Roots & Roofs Planning Committee

Summary of meeting of March 1, 2016

Present: Terry Althouse, Steve Bollinger, Kelly Capatosto, Omar Elhagmusa, Maddi Napier,
Steve Sterrett, and Michael Wilkos.
The planning committee thoroughly discussed the event and new ideas. The following is a
summary of the plans so far.
Date and schedule
The sixth annual Roots & Roofs will be Saturday, May 14. The central gathering place will
be Godman Guild Association, 303 E. Sixth Avenue.
Schedule for the day:
o 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Teams of volunteers plants flowers, prepare community
gardens, and pick up litter.
o 12:30 to 1 p.m. Lunch for volunteers at Godman Guild. Civic association president will
thank volunteers during lunch. Godman Guilds Blue Bow Tie Catering will be engaged
to provide food.
o 1 p.m. Pick-up of plants and bulbs and delivery of mulch begins.
Potential beautification projects
Godman Guilds community garden
4th Street Farms
Fifth Street bird sanctuary
Weinland Park
Indianola Park
Indianola Avenue traffic bump-outs at East Fifth and East Ninth avenues
Southeast corner of North Fifth Street and East Eighth Avenue
Tree nursery on North Fifth Street
Wildflower garden on North Fifth Street lot
Assist senior citizens and persons with disabilities to plant flowers and bulbs in their yards.
Other volunteer projects and tasks
Litter pick-up throughout the neighborhood
Re-install Weinland Park welcome sign on Summit Street and East 11th Avenue
Staff the volunteer table and assign volunteers to projects
Staff the t-shirt distribution table
Staff the sale of plants, bulbs and mulch
Drivers and handlers for mulch delivery (one or two pick-up trucks will be rented)
Coordinate the gardening tools (Columbus Foundation staff will handle)
Staff the event set-up
Staff the event clean-up

Housing component of the event

We will ask Wagenbrenner Development and Edwards Communities to provide architectural
renderings of new housing at Grant Park and south of Gateway for display during lunch.
A brochure will describes housing initiatives in Weinland Park over the past six years.
Publicity
The committee will prepare a Roots & Roofs flyer to be delivered door-to-door throughout
the neighborhood in late April. The flyer will invite senior citizens and those with disabilities
to let us know if they need assistance with plantings. The back of the flyer will have
information on the civic association and social media related to Weinland Park.
A banner promoting Roots & Roofs will be printed and hung on the Weinland Park fence.
Information will be distributed through a news release, the WPCCA Google group, and social
media.
The purchase of sandwich boards to display information will be considered.
Volunteers
Michael Wilkos has a list of team captains who led various projects in 2015. He will contact
them to see if they are willing to serve again.
Organizations who can provide volunteers should inform Michael.
Persons willing to serve as team captains should contact Michael. (Team captains are needed
for the beautification projects and other projects and tasks listed on the first page.)
Kelly Capatosto will work with Veritas Community Church for volunteers to assist senior
citizens and persons with disabilities. She will contact Susan Colbert for a list of persons who
were served in previous years.
Other matters
The committee agreed to prepare 175 t-shirts for volunteers. Committee members will
consider shades of yellow for the t-shirt color at the next meeting.
People may pay for their plants, bulbs and mulch throughout the morning, but they wont
pick up their plants and bulbs until 1 p.m. Delivery of mulch will begin at 1 p.m.
Omar Elhagmusa will speak to his contact in the citys Recreation and Parks Department
about providing mulch for Weinland Park and Indianola Park. He also will contact the
community gardens about their need for mulch.
Next meeting
The planning committee will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, April 5, at 5:30 p.m. at
Godman Guild Association, 303 E. Sixth Avenue.

Summary prepared by Steve Sterrett.