Presenting … The Front Porch Library!

With lots of hard work and even more sweat, we did it.  Seminole Manor’s Front Porch Library is officially open.  It is a cozy, welcoming space that saw plenty of use on Saturday.  We presently have 10 registered library users and June programs planned for the next two Sundays.

We couldn’t have done it without the help of many volunteers: Ray, Adrian, Katherine, Michelle, Linda, Cathleen, Wilma, Sally, Maya, Jeff, Rob B. and FSU Circle K International.  A great big THANK YOU to all!!  For more pictures, click here.

Seminole Manor’s Front Porch Library is a children’s lending library which aims to provide neighborhood kids with access to books, teach and establish habits of reading and library use, and bring us together as a community.

Drop by during the June library hours:

Sundays 3 – 6pm,

Tuesdays & Thursdays 4 – 6pm

Hours will continue throughout the summer and may change somewhat depending on use.  Children’s programs are planned for Sunday afternoons starting around 3:30pm.

If you are not a Seminole Manor resident but would like to know more about our neighborhood library, including how to start one of your own, please contact us with a comment here on the blog, send an email to smna2007 (at) gmail (dot) com, or call 850.576.6418.

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Thank you, FSU Circle K International

FSU Circle K volunteers, Sally, Kary  & Maya were out in the garden on Saturday.  We started early because we knew it would get H O T!  And it did.  We weeded, spread mushroom compost, planted sweet potatoes, okra, and zucchini.  We harvested onions, sorrel, kale, some tiny strawberries, lots of tomatoes, and several cucumbers.  We saw earthworms and a small brown toad.

Come back in a few months and we’ll dig up the sweet potatoes together.

The next Second Saturday Garden Workday will be Saturday, August 8th at 9am.  We’re skipping July.

kk

The Front Porch Library Grand Opening – Saturday June 13th 4:30 – 6pm

It’s happening.  We’re launching.  We hope to see many neighbors and friends-of-the-neighborhood there.

There was a piece about our event in the online edition of today’s newpaper.

Just FYI, Library hours begin Tuesday, June 16th.  For the month of June they will be:

Sundays 3 – 6pm

Tuesdays & Thursdays 4 – 6pm

After that, the hours may change in response to usership and volunteer availability.  Programs are scheduled on Sundays.   The first is ‘Stories and Quilts’ on June 21st followed by ‘Bones, Fossils, and Dinosaurs’ on June 28th.

We’re hoping that the library will be a wonderful resource for our neighborhood and that it will inspire other neighborhoods and community entities to create their own.

We’re making a library link on this blog.  Check back regularly and click on the FP Library tab if you want to know more.

kk

Introducing Seminole Manor’s Front Porch Library

Friends and neighbors,

You may not know it, but Seminole Manor has a lending library for neighborhood children on the front porch of a house on Marcia Avenue.  We have been circulating books on a small scale and informally for nearly a year now.  It’s time to make it official, and we need your help!

Seminole Manor’s Front Porch Library will be opening with a bang on Saturday, June 13th from 4:30-6 pm.

We plan to do the following activities:

Register library patrons
Serve hotdogs, snacks and drinks
Make bookmarks
Raffle prizes
Read stories aloud
Circulate books

We can’t do all this without you!  Please let us know if you can help that day with anything from setup to cleanup–and everything in between.  You can volunteer by sending an email (smna2007@gmail.com), calling 576-6418, or commenting on our blog.  You can download a flyer here ( FPL_flyer full size ).

Throughout the summer, the library will have regular hours for book checkout and book clubs:

Sundays 3 – 6pm
Tuesdays and Thursdays 4 – 6pm

We’d welcome your ongoing help with this project!  Help us increase literacy in the neighborhood and give our kids something constructive to do this summer.

Thank you!

Adrian Fogelin
Kary Kublin
The Front Porch Library
a program of Seminole Manor Neighborhood Association

Park honors former Seminole Manor resident Martha Wellman

From the Tallahassee Democrat:

Martha Wellman cared deeply about the environment and Tallahassee. Now her name is affixed to part of the Tallahassee environment.

Blueprint 2000 will dedicate Martha Wellman Park on Monday. The park is on West Tennessee Street, a quarter-mile west of Capital Circle.

Wellman was a state government analyst and Sierra Club member who served on numerous Tallahassee committees. She was one of 13 members of the Economic and Environmental Consensus Committee, which created the plan for Blueprint 2000 and its one-cent sales tax funding approved by voters. She was a community representative for Blueprint’s Capital Circle Southwest project.

Wellman, 60, died of cardiac arrhythmia in May 2007, on an airplane returning to Tallahassee from a Sierra Club meeting in California. She had lived in Tallahassee since 1972, including many years on Rankin Avenue, in southwest Tallahassee, a few miles from the new park.

See Gerald Ensley’s full article at tallahassee.com.

Announcing the Leon County Neighbor of the Year, Robert Rinehart

Tonight the Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA) announced its annual neighborhood awards.  We are pleased to report that Rob Rinehart was recognized as the Leon County Neighbor of the Year. 

Rob was nominated by members of the Seminole Manor Neighborhood Association.  We hope you will congratulate Rob when you see him.  Look for an article in the Tallahassee Democrat on Tuesday.

Robert Rinehart has worked tirelessly for the residents of Seminole Manor. He helped establish the neighborhood association and has served as President for many years now. In that role he has hosted the neighborhood Block Party, formalized our Neighborhood Crime Watch, represented neighborhood interests at a number of local forums, and encouraged neighbors to believe that our collective efforts could make a difference in our community.

These are the things Rob is known for. Lesser known is the behind-the-scenes work Rob does to assist individual neighbors in need. For example, for the past year Rob has been “on call” for a disabled neighbor whose house is in foreclosure. As this neighbor’s ability to advocate for himself has decreased, Rob helped secure legal assistance for the individual.  He assessed the living conditions in the home and made significant home repairs and acted as an advocate with social service agencies.

As a landlord Rob has a knack for introducing individuals to the neighborhood who are a good fit for the community. He brings neighbors together by hosting neighborhood association meetings and suggesting specific ways neighbors can become involved. Rob goes to great lengths to deter crime and to share public safety updates with the neighbors of Seminole Manor.

Rob’s efforts and leadership have created a sense of pride and community in Seminole Manor that affect all who live here. We are proud to have Rob serving Seminole Manor. “Neighbor of the Year” is a distinction Rob has earned many times over, and we hope this year’s nomination can convey some of the thankfulness and appreciation Seminole Manor residents have for his many years of service.

kk

Congratulations Joe and Heather

Seminole Manor residents Joe C. and Heather B. were married on Friday, May 8th, 2009.

We wish you a lifetime of love and happiness!

kk

FSU Service Scholars ROCK!

We had beautiful weather for a great garden workday.

We harvested collards, cabbage, and kohlrabi — lots and lots of it.  We made a bamboo trellis to keep the cucumbers happy.  We tasted sorrel.  We planted peppers that John brought and tended to the tomatoes.  A few of us stepped indoors to work on cataloging for the neighborhood library.

It was a good day for doing good.  Thank you to everyone who helped.

kk

Low cost rabies shots for pets

This also from Karen O:

The Tallahassee Animal Services Center is offering free rabies shots to pets on Saturday, April 4th.  There is a suggested donation of $5.  The event will be held at the Smith Williams Neighborhood Center from 10am – 12noon.  It has been scheduled due to a dramatic increase in the number of animals testing positive for rabies.

Check out this link to get the registration form.  For more information, call the Animal Service Center at 891-2950.

ko, kk

We came, we worked, we got hot and dirty!

It was  a glorious day in the garden.  We planted some late season arugula and lettuce.   Beans were tucked in next to the kale.  And marigolds all around.

Joe and Jeff carted away a truckload of dead tv’s while the rest of us designed a new raised bed for the front corner.  Big thanks to John, Linda, Sally, Maya, Greg, Joe, and Jeff.  And thanks to Nancy George from the Damayan Project for helping out and sharing her garden know-how.

There is kale, baby greens, collards, and cabbage ready for picking.  Stop by if you’d like a bag.

The Second Saturday Garden workday is now a regular fixture.  Mark your calendar for the second Saturday in April.  We’ll be there from 10am – 12noon planting and harvesting and generally sprucing up the neighborhood.

kk