Summer 2012

Hi all, it’s been a while! Life DOES happen on Williams Avenue and for a little while we took a break from writing the blog. We’re up for a nice summer of activities around Williams Avenue.

Starting July 7th, every Saturday at 11:00 AM we will have “Story Time” up on the first block, until the end of August. This is mainly for elementary school age kids, but little ones are also welcome! We’ll read 2 stories every Saturday and come up with some fun activities for the kids. Think simple crafts from recycled materials, water balloons, etc. Stop by bringing your kids and/or to help!

We’ll soon go back to our Community Meetings schedule, every other month or so. And the block party is still alive – planning it for Columbus Day.

Reply to let me know if you’d like to help pass out fliers or in any other way.

Live well!

Summer 2011

Hi all,

after a snowy winter and flowery spring 😉 we’re back in the swing of things. We’ll have a cleanup at the Williams Ave playground on July 3rd, at 2:00-3:00 pm. This time we won’t paint equipment and remove TONS of trash, so it will be quicker.

Also, we’re looking forward to re-starting our community get-together around the first block, so we can reconnect and hopefully plan our block party for sometime in August.

 

A great weekend

The Community got together on Saturday once again to discuss “making life better in Lynn” and the playground rebuild process.

Thanks to all who came and enjoyed good conversation, good pizza and getting to know each other.

One of the great accomplishments of the meeting was the contagious enthusiasm that all expressed in making the next block party a bigger, more well-planned event to invite more participation. We set the date for Sunday, June 12, 2011. Save the date!!!

Also, we heard that snail mail might still be the thing for some residents who are yet to be engaged in our meetings. Good idea – we’ll work on getting those addresses and mailing out the invite.

Next meeting date: November 20 at noon.

Today, I met with the fence contractors at the playground at 7:30am. This will be great! The whole front will be replaced with 7 ft high fencing with a gate. The gate will simply have a latch on but won’t be locked. We’re making the pedestrian entry wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs. The curb might need to be cut off at some point but the gate itself will be up to current code.

We’re now waiting to hear the price and installation date.

Spread the word!

Progress continues

 

Hello, fellow Williams Ave dwellers!

I’m glad to report more progress on our requests to the City of Lynn.

a) the remnants of a water fountain have been removed from the Williams Ave playground. These pieces of concrete were a trip hazard for kids and adults alike, and were located right at the entrance of the grounds. Thank you DPW for listening to our requests and removing it.

 

b) Still working on the graffiti removal on the pavement at the intersection of Essex Ave and Williams Ave.

c) Movie night re-confirmed. Watch for the banner we’ll hang on the playground fence tonight! Sat, Oct 23, 6:30 pm – Toy Story.

d) I’m meeting with the fence contractor next Monday, Oct 25!

Come on and join the WAVE at the next community meeting, Oct 23 at noon.

See you around!

Movie, meetings, fence and graffiti

Quick news:

1. Movie night is confirmed! Toy Story will be playing on Williams Ave Playground, Saturday, Oct 23 at 6:30pm. Bring a blanket and a smile. (Please notice time change – we’ll start a bit earlier than originally planned).

2. Next community meeting: Saturday, Oct 23 at noon, 172.

3. Playground fence: I’m meeting with the contractor to go over plans and discuss the order and installation.

4. Graffiti: DPW notified to come and clean up swear words from pavement. Will happen soon.

See you around!

Block party afterthoughts

The Block Party was so much fun yesterday! Thank you to everyone who showed up and shared food, stories, concerns and dreams. The day-after is when I look back and reflect on what happened… Here’s what I got so far:

1. Gathering around food is always a hit! Grilled burger and franks, baked pasta, cupcakes, chips, hot cider, Dominican soda (gotta love it) all invite us to share a smile and praise the cook!

2. It was such a great start to what I hope becomes a traditional yearly celebration. A few neighbors are really committing to participate in the planning of future events and with more hands working the load is lighter. I’m very excited about this – it seems as though more neighbors are joining the wagon that will lead us to a safer and happier place to live.

3. I’m even more convicted of the need to find the best way to communicate with everyone. We’re trying everything we know to try: face-to-face meetings, paper fliers distributed door-to-door (then the wind blows them away), a banner hanging from a fence, emailing, calling, FaceBooking and blogging. We’ve connected with other bloggers and Facebookers and STILL there are many who don’t know anything about the WAVE (Williams Avenue Community Meetings). With more people involved I am very hopeful that we will bridge the gap and get as many people informed as possible.

4. I was excited to see some non-Williams Ave/Place residents stop by and chat with us. Essex Ave, Essex Street, Dana Street, Fayette Street and other areas of Lynn all have been represented to show support and get into the action, as well as a few Lynn-lovers from other cities and towns. Thanks!

5. The after-party Daffodil bulb planting at Williams Ave playground was a relaxing time. Folks raked and bagged dead leaves, collected a bit of trash, dug and planted the bulbs and just hang out for a while. Looking forward to spring flowers! Thanks ELCA for bringing the bulbs and coordinating the effort.

6. Surprise attendees:

— The Lynn Daily Item – click here for article  and here for pictures.

— The Lynn Police cruiser – thanks guys for driving by! It’s reassuring to see you around and have you asking questions about the party! Come back daily! 😉 Please!

7. Meeting our neighbors is invigorating, delightful and very relaxing. Like people say after a good meeting: “this was good, we should do it more often!”

So let’s do it more often! Saturday, October 23 is the next community meeting, at noon. Please come to share a meal and share our lives as we build this community.

Loving it!

Making Progress in Baby steps…

The September 18th meeting was a success. Perfect weather, great fun getting to know the neighbors, sharing a meal and a bit of time to vent!

Apparently not everyone received the invitation we passed out during the week… maybe the wind? Maybe someone removing them from door handles? We made every effort to reach all. We’re figuring out how to best communicate these meeting dates and this blog is one more way we’re trying to reach every neighbor! Next, I’m planning to make up a sign and hang it on the fence in front of the playground. We also had new neighbors volunteering to join the effort of passing out those flyers. It’s time consuming, but it’s great when people show up. So, let’s be patient with the process of organizing our community and help spread the word.

The majority of the people that are coming to our community meetings so far, seem to be those who have lived here the longest. That’s great for it is so interesting to hear history by those who lived it. However, fewer newcomers like me (here since 2005) have joined us. Our goal is to have a good representation of “seniority” on the street, culture, language and age group. The more diversity, the richer the conversation.

During our discussion we made some decisions:

a. the playground’s fence height will be between 6 and 7 feet, to provide safety for the kids but not have it feel like a cage. The City is paying for this improvement.

b. next meeting date: Saturday, October 23 at noon. Save the date!! Location to be determined.

c. movie night at the playground: also Saturday, October 23. Time: 7:00 PM. Title: Toy Story

d. block party: Columbus Day, October 11 – first block of Williams Ave (between Fayette and Chatham). We’re closing this section only, but all residents of the avenue and neighboring streets are welcome. It will be pot luck style. Bring your favorite dish to share. Bring your own beverage (no alcohol, please). This is the first in what, 40 years? We’re so excited! We chose the simplest way to do it just to get started. As we get more organized, we can reinvent the way we do this.

We also came up with a list of to-dos which I’m sending to the Community Development Office of the City of Lynn. They have been listening to us, and we are grateful for that. We want to do our best to continue with good communication as we work together with the City.

Lastly, we discussed a bit about fund raising ideas to finance the playground equipment. We also talked about involving the kids in the dreaming phase of the playground renovation project, so that they can draw their own renditions of what an awesome playground would look like.

Thank you all for coming over and let’s keep the comments coming. Also, if you happen to be at the playground and see some trash on the ground, would you pick it up? I did, and it helps keep it clean.

If you’d like to connect with the residents by email and be notified of announcements, feel free to add it  a comment.

Sept 18 – Community Meeting

We’re inviting the whole Williams Ave community to a meeting in my house’s backyard. We’ll grill some goodies (meat and veggies) and chat over the meal.

If you live around here, you should have received a pink flier with the invitation. Come along at noon. We’ll discuss the playground rebuilding process, movie night and block parties, plus any other items the community brings up.

Hope to see you there.

Using the Playground now

Plans for a family movie night at Williams Avenue playground are under way. Everyone in the Community meeting (July 17) got really excited about having movie night here to meet others and have a fun night. Let’s just set a date and do it.

Do you have a favorite title, kiddie-type / family movie?

ALSO, what do you think about having a Community Garden built right on top of the concrete slab (aka old basketball court) for next spring/summer?

Here we go!

Welcome to Life on Williams Avenue, a blog to inform, coordinate, brainstorm and register whatever is going on at Williams Ave, Lynn-MA.

I’ve lived on this street since summer/2005 and have met many wonderful people from many age groups, countries of origin, languages, looks, interests, backgrounds and histories.

Not all is bright and beautiful on Williams Ave… at least not yet. With due respect to current reality and our dream of what this could (and will) become, I plan to register all sorts of happenings in this blog – the positive and the negative.

Of course, these are my observations, from my perspective and the posts will reflect my points of view.

If you’re a Williams Ave (or surrounding area) resident, feel free to contact me and send your own news.

Towards a community where peace abounds!