Join us for North End Pride Day!

NORTH END PRIDE DAY-SAVE THE DATE APRIL 21ST

It's getting warmer which means, we will soon be having our Annual North End Pride Day!

This year North End Pride Day will be April 21st, 2012 at 9:00 AM. Save the date and let's spend the day together beautifying our neighborhood and having fun!

Here are some of the projects we are planning for the day:

Clean up your yard!
Help clean your neighbors yard!
Be a block captain and organize a clean-up for your street!
Join one of our neighborhood teams!
Garden at the Erin Street Garden!
Help to break ground on the New Portland Street gardens!
Volunteer to help out by calling the NEAT office(860) 346-4845.

North Village Condo Open House Tomorrow

Join us tomorrow from 1-3 for the North Village Condo Open House.

The completion of this project signals a new phase in the life of Middletown's North End. If you haven't seen the dramatic changes that have taken place over the last few years, now is your chance!

All seven units in the condo association will be open for people to come in and check out. There are buildings on Rappallo, Green & Ferry Streets. Just look for the balloons. We will also have Neighborhood Ambassadors on site to answer any question that people might have about why the North End is a great place to live.

For more information on the North Village project check out the great article in today's Hartford Courant. Rehabbed Condo's go on the market.

We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

www.northvillagemiddletown.org

Please support NEAT and the City's new blight ordinance at Tuesday's Council Meeting.

You may or may not have been following NEAT's involvement in Middletown's new blight ordinance. So, here's the update.

This past June, (read about it in the Middletown Press) after many years of complaints by residents who were tired of living next to blighted buildings, NEAT held a workshop to discuss the efficacy of Middletown's Blight Ordinance. Many council people, city department heads and community members came together to discuss the pros and cons, the weaknesses and strengths. At that meeting, everyone agreed that the current ordinance is not an effective document, and that over the next few months it would be rewritten based on Bristol, CT's model.

Since then, the document has gone through department review, ordinance review and review by NEAT members. You can read the new draft here.

It is a much more complete document now, with a greater focus on code enforcement. Before, the ordinance was effective in designating a property as "blighted," but it stopped there. There was little in place to help with remedy. This new ordinance is more focused on preventing buildings from deteriorating to a blighted state in the first place.

I urge you to come to the common council meeting this Tuesday, September 8th to sit with NEAT members and (if you're comfortable) speak in favor of this new ordinance which has much tougher enforcement rules and standards.

The meeting is at 7 pm in the council chambers at city hall (245 deKoven Dr.)

NEAT also believes that we need to take this a step farther and create a liscensing program for property owners, where the revenue generated could pay for an additional inspection officer to regularly inspect rental properties in Middletown. NEAT will be working with the city to create a model that works for Middletown.

Please contact NEAT if you'd like more information. Also, you can check out the article in this month's Chronicle (sorry, no link), and there will be stories on this in this weekend's Hartford Courant and next Sunday's New York Times Real Estate Section.

First Day for the North End

Today was the first day of school!
Here is a slide show of some great Macdonough moments and some sweet reunions of Moody kids and their families.

Also, my friend Gus (whose parents happen to be videographers!) had his first day of school as a kindergartner. It's a pretty cute video and also shows the Macdonough Surf's Up assembly where the kids sing the school song, are welcomed and the new teachers are honored. Congratulations everyone and have a great year!

New Way To Report Issues in the North End

You may use this "SeeClickFix" map to report issues in the North End of Middletown. You can add issues like street lights that are out, crime, garbage (bulky waste, etc), or hazards of any kind.

This is intended to be helpful. Please respect people's privacy and be kind to your neighbors! This is a way for the city of Middletown to see where there are issues.

The daVinci's Amazing Rowing Machine Takes 3rd Place in the CT River Raft Race!!

Last Saturday, a team from the North End, led by captain George Frick, took part in the annual Connecticut River Raft Race. It is such a fun event, and our boat (made 5 years ago by a group of North End youth) a funky yellow catamaran type boat, is one of the coolest on the water.

The crew took first place in their division and third place all around. Congratulations!

5th Annual Green Street Arts Festival

Join the students, friends and teaching artists of Wesleyan University’s Green Street Art Center for a day of indoor and outdoor creative fun in celebration of the Center and Middletown’s North End. Green Street teaching artist Jocelyn Pleasant and her jazz band C. Dzen’s Reign kick off this year’s Arts Festival, which also includes performances by afterschool students and teachers in breakdancing, hip hop, salsa, movement, tap, “Shared Ability” dance and African drumming. Exhibitions by Green Street’s Flash Forward Photography Meet-Up, children’s art classes and others will be on display. Green Street’s Peer Education Performance Project will perform The Struggle, a theater piece which they wrote and directed themselves. Special guest performers include Pretty Boiiz, a rap duo whose members both graduated from Middletown High as well as Green Street alumna the ThoroEnergy dance group.

The Arts Fest will also be the official unveiling of the Green Street Community Mural Project, a large mural created by afterschool Students, community members and mural artist Marela Zacarias on the corner of Main and Green Streets.

Other festival activities include: Video screenings of Green Street’s Intergenerational Oral History Project, Digital Animation and Photojournalism classes, and face-painting by Samantha Lee. The festival takes place on Saturday, June 13 from 1–4pm at 51 Green Street in Middletown. Admission is free. Please call 860-685-7871 or visit www.greenstreetartscenter.org for more information.

Visit http://www.prettyboiiz.com/ for more information on the Pretty Boiiz including video and audio.

North End Clean Up a Success

It was a great day in the North End on Saturday where 150 people volunteered to do some spring cleaning. There were volunteers from the NEAT/Wesleyan Mentoring Program, Earth Ministries out of First Church, the Middletown Garden Club, and a group of youth doing a "30 Hour Famine" from East Hampton and Haddam. There were also other individuals from Middletown who came in to lend a hand as individuals. Residents got a chance to work alongside Dan Drew, who is running for Mayor this year, and Councilman Santangelo, who is a North End resident. Even the kids had fun working alongside the principal from Macdonough School, Jon Romeo, who spent hours helping out at the Erin Street Garden.

Most importantly, though, were the many residents who organized the day, spread the word to their neighbors, and went door to door, helping to clean the sidewalks and yards of their neighbors. It was a great event that helped the community, but more importantly, helped to build community.

Here's a slideshow of some of the people that were out that day. I'm sorry I didn't make it to all corners of the neighborhood with my camera....there were some great scenes to be seen...

A big thanks to Sherwin Williams Paint in Cromwell for donating supplies, to Kim O'Rourke and the City of Middletown for picking up the extra trash and helping with logistics, to Dominoes, Sammy's Pizza, Alpha Pizza House, and Jerry's for donating Pizza for the Lunch, and to all of those who came out to help.

North End Youth Dance performs at Wesleyan

Saturday February 21st

North End's own Thoro Energy will be performing in Wesleyan's annual Jubilee.
This show is put on by the Student group Ujamaa every year to promote cultural awareness and show off the diverse talents of the performers.

The show is in the Center for the Arts' Crowell performance space from 8-10pm

tickets show be purchased in advance and cost $6

Please come to the show and support our youth.

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

Morning in the North End

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Though they've been open for the past several weeks, the new It's Only Natural Market in the North End is holding their Grand Opening today.

My family and I were there for the ribbon cutting this morning -- what followed was a celebration of North End culture.



Dancers from the Green Street Arts Center got ooh's and aah's from the crowd, shoppers milled around the store tasting samples from local producers, and neighbors in coversation clogged up the aisles.





We even got to see the third floor, which has a great view of Main Street (unfortunately, the foggy weather this morning doesn't do it justice.)



Some of the performers were from the B-Boy class at Green Street. Wow!
(Posted by Jen Alexander)

Obama’s victory electrifies North End

Wednesday, November 5, 2008 10:07 PM EST
By SLOAN BREWSTER, Press staff


MIDDLETOWN — Word on the street in the North End of town Wednesday was all happiness and downright pride in the election of Barack Obama.

"He showed that he’s not just there for black people," Middletown resident Judy Rollins said. "He’s here for everyone."

While she believes the president elect will be there for people of all races, Rollins also thinks he will cut through racial divides and bring the country a step closer to ending racism. She was not comfortable discussing her personal battles, but said all African Americans deal with bigotry.

"As a black person, we all experience it," Rollins said.

George Guiont, 59, remembers when civil rights changed life in the country, specifically in the south. In 1965, he was one of the first black children transferred to an all-white school in North Carolina.

He remained there only three weeks.

"I just got tired of the cranks, the ignorance," Guiont said. "I was full of hatred then."

Guiont lost his parents at a young age; his mother died when he was 7 and his father passed when he was 13. Their deaths left him angry and made it even more difficult to deal with racial tensions at school. He ended up dropping out.

But the man does not pass blame or expect the government, Obama or otherwise, to solve his problems.

"My life’s not going to change," he said. "I have to make a change."

Still, Giuont believes Obama will bring change to the country as a whole. He is particularly interested in seeing an end come to the war in Iraq.

Dorothy Goss, 73, also remembers the civil rights movement, though she experienced it in a different manner. The Westbrook resident lived in Essex in 1958 and was a landlord who rented to a black family — a decision many of her neighbors did not appreciate. They did not look too fondly upon her for her political actions either, especially when she participated in a civil rights march on Washington in 1968.

"I’ve been called the n-word-lover I don’t know how many times," Goss said.

During a telephone call to The Press Wednesday, Goss expressed excitement about Obama’s election.

"In my lifetime, I’ve never expected this to happen," she said. "I believe Obama will be great not because he’s a man of color, but because of who he is. He stands up for all people no matter who they are. To me, you have to love people for who they are and not what they take from society, but what they give society. Thank God I lived long enough to see a person of color become our president."

Between moments of elation and exclamations of glee, folks walking in the North End took a few moments to share ideas on which of Obama’s policies they most anticipate.

Rollins looks forward to seeing life improve for the middle class. "He’s starting with the middle," she said. "I think everyone else started out with the upper class. I’m very proud."

Rohanna Powells, an 18-year-old who voted for the first time Tuesday, believes Obama’s economic policies will benefit the country and is pleased with his plans for early childhood education.

Marsha Jean-Charles shares her co-workers thoughts on education — both young women work at the North End Action Team office.

"It’s about making sure schools are adequately funded and higher quality teachers," Jean-Charles said.

Jean-Charles, a student at Wesleyan University, said the campus grew loud with cheer when Obama was declared victorious.

"I personally was crying," she said.

NEAT Executive Director Izzi Greenberg said she was inspired by the number of people who came to Macdonough School Tuesday to learn about Obama and McCain. The organization set up a table and passed on information about both candidates. Greenberg was surprised and impressed by the number of people who came.

"The people who showed up, the wide variety of people who came, really blew me away," Greenberg said. "People were pumped."

While Greenberg said NEAT does not endorse any candidate, she said people in the North End seemed optimistic Obama would work on issues to benefit inner-city areas.

"A lot of people in the neighborhood are really excited," she said. "People of color are feeling really empowered."

Guiont shares the hopefulness.

"When you start talking about helping people, I’m down with that," he said. "When you start talking about lifting them up, everybody’s down with that."

URL: http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2008/11/05/news/doc49125d7304d67949361402.prt

© 2008 middletownpress.com, a Journal Register Property

Great Day at the Polls

It was an amazing day at District 1's only polling place, Macdonough School. The entire North End votes here, and the turn out was awesome. Many groups, including NEAT's own youth leadership group, the Teen Dreams Society were registering North End voters and apparently voter registrations were up this year from 1200 to over 1700. At 5:00pm when I left, over 1000 people had voted, with three hours to go!

I was helping to man a table for NEAT that offered info about how to vote, and who the candidates are, among other things. It was so inspiring to see the number of people that were first time voters, coming out to make their voice heard.

People were leaving the school with tears in their eyes, moved by this election and the possibilites that lie ahead.
I'll keep you posted at 8:00 and we'll see what happens here....May the best man win!

North End Businesses in ITowns

Middletown's north end biz looking good
By
Melissa Pionzio

on October 1, 2008 5:53 PM |

It is nice to see the sprucing up that has been going on around Main Street and Rapallo Avenue in Middletown.

The North End Action Team (NEAT) headquarters, located in storefront space on the corner of Main in Rapallo, looks impressive with a new sign and bright blue paint job, and just today I watched as Middletown resident Pedro Barrio, a self-employed painter and carpenter, put a few final strokes of paint on the front of the Realto Cafe.

Here too, the color is bright blue with white trim. Is there a theme catching on in the north end with this bold blue color? On the door of the cafe, a hand written sign read, neat attire only and included a posting of coming events being offered there.

Pedro, who paused to admire his work every now and then, told me he has been working on a few improvements to the building, which has apartments upstairs. That portion of the building also looks as though it has had a face lift with mod looking, creamy stucco-like finish.

"I try to help him out," Pedro said of the Realto's permittee Carlton McCalla. "I did some painting inside, put up some sheet rock and did a porch in back."

Keep up the good work northenders!

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.                         

BUILDING COMPUTER BASICS Classes

Thursdays in October, NEAT will be hosting another Building Computer Basics class, this time, with an emphasis on the types of programs that are common for home and office use.  If you want to make a family budget, make a resume, write a thank you note, but are unsure how, this is a great class to get you started on using the very common Microsoft Office programs.  These classes run Thursdays in October. 

All classes are free and open to everyone. Childcare will be provided, but please let us know in advance if you need it.  Please call the NEAT office (346-4845) to register or email to neat@neatmiddletown.org

All classes will be held at the Green Street Arts Center.  These "Art of Living" classes are run in partnership with the Green Street Arts Center, with Support from Liberty Bank and funding from the Bank of America. 

NEAT Democracy Forum Tomorrow

On Wednesday, October 8th at 6:30pm at the Green Street Arts Center, The North End Action Team and its youth leadership group, the Teen Dreams Society, will be hosting a Democracy Forum, featuring panelists State Senator Paul Doyle, Common Counselor, Grady Faulkner, Rich Lion,of the CT Libertarian Party and Ken Hiscoe, who was the District Director for Nancy Johnson. The forum is open to the public, and the goal is to educate you about the political process and understand why civic engagement is important for everyday people. This is part of NEAT's broader voter registration campaign, and hope to not only increase voter registration and participation, but also help people understand their role in the political process and demystify the roles of politicians. It is important that residents know who they are voting for and why. That said, this is not a debate. It is a conversation about civic engagement and the political process. Save the Date!!

Also, NEAT will be holding elections at this monthly meeting. It is time to elect new officers and a new advisory board. Please come and VOTE!

Childcare will be provided and there will be pizza for the kids.