Community Outreach Committee Meeting Notes
Attendees: Michelle Decker (Chair), Renate Rikkers, Rick Fornoff, Cindy Appleby, Christina Quetel, Storms Reback
Unable to attend: Chris Pelly, Leslie Morris, Debbie Francis, Bruce Black
Notes/Next Steps
Reviewed Past Events
Property Appraisal - Not a high attendance other than committee members. There was sufficient interest with registration, but many did not show. Discussed why low attendance.
Reviewed Scheduled Events
5K Haw Creek Hustle - Banners ordered, discussed how to get more registrants to enter. Posted on Nextdoor and Facebook. Greg will do a radio announcement. Flyers are to be distributed. Issue with lack of volunteers. Michelle will reach out to her firm for volunteers. Glory Hound has t-shirts designed and prizes ordered.
Park Clean up 4/21 - Meet at Crockett Avenue 9:00 am.
Wildflower Hikes 4/26 & 27 (Bernie leads this event. Michelle will reach out to him for updates.)
Yard Sale - 5/4 Leslie is lead and not in attendance.
Planned Events/Programs
Logging Hike - Rick is lead, 12 max in participants for each hike.
Treasured Trees - Asheville Greenworks. Discussions led to creating a map of Haw Creek identifying each “treasured tree.” Call for action to neighborhood anyone who has a tree that they would like to have on the treasured tree list. Create a Haw Creek calendar to feature a treasured tree per month, with the map showing location on the last page as a guide. Charge a fee for the calendar.
Community Pie Contest - Renate is lead. Discussed Beverly Hills success with their pie contest. Discussed low attendance, always the same participants. Need to increase participation.
New Ideas for Events/Programs
Dark Sky Neighborhood Program - introducing this idea to Haw Creek, Bernie has connections for speakers. Reduce unnecessary lighting in the neighborhood, which provides a better environment for plants and animals.
Environment Program - Adopt a Storm Drain - Renate - We need to get traction going.
Movie in the Park - Film night at the ball field. June, July & August. Need a 20ft blow up screen and projector. This event will bring the community together. The ball field may want to partner with us by opening the concession stand for refreshments.
History of Haw Creek Program “Heritage” - Rick would be interested in building on what he has done in the past.
Outreach
The issue that affects all of the above is how do we get more people involved in planned events/programs and keep the energy up so that they stay committed to events that they have registered for. Christina suggested Facebook invite, which will put it on their calendar.
Safety
We touched on the subject of increasing crime awareness in Haw Creek.
National Night Out - contact for more information.
APD - contact to get Neighborhood watch and a patrol car.
Next Meeting May 1st