Summer Newsletter

• News
• Grocery Outlet Grand Opening
• Indian River Road Bike Lanes
• Indian River High School Scholarship
• Volunteer Recap
• Volunteers needed for gardening
• Fall Calendar

---

News

Grocery Outlet Grand Opening

The long awaited opening of the new grocery store, Grocery Outlet, at the Indian River Shopping Center occurred with much fanfare on July 9th.  This culminated a long effort by the community, the City, and the owners of the Indian River Shopping Center.   

After years of decline, one key barrier to revitalizing the shopping center was the lack of adequate water pressure to implement fire suppression sprinklers for renovated tenants.   To address this and water quality issues, the City acquired the private Aqua Virginia well-water system in 2018, which supplied the shopping center and the residential community behind it, disconnected the wells, and provided everyone access to City-supplied water.    Meanwhile, the shopping center ownership was steadily renovating property, section by section.   In the past year, new landscaping was added along the storefronts.    We are excited by all the progress!

Indian River Road Bike Lanes

We are also excited by our brand new and hopefully safer Indian River Road!   The roadway has now been repaved and restriped, with new buffered bike lanes and a reduced speed limit.  At the time of writing, there are still several final touches pending:  bicycle icons and directional markings need to be painted in the bike lane, the bus stops need to be marked, and high-visibility crosswalks need to be added.  These safety improvements have also been years in the making, originally defined in the Indian River Small Area Plan adopted by the City in 2021.  

These changes should reduce the speeding along Indian River Road, provide a safe lane for bicycle traffic, and buffer the sidewalk from the car traffic.  You can already tell it is more pleasant to walk the sidewalk.  It also removes the need for bicycles to ride on the sidewalk.  In the coming months, a new crosswalk and pedestrian signal at Lilac Avenue is to be added to improve access to Blue Heron Landing Park. 

Indian River High School Scholarship

Congratulations to Shanell Lawson, graduating senior and winner of our 2026 Indian River High School Education Scholarship.  Shanell embodies the spirit of the Friends of Indian River mission, excelling in leadership, citizenship, extracurricular activities, and academics.   She demonstrated exemplary scholastic skills and pursued a rigorous curriculum that included Honors, AP, and Dual Enrollment courses.   She was a member of the National Honor Society and Student Council Association.  We are delighted about her interest in seeking a degree in Forestry and Conservation. We wish her many successes in her future endeavors. 

Volunteer Recap

In early June, 24 volunteers came out to Indian River Park and removed over 500 lbs of litter and debris - plus one king-sized mattress - from the west side of the park.   Thank you to all the hardy volunteers, including teams from Healthcare Administrators of Tidewater, crew members from USNS Hector A. Cafferata Jr., ESB 8.   And thank you to Southern Volkswagen - Greenbrier for allowing us to stage the cleanup from their parking lot and use their dumpster.

Volunteers needed for gardening

We have a regular need for volunteers to help maintain our gardens and plantings, both along Indian River Road at the Oaklette Bridge and at the native plant garden at Indian River Park.  This is in addition to our monthly volunteer days.  The tasks include regular weeding and other garden work; some work involves small group events during the week; once orientation is completed, some work might be on an individual schedule.  If you are interested in helping out, e-mail us at info@friendsofindianriver.org for more information.

Fall Calendar

Here's a glance at events we're planning this fall:

• Thursday, Sept. 17 - Bi-Monthly Meeting - speaker TBA
• Saturday, Sept 19 - International Coastal Cleanup
• Saturday, Oct. 10 - Second Saturday Hike at Indian River Park
• Saturday, Oct. 17 - Adopt-a-Park at Indian River Park (tentative)
• Saturday, Nov. 14 - Second Saturday Hike at Indian River Park
• Thursday, Nov. 19 - Bi-Monthly Meeting - Kim Sudderth on Environmental Justice
• Saturday, Nov. 21 - Adopt-A-Road Cleanup

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.