Have you wondered why the utilities are getting marked at the grass lot
and extended parking lots?
Session has just approved Phase 1 of a plan to revitalize this area and transition this area to a multi-use
eco-spiritual friendly area. The premise of this whole
plan is to re-connect Hunter with the neighborhood
around us. Many years ago we closed off the courtyard
to build the front of the church, but in so doing we prevented the neighborhood from easily enjoying our one
accessible natural and spiritual area.
Transitioning part of the grass lot into community
raised garden beds with a native pollinating plant landscape behind it will invite the neighborhood back into
our eco-spiritual area and provide the natural ecosystem like butterflies more feeding opportunities. Phase 1
only includes the digging to create a water line to create
an outdoor faucet, hiring a landscape architect to
sketch a scaled drawing of the area, and creating 10 raised garden beds for the community as well as
ourselves to utilize.
Phases 2 and 3 would eventually include a painted labyrinth onto the extended paved parking lot, a
compost bin, possible drip irrigation to the raised beds, adding a drain pipe or trench to the extended
paved parking lot to flow into a rain garden to create a more sustainable parking lot and of course a
permanent sign for the area to welcome visitors and explain the rules of this new area.
In the long term scheme of things this area could then be placed onto the Monarch Waystation, the
labyrinth, and any native area locator websites. Currently Betsy Taylor is designing new Facebook and
Google group pages for this gardening project so stay tuned if you are interested in this.
There was a Unity Garden Committee (UGC) started in March and it is made up of both Hunter members and several of the neighbors that is spearheading this project. The neighbors on this committee
have been truly helping us spread the word into the neighborhood as well as looking forward to utilizing some of the raised beds. Many of these neighbors live in the adjacent area of the grass and paved
lots.
There is a work day scheduled for Saturday, May 21st from 9 am until 4 pm or until the raised beds
are truly raised. The non-profit organization, Seedleaf, will be there to help us create and erect these
raised beds. However, their labor costs go down for us if we bring in over 12 volunteers to help in
raising these beds. This is a come when you can, stay while you are able, and leave when you must
kind of an event. The neighborhood will be invited by posting signs from Lackawanna to Arcadia to
come and meet other neighbors and help us with this gardening project. All ages are welcome since
there will be something to do for anyone young, middle aged, or above. Please see or email Ann Freytag ([email protected]) if you would like to volunteer for any of a number of tasks.
We will be losing about $1000 in football parking money out of the $10,000 we typically raise. We
will be charging $25 per garden bed to those who would like to use them for the year which will be
March 1st through December 1st and they will be signing a contract that is similar to the one Beaumont Presbyterian uses. In doing this new transition we are also asking for donations both monetarily
to help offset the costs as well as anything on the following list.
Supplies needed:
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Lawn bags
Cardboard boxes (the bigger the better)
Gardening tools (shovels, trowels, saws, pruning shears, tools for weeding)
Carts or wheelbarrows.
Snack food donations (cookies, crackers, sandwiches, etc. for the work day in May)
NO native plant donations are needed at this time
The UGC will utilize the former Project CURE to store these supplies, and donation drop-off containers,
marked "gardening project," will be placed in the building. All help is appreciated. Together, let's put
the garden in Rosemont Garden.
B.U.I.L.D. Update
The ticket counters at the recent BUILD Nehemiah Action
Assembly sorted and counted 1800 tickets, however this
number usually goes up once each church looks at who came
and sees if there are any discrepancies. For example there
are usually some blank tickets that are not counted but that
doesn't mean someone didn't come.
Senator Alice Forgy Kerr was able to be there and voice her
support to bring down the interest rate at payday loaning facilities to be in line with every other facility that gives out
loans at a cap of 36%.
BUILD asked that the Assertive Community Treatment Teams (ACT Teams) be expanded in Lexington and to include the ability to handle dual treatment or people who have both a mental illness and a
drug addiction. People needing dual treatment have not had the easiest time in Lexington getting the
treatment they need and the ACT Teams can help these people get to the help that will most benefit
them.
The Police Chief committed to continue to work with BUILD however he did not commit to incorporating a program from the National Network for Safe Communities which has a proven record of reducing crime. Please see Ann if you have any questions.
Thank you for the wonderful attendance throughout the Sunday School year. May 29th will be our
last Sunday School for our children until September
11th.
Ann Freytag will be offering a Bible Study class
at 10:00 a.m. Start going through the Bible with
your Hunter friends and family! This is appropriate
for middle school aged children and up.
At the 11:00 a.m. summer services, children will
be offered a class in place of Worship and Wonder
for the months of June and July. Christian Ed. looks
forward to trying this!
Our church nursery will be staffed throughout
the summer months. Stop by and say hi to Mona and
Emily!