March Newsletter and Events

Due to inclement weather, we are rescheduling our Adopt-A-Park gardening event to Thursday, 3/23, at 1:30 pm

• Upcoming Events
• 3/11 - Saturday - Second Saturday Hike at Indian River Park
• 3/16 - Thursday - Bi-Monthly - Trees in Our Community
• 3/23 - Saturday - Adopt-A-Park @ Indian River Park
• 3/25 - Saturday - Great American Cleanup @ Indian River Park
• Other News
• Indian River High School Scholarship
• February Re-cap
• Spring Membership Drive
• Volunteer Needs

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Upcoming Events

Second Saturday Hike at Indian River Park

Date: Saturday, March 11, 8:30 am to 10:30 am

Location: Meet at the Indian River Park entrance at Rokeby Ave. and Main St. (2001 Rokeby Ave.) which is located just south of Military Highway, i.e. across Military Highway from the Fire Station.

Time to start up our Second Saturday hikes again.  Come out to the park to learn about the history of the park, the native trees and plants in this century old forest on the Indian River flood plain, and its value to maintaining the health of local butterfly, bird, and wildlife populations. Note: the forest trail has uneven surfaces and minor elevation changes.

Please pre-register at https://forms.gle/2GHEESxYvZvKhfaZ7 (suggested but not required)

Bi-Monthly Meeting - Trees in Our Community

Date: Thursday, March 16, 7 pm

Location: Oaklette United Methodist Church, 520 Oaklette Drive

Our guest speaker will be Bobby Nance, with Bartlett Tree Experts.  Bobby is an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist, Tree Risk Assessment Qualified, and is passionate about all aspects of trees.  His goal is to challenge the status quo of tree care by providing science-based recommendations to sustain long-term tree health.

We will also have a short business meeting to review the organization budget for 2023-2024 and have the latest community news and updates!

Adopt-A-Park at Indian River Park

Date: Saturday, March 23, 1:30 pm to 4 pm

Location: Meet at the Indian River Park entrance at Rokeby Ave. and Main St. (2001 Rokeby Ave.) which is located just south of Military Highway, i.e. across Military Highway from the Fire Station.

We'll be tending to the native plant garden at the park entrance, including weeding and mulching. We may also do some trail work, pruning, weeding, and cleanup. 

Please wear closed-toe shoes, a hat and bring work gloves. If you can, bring shovels, rakes, pruners, saws and other gardening tools. We'll have water and snacks available. We also always encourage folks to bring their own water in reusable bottles to minimize use of plastic bottles and cans. 

Participants under 18 years of age must have adult supervision. 

Please pre-register at https://forms.gle/4veXLqUXj242Js886 (suggested but not required)

Great American Cleanup at Indian River Park

Date: Saturday, March 25, 9:45 to Noon

Location: Meet at the Indian River Park entrance at Rokeby Ave. and Main St. (2001 Rokeby Ave.) which is located just south of Military Highway, i.e. across Military Highway from the Fire Station.

The CEIC is hosting the Great American Cleanup at Indian River Park this year.  

Please dress in appropriate clothing and shoes for the weather. We recommend that you wear long sleeves and pants. Waterproof shoes or boots will be helpful as well, since we’ll be working along the streambed. Be sure to bring your own reusable water bottle. We'll provide bags, gloves, and trash grabbers.

This event is open to the public and family-friendly! Please invite your friends and family members!

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Other News

Indian River High School Scholarship

The Friends of Indian River are once again sponsoring a $500 scholarship for a current Indian River High School senior who will be a college freshman next year. The scholarship will recognize a senior who excels in leadership, citizenship, extracurricular activities and academics. The scholarship application can be found on the Chesapeake Public Schools internal ScholarshipVue database. All completed applications will be returned to the IRHS Scholarship Coordinator by April 7. For more information, visit http://www.friendsofindianriver.org/p/friends-of-indian-river-scholarship.html

February Re-cap

Thank you to the four volunteers who came out for our February Adopt-A-Road.   They collected about 80 lbs of litter and debris along Indian River Road and around the bridge.  

On the 18th, we had one of our best Great Backyard Bird Count bird walks ever around the lake between the Indian River Community Center and the High School.  Right at the start, we spotted two Bald Eagles and two Osprey wheeling across the sky above the lake.  The Osprey are starting to prepare their nest in one of the nesting platforms installed above the ballfields - that's really early, this being only mid-February.  Then we had a real treat with a flock of 18 Ring-necked Ducks on the lake; this is a first for us and the flock may have been blown here by the previous day's storm.  They were joined by 5 Northern Shoveler ducks, 3 Pied-billed Grebes, a couple of Double-Crested Cormorants, some Mallards, and lots of Canada Geese.  We also saw Great Blue Herons, Hooded Merganser, 3 kinds of woodpeckers, various sparrows, an Eastern Towhee, and more.   All told, we identified 26 species!  See some pics at here.

Spring Membership Drive

The Friends of Indian River are an all-volunteer, local, 501(c)(3) non-profit, and we depend on member contributions to advance our mission to improve the quality of life for all the residents of the Indian River neighborhoods.  Our fiscal year ends March 31 and our fundraising goal is $1500; we are currently at $865.  Help us reach our goal.  You can become a member, renew your membership, or just make a contribution online at http://www.friendsofindianriver.org/p/membership.html

Volunteers Needs

We need volunteers to help with weeding at the new landscaping at the Indian River Oaklette Bridge and at the native plant garden at Indian River Park. We also need volunteers to help with removing invasive plants at the Park. There are also other volunteer opportunities listed on our website at http://www.friendsofindianriver.org/p/volunteer.html.  If you can help out on any of these, please contact us at info@friendsofindianriver.org

February Newsletter and Events

• Upcoming Events
• 2/11 - Saturday - Adopt-A-Road Cleanup along Indian River Road
• 2/18 - Saturday - Great Backyard Bird Count Hike @ Lake by Indian River Civic Campus
• Other News
• Annual Meeting Recap
• 2023 Calendar
• Volunteer Needs

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Upcoming Events

Adopt-A-Road Cleanup along Indian River Road

Date: Saturday, February 11, 9 am

Location: Meet at Lilac Avenue and Indian River Road. Park along Lilac Avenue by the Norfolk Highlands Primary School

We need your help for our quarterly cleanup.   Join us for a few hours to clean up the mile of Indian River Road from the city limits at Wingfield Avenue all the way to MacDonald Road. We are also asking all business owners along Indian River Road - and everywhere really - to make sure they sweep up in front of their storefronts as part of the effort.   And if you can't make it out for our organized cleanup please take 15 minutes and cleanup the street and ditches in front of your home; pass the word to your neighbors!

For our main cleanup on Indian River Road, the city will provide garbage bags and orange safety vests.  Please wear closed-toe shoes, a hat and bring work gloves and other items that may be useful.  Participants under 18 years of age must have adult supervision.

To save time and allow for better social distancing, please pre-register at https://forms.gle/GjBDAVuBdUJzecKs9

Great Backyard Bird Count Hike @ Lake by Indian River Civic Campus

Date: Saturday, February 18, 8:30 am to 10:30 am

Location: Meet at the Indian River Community Center, 2250 Old Greenbrier Rd.

It's the weekend of the Great Backyard Bird Count, a worldwide effort to identify the distribution of birds; as part of this we'll be leading a guided bird walk around the lake between the Indian River Community/Rec Center and the High School.

When scouting the site, a variety of birds were spotted including Cormorants, Mallards, Pied-Bill Grebe, Bluebirds, - Yellow-Rumped Warblers, Woodpeckers, and more.

We'll have some binoculars and a spotting scope, but do bring your own if you have some!

Please pre-register at https://forms.gle/8nLaBXvwvV7PpTyk7

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Other News

Annual Meeting Recap

Our Annual Meeting was a chance to get together with our members and discuss plans for the coming year and hold election for our officers and board members.   We had strong engagement from the attendees and had a great conversation.  

Two main goals were highlighted for 2023

• Build Volunteer Base and Membership to meet existing commitments and build our advocacy power,
• Engage with partners in the implementation of the Indian River Planning Area Study 

Regarding the Planning Area Study, we're expecting the City to kick off a Steering Committee in the coming month; this has been long delayed due to staffing shortages.  The City now has a Request for Bids out to get Commercial Design Guidelines drafted. One priority we want is establishing an Overlay District for the area to strengthen planning and zoning guidelines for the community.    

We also talked about progress, or lack of progress, in areas such as redesigning Indian River Road, improving connectivity within our neighborhoods with paths and greenways, improved signage, and other goals identified in the plan.  As part of the Great Bridge Village Plan, the City set aside funding to provide facade improvement grants in that part of the City; that's something that needs to be looked at for Indian River.   

Around parks, the City has a revised Request for Bids out for the new Blue Heron Landing Park on the Indian River.  And at Indian River Park, they are continuing improvements; new trail signage is a next step at the park.   Another area where there has been no action so far is in talking with Chesapeake Public School about ideas to create a "civic campus" around the lake by the Indian River Community Center/Middle School/High School/Library.  

One key goal will be to improve our outreach to engage more and new members and volunteers.  This will help us complete our many volunteer efforts and bring more people to the table to push forward improvements in the quality of life for all the residents of the Indian River neighborhoods.

2023 Calendar

Here is a first look at the Friends of Indian River planned calendar of events for 2023.   Dates are subject to change, so please visit http://www.friendsofindianriver.org/p/calendar.html for details on upcoming events.

Volunteers Needs

Thank you to the volunteers who came out in January to help manage English Ivy at Indian River Park.  This is an on-going effort.

We need volunteers to help with removing invasive plants at the Park. We also need volunteers to help with weeding at the new landscaping at the Oaklette Indian River Bridge and at the native plant garden at Indian River Park. There are also other volunteer opportunities listed on our website at http://www.friendsofindianriver.org/p/volunteer.html.  If you can help out on any of these, please contact us at info@friendsofindianriver.org

 

January Newsletter and Events

• Upcoming Events
• 1/19 - Thursday - Annual Meeting
• 1/21 - Saturday - Adopt-A-Park - Invasive Species Workshop
• Other News
• Year in Review
• "Main Street" Indian River Holiday Decoration Winners
• Volunteer Needs

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Upcoming Events

Annual Meeting

Date: Thursday, January 19, 7 pm

Location: Oaklette United Methodist Church, 520 Oaklette Drive

Please join us for our Annual Meeting to help us plan for 2023 and hold elections for our Board.  All are welcome.

 

We'll also have the latest community news and updates!  There will be light refreshments.

Adopt-A-Park - Invasive Species Workshop

Date: Saturday, January 21, 9 am to Noon

Location: Indian River Park trailhead, 2003 Rokeby Ave., which is located just south of Military Highway

Learn to identify various invasive plant species that threaten Indian River Park and natural areas across the Tidewater region.  Those found in the park include English Ivy, Chinese Privet, Multifloral Rose, Linden Viburnum, and others.  

Then we'll have a work effort to clear some outbreaks of the English Ivy. The more volunteers that come out the more that we can accomplish! 

Please wear closed-toe shoes, a hat and bring work gloves. We'll be working both to remove Ivy on the ground and on trees.  Bring pruning clippers, loppers, screwdrivers (which are amazingly useful in prying ivy off tree trunks) and/or pruning saws if you have them.  We will have water and snacks but we also always encourage folks to bring their own water in reusable bottles to minimize use of plastic bottles. Participants under 18 years of age must have adult supervision.

Please pre-register at https://forms.gle/6kppJtmRnWK1Agty5

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Other News

Year In Review

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of Friends of Indian River.  Over the past decade, hundreds of volunteers have performed nearly 8000 hours of service in projects in our community organized by the Friends of Indian River.  We are sincerely thankful for everyone's contribution.

In 2022, our signature project was the Indian River Gateway Tree Planting by the Indian River Oaklette Bridge.  By the numbers, some highlights for this past year include:

• 46 Native Trees and Shrubs Planted, plus dozens of Perennials and Flowers
• 2000 lbs. Trash Removed over Multiple Cleanups
• 6 Hikes and Nature Walks and 1 History Walk
• 4 Guest Speakers
• 1 High School Scholarship Awarded
• 1 Environmental Award Received
• Overall 72 Volunteers performed 680+ Volunteer Hours

You can read our full annual report at http://www.friendsofindianriver.org/2022/12/2022-year-in-review.html

"Main Street" Indian River Holiday Lights & Decorating Contest

The winners of our fourth annual "Main Street" Indian River Holiday Decoration Contest were Midway Veterinary Hospital, Vohringer & Bryant Chiropractic, and Trade Team USA.  Winners were selected based on overall appearance, festiveness, and decorations being fresh and appropriate for the site. 

Honorable Mentions go to Affordable Transmission, Botanica Spiritual House,  Colorscapes Painting and Design, Direct Auto Insurance, Moulton Tax Service, The Pig Shop BBQ Eatery, Popeyes, Hair2O Studio, Fast Food Mart, and the NAE Federal Credit Union.

Thanks to all the businesses that help make Indian River Road sparkle for the Holidays!

Volunteers Needs

We need volunteers to help with weeding at the new landscaping at the Oaklette Indian River Bridge and at the native plant garden at Indian River Park.   We also need volunteers to help with removing invasive plants at the Park.  There are also other volunteer opportunities listed on our website at http://www.friendsofindianriver.org/p/volunteer.html.  If you can help out on any of these, please contact us at info@friendsofindianriver.org