- Upcoming Events
- 6/3 - Saturday - Clean the Bay Day
- 6/10 - Saturday - Second Saturday Evening Hike at Indian River Park
- 6/15 - Thursday - Spring Evening Potluck Picnic
- 617 - Saturday - Adopt-A-Road Cleanup
- Other News
- May Re-cap
- Rokeby Avenue and Military Highway Intersection
- River Star Homes
Clean the Bay Day @ Indian River Civic Campus
Location: Indian River Civic Campus - area around Indian River Middle School, High School, Community Center, Library, Lake. Meet at side parking lot at Chesapeake Center of Student Success (old Indian River Middle School Annex) at 605 Providence Rd
The Friends of Indian River's will be hosting Clean the Bay Day at the Indian River Civic Campus. We'll have water and snacks available. Please wear closed-toe shoes, a hat and bring work gloves and other items that may be useful. Long pants are recommended. We also always encourage folks to bring their own water in reusable bottles to minimize use of plastic bottles.
Participants under 18 years of age must have adult supervision.
Please pre-register at https://forms.gle/Y7ybkQG2NqX6hmFo9 (suggested but not required)
Second Saturday Hike at Indian River Park
Location: Meet at the Indian River Park entrance at Rokeby Ave. and Main St. (2001 Rokeby Ave.) which is located just south of Military Highway, i.e. across Military Highway from the Fire Station.
Joining for an evening hike at the park to learn about the history of the park, the native trees and plants in this century old forest on the Indian River flood plain, and its value to maintaining the health of local butterfly, bird, and wildlife populations. Note: the forest trail has uneven surfaces and minor elevation changes.
Please pre-register at https://forms.gle/Mr23MZjQBc5XTi5A6 (suggested but not required)
Spring Potluck Picnic
Location: Picnic Pavilion behind Oaklette United Methodist Church, 520 Oaklette Drive; park in side lot along St. Lawrence Dr.
Rather than our usual monthly meeting, in June we'll have a potluck picnic out behind the church. Bring a dish to share and join us for some camaraderie as we roll into summer. The Friends will set out tables and chairs, provide a main protein dish (likely chicken). We suggest bringing a comfy lawn chair. In the event of rain, we will move the event inside the church's fellowship hall.
To help coordinate who is bringing what, we set up a Sign Up Genius form at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094DADA92FA2FA7-friends1
Adopt-A-Road Cleanup
Join us for a few hours to clean up the mile of Indian River Road from the city limits at Wingfield Avenue all the way to MacDonald Road. We are also asking all business owners along Indian River Road - and everywhere really - to make sure they sweep up in front of their storefronts as part of the effort. And if you can't make it out for our organized cleanup please take 15 minutes and cleanup the street and ditches in front of your home; pass the word to your neighbors!
For our main cleanup on Indian River Road, the city will provide garbage bags and orange safety vests. Please wear closed-toe shoes, a hat and bring work gloves and other items that may be useful. Long pants suggested.
Participants under 18 years of age must have adult supervision. Please pre-register at https://forms.gle/KP5ZqzrPqHDfjhVK8 (suggested but not required)
Other News
May Re-cap
Deputy City Manager Brian Solis was the guest speaker at our monthly meeting giving a good overview of City projects. Several are slated to start this year in our area including the Oaklette Bridge Rehabilitation, Indian River Road Bike Lanes, Philmont Avenue Septic System Disconnect and Replacement, and Blue Heron Landing Kayak Launch. We should also start having stakeholder meetings related to implementing goals of the Indian River Planning Area Study. We hope to have more status updates on all of these in the coming months.
Rokeby Avenue and Military Highway Intersection
The City is seeking State funding to redesign the intersection at Rokeby Avenue and Military Highway next to Indian River Park. To reduce the risk of car crashes, the proposed redesign would require cars to make right turns only coming off Rokeby Avenue. The Friends of Indian River submitted comments to the State and City raising concerns about this proposed design because it does not incorporate any bicycle and pedestrian crossing of Military Highway at Rokeby Avenue, even though Rokeby is where we have existing sidewalks and bicycle lanes. To provide for the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists as well as vehicles, we said that the intersection must incorporate such a pedestrian and bicycle crossing.
The diagram of the proposed design shows the traffic lane restrictions in red. A new multiuse ped/bike path is shown on the north side of Military Highway going to a pedestrian crossing at Paramont Avenue, but then provides no way to get to the actual park entrances on Rokeby Avenue.
River Star Homes
There are nearly 200 River Star Homes in the Indian River watershed, but we want to double that number and then double it again. River Stars pledge to take 7 simple steps to make our river and community cleaner. Many take additional steps to install rain barrels, install environmentally friendly landscaping, and make our neighborhood a healthier place to live. It's easy and free to become a River Star - take the pledge today at https://elizabethriver.org/river-stars/
