Welcome to the Near Westside Neighborhood Association's blog! Our group has been a part of the Elmira, NY community since 1977, when a group of citizens became concerned with the deterioration of some of the homes in their neighborhood. Since that time, the organization has grown and changed, becoming a local fixture in our beautiful city. We see ourselves as caretakers of our unique area, using a combination of grassroots volunteer efforts, state and federal grants, relationships with local businesses, property owners and residents, to build a strong sense of community and revitalize Elmira NY. At the close of 2012, our Board of Directors are ready to move the Near Westside Neighborhood Association in some exciting directions, drawing on some ideas from the past, as well as a few new ideas that will broaden our community outreach. We invite you to join us in our exciting journey to bring Elmira's rich history to life on a daily basis, and to help us keep that history alive as we move into a new year, and beyond.
Upcoming Events:
On December 2, 2012, we will be holding our 28th Annual "Homes for the Holidays" Self Guided Home Tour. This year's tour will feature eight homes in and around the city of Elmira, including both homes decorated in full holiday form, as well as a few "restoration in progress" homes! This event is a wonderful way to get to know some of your favorite homes in the city, as well as their current owners. With the addition of a few "works in progress", you will have a chance to see, first hand, some of the wonderful ways the Near Westside is moving forward and revitalizing our historic buildings. Come and scratch your curiosity's itch, and when you're finished, join us at Charlie's Cafe on Hoffman Street for a meet-and-greet reception.
Concurrent with our annual tour is a new and exciting endeavor aimed at helping to kick off a permanent fixture in our organization. As we launch our tour, we will be opening, for the first time, the doors on our Salvage Sale at Brackets & Door Knobs, at 355 Davis Street. Brackets and Door Knobs, will start off as an afternoon-long sale where we resell donated household and salvage items as a fund raiser. We are aware that often, residents in the area have a desire to outfit their historic homes in period pieces. We hope, that with community donations, we will be able to help furnish and complete some of these homes, while helping to strengthen our organization at the same time. Please stop by and browse before, during and after the Holiday Home Tour-- you may just find that deal you've been looking for! If you, or anyone you know is interested in donating any items, contact the Near Westside Neighborhood Association at 607-7334924, to arrange a drop-off time.
As Thanksgiving 2012 draws closer, we at the Near Westside Association are thankful for so much. We a eternally grateful, as ever, for our dedicated and hard-working volunteer base. So many individuals have continuously shown their support for our organization with their elbow grease and weekend hours. Our Victorian Row Garden Park, located on the 300 block of West Church St., is finally underway. Thanks to all of those who came our with their shovels and work gloves to lend a hand. Already, stories of how the "fruits" (and berries!) of your labors are effecting the lives of those in the community are starting to be told. Hopefully, with the spring, many more opportunities and stories will present themselves and our garden will bloom along with the community which it adorns.
We would be remiss not to mention just how thoroughly fortunate it is that the immediate area in which our building is located was not seriously effected by either the July 26th tornado that tore through much of the city and surrounding area, nor by Super Storm Sandy that devastatedparts of the East Coast. As we receive much of our funding to help the restoration of local homes from monies provided by the State of New York, our hearts go out to those who sustained substantial damage and must await funding to begin their own restorations and rebuilds.
We look forward to so much in the coming moths and are excited to share our developments with you. We hope that you enjoy following our news as much as we love delivering it to you, and that you will Like our Facebook page, Follow our blog and join our organization (if you haven't already)!
