year.”

Devin Cartwright Compass Site Director

At Qik-n-EZ we're more than just a convenience store. We offer quality

products with fast and friendly service. QE has everything you need, when you need it.

With 11 locations throughout central Illinois - we are where you need us.

Remember to always report suspicious activity!

Police Emergency dial 911 Police Non-Emergency

217-788-8311

Life is bristling with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to cultivate one’s garden.

—Voltaire

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The Enos Park Banner Sponsored by the Enos Park Neighborhood Improvement Asso-ciation, Inc. The editor is Marilyn R. Piland, 837 N. 8th St. Circulation is 500, distributed monthly on the first Tuesday of each month. To contribute an article, idea or place an ad, call 522-9381 or e-mail m.piland@comcast.net. The deadline for copy is the 20th.

Advertising rates are: 1/16 page $15 $37.50 for 3 mo. 1/8 page $20 $50.00 for 3 mo. 1/4 page $40 $100.00 for 3 mo. 1/2 page $75 $187.50 for 3 mo. Full page $125 $312.50 for 3 mo.

First off, let me say thank you for allowing me to serve as Alderman for Ward 5 and entrusting in me the privi-lege to represent you on the City Council. Over the next four years, I will focus on shining light on unregu-lated halfway houses, revitalizing abandoned proper-ties, improve our infrastructure, and expand economic and residential opportunities in Downtown Springfield. I look forward to working with you over the next four years in accomplishing these goals.

In my charge to serve you, I want to be available as much as possible to you in addressing your needs. Dur-ing the day, it is best to reach me by email at andrewproctor81@outlook.com or in the late after-noon/evenings by cell at 217-891-6647. If you need to leave a message by phone or email, please leave your name, address, phone number, and information on your issue and I will get with you as soon as I can.

New Faces

As you may know, I am not the only new face in city government. We have a new mayor, city treasurer, city clerk, and five other new aldermen. I look forward to working with all of them, especially Mayor Jim Langfelder and the new aldermen, in addressing the major issues the City of Springfield faces and being more proactive as a city in addressing these needs.

CWLP Veto Override

In the closing days of the Houston Administration, the previous City Council passed an ordinance allowing CWLP to waive PILOT payments to the city’s corpo-rate fund in an effort to help CWLP avoid technical default. While we are not at a risk of having the power plant repossessed if a technical default occurs, we are at risk of being sued by the bond holders of CWLP debt to raise our electric rates to cover the funding shortage if we allow CWLP to go into technical de-fault.

In addition to the threat of being sued, the previous City Council also wanted to place CWLP in a position to refinance its current debt that would save approxi-mately $3 million per year. In technical default, CWL-P’s bond rating would most likely be downgraded and putting a successful refinancing at risk.

The previous City Council passed the PILOT payment waivers ordinance. However, outgoing Mayor Houston vetoed the ordinance during his last hour of being in office on May 7. On May 19, I and the nine other al-dermen voted 10-0-0 to override the veto to ensure the financial stability of CWLP. While this is a short-term financial fix estimated to cost the city’s corporate fund $2.8 million, it places CWLP in a position to work with the new administration and City Council to create a long-term plan to restore fiscal stability to our city’s utility.

V i e w f r o m C i t y H a l l By Andrew Proctor, Ward 5 Alderman

Alderman Andrew Proctor represents Ward 5, and can be reached at andrewproctor81@outlook.com during the day, and at 217-891-6647 in the late afternoon/evenings.

VINTAGE

Furniture, dish ware,

tools & more!

~*~

217-496-2836

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Wow, what a month! After the massive efforts to get the neighborhood looking good for the 150th anniversary of the Lincoln Funeral Procession on May 3, we didn’t stop to catch our breath.

The following week (May 8) was our second annual SIU Day of Service, with nearly 200 medical students and staff plus EPNIA volunteers working throughout the neighbor-hood. Even though our afternoon shift got rained out, we still managed to get quite a few things done:

Worked in Enos and Gehrmann Park weeding and mulching the flower beds, trimming trees, and clean-ing the playground equipment.

Worked at the sculpture garden laying brick pathways, building a water feature, and planting.

Worked at the Neighborhood Gardens adding addi-tional plots, moving mulch and compost.

Worked at a property slated for demolition to remove wood trim for our salvage shop.

Cleaned out large items and debris from the alleys.

Moved plants and gardening materials to the site of the new garden at 4th & Rafter.

Then on Wednesday, May 20 we had a 6th grade class from Calvary Academy working in the neighborhood. The stu-dents were hard workers, even when it began raining in the afternoon (AGAIN!). The group:

Worked in the sculpture garden building a brick wall.

Worked at one of our recently acquired properties cleaning up the yard (they filled 32 yard waste bags) and the inside of the house (filled a 15 yard dumpster).

Moved plants and gardening materials to the site of the new garden at 4th & Rafter.

On Friday, May 22 there was a work day at the sculpture garden to dig trenches for the utilities and do the final prep work on the frames before the concrete was poured for the new pads. Jane Henry also led several additional work days during the month to dig flowers and plants from peo-ple who had offered to donate them to us so they could be transplanted to the sculpture garden. Also, the Civic Gar-den Club donated the plants left over from their spring sale, and those were taken to the sculpture garden as well.

So if you’re ever sitting around feeling bored or wonder-ing what you can do, we can definitely find a way to get you involved! If you’re interested in working with the beautification team contact Jane Henry (572-1773 or just-jane59@sbcglobal.net) or for information about upcoming work days, Michelle Higginbotham (553-4629/president@epnia.com).

Work Days!

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EPNIA plans to continue Lola Lu-cas’s back page in The Banner: occasionally through Lola’s past words, but mainly through contrib-utors. Last month we printed trib-utes. This month gives Lola’s obit-uary, written mostly by Kevin Brown, but rearranged a bit by Jackie Jackson.

All who knew Lola Lucas would agree that she was an extraordinary woman to know and love. Al-though she accomplished so much of which to be proud, she was a humble woman whose focus was always on others. She was never one to worry about building wealth according to the world’s standards; rather, her days were filled with living fully in the moments she was given. Life was not without times of trial for her but she faced whatever came her way with quiet strength and graceful courage. She was an inspiration. Life will never be the same without Lola, but her memory will remain a lasting treasure.

It seems fitting that Lola’s journey began during a time as colorful as she was. The decade is sometimes called the Nifty Fifties, when Elvis Presley took the music world by storm with his rock ’n roll and James Dean, on the silver screen, made young girls swoon. Televi-sions were becoming part of our homes, and as the decade drew to a close we welcomed Alaska and Ha-waii as our 49th and 50th states. Amidst this eventful time there was anticipation in the lives of Louis and Pauline (Malin) Lucas as they eagerly awaited the birth of their baby. Lola drew her first breath on the 5th of January, 1954. She was one of two girls in her family and was raised alongside her sister, Lorna. From 1961 through 1963, Lola was the poster child for the Muscu-lar Dystrophy National Association, as she had been born with this affliction. She attended local schools and graduated from McLuer High School, Florrisant, Missouri, in the early 1970s—an exceptional achieve-ment. She then went on to graduate from UMSL with a Bachelor’s degree in English, and Underwood Uni-versity with an MBA, specializing in Human Re-sources. Lola later obtained an additional Master’s de-gree in Management from Webster University in St. Louis.

Life was forever changed for Lola when she met the man of her dreams, Kevin Brown. Sparks flew right from the start. They fell deep-ly in love and were married Octo-ber 12, 1991, in Hillsboro, Illinois.

Education continued to be of ut-most importance to Lola. She took writing and fantasy classes, among others, at Sangamon State Universi-ty, later UIS (as did her husband!), and was known for her wit, wis-dom, and intelligence. She was val-ued as an adjunct faculty member at UIS for a number of years.

Throughout her life, Lola was known for her strong work ethic. For 23 years she was a research economist for the Illinois Department of Employment Security. A talented and creative writer, she wrote essays and poems, but perhaps her greatest accomplishment was penning, “At Home in the Park: Loving a Neighborhood Back to Life.” This book is a collection of essays published monthly in The Banner, reflecting life in the Enos Park neighborhood. Within her community she was also a member of the Spring-field Bicycle Club, Springfield Poets and Writers, and the pillar of a “nameless” writers group, as well as a staunch supporter of various animal rescue groups.

Lola was a vora-cious reader, and drank coffee rather liberally. She had a keen appreciation for the arts, espe-cially Celtic mu-sic. Her gifts and talents brought beauty to the world around her. She was courageous and hard work-ing, with the ability to take what most would see as limitations, as opportunities to succeed. She was loving and sentimental with a desire to help others in whatev-er way she could. (As someone with wisdom and

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A t H o m e i n t h e P a r k By Lola L. Lucas

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know-how, Lola was well known for offer-ing career advice to all she met!)

With her husband, she regularly attended various Celtic festi-vals, as well as “Cons” in this country and overseas.

Lola died on Saturday evening, April 25, 2015, at her home. Her family includes her husband, Kevin Brown, her sister Lorna and husband, aunts, nieces, nephews, and her beloved poodles. Her parents died before her.

There will be a Celebration of Life on June 14, 2015, at 1 p.m. at the Beach House on Lake Springfield. All are wel-come to come and bring thoughts of Lola. She is deeply missed and will be forever remembered.

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visit us on the web at

www.EPNIA.com

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E n o s P a r k C A L E N D A R

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Work Day at the Sculpture Garden—Calvary Academy 6th Grade Class

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