​Noble School PTA hosted a Snow Flake Gift Shop for the children to pick out presents for their family members December 8 - 11. They needed volunteers to help and reached out to Noble Neighbors. Several NNs stepped up to help make this wonderful effort successful. You deserve a One-Clap Kudo!

We're pleased with the growing relationships between Noble Neighbors and our schools. There is everything to gain by partnering for the success of our young families! Bravo to the Noble School PTA for so many efforts they provide and for so much fundraising that they do to support their children.  Your commitment is exemplary for the whole district.

It takes a village...    We are the village.
​

After our November Noble Neighbors meeting I wrote to the Chief of the Cleveland Heights Police Department: 


​Hello Chief Robertson,

Last night at our Noble Neighbors' meeting a comment provoked an enthusiastic discussion. I'd like to pass along the essence of the discussion.

One resident expressed gratitude for the police presence in our neighborhood on Trick-or-Treat night. Immediately, several others chimed in with descriptions of patrol officers flashing patrol car lights which attracted children to the officers who gave out candy. Many residents were delighted to see this and expressed appreciation that the police would be present and so active in seeking positive interactions with residents, especially children. They also recited other initiatives of CHPD efforts to interact with kids, like the summer event at the Community Center and the basketball league.

At our meetings, we have an agenda item called "One-Clap Kudos" during which we call out appreciation for people and institutions who have done something to benefit our neighborhood in the previous month. (The "one clap" effort is meant to express a burst of appreciative energy without slowing down our meeting with many rounds of lackluster applause - our neighbors love it!)

Please pass along our One-Clap Kudo to the team who initiated the idea and to the officers who implemented a very successful neighbor relations effort!

Brenda May


And he wrote back the next day:


Dear Brenda and all Noble Neighbors - Thank you for the recent email and the "One Clap Kudo"!  I have posted your email in Roll Call so that all Officers can see it. 

Look forward to continuing and building upon our relationship.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey E. Robertson
Chief of Police


We're so grateful for our growing partnership with our police!

Today Case Western Reserve University students and Noble Neighbors met at the Police Academy classroom to begin our Noble area property survey portion of the Noble Neighborhood Community Assessment project. (Read more details about the project in the 12/9/2014 blog post below.) A small army of volunteers and students fanned out across the area with maps and data entry sheets to record each property's use, occupancy and condition. 

When the teams returned, the most common comment from a Noble Neighbor was, "Our homes really are in good condition. We rated all the houses on the streets we surveyed with Good or Superior!"  Indeed we're finding that we have a neighborhood full of structurally sound homes. Only cosmetic improvements were needed on the Good homes to raise their curb appeal to Superior. 

Favorite comment of the day by a CWRU student: "When I graduate I want to buy a home in this area, and I know exactly which one I want!" So, if you're a home buyer, the secret is about to get out. Now is the time to buy a terrific home at a very affordable price. Once the word gets out, these properties are going to be hot, hot, hot! We're on a roll - we've got momentum - we're a neighborhood that works together to help everyone thrive.

Now, if we can get permission to slide down the fireman's poles for next Saturday's session...

Noble Neighbors celebrated its first year together with story-telling and raising our glasses in shared gratefulness. What began in a living room in January 2014 with a group of people who were concerned about a crime against one of their neighbors has grown into a much larger movement of people willing to work together to change the story of the neighborhood. Our favorite phrase from our meetings’ guest presenters is, “I had no idea so many people would be here” as one after another apologized for bringing too few business cards.

Noble neighbors are now present at every Cleveland Heights City Council meeting. We’re listening with an ear for decisions that impact our area and we’re watching for trends. Wonderfully, City Council members are listening to our concerns and are looking for ways to respond.

Block watch groups and block parties experienced resurgence all over the neighborhood.  Several street groups now display block watch signs in their windows. Phone and email lists, and nextdoor.com are used by more neighbors to communicate concerns, forward contractor recommendations, and find lost cats.

As we learned that neighborhood beautification is directly linked to crime reduction, we stepped up our efforts. Pick Up for Pride was a quick-and-easy, but surprisingly powerful event that gathered 50 neighborhood residents to pick up litter along Noble. Perennial plantings were established with the help of Jan Kious. We have three new public flower beds, two at the Noble and Monticello intersection, and a third around the city sign at Monticello and Belvoir.

We’ve launched a web site, NobleNeighbors.com to help us tell the good story of our neighborhood. It’s providing a wonderful platform to showcase our best. People beyond our city are beginning to track our progress and it is being used to introduce new buyers and renters to the neighborhood. Our email list increased seven-fold in 2014.

Following a neighborhood-wide meeting in late April when Cleveland Heights City Council members invited us to the Police Academy to listen to our concerns, the city continues to respond. We were especially pleased to hear that the Public Works department heard our pleas about the condition of Noble Road, worked diligently to find funding, and in early January announced that our neighborhood’s main street will be repaved in 2015-16.

Cleveland Heights officials and officers have helped us champion our cause. Chief Jeffrey Robinson relocated a monthly Meet Your Police to the Police Academy and has sent officers to speak with us at our meetings. We’ve learned how to spot certain crimes and have formed a partnership between our residents and the police to report and apprehend criminals. 

Our partnerships with several city departments are fruitful. Working with the city’s law office, we were able to assist in closing a nuisance business by being available to testify about chronic public safety threats. Rick Wagner of the Housing Programs office has encouraged us to report housing violations and his staff has moved quickly to address each concern. The Relocation office designed a new brochure to highlight the Noble neighborhood in the city’s relocation packet.  Community Relations staff have been tremendously supportive with information, printing, and as liaisons between the city and Noble Neighbors.

Our fall event, Make Noise for Noble Neighborhood brought out kids of all ages to join Adam Kukuk and his percussion instruments for a rhythmic, noisy parade around the Noble School block. Nearby neighbors stepped onto porches to wave and cheer.

By far the most amazing change in the neighborhood is a growing and contagious sense of hope. Where neighbors felt isolated, we now have a sense of community. Where the expectation was for continued decline, we are sowing the seeds for growth. Where each perceived their voice as unheard, we see that resources are being directed our way. It is a good time to live in the Noble neighborhood. Join us!

Pete Harris, owner of Pete’s Tavern at 1318 Pete Harris, owner of Pete’s Tavern at 1318 Warrensville Center Road, lost his battle with cancer on Dec. 6. Peter G. Harris was born in South Euclid, grew up in Cleveland Heights and attended Noble Elementary School and Monticello Junior High School. He graduated from Cleveland Heights High School in 1975 and The Ohio State University in 1979.

He patronized the Cleveland Orchestra and was a member of the Cleveland Museum of Art. He had a tender spot for animals, and supported the Animal Protective League and adopted rescued dogs.

Harris worked at the former Turkey Ridge Tavern on Coventry Road and at Bob’s on Mayfield Road before he bought his bar, the former Faragher’s, with his father in 1997. The deal included his father’s requirement that his son stop drinking. Harris was sober for 15 years, which drew comparisons between him and Sam Malone, the sobered bar owner of the TV show "Cheers."

Tom Owens, a longtime friend and patron, recalled, “I met him in ninth grade when several of us were playing King of the Hill on a snow pile. He was relentless and a lot of fun. That’s how he was later in life, too. When I was in the hospital he came all the way to Southwest General to visit me a few times. He visited me again when I was in rehab at McGregor. He was the perfect bar owner.”

Allen Moore reminisced, “The first time I walked into Pete’s it had a very relaxing atmosphere. It’s a great place to bring people if you just want to see people and have a beer."

Stephanie Combes, bartender and cook for six years, will continue the business as Pete’s Tavern. “People call us Cheers all the time,” she said, referring to the neighborhood bar feel as well as Harris’ sobriety. “This year, the annual Christmas party on Dec. 19 will also double as Pete’s wake. Musicians who performed live at the tavern in the past are promising to come back to jam that evening. Patrons are invited to bring a potluck dish to share.”

Pete’s Tavern is known for its half-pound Black Angus burgers and its garlic wings. Occasionally, Combes serves casserole specials and other comfort food selections. Pete’s patrons are a diverse crowd who enjoy a low key, “clean” bar. Harris didn’t tolerate disruptive or illegal behaviors. He just enjoyed people.

“The bar is nice, easy—a neighborhood bar,” said Owen. “He would do anything for anybody.”

“The toy train on the corner of the bar was the last thing he bought for the bar,” said Moore. “Yeah, Pete was Pete.”

Harris leaves behind his sister, Polly Harris (Michael Tracy), of Westerville, Ohio; his nephew, Alexander Harris Tracy (Kristen) of Columbus, Ohio; his two dogs, Red and Mitch; and many devoted friends and patrons of Pete's Tavern. Services will be private. Donations in his memory may be directed to the American Cancer Society (http://www.cancer.org) or the Cleveland Animal Protective League (https://clevelandapl.org).


This article was published in the Heights Observer on-line edition on December 10, 2014

Noble Neighbors is pleased to partner with Case Western Reserve University’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (MSASS) Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development to complete a community assessment during the 2015 Spring semester. The survey area comprises the five United States census tracts in Cleveland Heights that abut Noble Road. These are in the northeast quadrant of the city, north of Mayfield Road and east of Taylor Road. For the property survey portion of the assessment, graduate students in Dr. Mark Chupp’s MSASS course will partner with residents in the Noble area to view each property, record its use and condition, and note special features of more than 4000 lots in the district.  When the data is recorded into GIS format, residents, city planners and investors will easily be able to determine Noble area assets and development opportunities.

The community assessment in-depth studies will surround four themes: Housing, Retail, Safety and Children/Youth. Focus groups from Noble Neighbors and other community stakeholders will offer MSASS students the “people” story to complement their statistical research on each of these issues.

Noble Neighbors met Dr. Chupp, project designer Brenda Mathias (CWRU 2014), and project leader, graduate student Nina Holzer at our November meeting. These three introduced the project to us and described the community assessment they completed in 2014 for the North Coventry district. Dr. Chupp explained the importance of community assessment for social workers. Although most social workers engage clients in individual or small group settings apart from their homes, it is critical to understand the environmental context that impacts each life. This project gives future social workers tools to understand their clients’ neighborhood context.

At our February 3, 2015 Noble Neighbors meeting, 18 students will join Dr. Chupp and Ms. Holzer as they kick off the Noble Neighborhood Community Assessment project. We will be trained for the survey, sign up for tasks, and join focus groups. In April, the results will be presented at a Noble Neighbors meeting. Log on often to NobleNeighbors.com to follow our progress and learn how to participate.

Noble Neighbors is grateful to the City of Cleveland Heights for support with maps, historical data, and technical assistance. The City will use data generated in this report for planning and development.

FutureHeights is providing crucial support to the Noble neighborhood. Dr. Chupp, a board member, is leading the project. Staff and FutureHeights volunteers will participate in the survey planning and focus groups. Results will be published in the Heights Observer. FutureHeights will also include the Noble neighborhood in their newly funded Community Capacity Building Program. We look forward to joining with other neighborhood leaders to further strengthen all the neighborhoods of Cleveland Heights.

What is more competitive than the real estate industry? Not much, and so we are pleased to announce that several agencies will be cooperating to host a Real Estate Fair in the Noble neighborhoods on Sunday, April 26, 2015.

While these agents are very willing to work together to advertise the event and help give our slow-moving properties the sales boost that they need, the agents have challenged Noble Neighbors to create an event that will bring potential buyers, friends of buyers, future buyers and word-of-mouth info distributors to our neighborhood that day.

We're in the beginning stages of planning our event, but we're already imagining the churches hosting events on their grounds, kids' activities in the parks, businesses offering specials, and maybe even our schools and library showcasing their best sides. And certainly, April needs to be Beautification Month in our Noble neighborhoods so all our homes show off our beautiful best to attract prospective buyers.

As you see, there is LOTS of need for everyone's participation. Come to our monthly meetings to see our momentum. Find a way that you can plug into this effort. Remember, every good work and every good word contributes to raising our housing values by causing our area to be more desirable to new home buyers!

Today is the start of (hopefully) many more public perennial garden projects that will help beautify our Noble neighborhood. Jan Kious of GardenWalk Cleveland and the one who planted our own Cleveland Heights gardens at Cedar/Fairmount, Cedar Hill and Coventry/Euclid Heights, is volunteering to help the Noble Neighbors find ways to add delight to our main thoroughfares. We've started our long-term project with three beds - one at the Cleveland Heights sign at Belvoir and Monticello, and two at Monticello and Noble. These two are diagonally across the intersection, one at the corner of CVS and the other at the corner of Longwood Beauty Supply. 

We've scavenged plants from a Heights High perennial bed on Cedar which will be removed as part of the high school renovation. Jan and others added flowers from their own gardens. The City of Cleveland Heights donated and delivered truckloads of bulk topsoil and mulch, and with a few more amendments, we've created gardens that are ready to send their roots deep for the winter and to burst forth with color from Spring to Fall. Thanks Jan, Barb, Paula, Brenda, Jeanette and Sandy!

The Cleveland Browns were losing badly, 3-28 by the time Make Noise for Noble Neighborhood began. Cool, cloudy weather might have been an attendance deterrent, but several participants cited the Browns' lousy performance as a perfect reason to leave the warmth of living room TV viewing to join the parade at Noble School.

Adam Kukuk, of DeepGrooves.org, brought all kinds of drums and percussion instruments to the school playground. Others contributed homemade instruments made of pot lids, beans in plastic bottles, and a most-fun shaker stick with metal bottle caps nailed to it. Mr. Adam helped the crowd of over 40 people, mostly kids, learn how to use the variety of instruments, and to work together to make interesting rhythms. Once well rehearsed, we followed Katrina, the balloon-hatted leader, in a noise making parade around the block. Lots of neighbors came to their doorways to smile and wave at our festive fanfare. It was great fun to see wide-eyed little kids watch us strut.

We were joined by Officer Larry who paraded with us in his cruiser - lights flashing and adding several on-beat "whoop-whoop" siren sounds. Five year old Andrew remembered Officer Larry from Safety Town and was thrilled to see that he was parading with us. "Andrew just loves Officer Larry. He's still talking about Safety Town which happened a while ago," reported Andrew's mother. We all had great fun Making Noise for the Noble Neighborhood.

Returning home to warmer digs, many of us tuned into what we thought would be an embarrassing end to the Browns-Titans game. But, what's this? They just scored in the fourth quarter and went on to score a total of 26 unanswered points to win 29-28. I have no doubt that the Make Noise for Noble parade inspired our football team to host a few parades of their own from end zone to end zone.

So, obviously, our Noble Noise caused the Browns to win. 

I'm sure of it.

Kids are just too fun! When I visited a few early-September block parties, I asked to take photos of the kids. They were very obliging and marvelously well behaved. 

So polite, so well-behaved. But, do these photos capture the real personalities? "Make a funny face!" was all they needed to give us their true child-like sillies. Now we see real lively individuality!

Meanwhile, adults were... shall we say... adults.

Who would you rather invite to your next block party?

The Noble area boasts some fabulous community gardens, each with its own character.  

Filling several formerly empty lots on Woodview, these faithful growers donate hundreds of pounds of produce to the Heights Emergency Food Bank each week during the harvest season. They welcome volunteer gardeners each Tuesday evening to help tend and harvest the large variety of vegetables. Woodview Hope Community Garden has a Facebook presence. These folk are doing great work, and have been doing it for years!!

Tucked in a small space at Noble Road Presbyterian Church are several kitchen gardens cultivated by the Nepalese refugees that call the Noble neighborhood their home. There's lots of variety and some very clever gardening techniques. We Americans can certainly learn new ways from our newest neighbors!

Just around the corner is a children's garden hosted by the enthusiasts at Noble Library. Designed to introduce kids to flower and vegetable growing, it is a fitting companion to the library's Early Literacy PLAYroom program.

Oxford Garden is one of the longest-lived community gardens in the area. These folk have got the "community" part of community garden goin' on!! They have picnic tables, chairs, shared tools and compost resources, and folks that will help water your garden for you when you can't be there. It's quite a treat to view all the ways these gardeners are working together to grow friendships as well as food.

Montford Garden is the area's newest community garden. In just two growing seasons, the gardeners have taken a vacant corner lot and turned it into a lovely neighborhood asset. These well organized folk also have a terrific Facebook page. 

For each of these gardens, it's all about thwarting deer, ground hog and other domestic and wildlife free-loaders. Check out each garden for some very clever critter control techniques! Lastly, here's a shout-out to the Heights Community Garden Network which supports all these efforts.  We've got good eatin' in the neighborhood!

Hi Noble Neighbors-recent update on Beverly Road Meet Your Neighbor Group below:

The Beverly Road Meet Your Neighbors has met periodically since the beginning of summer. This past Tues. they discussed happenings in the area that were brought up at the Noble Neighbor Meeting group and discussed ways in which our block might be a help to the entire area. One suggestion was to rent Cumberland Swimming Pool to hold a Noble Neighbor Group Fun Night.  Also discussed were ideas thrown out to try to help our youth to engage in some fun activities.  So much positive discussions were in the making- how about a Noble Neighbors night at Dennison Park with a cook out and music for the group?

The Beverly Road “Meet Your Neighbor” held their 1st. block party  with hamburger/hot dog grilling and pot luck foods to share. The adults and kids participated in games - fun time had by all and ( meeting someone new that one never gets to visit with and also getting to feel how to help each other and be better neighbors) was so wonderful.  Most of the people on the block now have Block Watch laminated signs in their homes visible to the street. Our next “Meet Your Neighbor” party will be held in September.


Margaret on Beverly Road.

Hats off to Officer Mack and two bicycle patrol officers who stopped on Nobleshire tonight where a dozen kids were playing. The children spotted his car as soon as he rounded the corner and ran to it yelling, "Officer Mack! Officer Mack!" He greeted the kids, handed out badges, coloring books and pencils, and allowed them to look inside his cruiser. Another police car with two officers and two patrol bikes in its rack stopped by, too.  Every kid got to beep the bike horns and (formidable) sirens as the crowd of neighborhood youth grew. Officer Mack also greeted us kids-at-heart, telling the adults on the street about the five ways to contact the police and what the Community Response team does.

The CHPD won the affections of lots of children today and the appreciation of many adults. Only the ice cream truck drew more delight on this street today!

This morning, I had breakfast with three friends, all of whom live in our Noble neighborhood. Only two of us are in the Noble Neighbors group, but the topic of conversation, initiated by the other two!, was the Noble Neighbors web site. Both of these friends were very enthusiastic about it! One, who lives on "Pill Hill,"* was especially excited that her area is included in our Noble Neighbors geography. She expressed delight at how much we are doing to promote our neighborhood and asked lots of questions about what else we are involved with. The other woman offered repeated complements for how easy the site is to navigate. She is blind and uses a screen-reader to access the internet. For her, web sites with lots of features and activity on a single page are overload and very difficult to navigate. Not only was she able to easily read our page, but we had more discussion on the Chicken Coop Tours, the Police Mini Station announcement, and the solar powered security lights. Although the simplicity of our site may largely be attributed to my low-level site creation skills, I was grateful that my friend enjoyed visiting it. Clearly, she spent time on our web site! You can be sure I invited these two to Join Us!

Our site is just over a month old and we are averaging about 75 page views per day. Our peak so far is 196 page views, the day after our Pick Up for Pride! event. We started this site, not only to communicate with each other, but to have another tool in our marketing tool box. The blog's purpose is to create an archive of our activities so that our good news is not lost when the home page is updated with current happenings. Through this site and other efforts, we intend to show potential home buyers that we are an active group of neighbors who look out for each other by Block Watch organization, who have fun with each other through block parties and neighborhood events, and who are working together to revitalize the area. We hope that these values will attract others who will "buy in" and join our efforts by buying homes and investing in healthy businesses. 

Your part is critical!  Do tell us about your events and efforts so we may brag about you on the web site and demonstrate our growing unity. The easiest way to send information and photos is through the Feedback tab on the web site, or by sending your message to nobleneighbors@gmail.com. Thanks! And that thanks is from all of us who will benefit from the good vibes that your story provides.


* Pill Hill is a the area that includes Oakridge and Inglewood, and parts of Yellowstone, Montevista and Glenwood.  Originally developed by the Van Sweringen brothers of Shaker Heights fame, the area gained its nickname because of the amount of medical professionals who call it home.  Click here for a Cleveland Historical link with more stories and photos. Then grab your Noble Neighbors map and walk over to see it!

There are chickens in our neighborhood! The Heights Chickeneers invited Heights area people to tour 10 homes with backyard chickens. Three tour stops were in the Noble Neighborhood. It's legal to have a few hens in the Heights now, as long as you register with the city and comply with a few consider-your-neighbors regulations. In spite of dozens of gawking humans at each stop, the chickens seemed to take it all in stride.  A few free-rangers came up to us and allowed us to pet them! We were, however, warned not to try to pet Brooder, the misinformed hen who thinks her eggs will hatch. She defends her sterile brood with a swift peck on the hand. Coop designs spanned from Architectural Review magazine cover material to I-used-the-materials-I-had-on-hand utilitarian models. No matter the construction technique, all these "girls" looked content. After all, you've got to be one lay-ed back lady to let folks gather 'round as you luxuriate in your (dust) bath!

Someone asked me if I was going to build a chicken coop that would match the quality of the $1200-in-materials palace we saw. No, but if I were to build a chicken abode, I'd make it chicken coupe - like a '57 Chevy coupe. Pop the trunk to get to the nesting boxes, roost on a steering wheel, teach the chickens to peck out "Little Deuce Coop" on car horns, you get the idea.

The City hosted another community meeting last night in response to the issues we raised on April 29th. This one was held at the (thankfully!) air-conditioned and accessible CH Community Center on Monticello at Mayfield. 

Rick Wagner, CH Housing Director, offered us statistics which I had requested.  All these statistics are for the Noble area of Cleveland Heights - east of Taylor and north of Mayfield.

There are:
4433 Single and two-family homes in total
54 Apartments which contain 624 units in total

1244 of the single and two-family homes are rentals which is 28% of the total
218 of the single and two-family homes residents use public assistance vouchers, about 5% of the total and 17.5 % of the rentals.  There are about 750 voucher users city-wide.
96 of the apartments are rented with public assistance vouchers, just over 15% of the total apartment units.

320 of the houses are vacant, according to quarterly post office reports, just over 7%
71 lots are vacant

1420 houses were foreclosed since 2005, about a third of our houses in almost 10 years
235 were foreclosed in the peak year of 2012
70 have been foreclosed in the first 5 1/2 months of 2014.

Rick also discussed a new mobile phone app which the city has launched, Access Cleveland Heights, through which we can report problems to the city.  We have the option to upload a photo, too.  The app also has a variety of links to other city information including a calendar, ordinances and council member contacts.  In the first few days after the launch, several residents have reported tall grass, debris, potholes and water main breaks on public and private properties.  We can view all these postings and the city's progress through the app.

Police Chief Jeff Robertson reported statistics for crimes against property for "Block M," the police-designated zone that is north of Monticello and east of Taylor.  He also offered tips on keeping our homes and cars more safe and less tempting to criminals.  Ready Notify is a county alert system which delivers messages to our phones.  The city web site has links to access this service.  We can also sign up through Access Cleveland Heights.  People who already have signed up for Ready Notify tell us that they received notifications for Mayfield Road closings. 

Check the Cleveland Heights web site for several more city programs and events that are coming up this summer. Personally, I need to borrow a friend's young son so I have a good excuse to go to the "Fun with Trucks" event on June 22.  What could be more fun than climbing in a street sweeper and a garbage truck?

Saturday, June 7, 2014  10am - 1pm
     WOW!!!  Who could ask for anything more!  It was a beautiful day and we had so many people that Noble Road was trash-free before noon. Several side streets benefitted from our attention, too.  What fun it was to look up and down Noble and Monticello to see groups of red-shirted neighbors making the place more attractive!
     Several business owners expressed their thanks to us that we would clean up in front of their shops and that we care about the neighborhood. One brought us more water and took another case of water to the sign-up table at Monticello and Noble.  
     Around 50 people participated and about twenty new neighbors signed up to be on the Noble Neighbors contact list.
     We had great conversations with people waiting for busses or who were stopped in their cars as they waited for the traffic light.
     This is our greatest success -  We were visible to the neighborhood and we gained new partners in our quest to make the Noble neighborhoods a more vibrant place for all people.  Bravo to all of us!
     THANK YOU! Jeanette, Wendy, BB, Susan, Marge, Robert, Jan, Chris, Megan, Emily, Celeste, Roger, Brianna, Anissa, Melodie, Barb, Cynthia, Mary, Sandrine, Stephen, Rosemary, Bev, Kenneth, Tamika, Diane, Tricia, Paula, Ann, Tonie, Patrick, Steven, Karly, Mira, Isabel, Karen, Tristan, Katrina, Nadia, Valerie, Carol, Eileen, Doreen, Rosemary, Donna, Judi, Debbie, and Brenda.


Click here for a link to the Heights Observer article.  Favorite response to the positive publicity about our neighborhood: "I am so proud."  Thanks, Chris!

Us Together hosted a festival at John Carroll University to celebrate the cultures of the Nepali and Iraqi groups they have helped to settle in Cleveland Heights. It was an explosion of colorful clothing, delicious food and hand crafted items for sale.  My favorite part was the two-year-old Nepali girl who just had to join her older sister as she performed a Nepali dance for us.  Just too cute!  Many of the Nepali who live along Noble Road were performers and vendors at the festival.

Us Together is located on Noble and is always looking for more people to help the refugee community. There are lots of opportunities to volunteer or help fund their good work.  Check them out at http://ustogether.us/

It was just too much fun to see kids (and adults!) enjoy the balloon art hats and toys at this Festival. And, oh! How good it is to eat fresh strawberries again! NRPC, you know who to throw a party!  Your neighborhood thanks you!

Bravo to the Beverly bunch who are reviving their block party and initiating a block watch! About a dozen people met in Carol's front yard and began an email list for Beverly events and notices. Old timers told stories about block parties gone by that began with breakfast and ended after dark with a kid-friendly movie outdoors.  That's one serious block party!!

One Cleveland Heights police officer from the Community Response Team helped with block watch organization tips and gave residents pointers about keeping their homes safe.  Best comment of the night from the officer: "We love dogs.  Even a chihuahua sounds like a big dog when it's growling at someone in the dark." 

One of the City's responses to the April 29th community meeting is to relocate one Meet Your Police event a month to our neighborhood in the Police Academy (former fire station). Several Noble Neighbors met Officer Mack of the Community Response Team on Thursday, June 5, 2014.  We learned that there are several cameras on Noble at Monticello.  The police have four cameras at the intersection, one faces each of the compass directions (north, east...). Two more are on the police academy property.  One of these cameras faces CVS.  Additionally, some of the businesses have cameras and the police have been able to use their surveillance footage from recent disturbances.