September Newsletter and Events

• Upcoming Events
• 9/14/2024 - Saturday - Second Saturday Hike @ Indian River Park
• 9/19/2024 - Thursday - Bi-Monthly Meeting - Chesapeake Healthy Landscapes
• 9/21/2024 - Saturday - International Coastal Cleanup
• 10/3/2024 - Thursday - Field Trip - Tour of Ryan Resilience Lab in Norfolk
• More fall dates
• News
• Blue Heron Landing Park Update
• Indian River Road Safety
• Eco-District
• Get Ready to Vote!
• Summer Recap
• Cuffee Pool Information Meeting
• Connecting Chesapeake
• Surveys and More

Upcoming Events

Saturday, September 14: Second Saturday Hike @ Indian River Park

• 
  Time: 8:30 am-10:30 am
• Location: Indian River Park trailhead at Rokeby Ave. and Main St. (2003 Rokeby Ave.)
• 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. We'll look for ripe paw paw fruit. Note: the forest trail has uneven surfaces and minor elevation changes.
• Please pre-register at https://forms.gle/KcBvosBQu32JvXbm7 (suggested but not required)

Thursday, September 19: Bi-Monthly Meeting - Chesapeake Healthy Landscapes 

• 7 pm to 8:30 pm
• Location: Oaklette United Methodist Church, 520 Oaklette Drive
• Our guest speaker will be Amy Weber, Chair of the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council.  She will tell us about the new Chesapeake Healthy Landscapes program that will recognize healthy and beautiful yards that support wildlife and promote a healthier environment in Chesapeake. 
• All are welcome.  We'll also have the latest community news and updates!  There will be light refreshments after the meeting.  

Saturday, September 21, 2024: International Coastal Cleanup

• 
  9 am to Noon
• Location: Meet at Lilac Avenue and Indian River Road.  Park along Lilac Avenue by the Norfolk Highlands Primary School.  It is a No Parking zone along Oleander Avenue (parallel to Indian River Road).
• As part of the International Coastal Cleanup, we will be cleaning up around and underneath the Indian River - Oaklette Bridge and along Indian River Road.  
• The city will provide garbage bags and orange safety vests. We encourage folks to bring their own water in reusable bottles to minimize use of plastic bottles. Please wear closed-toe shoes, a hat and bring work gloves and other items that may be useful.  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/wXXPxj96D2bArEsn6  (suggested but not required)
• If have access to the Indian River and are interested in "paddling up" to this cleanup with your own canoe or kayak, please reach out to us in advance at info@friendsofindianriver.org

Thursday, October 3, 2024: Field Trip - Tour of Ryan Resilience Lab in Norfolk

• 
  4 pm 
• Location: Ryan Resilience Lab, 4610 Colley Ave, Norfolk, VA 23508 
• Our field trip this year will be to the Elizabeth River Project's Ryan Resilience Lab.  This is a great opportunity to tour this remarkable new facility and have an eye-opening exploration of how sea level rise will affect us all. We'll learn about their cutting-edge green building practices and systems – floating docks, green roofs, solar arrays, rainwater capture, and much more. We'll also learn about their living shoreline and native plant garden.  Learn about sustainability best practices in action and hear about the “planned retreat” that will allow the river to retake the site as sea levels continue to rise.  Tour takes about 1 hour. 
• Afterward we will have an optional outing to a local restaurant for dinner.  (dutch treat -  each participant pays for their own bill)
• Space is limited.  Registration required at https://forms.gle/CqEzZhfzhT2ML8nf7

Save these dates for the fall

• Saturday, October 19, 2024: Adopt-A-Park at Indian River Park - Native Plant Garden
• Saturday, October 26, 2024: History Walk 
• Thursday, November 21, 2024: Bi-Monthly Meeting with State Delegate Bonita Anthony
• Saturday, November 23, 2024: Adopt-A-Park at Indian River Park - Remove Invasives

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News

Blue Heron Landing Park Update

Construction at the new Blue Heron Landing Park is moving along smartly.  The boardwalk is mostly in place and work is underway at preparing the entrance area along the street.  Following this will be landscape planting.  We are eagerly anticipating a grand opening early in the fall!

Indian River Road Safety

The opening of Blue Heron Landing Park in the next few months brings a new urgency to implementing road safety improvements along Indian River Road.  Blue Heron Landing Park will primarily be a walk-in park with only six parking spaces on the property.  Most park users will need to cross Indian River Park to reach the park.  Redesigning Indian River Road to improve safety, reduce speeding, and add bike lanes was approved as part of the Indian River Small Area Plan and funding was approved by the City Council in 2022, but no significant action has yet been taken.  

Indian River Road was widened to six lanes in around 1996 to support the now-closed Ford Plant.  The roadway west of the bridge resembles a highway and people drive like it was a highway, too many accelerating to over 55 mph as they race through the residential area of Oaklette.  VDOT's Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Action Plan (PBSAP) identifies Indian River Road in Chesapeake as one of the Top 1% statewide roadway Segments in priority to review for safety projects and other planning needs. Since 2018, there have been 5 vehicle to pedestrian/bicycle crashes with visible injuries.  Going back as far as 2010, we've had fatal vehicle to pedestrian crashes in 2014 and 2016.   We've seen many other crashes causing property damage along the entire length of the street including vehicles crash into the NAE Credit Union on more than one occasion. The day after our last meeting with City staff on this subject in July, the bus stop at Lilac Avenue was demolished by an out-of-control car.  Safety improvements are needed along the roadway before another deadly crash occurs.

Rehabilitation work on the Indian River Road Oaklette Bridge is expected to start in the coming months and will result in the temporary closure of two lanes on the bridge to enable the construction work on the bridge.  We are urging the City to use this as an opportunity to put the planned Indian River Road safety improvements in place immediately after the end of the bridge work.  

Indian River "Eco-District"

Inspired by the Elizabeth River Project efforts to establish an "Eco-District" around their new headquarters at the Ryan Resilience Lab on Knitting Mill Creek in Norfolk, we will be ramping up a campaign this fall to encourage more local residents and property owners to become River Stars here in the Indian River area.  Today in our watershed, we have over 200 River Star Homes, two River Star Schools, and several River Star Business and Organizations.  But our goals include significantly increasing participation in these programs.  At our monthly meeting on September 19th, we will learn about the new Chesapeake Health Landscapes Program and we'll look have we can leverage that effort to recruit more River Stars.  And we are preparing to revamp our business outreach to get more local businesses involved in our efforts to improve the quality of life in our community.  Want to take a first step to help now?  Take our tree pledge at https://forms.gle/xNCG9XMuBWPExmWt6

Get Ready to Vote!

It's another big election year.   On the ballot will be

• President and Vice President of the United States
• U.S. Senator
• U.S. Representative
• Mayor of Chesapeake
• Chesapeake City Council (3 members at large)
• Chesapeake School Board (4 members at large)
• Referendum on Curbside Recycling in Chesapeake

The first day of in-person early voting will be Friday, September 20, 2024.  The deadline to register to vote, or update an existing registration is October 15, 2024. (Voters may register after this date, through Election Day, and vote using a provisional ballot).  Election day - the last day to vote - will be Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

Make your plan on how you will vote now.  Need to register to vote, check your status, or update your voter registration?  Visit https://vote.virginia.gov/ today.

Summer Recap

It's been a rather busy summer.  As mentioned above, we met with City staff regarding Indian River Road safety and also submitted comments on the City's draft Trails and Connectivity Plan urging action on improving bicycle and pedestrian safety in the City now.   We were involved in a planning meeting Parks, Recreation and Tourism (PRT) and other stakeholders regarding Indian River Park, addressing topics such as trail signage and other amenities.  PRT is also doing a survey for work on their new park's Master Plan that you can take at https://chesapeakeparksurvey.org/

PRT held an Information Meeting about the new Cuffee Center Pool in Campostella. The facility will house a 25m competition pool, a separate leisure pool, and a retractable roof that can be opened to allow in fresh air when the weather allows. We provided some feedback regarding protection of existing trees during construction and the need for bird-safe glass since the design has glass walls along 3 sides of the structure. The project should go out for bid next year and could be complete by late 2026 or 2027.

Hampton Roads Transit has been looking at options to bring high-capacity transit in Chesapeake. Two of the four routes on their short list go down Indian River Road. Check out the potential routes, learn more about the study, and take a survey about
these options at https://www.connectingchesapeake.com/

And we want to give a big thank you to the volunteers who have toiled through the summer to keep our Adopt-A-gardens looking good at the Indian River Oaklette Bridge and at Indian River Park.  It can be hot work at times, but the reward is a landscape that provides important habitat for birds and pollinators and adds beauty to our community.   

Have an idea for an article for our newsletter?  Send your submission, max 250 words, to us at info@friendsofindianriver.org along with a photo and we'll consider it for our next edition.

Summer Newsletter and Events

• Upcoming Events
• Dates for the September 

• 

  Planting starting at Blue Heron Landing Park

  News
• Many Hands Make Light Work! - More Volunteers Needed
• June Recap
• Tree Pledge

Upcoming Events

Save these dates for September

• Saturday, 9/14, 8:30 am-10:30 am - Second Saturday Hike 
• Thursday, 9/19, 7 pm - Monthly Meeting - Chesapeake Healthy Landscapes Program
• Saturday, 9/21 - International Coastal Cleanup

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News

Many Hands Make Light Work! - More Volunteers Needed

Thank you to the volunteers who have been weeding, mulching, and maintaining the gardens at the Indian River Road Oaklette Bridge and at Indian River Park, and at planters along Indian River Road.   We are looking for more volunteers to help.

At the Indian River Park native plant garden this year, we are going to try a "Divide and Conquer" approach. We have a few people that have already expressed interest in helping with the garden and the plan is to assign a small section to each of the volunteers that signs up. If you also want to help, our Native Plant Garden Captain, Amy Weber, will meet with you to point out your section and discuss the native plant selections and which plants that we consider to be weeds. You will visit the garden on your own time, every week or two, to keep your area in good shape. She will reach out to everyone periodically to see if there are any special concerns. She will be available to help as needed if you are unavailable on vacations or other times away!  Please feel free to contact her directly at a.webercmg@gmail.com to sign up to help or if you have any questions! 

At the Bridge Garden, we generally meet on Tuesday mornings to weed and do other tasks. If you are interested in helping out there, e-mail us at info@friendsofindianriver.org for more information.

June Recap

On our Adopt-A-Road cleanup, we collected litter around and under the bridge and up along Indian River Road.  We wrapped up early because of the high heat that morning, but we still collected nearly 100 lbs. of litter and debris.   Of course, I keep hoping for the day we have a cleanup and I have to report that we found no litter. 

Indian River Park made the local news in June - Take a walk through one of Chesapeake's hidden gems, Indian River Park (wtkr.com)

We were also excited to see progress on the Indian River Shopping Center renovations.  They've even added some landscaping in front of the new storefronts!

And they are starting to do the planting of wetlands grasses at Blue Heron Landing Park!  See photo at top of newsletter.

Tree Pledge

Will you take our Tree Pledge to protect trees in our community?  

Click here to help protect trees: https://forms.gle/xNCG9XMuBWPExmWt6

Have an idea for an article for our newsletter?  Send your submission, max 250 words, to us at info@friendsofindianriver.org along with a photo and we'll consider it for our next edition.

June Newsletter and Events

Summer is almost here!  Join us this Saturday, June 8th, for an evening hike at Indian River Park.  And on the Summer Solstice, Thursday, June 20th, we are holding our annual Potluck Picnic in the pavilion behind Oaklette UMC.  We hope you will join us for these fun social events!

• Upcoming Events
• 6/8/2024 - Saturday - Evening Second Saturday Hike @ Indian River Park
• 6/20/2024 - Thursday - Summer Evening Potluck Picnic
• 6/22/2024 - Saturday - Adopt-A-Road Cleanup along Indian River Road 
• News
• Comprehensive Plan Open Houses
• Many Hands Make Light Work! - More Volunteers Needed
• Tree and River Star Outreach
• Protect Your Trees from Storm Damage
• May and Clean the Bay Day Recap

Upcoming Events

Saturday, June 8: Evening Second Saturday Hike @ Indian River Park

• Time: 6 pm - 8 pm
• Location: Indian River Park trailhead at Rokeby Ave. and Main St. (2003 Rokeby Ave.)
• 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/wVUje9X3xE1jzLjg8 (suggested but not required)

Thursday, June 20: Summer Solstice Potluck Picnic

• Time 6 pm - 8 pm

• 

  Picnic do Bruno | Michell Zappa | Flickr

  Location: Picnic Pavilion behind Oaklette United Methodist Church, 520 Oaklette Drive; park in the side lot along St. Lawrence Dr. 
• Rather than our usual monthly meeting, in June we'll have a potluck picnic out behind the church.  Bring a dish to share and join us for some camaraderie as we roll into summer.  The Friends will set out tables and chairs, provide a main protein dish (likely chicken).  We suggest bringing a comfy lawn chair. In the event of rain, we will move the event inside the church's fellowship hall. 
• To help coordinate who is bringing what, we set up a Sign Up Genius form at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094DADA92FA2FA7-49923076-friends

Saturday, June 22 - Adopt-A-Road Cleanup along Indian River Road 

• Time: 9 AM to 11:30 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.
• Please pre-register at https://forms.gle/WEEsgH6JVp9rwBeHA (suggested but not required)

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News

Comprehensive Plan Open Houses

The Planning Department is continuing its Comp Planning efforts.  They finished focus group stakeholder meetings and a round of geographic area stakeholder meetings over the last couple of months.  Now another round of public Community Open Houses have been scheduled.  The closest one to Indian River will be on June 10 at the Conference Center.

June 4 from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m., Great Bridge Town Meeting (Information Table) @ Great Bridge Intermediate School

June 10 from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m., Chesapeake Conference Center

June 13 from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m., Fire Station #7, 3329 South Battlefield Blvd.

June 17 from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m., Chesapeake Lifestyle Center

Visit https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/3275/Comprehensive-Plan-Update for more info.

The Trails and Connectivity Plan is planning its final open house for Monday, June 3, from 5:30 pm to 7 pm at the Portlock Galleries, 3815 Bainbridge Blvd. Learn more at https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/tconn

The Greenbrier Area Plan held its final open house on May 22.   You can see some of the charts from the meeting at https://www.cityofchesapeake.net/3100/Greenbrier-Area-Plan

Many Hands Make Light Work! - More Volunteers Needed

Thank you to the volunteers who have been weeding, mulching, and maintaining the gardens at the Indian River Road Oaklette Bridge and at Indian River Park, and at planters along Indian River Road.   We are looking for more volunteers to help.

At the Indian River Park native plant garden this year, we are going to try a "Divide and Conquer" approach. We have a few people that have already expressed interest in helping with the garden and the plan is to assign a small section to each of the volunteers that signs up. If you also want to help, our Native Plant Garden Captain, Amy Weber, will meet with you to point out your section and discuss the native plant selections and which plants that we consider to be weeds. You will visit the garden on your own time, every week or two, to keep your area in good shape. She will reach out to everyone periodically to see if there are any special concerns. She will be available to help as needed if you are unavailable on vacations or other times away!  Please feel free to contact her directly at a.webercmg@gmail.com to sign up to help or if you have any questions! 

At the Bridge Garden, we generally meet on Tuesday mornings to weed and do other tasks. If you are interested in helping out there, e-mail us at info@friendsofindianriver.org for more information.

Tree and River Star Outreach

We are starting a new sub-committee to identify opportunities to increase tree canopy in Indian River area by encouraging preservation of existing trees and encouraging new plantings on both residential, commercial, and municipal properties.   Along with this, we'll encourage residents and commercial property owners to become River Star Homes and River Star Businesses with the Elizabeth River Project.  If you are interested in helping with this committee, please let us know at info@friendsofindianriver.org

Protect Your Trees from Storm Damage

The hurricane forecast is in the news this weekend.  Trees are an enormous investment for your home and for the health of the environment.  Trees provide critical ecosystem services by protecting from damaging winds, reducing flooding, holding soil in place, and reducing summer air conditioning costs by up to 35%. And there is safety in numbers, neighborhoods with more tree canopy cover generally have less tree damage from storms.  You can take steps to ensure that your trees are healthy and properly maintained so you can enjoy their benefits for decades to come.  Learn how to keep your trees storm resilient at at https://dof.virginia.gov/urban-community-forestry/storm-planning-and-recovery/storm-preparation-and-tree-resiliency/

Also, take our Tree Pledge to protect trees on your property and in the community.    

Click here to help protect trees: https://forms.gle/xNCG9XMuBWPExmWt6

May and Clean the Bay Day Recap

Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) came to our May meeting and gave us an in-depth view of the high-capacity transit options for Chesapeake like establishing "bus rapid transit" routes.  Attendees were able to provide detailed feedback to the HRT team.   Learn more about the study at https://www.connectingchesapeake.com/

We congratulated Mai Saldivar, winner of the Friends of Indian River 2024 Indian River High School Education Scholarship.  The scholarship recognizes a senior who excels in leadership, citizenship, extracurricular activities and academics.  Mai excels in all these areas and has done outstanding volunteer work including Clean Up projects thru the Elizabeth River Project and other groups.    She is looking forward to majoring in biology and environmental sciences. Thank you for your efforts and best wishes for college and beyond! Learn more about the scholarship at http://www.friendsofindianriver.org/p/friends-of-indian-river-scholarship.html

We had a fantastic turn out for Clean the Bay Day on Saturday, June 1st at Indian River Park.  47 volunteers collected over 400 lbs. of litter and debris from the wetlands and roadsides in and around the park.  Very little of this trash comes from park users.   It is mostly trash washed in from the surrounding commercial and residential streets.  We found a lot of beverage containers, food-to-go packaging, and plastic bags.   A big thank you to the groups that came out to help today at the park including Navy Logistics Support, Coalition of Sailors, and of course our dedicated Friends of Indian River volunteers.  See more photos on our Friends of Indian River | Facebook Page 

We wish to thank the Carl W. Mangum Jr. and Marguerite S. Mangum Fund #3 of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation for making a generous grant to the Friends of Indian River.  This is very appreciated and helps our organization fulfill its mission to improve the quality of life for all the residents of the Indian River neighborhoods of Chesapeake  

Meanwhile, at the future Blue Heron Landing Park, there was noticeable progress. They started to regrade the site for what will ultimately be a restored living shoreline.

Have an idea for an article for our newsletter?  Send your submission, max 250 words, to us at info@friendsofindianriver.org along with a photo and we'll consider it for our next edition.