Category Archives: General Information

Just a reminder that we are having our ribbon cutting for the Arboretum kiosk on:

Saturday, May 12, 2012
11am
Parking lot across from Indianola Informal k-8
251 East Weber Road
(Between Calumet and Druid)

ThisWeek/The Booster has a lovely article about the ribbon cutting and the Arboretum. I must admit, my quote about cats and kittens sounded way better in my head. If you are wondering what I am talking about, just read it and see! But it’s a great article by Kevin Parks at ThisWeek Community News. He’s been covering the Arboretum from the beginning and has given us such good press. Thanks, Kevin!

And as an added bonus, we will have LOUA t-shirts at the ribbon cutting. And just what do you need to do to get one of these t-shirts? Anyone who becomes an Arboretum member at the $45 level gets a t-shirt with their paid annual membership. And these t-shirts are very nice so you will be the envy of all your friends! And a huge shout out and thank you to McKenzie Wilhelm who designed our new logo. She on the Arboretum and a student at Ohio State.

Finally, after you come to the ribbon cutting, become a member, and take the tree walk, you need to proudly wear your new t-shirt to the annual Chadwick Arboretum plant sale. Click here for more information. Among the many booths selling plants will be Arboretum members Dan Struve and Meghan Blake (who work at Ohio State’s Department of Horticulture and Crop Science). Pete and I have gone for the past five or six years and have always found some nice native plants to bring home.

Until Saturday! We hope to see you then!

to a Ribbon Cutting! My last post showed you a picture of signs directing people to our lovely arboretum. I imagine that many of you were wondering where exactly the signs were directing visitors to go. Well, LOUA now has a beautiful kiosk across the street from the Indianola Informal K-8 elementary school on Weber. It is the most amazing creation, and many thanks to Jason for coming up with the design and implementing it. Also thanks to Corinne, who chiseled as good as anything Michelangelo ever did. And thanks to Pete, who learned some useful roofing skills in putting on the shingles. Our deepest thanks go to The Columbus Foundation, United Way of Central Ohio, PNC, Bob Evans, and the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, proud supporters of the 2012 Neighborhood Partnership Grants Program, which provided the funding for the kiosk.

The kiosk will contain information about LOUA, native plants, invasive plants, and other bits along with walking maps. (And membership information!!)

I’ve included a picture of the kiosk nearly finished, which I’ve done on purpose because I want all of you to come out to the parking lot across from the school on Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 11am. We are going to have a ribbon cutting for the kiosk, and then everyone is heading out on the short tree walk. You might recall that we have two walks (a long and short) with maps and information about the trees that one can see along the way. And, of course, you can see the finished kiosk in all of its glory. And meet many of the people who have been involved with LOUA for the past year and beyond. And see some wonderful trees.

When this little dream started, I knew we could make it a reality. But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would happen so quickly and on such a great scale. So many people stepped up to help along the way. Each stumbling block we came to, there was always someone who had an answer, someone who could help. We couldn’t have made it this far without everyone’s assistance. If you’d like to help out, please come on Saturday.

Saturday, May 12, 2012
11am
Parking lot across from Indianola Informal K-8
251 East Weber Road
(Between Calumet and Druid)

Until next time!

We have a sign! For the Arboretum!

This small thing started as a dream. Now it’s reality. Thanks to all who have helped along the way. From a little acorn, a mighty oak grows.

Wow. We have a sign.

The Lower Olentangy Urban Arboretum (LOUA) is pleased to announce that they are a recipient of the Chase 200Columbus Neighborhood Grant whose supporters include Chase, 200Columbus, and the Greater Columbus Arts Council.  The grant request was for approximately 7.5k; however, the award amount is approximately 4.5k.  Therefore, LOUA is now accepting tax-deductible donations via its website to make up the difference.  Those individuals, organizations, or businesses that are interested in helping can click HERE before May 31^st to get to the “How to Help” menu tab to make a gift.

The LOUA Chase 200Columbus Neighborhood Grant is a collaboration of three organizations; LOUA, Friends of the Ravines (FOR), and ALTernatives (ALTernative).  The current 3k shortfall in funding is being evenly split between the three organizations; similarly, all donations received between now and May 31^st will also be evenly split unless the donor specifically earmarks his/her/its funds towards a particular project.

LOUA’s portion of the grant is to have native Franklin County saplings available at half price to the first 50 LOUA residents that sign up to purchase one.  With the reduction in funding, LOUA might have to reduce the number of trees that will be available for purchase.

FOR’s portion of the grant is to have a combined birthday party celebrating Columbus’ Bicentennial and Glen Echo Park’s centennial which is scheduled for July 14^th.  FOR representative Martha Buckalew said

“The July 14^th event is not only to honor of the city’s 200^th and Glen Echo Park’s 100^th, but it is also a tribute to the spirit of community and volunteerism that has contributed to the preservation of this special urban woodland.”

The third portion of the grant is a native bird mural for the underside of the Indianola Avenue bridge that spans Glen Echo Ravine.  Eliza Ho of ALTernatives (ALTernative) said “We’re spreading the word within and beyond the neighborhoods through our website http://ohiobirdmural.wordpress.com/ and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/162333857155060/  Also in May we’ll launch a kickstarter campaign to raise the remaining funding. People love both the aesthetic and educational functions of the bird mural, which is going to be a great amenity added to the Park.”

“The 3k funding deficiency has already been reduced by $500 because of the generosity of the Tuttle Park Community Recreational Center” said Mike McLaughlin, LOUA President.  He added that the Center requested its donation be earmarked for planting a large native commemorative tree in Glen Echo Park which is part of the FOR birthday celebration, but was in danger of being eliminated when the lower grant award was announced.

In other LOUA news, the steering committee officially formed its board by electing officers at its last meeting.  Mike McLaughlin of United Crestview Area Neighbors (UCAN) was elected President, Peter Kovarik of UCAN was elected Vice-president, Laura Fay of Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed (FLOW) was elected Secretary, and Jason Advani of UCAN was elected Treasurer.  Also, three board members-at-large were elected; Scott Conover (UCAN), Kristina Emick (UCAN), and McKenzie Wilhelm (OSU).  In addition, supporting partner organization board members were approved; Martha Buckalew (FOR), Laura Fay (FLOW), and Ryan Pilewski (Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation District).

Until next time!

Sorry for the lack of posts. Been dealing with a family crisis that has made me just want to come home and turn into broccoli.

It’s hard to believe this weather. Today I was scraping frost off my windshield; two Sundays ago, Pete and I spent a good chunk of the night in the basement, listening to the tornado sirens going off. We managed, this once, to get all the cats into the basement, too. Mouse usually will hide because she knows something is up whenever the weather radio goes off. I’ve never seen so much rain come down so fast. Our entire back yard was under water for several hours. And the hail…I was thankful that with the way the hail was coming from the east, most of the tender shoots in my side garden were spared. (I had a video of the hail that I wanted to post, but I’ve not figured out how to get the video right side up…looking at cars upside down is disconcerting at best…) I wondered what had happened in the ravine, so Pete and went down for a walk in Glen Echo. The scene was horrible; the debris line was about two or three feet above the banks. The photo above doesn’t really show how high up the debris was. Plastic bags, bottles, leaves, all were stuck in the bushes and trees along the water. There was a tree trunk, about two feet in diameter and about 20 yards long that had been pushed up against the little bridge. The two bridges had spots on them where the water had eroded the blacktop away. There was also a lot of erosion on the banks; you could see where the water had pushed the soil away.

Totally changing subjects, Ohio State is planting even more trees along 17th Avenue. I started to count the trees and gave up when I hit 40. I saw red, white and burr oaks, common hackberry and a few others I didn’t recognize. That street is going to be something by the time I’m ready to retire in less than ten years! (Not that I am counting the days until March 3, 2022…)

Mama and Papa Finch are back nesting in the ferns. I am so worried that the sparrows will hurt the eggs or chicks again. It was so traumatic for me last spring when we lost two nests in a row. Pete said that even nesting boxes wouldn’t help as the sparrows can still get in. I guess we can only watch them as best as we can and hope the sparrows play nice. Otherwise, there will be more trips to the Ohio Wildlife Center with baby birds in hand.

Finally, Earth Day is coming up on April 14th and 15th. We’ll have events going on in Glen Echo. When I get more details, I’ll pass them along.

Well, that’s about all that I have for now.

Until next time!