Please join me and my staff on Saturday, April 5th, for the 16th Annual Spring Community Cleanup along Frankfort Avenue.  Plan to meet at 8:30 a.m. in the Keats/Frankfort Avenue public parking lot. Enjoy coffee donated by Heine Brothers’ Coffee and breakfast sandwiches donated by McDonald’s in Clifton.  Gloves, tools and Louisville PureTap water will be provided to all volunteers.  Please bring your own reusable water bottle. We’ll also pass out FREE t-shirts on a first-come, first-serve basis to volunteers.  The cleanup will officially begin at 9:00 a.m.  For more information please contact my office at 574-1109 or email Kyle Ethridge. 

Brightside’s spring compost sale and fundraiser will be held Saturday, March 29 and April 5, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. (rain or shine) at the Outer Loop Recycling and Disposal Facility, 2673 Outer Loop. Waste Management of Kentucky is generously donating the compost to Brightside. Proceeds from the compost sale will benefit Brightside’s community education and beautification efforts. Fees are $2.50 per bag, or $30 per scoop. Discount coupons are available at www.brightsideinc.org. Compost is available on a first-come, first-served basis while supply lasts. Arrive early to ensure you are able to purchase! Compost is an excellent resource for protecting plants and adding organic matter to enrich the soil to enhance stronger, healthier plant material this spring. The compost was created from leaves, grass clippings, and other yard waste and has been screened to eliminate debris.

Arbor Day FREE tree give-a-way on Saturday, April 12, from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the Louisville Nature Center, 3745 Illinois Ave. Jefferson County Master Gardener Association members will be on hand to provide information on the tree varieties and to help with selection. Other gardening related information, including raised bed gardening, will be available. 800trees will be given away:  Dogwood, River Birch, Washington Hawthorn, Bald Cypress, Pecan, White Oak and Southern Red Oak. There is a limit of 3 trees per person. Questions please contact jcmgaevents@gmail.com.

Cyclouvia will transform the street in-to a paved park where people of all ages and backgrounds can walk, bike, dance, skate, or participate in any other physical activity on public spaces that are always there but are normally reserved for automobiles. The street will be closed to motorized traffic from Stilz Avenue to Pope Street with cross traffic allowed at Ewing Avenue under traffic control officer supervision between 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 13th. Cyclouvia will promote healthy lifestyles and alternative modes of transportation. This is a FREE event and open to the public. Volunteers are working on a tribute to Joe Ward, an avid cyclist from Crescent Hill who passed away last year. His bike will be on display at Carmichael’s Bookstore and his books will be available for sale.

Join us at an Earth Day event at Beargrass Falls on Tuesday, April 22nd from Noon to 1:00 p.m. Working with a group of neighborhood, governmental and environmental groups an earth day celebration is being planned. It will feature a dedication of the research/demonstration green infrastructure and water quality facilities at Beargrass Falls as well as a series of displays on recommendations to implement the Louisville Sustainability Plan's goals on improving water quality (focusing on the lower reaches of Beargrass Creek. For more information about Beargrass Falls please click on the following link to watch a Metro TV aired a show on Beargrass Falls.