Support Norristown's First Dog Park

As TNP mentioned in previous blogs, we would like to see a dog park come to the Norristown. A little over a month ago, council announced a plan to begin planning for a dog park at Bartasch Park right off of Fornance Street.

Yesterday, word began to spread of a contest the municipality has entered to win a grant for the new dog park. The contest is based on number of votes and population size. Norristown has a good chance if we can encourage our neighbors and friends to vote daily.

You may vote twice a day...once online and once on Facebook. Voting is very easy and you don't have to be a resident of Norristown to vote! Meaning, share with your cousins living in California! We need as many votes as possible. As of today, there are 300 cities in the contest so we have a battle ahead of us.

The winner of the contest will receive a grant for $100,000 to improve or build a dog park in their community. This will go a long way for construction, maintenance and insurance in the park. Several other cities will win up to $25,000 in grant funding as well, which also can go a long way for Norristown!

So I encourage you to vote now and every day through the end of the contest. Voting ends on July 10th, and the 15 finalists will be announced on July 17th for the final round of voting. So our first task is to atleast end up in the top 15 for voting so we can advance. I also ask residents to share this contest with the media to help spread the word. 

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Engaging Norristown Through Social Media

In today's blog, I would like to share again ways we can become more engaged as a community through social media. Social media and networking is becoming a part of our lives more and more each day. TNP started our movement through an online campaign and Facebook. Nextdoor is a social network that allows neighbors to interact with each other online. Think of it as an online version of community watch. Plus, it's safer than Facebook!

Nextdoor is the free and private social network for neighborhoods. On Nextdoor, neighbors create private websites for their neighborhoods where they can ask questions, get to know one another, and exchange local advice and recommendations. 

Thousands of neighborhoods across the country are already using Nextdoor to:

• Find trustworthy local resources, such as babysitters, plumbers, and dentists 
• Report suspicious activity and local crime 
• Organize neighborhood events, such as garage sales and block parties 
• Get assistance in finding lost pets and missing packages Sell or give away items, like an old kitchen table or bike 

Nextdoor’s mission is to use the power of technology to build stronger and safer neighborhoods. The inspiration behind Nextdoor was to give people a social network to connect them to one of the most important communities in their lives - the neighborhood. Nextdoor believes that when neighbors start talking, good things happen. 

Nextdoor is headquartered in San Francisco and was founded by a group of entrepreneurs who have a passion for creating meaningful online communities. 

Nextdoor is funded by Benchmark, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Tiger Global Management, Shasta Ventures, Comcast Ventures, DAG Ventures, Bezos Expeditions, A-Grade Investments, Google Ventures, Allen & Company, and Pinnacle Ventures, as well as other investors and Silicon Valley angels.

To join, use this link: https://nextdoor.com/invite/dhrqefagdjheqbktyueb

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Keep Your Old Recycling Bins!

Today will be a quick blog to remind you to keep your old recycling bins. Over the past couple of weeks, Mascaro has begun distributing new cans to residents. As we wait for official instructions on the new cans, everyone has been asking what to do with their old cans...I have some suggestions.

The first thing is that you should not get rid of your old recycling bins! If they are in good shape, keep them stored in your garage or yard. 90% of the items you place in the trash can be recycled. The more you learn which items can be placed in the recycling, the more you will need your old cans as a backup. 

Recycling is important for the environment(obviously), but did you know the municipality receives grants as residents recycle more? Recycling with Mascaro can help reduce the trash bill and provide more funding for projects around town. If each resident makes an effort to recycle more each week, we can make a difference to our environment and community.

Mascaro also allows you to use up to two additional 35 gallon cans with your new cans. If you're doing some Spring cleaning or yard work, the cans you were using before will come in handy. Once again, keep two of your best trash cans stored to handle this trash. 

So before you get too excited with the new cans and throw away your old ones, think if you will need them again.Don't throw that shampoo bottle in the trash, recycle it!

Next blog: 10 items you didn't know are recyclable

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In the Blood Season Kicks Off Tonight!

Spring is finally here and events are beginning to fill up the community calendar. TNP is polishing our cleaning equipment and gearing up for our annual Earth Day cleanup at Riverfront Park. Spring is not only a season for community cleanups in Norristown. Theatre Horizon will kick off their performance of In the Blood today.

Tonight's performance is a "pay what you can" opportunity with a suggested donation of $10. I encourage all of Norristown to flood all of their performances and help our arts district to continue to grow. Watch the trailer here:

Here's more information about the performance and the message behind In the Blood from Theatre Horizon's Facebook Page:

IN THE BLOOD 
APR 16-MAY 9, 2015
by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Pirronne Yousefzadeh
Honorary Producers: David & Linda Glickstein

Cast: 
Akeem Davis
Ashley Everage
Christina May
Forrest McClendon
Sam Sherburne
Cathy Simpson

“An EXTRAORDINARY new play…EXHILARATING & HARROWING.”
—The New York Times

In this urban satire inspired by THE SCARLET LETTER, Hester is a homeless mother of five striving to escape the hand of fate. Will she be able to free her children from poverty, or is tragedy woven into her destiny and written in her blood?

TICKETS:
Regular - $20-$38
Senior - $32-$36
Young Friends (30 & under; students) - $20
Previews - $24
Generous discounts for groups of 8 or more!
FREE tickets for Norristown residents.

PERFORMANCES:
April 16 - 7:30 pm PWYC
Preview 1 April 17 - 8pm
Preview 2 April 18 - 8pm
Preview 3 April 19 - 2pm
Preview 4 April 22 - 6:30pm* - Norristown Night: Free tickets for Norristown residents & $10 tickets for Norristown employees.
Opening Night - April 23 - 7:30pm
April 24 - 8pm
April 25 - 8pm
April 26 - 2pm
April 30 - 7:30pm
May 1 - 8pm
May 2 - 8pm
May 3 - 2pm; 7:30pm
INDUSTRY NIGHT - May 4 - 7:30pm
May 7 - 7:30pm
May 8 - 8pm
May 9 - 2pm
May 9 - 8pm

IMAGINE NO HOMELESSNESS

Made possible by: The Patricia Kind Family Foundation & The Virginia Brown Martin Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation

Actors, college students, and housing-insecure partners will join together to share stories of homelessness in the Philadelphia region. Students will retell these stories through evocative art installations in the Theatre Horizon lobby throughout our production of IN THE BLOOD. Audiences will come together with our actors and community partners to imagine changing the story of homelessness in Montgomery County.

We hope you will join us. Please visit TheatreHorizon.org for more information.

BYOB lobby during the run of the IN THE BLOOD. Enjoy your favorite bottle of wine or beverage in the lobby before the show!

Call the Box Office at 610.283.2230 or visit www.theatrehorizon.org for more information. Tickets go on sale March 5, 2014."

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Something to Think About

Today's post will be a short video that is circulating online speaking about mass incarceration in the United States. Sure, this is a broader issue than Norristown but I wanted to share this video to begin a local discussion. Are we encouraging our leaders to be tougher on crime than criminals? Are we preparing current inmates for their release so they do not end up back in jail?

I will stop there and allow you to watch the video.

So what are your thoughts? To improve the image of Norristown, we need to continue to work with the  Norristown Police Department and local leaders to reduce crime in town. Crime has statistically gone down in town, however, we still have some issues to address to lower our per capita rate for crime.

To view NPD's crime mapping service, click here.

To view the article which inspired this post, click here.

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