FOREST PARK CIVIC ASSOCIATION MEETING

Date: 13 May 2025

Location: Epworth United Methodist Church

Meeting called to order @ 7:05 PM by Ed Vanasdale 

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Attendance was taken via roll call.

OFFICER REPORTS

President Ed Vanasdale – ed1vanasdale@gmail.com   No Report

Guest Speaker: Brandon Thomas – Karl Rd. Library Branch Manager

1. Brandon lives in the Northland Area and is back working at the Karl Rd. branch.
2. May 31st – Beginning of Summer Reading Challenge, but the BIG KICK OFF is June 2nd from 11am-1 pm, there will be a bouncy house and other fun stuff.
3. Reading Buddies is coming back this summer.
4. Summer Programs: (pick up a calendar at the library)
   1. JUNE: Balloon Art with Picasso (the Turtle), Baby and Me Yoga (BYOB-bring our own baby–babies not provided!), Baby Splash Time outside, and more.
   2. JULY: Foxes and Folklore (real foxes), Steel Drum Band from Trinidad (2-3 pm), DJ workshop, Young Scientist – Owls and Owl Pellets, and more
5. Free Breakfast and Lunches for youth this summer @ the branch.
6. In July – at the Main Library branch – Columbus Book Festival: Saturday July 12, 2025, 10 am-6 pm; Sunday, July 13, 2025, 10 am-5 pm

NEXT MONTH’S SPEAKER: The City of Columbus Forester, Rosalie Hendon. She’ll be happy to address any issues of concern about tree maintenance, planting, and updates on the urban forest master plan. Thank you Michael Cote for arranging this.

Vice President  Mark Bell – MarkBellncc@insight.rr.com

AUGUST MEETING and NCC PICNIC INFO: Instead of our usual meeting in August, we will be attending the annual NCC Picnic on August 12th at Blendon Woods Park, Dogwood Area. NCC has the pavilion for the entire day, so feel free to come out early and enjoy all that the park has to offer. Dinner will be served at 6:30 pm. NCC will provide hamburgers, hot dogs and brats, please bring a dish to share. At 7pm, they will have a very brief meeting. We encourage anyone from the Forest Park community to join us for a day of fun and camaraderie.

Secretary Lou Bernard – secretary@fpcivic.org

1. Attendance:

• Officers/Committee Chairs Present: EV, MB, LB, CL, MSg, RW, DVM, SL, LH, EM, MSt, KG, QM, DP, SB, AH
• Officers/Committee Chairs Absent: KVM, TS
• Area Reps in Attendance: 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13
• Area Reps Absent: 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10, 14
• Total meeting attendance: 30

1. Reviewed minutes from April, no changes or corrections needed, minutes have been approved and were entered into the official records.
2. Attendance Sheet thru April: Online

Treasurer Cheryl Lutman – cllutman17@gmail.com

1. 166 household memberships so far, with a big stack still to go. If your check hasn’t cleared yet, please stand by as Cheryl is still processing checks and more memberships are coming in through PayPal. One renewed business membership.
2. Our mulch sale so far has garnered $2,385, with the check payments still to process, so we don’t have a grand total yet.
3. Thanks to Mike S. for getting the annual mailing to the post office when he did, we didn’t have to renew our permit – instead we got two years for the price of one! The postage was $2,012. Finally, food for the stuffing party was $154.11. Thanks, Ed for arranging that.
4. Our other expense was $1,000 for our security patrols.
5. Acceptance of the treasurer’s report has been tabled until more information has been received about membership numbers.

Public Relations Mary Sguerra –  marysguerra@howardhanna.com

1. Saturday is the FPCA Spring Community Garage Sale. From 9:00 – 10:30 a.m., someone will be passing out a list of households at the Karl Rd. entrances.
2. June 7th – Forest Park at Gabby’s – Join the FPCA and neighbors (6:00-9:00 p.m.) from across Forest Park for community fun at Gabby’s. No registration necessary. Just show up and enjoy! Bring a side dish/dessert. Main course provided. Live music!

Forester Editor Rita Woeste – forester_ed@fpcivic.org 

1. We have a delivery person moving and will finish their route in June and need a new delivery person for FP East, all of the Arrowwood Loops, E/W/N, and the Court.  Total of 51 homes. Thanks Manny for all of your help over the years of delivering the Forester. 
2. Rita wants to do a raffle for members who read the printed Forester. Just click the QR code inside the next Forester to enter – $50 was approved for gift cards! 
3. Deadline for the JULY issue is June 16th. We want to have the July Forester out to delivery folks by Monday June 30th so there may be one more reminder of the July 4th Parade, Bikes & Trikes, etc. 

Supplemental Security Daryl Van Mercetta – dvanmercetta@gmail.com, Katie Van Mercetta – kvanmercetta@gmail.com, Dan Yandrich (CPD Liaison Officer) – dyandrich@columbuspolice.org 614.645.1418

Citizen’s Police Academy applications are being accepted; search for “CPD Citizen’s Police Academy” for the online application. See report in the Forester.

Business Representative Sheridan Landon – slandon52@gmail.com  

Sheridan has been calling and visiting past business members and trying to get them to renew their memberships.

Civic Action Officer  Vacant

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Welcome Committee Chair Laura Hayes – hayeslaura2@gmail.com

Laura would like to step down as Welcome Chair; she plans to spend her energy with the Grant Writing Team. She will be working with Erin to fill the position.

Volunteer Coordinator Erin Materu – mmateru@hotmail.com

1. Thank you to all who volunteered in the rain to distribute mulch and those who purchased it. It was very well organized and Scott did an amazing job! 
2. We are reviving an old program in Forest Park called “Teen Helpers Work List”. This list will be featured in the next Forester and will have names of kids who can cut grass, pull weeds, dog walking, babysitting, snow shoveling, ect. A resident named Derek Billingsley has volunteered to be the point of contact to add kids to the list. Erin will work with Derek to get this up and running.
3. We have selected a date for the New American grant party on 6/28 at the Woodward rec center.

Membership Coordinator  Mike Stone – msto0103@yahoo.com

1. Mike gave the Board the volunteer attendance list from the Envelope Stuffing event. Thanks Dave for creating it!!
2. Area Reps and other board members – We should have some data to work with regarding membership.  Over the next two weeks (hopefully much sooner) Mike will put out some breakdowns to show nearby neighbors that you can see about membership.  
3. Mike will begin sending out electronic updates regarding our progress to the community. We will do a “membership countdown” to keep the topic clear and present throughout the summer.

Social Activities Tiffany Smith – tsmith1599@yahoo.com  Absent   No Report

NCC Representatives Ken Gilbert – kgilbert78@att.net, Mark Bell – MarkBellncc@insight.rr.com

See full report in the Forester.

NCC Development Representative Ed Vanasdale – ed1vanasdale@gmail.com

See report online.

Grant Writing Committee Chair  Quentin Monden – q.monden@gmail.com  

1. They have had 2 meetings – April 17th and May 2nd. Quentin met with Lindora, Community Relations Coordinator, regarding the Civic Integration Seed Grant for the New American Program. They discussed our progress and plans for a kick-off event for the end of June.
2. They will apply for the National Night Out Grant (Aug. 5th), and Quentin attended the informational webinar.
3. They were awarded $3425 from the Parks and Recs Dept. for the neighborhood tree grant. Laura will be talking with people who have signed up for trees about the process. Trees will be planted by FPCA volunteers in September.

Website Administrators Scott Biggs sbiggsmail@yahoo.com (Website/Facebook)   Dave Paul dwpaul@fpcivic.org (Website) Ashley Howard ahoward@ashleynicolecounseling.com (Instagram/Facebook)  

Our website/Facebook page is always – always being updated with new and upcoming info! Please check it out!! Please subscribe/follow us.

OLD BUSINESS

None

NEW BUSINESS/ANNOUNCEMENTS/IDEAS

1. Thank you to our small but dedicated group of 2025 Mulch Day delivery volunteers. Thirteen people showed up on a rainy Saturday morning on May 3 to deliver 1,260 bags of mulch (over 25,000 pounds) to our neighbors across Forest Park East and West. 

      Volunteers included FPCA officers Erin Materu, Rita Woeste, Daryl Van Mercetta, and Mary           Sguerra. Also generously dedicating their muscles, time, and vehicles were Max Materu, Kofi       Oduro, Paulissen Owrsu-Ansah, Ed Uppenkamp, Chris Toth, Justin Moegling, James Adkins,           and Michael Wagner.

    Extra special gratitude to Mary Sguerra, who personally purchased and donated 150 bags of        mulch for the large landscaped east and west welcome islands at Karl Rd. and Sandalwood          Blvd. Mike and Diane Wagner purchased and donated five bags of mulch to the island                  landscaping. Justin Moegling of Moegling Home Improvement again this year dedicated his          van, large trailer and his muscles to serve our neighborhood. Thank you to Sequoia Pro Bowl      for allowing us to use its parking lot for our mulch storage and distribution.

    Thank you to the many households that supported the Forest Park Civic Association by                ordering bags of mulch in the 2025 Mulch Sale. ~Scott Biggs, FPCA Mulchmaster, Area 5                Representative

2. Ambrosia, from Woodward Park Rec Center, will set up a tent on Karl Rd on the 4th of July parade route.  Kids are to be encouraged to participate in the Forest Park Bikes & Trikes competition. As an incentive, up to five bikes will be awarded (donated by WWP) to kids of different age groups judged to have the best bedazzled bikes in the parade! ~Michael Cote
3. Columbus Recreation and Parks will NOT be hosting a Columbus Symphony Concert at Woodward Park or any other Community Center this year, only downtown at Bicentennial Park. ~Michael Cote
4. Woodward Park Community Center is looking forward to hosting the Forest Park Multicultural Community Festival on June 28, 2025. Preliminary plans are in the works to invite dancers from the African and Nepali communities. Additional input is welcome. ~Michael Cote

Submitted by FPCA Mulchmaster Scott Biggs, Area 5 Representative.

Meeting adjourned at 8:03 PM

Meeting minutes submitted by Lou Bernard, Secretary, FPCA