North End's Community Conversation

Last night at the Green Street Art Center, North End residents and stakeholders gathered to discuss issues facing Middletown and our community in a community conversation.

As one of many conversations being held around town inspired by the upcoming inauguration of Barack Obama, we discussed the need for a community policing model, ways to build the North End's image, education in the North End and Middletown as a whole, job development and even a renewed sewing club.

On Inauguration day, January 20th, Community conversations will be held across Middletown. There will be two conversations held at Russel Library at 12pm and 6pm on inauguration day. This is a great opportunity to make the North End's voice heard. To check times and places for other community conversations go to: www.middletowncommunityconversations.blogspot.com

Community Policing Meeting

Next meeting is on December 3rd at noon in the Green Street Arts Center

Please don't forget about Community Policing Code Enforcement. You are a part of keeping the neighborhood safe.

If you have any crime or code enforcement or health issues that you wish to report anonymously and/or are uncomfortable calling it in, simply call the office or email izzi@neatmiddletown.org.

Numbers to remember:

NEAT 346.4845

Middletown Police Department

• Routine Calls- 347.2541

• Tipline- 344.3216

School Committee Meeting

Tuesday, December 3rd at 7 pm in the NEAT office is the next School Committee meeting.

With Parent Teacher conferences for this semester over*, a meeting with the Moody principal fulfilled, two Board of Education regular meetings coming up on December 9th and 16th at 7pm, there is a lot to talk about.

Please come tell us your experiences with Public Schools and work to make things better.

*Parent Teacher Conferences:
For Parents of 6-8th grade students are being held from November 21st- 25th.
For Parents of K-5th grade students are being held from December 1st-3rd.

Interim Reports for 6-12 grade students are due on December 12th.

Teen Dream Society Meeting!

The next Teen Dream Society meeting is December 2nd at 5:30 pm in the NEAT office on 668 Main St.

We are restructuring the group a bit so all new members and more are welcome to join us.
In this meeting we are going to focus on making a documentary, civic involvement on issue affecting Middletown's youth and mentoring.

If you have any questions call Alicia or Izzi @ 860.704.8533 or email neat@neatmiddletown.org

ODDFELLOWS PLAYHOUSE NEIGHBORHOOD TROUPES

Oddfellows Playhouse Troupes Program is a FREE arts-based after school program for neighborhood families. Our bus will provide pick-up and drop-off to most locations in the North End.

North End Junior Troupe: (10-14 years) Wednesdays and Fridays 4:30-5:45

North End Tiny Troupe: (5-9 years)Mondays and Fridays 4:30-5:45

To register for the North End Troupe or for more information- Contact Bobbye at Oddfellows 347-6143

Visit www.oddfellows.org for additional information, or simple call 860-347-6143.  Transportation is available to and from the Playhouse.                         

MENTORING PROGRAM

NEAT's Mentoring program is up and running again and we have spaces for new kids to join the program.  If you have a child ages 7-13, please give me a call.  Your child would meet with her/her mentee for one hour a week.  This program has been amazing for many North End kids and students alike.  Please call NEAT if you're interested.  346-4845

MHS Voting Reforendum: Sept 23

A message for MHS PTA Co-President Yvette Henley
Just in case you haven’t heard, voting on an MHS referendum will be held on Tuesday, September 23. Passage of this referendum is absolutely critical to the success of the high school construction project and our city, overall. Passage has NO IMPACT on taxpayers. The increase in the project cost ceiling is needed to allow for over $1.3M in grants awarded to the project by the CT Clean Energy Fund and CT Innovations (Fuel Cell) and state legislature (Area of Assembly Generator) to be spent. Passage also changes the bond language to allow for other potential grants to be accepted. At present, these additional funds can not increase the bonding for the project and, therefore, will result in work to stop on demolition of Woodrow Wilson Middle School and construction of the new high school athletic fields. Again, a yes vote will not change the cost to taxpayers.
Unfortunately, there is currently misinformation, confusion and apathy related to this referendum. Parents of children in the school system need to understand the importance of participating in this vote on Sept 23. Voting will be held at Moody School , City Hall and South Fire from 12 to 8pm.

Dist. 1 MacDonough School will vote at City Hall, 245 deKoven Drive.

African Drumming at Erin Sreet

On Wednesday, the final Arts in the Garden workshop took place in the Erin Street Community Garden. It was by far the best of this series that we've ever held. Over 70 people from all over the state gathered in the garden to drum and dance on what turned out to be one of the nicest nights of the summer. The workshop was led by Abdoulaye Sylla, who has a knack with groups of kids. He had people aged from 2-80 drumming in time and sounding good! The kids took turns leading the drum circle, they did the limbo and stuffed themselves with watermelon.

What a wonderful way to cap off the summer series. One woman, who had traveled from Farmington said: "we just don't have anything like this where we live...my kids love this kind of thing." I heard similar sentiments from other participants. It's nice to know that our little garden is unique and welcoming.

If you haven't checked it out, please stop by and sit on a bench or walk around. You'll be amazed at this year's bounty.















To see more pictures from the event, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/neatmiddletown/AfricanDrumming
Thank you to the Green Street Arts Center from co-sponsoring this series and to the Middletown Commission on the Arts for generously funding it!

Middletown Parking Study

For the last year, the Downtown Parking Study has been meeting to discuss parking problems in Middletown. I have sat on that committee and experienced more conversation about parking than I ever hope to have again! We met over 25 times and came up with some concrete solutions to downtown's parking problems. There were many proposed solutions and many compromises made, and in the end, a report has been created. The findings of the committee and study will be presented to the Middletown Common Council on August 4th from 6:00-7:00 pm.

The committee will be recommending efficient ways to use the federally earmarked $19 million dollars in parking money. While the committee did find that there is an extreme need for parking in the North End, none of this money will be used to improve the parking problems in the North End (because of a complicated restrictions on the money: please call if you want me to explain it to you, it's too much to write!) so NEAT members should 1) come to this workshop and hear how this important Middletown money will be used and 2) in the coming months, be diligent and insistent that the findings of the committee are acted upon. We need parking on this side of town, and we need to help the city find creative ways to make that happen outside of this $19 million dollars. Remember, the North End will be ignored if we don't show up.

Click here to be directed to the City of MiddletownParking Study info.