The Colonial Hills Civic Association

The Colonial Hills – Advocate Together (CHAT) community-centered organization is now up and running, to empower residents to act on issues that are important to the community. We want to start our work with your input!

Please click on this link to access our brief initial Colonial Hills – Advocate Together survey. We will compile your answers into a residents spreadsheet. And for any resident who is not able to answer online, we plan to go door to door in about a week to try to contact you personally with the same survey questionnaire.

And if you are a Colonial Hills resident, you are also invited to join our organization’s newly-formed CHAT Facebook group to which we will be posting about issues in the future, and where you can further make your voice and opinion heard.

Thank you! It’s your community to protect.

The initial, organizational meeting for the Colonial Hills Community-Centered Development Advocacy organization was held September 4 at La Chatelaine. At this meeting, the group began planning the content of a neighborhood survey, and how it would be conducted: links to a Google Doc via Facebook, Twitter and this website, followed up by canvassing the neighborhood for residents who did not reply online. The following officers were elected:

• Leslie Caruso, Co-chair
• Gail Geree, Secretary
• Dan Bunn, Researcher
• Will Pearce, Canvassing/Communications Coordinator
• Ron Sears, Historian

The second meeting for the organization will be held next week to:

• Finalize the content of the initial Colonial Hills neighborhood survey
• Elect the other co-chair
• Decide on the name for the organization

Please look for the survey in the near future. Colonial Hills is your community to protect.

This blog post could be classified in the “better late than never” and “for the record” categories. It recently came to our attention that we never published on the website the 53-page report from the OSU Winter Quarter 2012 City and Regional Planning CRP 510 course study, considering whether Colonial Hills could be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. So, here’s the report.

Some of you will remember reading multiple articles in the 2012 and 2013 Couriers which described the results of the study and the subsequent initiation of a CHCA project to pursue this designation. In particular, the article on page 7 of the March/April, 2012, Courier (which referred to a concurrent linking blog post that was inadvertently omitted from the website), reported the conclusion:

Colonial Hills appears to qualify for historic district status under the NRHP’s Criteria A and C, and it possesses the level of integrity required for National Register listing. Under 2 criteria, only 1 of which is required to be listed as an historic district.
Criterion A: “associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.”
Criterion C: “embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction.”

And the August/September, 2013 Courier reported on page 4 that the CHCA initiated this National Register of Historic Places designation project. Unfortunately, sufficient and sustained CH volunteer support did not materialize in the 2013-2014 timeframe to complete the project.

Disclaimer: The CHCA is not responsible if you turn off your phone and go down the rabbit hole of reading the entirety of this report regarding urban and architectural planning, and history involving Worthington and Colonial Hills. And after you emerge, if you wish to volunteer to resurrect the Historic Designation project, please attend a CHCA meeting in person to discuss your particular area of expertise and interests. Thank you!

Two public meetings, to which all Colonial Hills residents are invited, will be held on the following back-to-back evenings the first week of September:

1) The Worthington Board of Education (BOE) Property Acquisition Public Meeting, Tuesday, September 3, 2019, 7:00-8:00 PM, Worthington Education Center, 200 E. Wilson Bridge Rd.

This meeting will provide information regarding the 13.7 acre southeast part of the Boundless property at the end of Indianola, that could be used for a new Colonial Hills Elementary School.

Officials will update the public on how the opportunity has presented itself, and what it could mean for the district. Background information is provided in each of these four blogs by Superintendent Trent Bowers on the Worthington School District web site:

• Opportunity Knocks Part One – Current-Situation
• Opportunity Knocks Part Two – How’d we get to this point?
• Opportunity Knocks Part Three – The challenge with the current site
• Harding Property – Opportunity Knocks

The public will be able to provide feedback on the proposal.

2) The follow-up meeting to the August 8 meeting in the shelter house (see previous blog post), will be held to organize the new Colonial Hills Community Centered Development organization, Wednesday, September 4, 2019, 6:00-9:00 PM, La Chatelaine, 627 High St, in the reserved meeting room. You may wish to come early, say 5:30 to 5:45, to purchase dinner or a snack to eat at the meeting.

Resident Ron Sears will lead the first part of the meeting, in which the group will review past issues with the Harding Hospital (now Boundless) property, practice creating high-consensus community position statements for neighborhood needs, and discuss how to communicate these community statements to others involved in development, including governmental stakeholders.

During the second part of the meeting, officers for the new organization will be elected by those in attendance, so that the new organization can carry forward its advocacy for these community statement needs for Colonial Hills residents.

We have “developed” our photos from the 4th of July for publication in the next Courier, and we wanted to give you a preview below, while everyone’s summertime memories were still fresh from our wonderful Colonial Hills celebration at Selby Park! Please click on the “Continue reading” link at the bottom of this web page, following the list of the Kiddie Parade Winners, to view all these great photos.

And speaking of the Kiddie Parade, our 2019 parade was an amazing event with a great turnout – thank you to everyone who participated! There were many patriotic and colorful displays showing love and pride for our country. And a big thank-you to our volunteer judges: Robin Ogle Co-Chair, Kathy Moore, Marissa Mittelman, Joan Nienkirchen and Erin Glowacki.

Here are the Kiddie Parade Winners in the various categories:

Bicycles
3rd Place- Thomas Beck (5yrs)
2nd Place- TIE Ellie Phillips (7yrs) and Maddie Bartalon (6yrs)
1st Place- Eli Mertz (8yrs)

Tricycles
3rd Place- TIE Ben Shackelford (2yrs) and Bear Hall (4yrs)
2nd Place- Ezra Puskar (2yrs)
1st Place- Ivan Acox (6yrs)

Wagons and Floats
3rd Place- TIE Claire, Kate and Elizabeth (Wagon Train) (3yrs) and Logan Nittle (4yrs)
2nd Place- Henson (5yrs) and Mercy (2yrs) Brannan-Smith
1st Place- Archie Stephens (3yrs)

Strollers
3rd Place- Lucas Lorenz (1yr)
2nd Place- Becca Miller (1yr)
1st Place- Evelyn Millers (2yrs)

Scooters
3rd Place- TIE Bodhi Rush and Elton Klopfer
2nd Place- TIE Isla Keeney and Mae Smith
1st Place- Hudson Sevin

Dogs
2nd Place- Frankie Jones
1st Place- Dawn and Nora with dog Winnie

Walkers
2nd Place- Madelyn Paplaczyk
1st Place- Frieda Welper

(And now for the photos – please click the “Continue reading” link below to see these pics which have the following descriptions)

_01 Parade Start #1, Photographer Credit: Mr. Sterling, Loveman Ave.
_02 Parade Start #2, Credit: Chris Rule
_03 On the Midway around the Dunk Tank, CR: Chris Rule
_04 Dunk Tank Berridge, CR: Mr. Sterling
_05 Bubble Whack from Ron Sears, CR: Mr. Sterling
_06 Slip and Slide, CR: Chris Rule
_07 Watermelon Eating, Ready, Set … CR: Chris Rule
_08 Watermelon Eating, Go! And the Winner is … CR: Mr. Sterling
_09 Tricycle and Wagon, Michael and Emma (our current CHCA Pres), 1989, Meadoway, CR: Cindy McCandlish

Continue reading ‘Photos from the 4th of July and Winners of the Kiddie Parade’ »

A Community-Centered Development meeting, to which all Colonial Hills residents are invited, will be held at the Selby Park Shelter House on Thursday, August 8, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. A PDF flyer for the meeting is here.

Topics to be discussed will include the following:

• Development preferences for the Boundless / FMR property
• Stabilizing Colonial Hills against any added traffic or inappropriate adjoining commercial development
• Project Community Park Worthington (PCPW)

The meeting will be hosted by resident Ron Sears, Park Overlook Drive. David Robinson (Council Member) and the PCPW co-chairs will first speak on their group’s plans for Project Community Park Worthington. Ron will then lead a discussion of the history and possible future development of the Boundless / FMR property. Audience discussion will be a key part of both parts of the meeting. Ron’s suggested theme is proactive engagement as opposed to reactive disagreements.

Refreshments will be provided. Remember, no AC! Dress cool.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the 40th Annual Run Through The Hills this year – results are in! Click on the links below to view:

• Overall Finish List Results
• Results by Age Group
• or, select the Race web site Results tab for searchable and age-group results

Big thanks to Courtney Jolley and Jeff Spain for organizing the race (again!) this year.

And huge thank you’s to Event Chair AJ Perry, VP/Events Alan Miroslaw, and former VP/Events Jenny Kendall for coordinating everything for the Independence Day celebration later that day, to Mary Ann Ogle for conducting the Kiddie Parade, and to Matt Steidle for providing our live music, and especially to all the volunteers who helped set up and staff all our activities!

Besides the winners in the Kiddie Parade (which will be published later), the Colonial Hills bragging rights go to the following winners for these new events:

• Rosanne Nagel, Best Pie in the Pie Baking Competition
• Noah Graff, Under-18 Watermelon Eating, 11:45am
• Chris Rule, 18 and Older, Watermelon Eating
• Sofia Ziss, Under-18 Watermelon Eating, 12:45am

Enjoy the rest of your summer, and maybe think about helping out with the CHCA events coming this fall: Halloween Party (Oct 27), Food Drive (Nov 16), and Luminary Kit Preparation (Dec 7).

We’re looking forward to a wonderful Colonial Hills 4th of July Extravaganza, with many new events scheduled for 2019! And we’re requesting that you sign up to volunteer (please see paragraph below). The schedule of events is as follows:

• 7:30am – 8:00am: pickup race packets (bibs, shirts). Pre-register now!
• 8:30am Sharp! start of the 40th annual “Run Through the Hills”
• 10:00am Kiddie parade: Independence Day theme decorated bikes, trikes, scooters, floats, people, dogs, etc. are welcome to circle around the park to music and a friendly costume judging competition
• 10:30am: Midway games – face painters – bounce house – inflatable slip and slide – dunk tank – crafts – food trucks (Kona Ice, sponsored by the CyMack group, and Kenny’s Meat Wagon – live music and more (see below)
  and did you notice dunk tank, slip and slide, and crafts? Remember to bring swimwear and towels for the slip and slide and the dunk tank – we already have celebrity dunkees, but we won’t refuse a few intrepid adult residents their chance for dunk tank glory!
• 8:30am – 10:30am: Register your pie at the shelter house for the pie judging competition
• 11:00am: Pie judging competition, judging begins at 11:00am – Local and neighborhood chefs will judge which resident baked the best pie, and you need not be onsite to win the engraved rolling pin awarded for “best pie” in Colonial Hills! Sponsored by Sassafras Bakery.
• 11:45am: Watermelon eating competition (under 18),
  12:15pm: Watermelon eating competition (18 and older),
  12:45pm: Watermelon eating competition (repeat performance for under 18) – Prizes, plus Colonial Hills bragging rights, for the winners of this friendly competition starting at the times listed above.
• 1:00 pm: end of activities

All these wonderful events will require wonderful volunteers, and we need you! And you! And you! to sign up to help. Please go to our “SignUpGenius” page to volunteer for a shift (or two). Several positions are also available for children 12 years or older. Thanks!

Please note: for 2019, individual tickets will not be sold. Children over age three (and adults) will require a $5 wristband for accessing the midway games, face painting, bounce house, slip and slide, and throwing at the doomed dunk tank dunkees.
Children three and under are free, and no wristband will be required all ages to participate in the arts and crafts, and for entry into both the pie judging competition and the watermelon eating competition.

We hope to see you on the 4th!

Summer is just around the corner, and it’s time to register and start training for the 40th Annual Run Through the Hills 5K! The 5K run will start promptly at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 4, 2019, starting and finishing at Selby Park in Colonial Hills.

Race registration is now OPEN! There are four ways to register for the race:

• Online at https://runsignup.com/Race/OH/Worthington/RunthroughtheHills
  Please register now before you forget. Online registration closes on July 3 at 5:00 PM.
• Download the mail-in form, and mail it in, to the Colonial Hills Civic Association, c/o “Run Through the Hills,” P.O. Box 676, Worthington, address shown on the form. Please ensure that you mail in your form in time for it to be received in our P.O. Box by Monday, July 1. Please fill out a separate form for each runner in your household, so that we can correctly designate each runner as to name, age, and gender.
• Pre-register in person the day before the race, Wednesday, July 3, at the Selby Park shelter house, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm
• Register the day of the race from 7:30am to 8:00am
  (Please note that you will be paying the full, “day-of” fees.)

The registration entry fees are as follows:

• $20.00 – register before 5:00 PM, July 3 ($2.50 online service fee)
• $30.00 – day of race registration

Registration includes race shirt (for 1st 150 registrants), race bib with embedded chip for timing, awards, refreshments, and a great time running through our tree-lined “hills and dales” streets of our Colonial Hills neighborhood (race map here).

Pick up your racing packet Wednesday, July 3, at the Selby Park shelter house, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm or between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. race morning.

Following the 5k run, the Colonial Hills Independence Day Extravaganza will continue, with the kiddie parade around the park, bounce houses, games, food and some new activities 10am-1pm. Please see your May 2019 Courier for details.

We hope to see everyone on the 4th!

Upcoming meetings have been scheduled (see below), regarding Worthington City Council considering a recommendation to join the Northwest Regional Emergency Communications Center for the City’s emergency 911 dispatching services.

The Northwest Center is operated by the City of Dublin, and serves Dublin, Upper Arlington, Hilliard, Washington Township and Norwich Township. This recommendation comes after years of study and extensive analysis conducted by a team of City staff, including Police Chief Jerry Strait, Fire Chief John Bailot, Assistant Fire Chief Mark Zambito, Assistant City Manager Robyn Stewart, Finance Director Scott Bartter, and Personnel Director Lori Trego, who are jointly making the recommendation.

As part of the process, the study committee is holding several public events to share information about the recommendation and to answer questions from the community. There will be four opportunities for the public to connect:

Monday, April 29 at 7:30am
Worthington Fire Department (6500 N. High St)
Coffee with the Chiefs

Wednesday, May 1 at 7:00pm
Griswold Center (777 High Street)
Public Forum

Monday, May 6 at 5:30pm
Linworth Alternative School (2075 W. Dublin Granville Rd)
Public Forum

Wednesday, May 8 at Noon
Old Worthington Library (820 High Street)
Coffee with the Chiefs

If you’d like to learn more about this recommendation, or are unable to attend one of the public meetings, you can find more information at the City of Worthington web page worthington.org/911. The site includes extensive information about the recommended partnership with the Northwest Center and details about these major benefits:

• Reducing the time it takes for emergency help to arrive for people who call 911 from their cell phones.
• Communication technicians will have enhanced medical training and will stay on the line with the caller while a separate technician dispatches emergency help.
• Provides resources for Worthington to stay current with advances in 911 technology and operations.
• Worthington firefighters, medics and police will still respond to your calls for help.
• A greater capacity to manage large-scale emergency events.
• More exposure and training for low frequency, but high risk events, such as large structure fires.
• The Northwest Center is a highly trained, certified, professional center that provides a high level of service and support for callers as well as public safety personnel.

The City hopes to see you at one of the public meetings!