This year marks the 10-year anniversary of Friends of Indian River. Ten years ago, we called a meeting with the goal of finding like-minded people who wanted to improve the quality of life for all the residents of the Indian River neighborhoods. Many turned out for that first meeting, and many kept coming back. Over the past decade, hundreds of volunteers have performed nearly 8000 hours of service in projects in our community organized by the Friends of Indian River. We are sincerely thankful for everyone's contribution.
Some other highlights of the year include:
- On-going efforts at Indian River Park including maintaining the Native Plant Garden, Invasive Plant Removal, Trail Maintenance, and working on planning efforts with the Parks, Recreations and Tourism (PRT) Department.
- Planting 5 trees and shrubs and maintaining entrance landscaping at Plymouth Park
- 2000 lbs. of trash removed from our streets, parks, and waterways during multiple volunteer cleanups around the area as part of our Adopt-A-Road program on Indian River Road, Clean the Bay Day, and the International Coastal Cleanup.
- Seven hikes and walks including a First Day Hike, the Great Backyard Bird Count, several Second Saturday Hikes at Indian River Park, and a History Walk through parts of the Norfolk Highlands and Oaklette neighborhoods.
- Four guest speakers at our bi-monthly meetings and a spring picnic.
- Fourth annual "Main Street" Indian River Holiday Decoration Contest in December
- Friends of Indian River Education Scholarship Award to a worthy graduate of Indian River High School for third consecutive year
- The Friends of Indian River received the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council's Environmental Award for Community Organizations
- Altogether, 72 volunteers performed over 680 hours of service in the community.
Please join us for our Annual Meeting to help us plan for 2023 and hold elections for our Board. The meeting will be on Thursday, January 19 at 7 pm at Oaklette United Methodist Church, 520 Oaklette Drive. All are welcome.
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
Year in Review
Indian River Gateway Tree Planting
Still on the books is rehabilitation work by the Public Works Department on the Oaklette Bridge, installing "pile jackets" to protect the bridge piling from corrosion and doing bridge joint, deck and beam small repairs. As with several other projects, work on this is still pending and now targeted for completion in 2023.
Volunteer Events
We held several Adopt-A-Park events at Indian River Park, both to tend to the Native Plant Garden at the trailhead and do invasive plant management in the park. We had on-going efforts by trained individuals and small groups to manage and remove English Ivy, Japanese Stilt Grass, Linden Viburnum and Chinese Privet in the park. For Earth Day, a team from Dollar Tree came out with one of our trained volunteers to cut English Ivy encroaching on the park trees.
We also continued trail maintenance activities, removing minor trail blockages and working with Parks, Recreations and Tourism (PRT) Department to deal with any larger issues. PRT continued work to rebuild several key bridges over the creeks in the park, including several on the north end of the park and the key bridge at the power lines.
At Plymouth Park, another volunteer focused on caring for its flower bed, keeping an eye on the tree plantings, and doing ad hoc litter cleanups. We also did a volunteer tree planting at Plymouth Park, planting 2 Persimmon Trees, 2 Hazelnut Trees, and a False Indigo Bush, all of which are native to this area. On the same day another effort led by the Chesapeake Tree Board, planted saplings along Border Road which will eventually help absorb runoff as part of a stormwater swale.
And of course, there was various "back office" work to keep up the organization and do outreach and communication. All told, our 72 volunteers reported more than 680 hours of effort this year.
We also want to thank the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council also organized another cleanup at Indian River Park for the Great American Cleanup in March. Also, the Chesapeake Master Gardeners and Cooperative Extension Office which worked with local residents to the Plymouth Park neighborhood to do residential tree plantings in both the spring and fall.
Connecting with Nature
Civic Engagement
In 2022, we switched to a bi-monthly meeting schedule. Guest speakers this year included:
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| Norfolk Highlands Primary School c. 1913 |
- Rogard Ross giving a presentation on the History of the Indian River Area
- Mickie Nance, Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve
- Karen and Steve McCurdy, Butterfly Society of Virginia
- Mayor Rick West, City of Chesapeake
In June, we had held a picnic instead of a regular indoor meeting. We'll discuss making this an annual event. In October, we organized a History Walk around Norfolk Highlands and Oaklette area, talking about how the name Indian River originated, some of the initial colonial land grants, and the development of the community from a trolley-car suburb in the early 1900's to today.
Of course, we continued our online outreach through our monthly newsletter, Facebook, Instagram, Next Door, and our website.
Honorable Mentions go to Affordable Transmission, Botanica Spiritual House, Colorscapes Painting and Design, Direct Auto Insurance, Moulton Tax Service, The Pig Shop BBQ Eatery, Popeyes, Hair2O Studio, Fast Food Mart, and the NAE Federal Credit Union.
Indian River High School Scholarship
This was the third year of the Friends of Indian River Education Scholarship Award. The Scholarship is awarded to an Indian River High School graduating senior who embodies the spirit of the Friends of Indian River mission and excels in leadership, citizenship, extracurricular activities and academics. The award this year went to Abigale Sloniker, who is interested in pursuing Biochemistry or Chemistry as an area of study in college. Among other accomplishments, she was a student representative to the City's Human Services Advisory Board.
Graduates in the class of 2023 will be able to apply for this scholarship in the coming months.
Awards and Recognitions
The Friends of Indian River received the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council's Environmental Award for Community Organizations, recognizing our restoration work in our watershed.
Active Supporting Members and Volunteers 2022
Affordable Transmissions M Jill Arnone M Kevin Bailey M Gary Ball MV Susan Ball M Madison Barton V Andrew Bates V Larry Bender V Mark Bunker V Diane Burke MV* Joe Burke M Margie Carraway M Dollar Tree V Brian Easley MV Vickie Easley MV Lynn Gilbert M* Grace Gonzales V Sarah Kelly Gonzales V David and Lynn Greenfield M | Gilbert Griffin MV Helene Haluska MV* Jim Haluska MJim Harrison M Jim Hartle MV* Eric Holsinger V Jill Jamison MV Lisa and Tom Kennedy M Janet Kerns V Elizabeth Kessler M Rachel Knight V Sharon Komenda MV* Mella Leibrand V Shamar Mason V Chris MathewMV Ed MathewMV Barbara McCane M* Nicolas McConlogue V Karen and Davis Mellott M | Debbie Moore M Keith Moore MV Michael Nerino M Vic Nichols M Amy PetersenM Jennifer Raymond MV Dennie Reno M Rogard Ross MV* Jack Saladino V Shore Consulting Group, LLC M Edward Sorey and family V Susan and Emily Vitale V Carol Warren MV* Amy Weber MV* Shirley Whitehurst M Alex Whitney V Chris Whitney MV* Jayne Whitney MV* Shaun Wynn-Bouder M |
* - Completed more than 100 lifetime volunteer hours with FIR
