NOMA Fall Party! This Weekend! Come One ~ Come All!

Hello Neighbors and Friends!

It's the count-down! 4-Days to go til our Fall Celebration! A celebration of the neighborhood, our friendships, and our community.

The NOMA Fall Party:

Sunday October 4th
3:00 - 6:00 PM
Corner of E. Miller St. and Scales St.

Please bring a covered dish to pass.

NOMA will provide hot dogs, rolls, & condiments, water & iced tea.

See You Sunday!!!!

Things to Do Today ~ This Weekend!

Hello Friends & Neighbors! There are loads of fun things to do in Salisbury this weekend! Starting today!

Did you know that today, September 17^th is Constitution Day? There are many celebrations planned all around the nation, including right here in Salisbury at the Rowan Museum, 202 N Main Street Salisbury. The local Elizabeth Maxwell Steele Chapter of the DAR will be at the museum celebrating this event with a reading of the Preamble to the Constitution every hour on the hour. If you are in downtown Salisbury today, take a minute and drop by to listen and celebration the Constitution of our great country.

It’s an “Artsy” weekend in downtown Salisbury with several galleries all within walking distance of one

another open this Friday evening, September 18^th. At the Waterworks Visual Arts Center, 123 E. Liberty St., there is a free public reception 6-8 p.m. with artists Jenn Gardner Selby and Frank Selby for the exhibit "There, Not There."

Just around the corner, a couple of blocks down in the Rail Walk district, at 405-407 N. Lee St., Looking Glass Artist Collective (LGAC) opens a new exhibit of members' work. The gallery's overhead door will open at 5 p.m. so those following the art trail can come in, view the art and meet the artists. LGAC will also be the site of the Blues Showcase, hosted by Rowan Blues and Jazz Society and presented by the Charlotte Music Awards at 8 p.m. In addition, Rail Walk Studios and Gallery, 409–413 N. Lee St., will be open 6-8 p.m. with a reception for "A Mutual Passion," an exhibit by Patt Legg and Sharon Forthofer.

Have a great weekend!

City Council Candidates Forum - North Main Neighborhood is Invited!

Sidewalk Update - Driveway Aprons are Poured!

The driveway aprons were poured on W. Miller Street yesterday.

Announcing Celebrate NOMA Fall Social - Oct 4th

Come One ~ Come All!

NoMa is having their annual Fall Social ~ Celebrate NoMa !!!

When: Sunday October 4th

Time: 3:00 PM ~ 6:00 PM

Where: The grassy lawn at the corner of E. Miller St. & Scales St.

NoMa will provide non-alcoholic beverages and hot dogs.
Please bring a covered dish to pass.

Bring Your Friends ~ Bring Your Neighbors ~ Celebrate!!!

Sidewalk Progress

Hello Friends and Neighbors!

Our new Miller Street Sidewalk project is proceeding nicely. We are very excited to have this wonderful addition to our neighborhood to bring NoMa closer to City Park, the Salisbury Greenway, and to increase the walkability of our neighborhood.

The curbs were poured this week along W. Miller St. The utility pole, which we reported earlier as being moved, is actually still there with some cables yet connected. We knew there were more utilities on that pole than just Duke Power, such as Time Warner, but can not say why it is taking so long to get both the utilities and the pole moved.

The work on the Jackson St./Lake Rd. sidewalk has also begun. City crews began this work on east end of Lake Rd, are rounding the corner, and working their way north on Jackson along the City Park side of the road. We are thrilled to have this happening as we originally did not anticipate this additional work until sometime next year.

NOMA Home & Garden Tour 2010

Hi Friends & Neighbors!

At our last meeting, we discussed our NOMA Home & Garden Tour 2010. We formed an Home Tour 2010 Action Committee made up of the following neighborhood members:

Sean Myers
Cherie Turner
Mike-O Martelli
Daphne Safrit
Josef Medlin
Jenni Woomer
Jessica Koontz

The NOMA Home Tour 2010 Action Committee is having a kick-off meeting tomorrow evening, Wednesday September 9th, at 7:00 PM at 910 N. Main St. They'll be picking the weekend, probably in April or May of next year and discussing which homes will be invited to participate.

If you know of someone who has an interesting home that should be on the tour, please nominate them. We'll be looking to have between 6-8 homes over a two-day Saturday-Sunday tour. The homes should be historic or period to the neighborhood. The homes should be renovated or restored well, not necessarily to period but the more original details the better. Each room should be decorated well - they don't have to be high-end and even eclectic is great. If you know of folks who collect interesting artwork or decor or furnishings - this is exactly what we are looking for. If you know of folks who keep a wonderful garden. Visitors want decorating and placement ideas. Their visit needs to be an "experience". This is what will keep people coming back to the NOMA tours for years to come. And this being our FIRST - it needs to be SMASHING!!

A Home Tour like this can really pull our neighbors together. There is lots of opportunity for fun and participation. The time consuming part is the writeup and advertising solicitation and follow up with papers. The rest of it is really fairly easy – it just takes a lot of coordination and checklists and keeping on schedule. But HEY ~ did we tell you? Downtown Salisbury Inc. (DSI - www.downtownsalisburync.com) has agreed to help us promote our Home Tour. This is awesome news!

We are so excited to be able to do this and to have so much support for the concept from all our NOMA members! Thank you, NOMA!

Our New Sidewalk Update ~ Miller AND Jackson St!

Hello Friends & Neighbors ~

As you may have seen, our new sidewalk at W. Miller St. is on its way! You will notice the "ROAD CLOSED" barricades at Miller & Main; at Miller and Jackson, and also at W. Steele St and N. Church St. The pavement has been cut and each driveway has been smoothed for transition for our neighbors there. Miller Street now T's into Jackson, that large sweeping 90 degree turn is now gone and the island with the pole has been removed.

More good news! Part of this project was to extend more new sidewalk along the City Park side of N. Jackson St. We did not expect this to happen until next year. We got some insight, however, that this could be happening much sooner than expected....perhaps within the next couple of weeks! This is wonderful news. These sidewalk expansions tie our North Main Neighborhood to the Parks in ways we never had before.

We are told that the City will improve other sidewalks in the area if they are working on sidewalks in a particular section of town. We are encouraged to let the City know if there are other sidewalks that need attention.

We are delighted to have these changes happening to NOMA and extend our heartfelt appreciation to the City of Salisbury and the Fit Community Program for investing in our neighborhood. Thank You!

Salisbury Community Appearance Commission Compliments NOMA!

Hello Friends & Neighbors!

At the City of Salisbury's Community Appearance Commission meeting today, one of the commissioners, Mrs. Barbara Lawther, made a special effort to applaud NOMA on our organization, the web blogspot, and our accomplishments! Mrs. Lawther said she had visited these webpages, told the commission that there was a plethora of information to be found here, and made special note of the Spring Home & Garden Tour 2010 we are planning. We were highly complimented on our accomplishments!

Sue McHugh and Sean Meyers, members of our neighborhood who also serve on the Community Appearance Commission, thanked Mrs. Lawther and agreed that NOMA has a lot of positive energy and is gaining traction in the many projects and neighborhood activities NOMA is proposing.

Another member of the Commission, Ms. Greta Connor, asked what the City could do about the appearance of Long Street and our 11th Street. Much discussion centered around our 11th Street area issues, how 11th Street is a corridor to the Country Club and to City Park. A small subcommittee was formed that will take this issue to City Planners. We are considering a petition from the NOMA community to support these measures.

So congratulations NOMA in receiving such glowing compliments at the Community Appearance Commission meeting!

Way to Go, NOMA!

New! Quadrant Captains for NOMA

Good news, friends & neighbors! Quadrant Captains are on the way!

The key person in any Neighborhood Watch group is the Block Captain. This person is an integral component to keeping the block actively involved in crime prevention efforts as well as the important process of information exchange between neighbors.

Because we are still trying to get to know who many of our neighbors and residents are, we have opted to divide the North Main Neighborhood into Quadrants instead of blocks and institute Quadrant Captains. Quadrant captains are the “go-to” person to pull together city and neighborhood resources to address neighborhood issues. The Quadrant Captains gain the respect of their neighbors and make their block a better place for all to live.

The NOMA Quadrants are:

South Q: Lafayette to Miller St. / Railroad St to Jackson St.
MidSouth Q: Miller St. to 12th St. / Railroad and Richard St. to Jackson St.
MidNorth Q: 12th St. to 14th St. / Richard St. to Jackson St.
North Q: 14th St. to 17th St. / N. Lee St. to Jackson St.

We are grateful to the following people who have volunteered to be Quadrant Captains in these areas:

South Q: Josef Medlin
MidSouth Q: Jessica Koontz
MidNorth Q: TBD (we still need a Quadrant Captain in MidNorth)
North Q: Sean Meyers

The Quadrant Captain is the person who facilitates the unity of that section of the neighborhood, distributes information, and coordinates activities. The primary duties of the Quadrant Captain are:

1. Lead by Example
• Take ownership to address issues such as cleaning up litter and others identified below
• Encourage neighbors to take ownership for their blocks
• Hold a Cleanup/Party - or the “Block of the Month” award to celebrate your successes!
• Contact new residents to get them involved and to obtain their support and participation.

2. As Needed (weekly?) Keep an eye out in the neighborhood and report problems. Call, send letters, or emails.
• Litter, high weeds & grass (more than 10 inches high), overflowing garbage cans
• Rats, roaches, and other litter-related health violations
• Abandoned cars
• Unusual traffic patterns or suspicious activity (for example, large numbers of strangers visiting)

3. Develop a Neighborhood Quadrant Communication System to distribute vital information to neighbors pertaining to criminal activity and other concerns that develop in the area. This can be an email system, telephone tree, and/or a one-page flyer that can be quickly distributed.

4. Monthly
Quadrant Captains should take a walk up and down around their quadrant and keep a tally of:

• Vacant Buildings
• Building and Property maintenance issues and fire code violations
• Street maintenance issues (broken curbs, sink holes, dead animals)
• Street lighting issues


5. Quadrant Captains Should Encourage Neighbors to advise them concerning criminal activity. It is the victim's responsibility to contact the police. However, the Quadrant Captain can keep a record of break-ins, vandalism, or any activity that becomes a concern for our neighbors. This information can be provided to NOMA to post on the website or to take up with local support agencies.



Remember: Our recommendation to all citizens who see a crime in progress or notice suspicious activity is to observe and report from a place of safety. We strongly suggest that you not confront an offender unless you are in immediate danger. This applies to you and your neighbors. We do not want anyone to get hurt or injured trying to apprehend an offender or interfering with an incident other than to report the activity to the police. If you or your neighbors witness a crime in progress or observe suspicious behavior, always call 911.

Your Quadrant Captain's contact information will be distributed through our email list, so if you have not let us know your contact information, please email this to themainneighborhood@gmail.com.

Thanks to All!