Leaf Collection Begins Nov. 5

Speaking of trees, the city has announced its fall leaf pick-up schedule:
Leaves that are curbside by Nov. 5 will be picked up by Dec. 8.
Leaves that are curbside by Dec. 10 will be picked up by Jan. 18.

Simply rake your leaves to the edge of the yard, but be sure to keep them behind the curb--leaf and other yard waste that is raked into the street goes down the storm drains and potentially pollutes area lakes and streams.

A couple of other ways you can get rid of fall leaves:
Bag them in clear plastic bags and put them out with the rest of the trash on Thursdays.
Or, suggests the Guilford County Cooperative Extension Service, recycle the leaves: shred and use them as mulch or compost them for use as fertilizer (this is what the city does with the leaves it collects!).

Neighborwoods Tree Planting Postponed until 2008

The scheduled planting of 150 new trees throughout the neighborhood has been postponed until next fall--let's hope for a wet year! Here's more info from a Greensboro Beautiful press release:

Aycock Historic Neighborhood was recently awarded the 2007 NeighborWoods Tree Planting Grant created by Greensboro Beautiful and the City of Greensboro. As a result of the grant, the Aycock Historic Neighborhood was scheduled to receive up to 150 trees to be planted throughout the neighborhood.

Due to the extended drought conditions, however, the Urban Forestry Committee of Greensboro Beautiful and City staff has recommended that the 2007 NeighborWoods Tree Planting Program be postponed until November of 2008. The Aycock neighborhood will automatically receive trees next fall when the program is resumed.

This decision, although disappointing to the neighborhood, takes into account the City’s current water restriction policy, and the effect planting under these conditions would have on the trees' ability to adapt and survive. This decision also reflects our responsibility to spend wisely the monies donated to this program by our sponsors.

This year’s NeighborWoods Tree Planting Program is funded in part by a $7,500 grant from American Express. Other financial sponsors include the City’s Water Resources Department and private donations made to Greensboro Beautiful.

Panhandling--and other downtown events

Downtown Greensboro, Inc.'s weekly newsletter included a valuable information sheet about panhandling. Along with a definition of panhandling and when/where it is allowed, the info sheet offers some excellent suggestions for how to help those in need when confronted:

PLEASE DO NOT GIVE MONEY TO ANYONE SOLICITING—there are agencies within the
city that can assist those in need. If they ask for food, refer them to
Greensboro Urban Ministry located at 305 E. Lee Street.

Greensboro Urban Ministry also sells $1.00 tickets that can be given to those
soliciting—those tickets are good for a meal at Potter’s Kitchen and on the back
of the ticket gives information about Greensboro Urban Ministry—the $1.00 you
spend for tickets helps them continue their mission of feeding and ministering
those who are in need.

For more information about Greensboro Urban Ministry, call—336—271-5959 for
emergency needs—336-271-5952; Potter’s Kitchen—336-271-5993.

On a lighter note, information about the upcoming week's events and new restaurants also are included in the newsletter.

Library Provides Access to Antiques Reference Database

From a recent issue of the Greensboro Public Library's newsletter:

Whether you’re a bona fide collector or just curious to know if the possessions you’ve cleared from the attic for your next yard sale are treasures rather than trinkets, you’ll want to check out the library’s Antiques Reference Database, available via the Premium Resources link on the library's website at http://www.greensborolibrary.org/. Spend just a few moments with this database and you’ll soon see why it is the preferred online resource of personal property appraisers, auction houses, museums, and government agencies that need to ascertain worth of an object. The Antiques Reference Database is freely available with your Greensboro Public Library borrower’s card!

If you need help getting started, click here or call the Information Services desk at (336) 335-5430.

Doing Our Part for the Environment

The May 20 issue of The New York Times magazine focused on eco-friendly living, or what the Times called "eco-tecture." One of the articles, "An Eco-House for the Future," which described a futuristic "guilt-free, sustainable, luxury Phantom House," elicited this response from Steven McClain, president of the National Architectural Trust:

Your attention to the issue of sustainable design is laudable,
yet it omits a player in the green-building movement: historic preservation. Rehabilitating existing buildings is almost always more environmentally efficient than tearing down and building anew. Maintaining and improving historic buildings and the neighborhoods in which they stand allows for the continued use of valuable infrastructure.

McClain has an ally in historian and essayist Adam Goodheart, whose essay "This Old, Organic House" appeared in the same issue of the NYT Magazine. Goodheart, the director of Washington College's Center for the Study of the American Experience, reminds us that "green" building is nothing new:

If by “green architecture” we mean buildings designed to exist in harmony with environmental conditions, to conserve fuel and regulate temperature by “natural” means, then it is easy to forget that this did not begin with the invention of solar panels, photovoltaic cells and LEED certification. Americans have been experimenting, adapting and reshaping their architecture to suit their local environment since the very beginning.

As if any of us here in the Aycock Neighborhood needed reminding.