December Newsletter and Events

• Upcoming Events
• Saturday, December 6, 2025: Adopt-A-Road Cleanup
• Saturday, December 13, 2025: Second Saturday Hike @ Indian River Park
• Thursday, January 1, 2026: First Day Hike @ Indian River Park
• News
• Election Results
• Cuffee Pool Groundbreaking
• November Recap 
• Giving Tuesday

Upcoming Events

Saturday, December 6, 2025: Adopt-A-Road Cleanup

• 
  From 9 AM to 11:30 am  
• Meet at Lilac Avenue and Indian River Road. Park along Lilac Avenue by the Norfolk Highlands Primary School.
• Join us for our quarterly cleanup along Indian River Road and at Blue Heron Landing Park.
• 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.  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/TZejpGmvQ8dpHnSj8 (suggested but not required)

Saturday, December 13, 2025: Second Saturday Hike @ Indian River Park

• 
  8:30 am to 10:30 am
• Location: Indian River Park entrance
  at Rokeby Ave. and Main St. (2003 Rokeby Ave.) which is located just south of Military Highway, i.e. across Military Highway from the Fire Station.
• Join us for a hike along the nature trail and through the park. 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/N6VghuCAroAHQW837 (suggested but not required)

Thursday, January 1, 2026: First Day Hike @ Indian River Park

• 
  1 pm to 3 pm
• Location: Indian River Park entrance
• at Rokeby Ave. and Main St. (2003 Rokeby Ave.) which is located just south of Military Highway, i.e. across Military Highway from the Fire Station.
• Start the New Year with a hike along the nature trail and through the park. 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/4oYUNC95Cutr1Ma59 (suggested but not required)

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News

Election Results

In Virginia, we hold elections every year, and this year it was for state-wide officeholders, the House of Delegates, and several local offices.

For the local results, the winners were:

• Commonwealth's Attorney - Matt Hamel
• Commissioner of Revenue - Victoria Proffitt
• Sheriff - Wallace Chadwick III
• Treasurer - Corrie Kring
• School Board - Amanda Quillin

Winning re-election for the House of Delegates in our area were

• Bonita Anthony, HD92 (Chesapeake/Norfolk)
• Cliff Hayes, HD 91 (Chesapeake/Portsmouth)
• Alex Askew, HD 95 (Virginia Beach)

Cuffee Aquatic Center Groundbreaking

City officials and community members gathered at the Dr. Clarence V. Cuffee Community Center on a bright morning on November 14 for the ceremonial groundbreaking for the new Aquatic Center.   This indoor pool will be the City's first municipal pool.  The 28,280 square foot facility will house a 25-yard competition pool, a separate leisure pool area, a therapy room, the Aquatics Office, toilets and showers.  It is expected to be completed in 2027. 

Enclosed in glass walls and a retractable roof, one feature that the Friends of Indian River and our partners at the Cape Henry Audubon Society continue to advocate for is the inclusion of bird-safe glass to prevent deadly window collisions.  Our understanding is that this is still one of the options being negotiated as part of the final construction plan.  

November Recap

We are grateful for the six volunteers who came out in November for our Invasive Species Workshop at Indian River Park.  Participants learned how to identify various invasive plants threatening the habitat in the park and then worked to prune Linden Viburnum and clip and remove its berries.  Thousands of berries, and thus thousands of potential new plants, were removed.

At our bi-monthly meeting, attendees were engaged with a presentation on the History and Value of Trees by our own Rogard Ross.  The talk discussed the importance of trees in our region from pre-Columbian times through today.  It also examined the ongoing threat to trees in our urban environment, with the City of Chesapeake having a net loss of over 800 acres of trees in the previous decade. 

Giving Tuesday

Please keep the Friends of Indian River in mind on Giving Tuesday.  The Friends of Indian River is an all-volunteer, local 501(c)(3) non-profit.  You can support our efforts by becoming a member, renewing your membership, or just making a contribution online at http://www.friendsofindianriver.org/p/membership.html

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.