Please join me and my staff on Saturday, April 18, for the annual Spring clean-up along Frankfort Avenue. Plan to meet at 8:30 a.m. at 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.

The next Community Conversation is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21 in St. Matthews Council Chambers, 3940 Grandview Avenue. We are hoping for unscripted, open conversations about your vision for D9 and the City. Please mark your calendar and join us – and bring along a friend or neighbor!

Photo: Mary Beth Brown

Katie McBride, a Clifton resident, rides her bicycle every day, as her primary means of transportation.  Katie’s bicycle takes her to work, helps her get groceries, and is her transportation to get to the library and do her shopping.  When she goes out to meet up with friends, her bicycle gets her there. And, yes, she rode her bicycle during all the ice and snow, but she admits that the “springy weather is much more fun”!

Katie has several bicycles, each of which serves a different purpose. She loves riding around Clifton, but says some of the hills are a bit of a challenge!  In addition to being her main way of getting around, Katie says “riding my bicycle is so much fun. All of my neighbors know me as ‘that bicycling lady’." 

We’d like to feature your sustainability story - a resident or business doing good things for the environment.  Riding the bus, bicycling, walking, gardening and more - our eNews will feature practices which can benefit all of us.  Send you story to Bill Hollander or Kyle Ethridge. 

When Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, visited Louisville with a focus on healthy air, water and soil, they naturally met many D9 residents deeply involved in that work.   The Duchess visited the Food Literacy Project at Oxmoor Farm and met with D9 residents Martha Geier, President of the Board, and Executive Director Carol Gundersen (in photo).  More about the Food Literacy Project here:   foodliteracyproject.org. 

In learning about Louisville’s Food Port, Prince Charles met with Project Director and D9 resident Caroline Heine, and later mentioned the project in his address at the Cathedral of the Assumption.  Recent national publicity about the FoodPort is here: http://www.citylab.com/design/2015/03/why-louisville-is-betting-big-on-a-massive-food-wonderland/387697/

Work has finally begun on Kenilworth Road for the new sidewalk on the east side of the street from Brownsboro Road to the top of the hill at 375 Kenilworth. The project includes the building of a new sidewalk to connect to the sidewalk on Brownsboro Road. No parking spaces on Kenilworth will be removed during this process. The contractor has posted “one lane roadway” signs due to work at the top of the hill. Please be safe navigating the street during the construction.

United Crescent Hill Ministries (UCHM), founded in 1974, is a partnership of churches, faith communities, businesses, and individuals serving our neighbors in Clifton, Clifton Heights, Butchertown, and Crescent Hill with programs to enrich their lives physically, mentally, spiritually and socially. UCHM provides emergency assistance programs, such as food and utility assistance, senior programs such as Meals on Wheels and recreation; and after school and summer youth programs.  Located at 150 S. State Street, Louisville KY 40206, UCHM owns its facility and has an annual budget of approximately $375,000. More information is available at www.uchmlouky.org.

Job Description: The Executive Director is responsible for the professional leadership and management of UCHM. The Executive Director, working in concert with the Board, volunteers, and staff, will move the organization forward in the development and implementation of programming and services that reflect UCHM’s vision, mission and business plan. The Executive Director provides overall leadership for strategy, organizational development, implementation, financial oversight, facility management, and fundraising. This is a full-time, forty hour per week salaried position with a competitive wage and benefit package (medical/dental, retirement, vacation/sick leave).

Qualifications:

• Management experience, preferably in a non-profit organization
• Experience in working with a non-profit Board of Directors or Advisory Board
• Strong interpersonal skills that include the ability to inspire and motivate staff and volunteers
• Ability to assess the needs of the community and develop creative ways to meet those needs
• Strong organizational and computer skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Success at fund development, including knowledge of foundation grants; ability to identify, steward and solicit individual donors
• Good financial management skills including budget development
• Multi-cultural sensitivity
• Experience in direct provision of human services is highly desirable
• Minimum B.A. or B.S. from an accredited university, advanced degree preferred.

To apply Email your resume, cover letter and references by April 14 to:

office@thirdlutheranchurch.org    or mail them to:

UCHM Executive Director Search
C/O Third Lutheran Church
1864 Frankfort Avenue
Louisville, KY 40206

Come share your child's art work on The Avenue during our 'Derby on The Avenue' Trolley Hop. Mellwood Art & Entertainment Center and the Frankfort Avenue Business Association is sponsoring a Children's Art Contest for the upcoming April Trolley Hop. There will be prize packages for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners and the 1st place winner will have their artwork on the 2016 April Trolley Hop poster. All entries will be showcased at Mellwood Art & Entertainment Center and winners will be announced at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 24th. The rules and eligibility are outlined below. Please make sure the art is delivered or mailed to our VP of Trolley, Megan Imel (100 Cannons Lane) by Monday, April 20th . Here's an attachment about the art contest to share with your family, friends and your child's teacher. We look forward to seeing your entry!

Rules & Eligibility
• Open to all children K-5
• All artwork must be original and created by the applicant
• Applicant CAN use FAT Friday Logo either printed or drawn/painted on work
• Accepted Mediums: Paint, Crayon, Pencil, Pastels, Markers, Ink
• All entries must feature theme: “Derby On The Avenue”
• All applicants must list on the back of work: First and Last Name, Age, School, Teacher, Grade

Applicants must have art mailed or delivered by April 20th, 2015:

Attn: Megan Imel, VP Trolley
Greg Haus, State Farm Agency
100 Cannons Lane
Louisville KY 40206
*Artwork will be mailed to child’s school after the event

Last weekend, we had the chance to paddle up Beargrass Creek and get a whole new view of District 9.  The photo is near where Frankfort Avenue crosses the creek.  The creek can be much more of an asset to Louisville and District 9 and getting people to be more aware of it is a starting point.  

“Beargrass: The Creek in Your Backyard” will be a documentary that examines Louisville's primary urban stream in all its majesty and misery. It will be a vital conversation starter, engaging residents and visitors in the future of the creek and the neighborhoods that comprise its watershed.

The producers are seeking stories (personal, historical, ecological or just inspirational) about Beargrass Creek.  If you have something that you would like to share that might be included in the documentary, please email beargrasscreek1@aol.com. 

Morgan Atkinson the writer/director of the documentary is the owner of Duckworks, Inc, a production company based in Louisville. A documentary filmmaker for over 30 years with 15 documentaries aired on KET and PBS, he grew up roaming the banks of Beargrass Creek. Over the years he has produced dozens of commissioned programs as well as his independent work. Much of the independent work has a Louisville focus. This includes the Tom Owen series of neighborhood walks. Among his recent work was “Wonder: The Lives of Anna and Harlan Hubbard” and "The Many Storeys and Last Days of Thomas Merton". 

The producers need your support and have started a Kickstarter campaign for funds, where you can contribute as much or as little as you want: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/884806024/beargrass-the-creek-in-your-backyard. Any questions or ideas, please contact David Wicks – dwicks1@gmail.com. 

Kentucky Shakespeare is proud to announce the second annual – Shakespeare in the Parks Tour.  The seven-actor, 90-minute Macbeth will tour to 18 area parks and bring free Shakespeare to various neighborhoods from March 28-May 17, 2015.  It is the kick-off to the summer Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in Central Park.

The production is directed by Wallace and features an ensemble cast of seven professional, Louisville-based actors.  Jonathan O’Brien plays the title role of Macbeth, with the following actors doubling parts within the production: Abigail Bailey Maupin, Jeremy Sapp, Renea Brown, Gregory Maupin, Jacob Endris and Zachary Burrell.  The production also features costumes by Donna Lawrence Downs; scenic design by Charles Nasby; Sound Engineering by Alex Cooper and Fight Choreography by Eric Frantz.

Synopsis of Macbeth:
Set in medieval Scotland and partly based on a true historical account, Macbeth charts the bloody rise to power and tragic downfall of the warrior Macbeth. Already a successful soldier in the army of King Duncan, Macbeth is informed by Three Witches that he is to become king. As part of the same prophecy, the Witches predict that future Scottish kings will be descended not from Macbeth but from his fellow army captain, Banquo. Although initially prepared to wait for Fate to take its course, Macbeth is stung by ambition and confusion when King Duncan nominates his son Malcolm as his heir.

Your tax dollars helped to pay for a performance in Story Avenue Park in D9. Dates, Places and Times of the productions are as follows:

• March 28, 2015– 6:00PM, Iroquois Park Amphitheater
• April 10, 2015 – 6:00PM, Emerson Park
• April 11, 2015 – 12:00PM, South Central Park
• April 11, 2015 – 6:00PM, Shawnee Park
• April 12, 2015 – 6:00PM, Riverside Gardens Park
• April 19, 2015 – 12:00PM, Riverview Park
• April 19, 2015 – 6:00PM, Petersburg Park
• April 25, 2015 – 6:00PM, Sun Valley Park
• April 26, 12:00PM, Victory Park
• April 26, 2015 – 6:00PM, Tyler Park
• May 3, 2015, 6:00PM, Hounz Lane Park
• May 8, 6:30PM, Veterans Memorial Park (Jeffersontown)
• May 9, 2015 – 6:00PM, Highview Park
• May 10, 2015 – 6:00PM, Story Avenue Park
• May 16, 2015 – 6:00PM, Robsion Park (Lyndon)
• May 17, 2015 – 6:00PM, Locust Grove