The Colonial Hills Civic Association

Neighbors, you are the BEST! Our judges had a challenge with selecting the winners for the Halloween decorating contest. There were several split decisions but difficult choices had to be made.

Drumroll, please …

Friendliest: “2020?! Good Grief!” photo booth at 400 Park Blvd.

Most Creative: “There’s no place like home… during a pandemic” at 417 Kenbrook Dr.

Best Effects: “Skeleton party in the yard” at 350 Kenbrook Dr.

Spookiest: “Witches Brew CoronaVirus Vaccine” at 244 Colonial Ave.

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

_Winners, Photo Montage #1
_More Pics #1, Montage #2
_More Pics #2, Montage #3
_More Pics #3, Montage #4

Continue reading ‘2020 Halloween House Decorating Contest and Photos’ »

Here are the details for our events:

Halloween House Decorating Contest – Tuesday, October 20, 7:00 PM

• Our 3rd Annual Halloween Decoration Contest will be judged at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, 10/20.
• The categories are: Spookiest, Friendliest, Most Creative, and Best Effects.
• To help scare up your creative spirit, you might refer to some of the frightful winning designs from the 2019 contest (spiders, coffins, and bats, oh my!):
  2019 Halloween Decorating Contest Blogpost

Socially-Distanced Halloween Party at Selby Park – Sunday, October 25

• When: Sunday, 10/25:
  Last names beginning with A-L – 3:00-4:00 PM
  Last names beginning with M-Z – 4:00-5:00 PM
• Where: Selby Park Shelter House
• What: You are welcome to wear costumes!
  Join us at the park during your designated timeframe to choose a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, get your yearly family photo at the CyMack photo booth, and get a goody bag with treats and a craft to take home.
• We will not be gathering; it will be more of a grab-and-go event.

Thank you to CyMack, Keller Williams Capital Partners for their continued sponsorship of this event!

Beginning Monday, August 31, residents will see new temporary traffic control measures on Foster Avenue near Kenbrook Drive in the Colonial Hills neighborhood, per details including photos, given in the Colonial Hills Traffic Calming Study PDF.

These temporary traffic control measures are part of the study of traffic calming options that the Worthington Service & Engineering Department has been conducting in response to Colonial Hills residents requesting traffic calming solutions in this area. The effects on vehicle speed and counts of various study options have included temporary stop signs installed at Loveman and Foster. The current study option is the chicanes (cone-shaped obstacles), which were recommended by the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board.

These temporary chicanes will be in place until September 14, and while they may not end up being permanently placed at this location (to be determined), this study will help the City determine the effectiveness of various chicane designs at similar locations throughout Worthington (see photos in the Colonial Hills Traffic Calming Study PDF).

For more information, please contact the Worthington Service & Engineering Department at 614‐431‐2425.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the 41st Annual Run Through the Hills this year.

Not everyone wanted their time posted but it’s not about winning this year, just doing your best! Nevertheless, we did want to recognize the top overall female and male finishers (remember those bragging rights!):

• Female: Teresa Moore – Time: 25:31
• Male: Jamie Stillman – Time: 20:29

And here are the rest of the times of the first ever (& hopefully only) Virtual 5k, in an alphabetical list of everyone who sent in their times and wanted their times published:

• Overall Alphabetical List Results

Thank you to Courtney Jolley and Jeff Spain for initiating and organizing a Virtual 5k race this year. And Courtney, so much thanks for documenting the results, and for getting our t-shirts to us, the design for which we all thought was truly awesome!

The CHCA had originally planned a neighborhood “packing” event with the Family Mentor Foundation (FMF) to pack Buddy Boxes to help hungry kids in our community! (Buddy Boxes are weekend food boxes provided to kids in Franklin County who lack food over the weekends both during the school year and summer.) Unfortunately, we cannot go as a big group but they still need our help.

Gather your family or small group (no larger than 6) and sign up here for a time to volunteer:
SignUpGenius: CHCA FMF Volunteers Buddy Box Packing
Location: 460 Schrock Road, Suite E

The Family Mentor Foundation is always looking for volunteers to help pack Buddy Boxes! Please visit their website to learn more about this wonderful organization and to sign up to help throughout the year:
Family Mentor Foundation

Here are the answers for the Scavenger Hunt. We hope you enjoyed our Virtual 4th of July! 🙂

The list of items for the scavenger hunt is here in Word format or here in PDF format.

You can print out this list, or bring it up on your phone, as you are walking around the neighborhood, and fill out the street address for each of the items on the list. The answers will be published here on July 5.

This list contains a thumbnail-size photo for each item on the list – also, you can bring up the 10 large-size photos for these items, in the same order as the list, by clicking the “Continue reading” link below.

And as you are walking around the neighborhood, stop by the corner of Indianola Ave and Park Blvd for a goody bag and bike safety gear. One per child please. While supplies last!

(To view the pics, with photo credits to the Secret Judges – please click the “Continue reading” link below)

_01 windsocks in the tree and/or field of pinwheels
_02 vertical flags on every window
_03 flag-lined driveway
_04 a little bit of everything!
_05 groovy tie dye
_06 America sign
_07 driveway chalk art
_08 bunting and flags
_09 spray-painted yard / balloon arch
_10 Uncle Sam blow-up

Continue reading ‘July 4th Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt’ »

The judges have spoken! Here are the 5 favorite houses:

• 5616 Indianola Ave.
• 5671 Indianola Ave.
• 409 Park Blvd.
• 5568 Morning St.
• 73 E. Riverglen Dr.

Thank you to everyone who got on board with this new contest. Don’t forget that a neighborhood scavenger hunt will be released here tomorrow morning (the 4th). The hunt will take you to see the winning houses and others!

(And here are the pics, in the same order as the above list, with photo credits to the Secret Judges – please click the “Continue reading” link below to see these photos)

Continue reading ‘4th of July House Decorating Contest and Photos’ »

We will be celebrating Independence Day this year as a community, in ways that we are together, but separate! Here are the details for our events:

Virtual 5k

Please see the Virtual 5k Run thru the Hills 2020 blogpost below for details, including completing your virtual activity between July 4 thru July 18 and sending in your times.
And don’t forget to register now, before registration closes!

• Online
• Download the mail-in form and mail it in.

July 4th House Decorating Contest

• Get out your flags, banners and lights and decorate your house in the red, white and blue!
• Judges will be driving around the neighborhood the evening of Thursday, July 2nd (from a safe distance) to vote on the best!
• Winners receive bragging rights in the next Courier and on the neighborhood Facebook page.

Colonial Hills Sparkling Sparklers Spectacular!

• Get out in your front yard and play with your sparklers. We hope the streets light up like they do on Luminary Night.
• Times:
  7 PM for the little ones with early bedtimes
  10 PM for those of us with no bedtime

Bike Decorating Contest

• Even though the Kiddie Parade may be cancelled, kids can still decorate their bikes, scooters and wagons.
• Take a picture of your creations and post them on the Facebook event page for socially distant judging. (No problem, if you don’t want to post your child’s picture! A photo of the bike, scooter or wagon will suffice.) Judging will be in the following categories: tricycles, bicycles, wagons, strollers, scooters, and pets.
• Winners receive bragging rights!

July 4th Scavenger Hunt and Goody Bag/Bike Safety Gear

• The CHCA will create a neighborhood decoration scavenger hunt as a fun incentive to get outside with your families on the 4th.
• Check back here on the CHCA website, or on Facebook, on the morning of the 4th to find the list of items for the scavenger hunt, along with photos for these items. Print out this list, or bring it up on your phone, as you are walking around the neighborhood, and fill out the street address for each of the items on the list. The answers will be published here on July 5.
• Also, as you are walking around the neighborhood, stop by the corner of Indianola Ave. and Park Blvd. for a goody bag and bike safety gear. One per child please. While supplies last!

“The Amazing Giants”

• The stilt walking duo will tour the streets of Colonial Hills from 11:00am-1:00pm, per this route map.
• As you can see, the parade route for this Stiltwalker Parade starts at Indianola Park and works its way thru Colonial Hills: up to Colonial, across to Andover, down Andover to Selby Park, west on N. Selby to Greenwich, up Greenwich to Park Blvd, then west on Park Blvd to Hartford, then up to Southington, and finishes on Southington at High Street. There are a few locations along the route for families to set up chairs.
• Be sure to maintain a social distance of at least 6 feet from the performers!

Food Trucks

• Kenny’s Meat Wagon will be set up in front of his house at 528 N. Selby Blvd. from 11AM -2PM. Please note that you can order ahead, and pick up your food when it is ready at the Meat Wagon at his address (not Selby Park), by using this ordering service: Streetfoodfinder.com/order/26019 – Kenny’s Meat Wagon

And remember, even though it’s a pandemic, fireworks are still illegal!
Please be respectful of your neighbors.

This year the Run Through the Hills 5k is going virtual! We can’t get together in a big group but we’ve seen everyone training outside since the gyms have closed and think you need some recognition (and a really cool t-shirt) for all your hard work.

You can complete the 5k at any time between July 4 – July 18 and have the option to walk or run the actual course or you can be creative with it. Hop on a treadmill and log the 3.1 miles, map out a 5k course through one of the parks or at your vacation home, run up and down the stairs in your house until you’ve reached 3500 steps (the average # of steps taken during a 5k) and fill up our Facebook page with your time & sweaty selfies. Even in a pandemic, to paraphrase Jeff Spain “every day is a good day for a 5k!”

Registration for our Virtual 5K is now OPEN! There are two ways to register for this activity:

• 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 Wednesday, 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.

The registration entry fee is as follows:

• $15.00 – register before 5:00 PM, July 3

Registration will score you a commemorative 2020 t-shirt. Please make sure you fill in an accurate email address so that we can notify you with details for the t-shirt pick up after the virtual race has closed.

As stated above, you can complete your 5k at any time between July 4-July 18. If you’d like to do the traditional run through our Hills & Dales you can click here to see the map, but in the name of social distancing you are welcome to find a 5k route in another location. We want to see where you are and what you’ve done so please post pictures and comments on our Facebook page!

Regardless of your activity, when you are finished with it, you can turn in your time (not required however), by e-mailing your results to RunThruTheHillsCHCA@gmail.com
Please include your name and your time in your message.

Finally, you will note that your registration asks whether you want to have your race results published (the default is No). If you change your mind after you register, please include your final choice regarding publishing your time in your e-mail message to us.

Another blogpost, as well as the Courier, will describe the rest of the Colonial Hills Independence Day activities.