OHNA President Todd Woodson sent out an email that announces this coming Tuesday’s Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) meeting. It is very full of additional information, including some information about an upcoming candidate forum for 5th District City Council seat and chemical spraying in Monroe Park.

Good morning Friends and Neighbors

Our monthly OHNA meeting will be this Tuesday August 27th at 7pm at St Andrews.

There are some events coming up that I encourage you to be a part of including 5th District City Council candidate meet and greets and a fundraiser for the 14th Annual Halloween Parade *YES! Its happening again in Oregon Hill this year! Lets make it the coolest ever!:

* Wednesday August 28 Jer’Mykeal McCoy will have a meet and greet at Little Mexico restaurant at 1328 W Cary st 6-8 pm. Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to: staff@mccoyforrva.com contribution levels go from $25-1000.

* Tuesday, September 10 There will be a meet and greet for Stephanie Lynch at the home of Ruth Twiggs, 329 1/2 S Pine St from 6-7:30. Refreshments will be served and special guest is Ghazala Hashmi, candidate for 10th District State Senator. Please RSVP to Catherine Travers at electstephanielynch@gmail.com

* Thursday, September 12 at 7pm at Patrick Henry Charter School Auditorium there will be a candidates forum for all 8 candidates vying for our 5th District City Council Seat, currently held by Parker Agelasto. This is sponsored by many neighborhood associations including Oregon Hill , Randolph, Woodland Heights, Byrd Park as well as the Sierra Club Falls of the James Chapter. I am doing publicity for this event so will be reminding everybody. Each neighborhood can submit 3 questions for the candidates, so please email me your questions. It is important that we hear the candidates so we can make a wise choice to keep up the high standards provided by Councilman Agelasto.

* 14th Annual Halloween Parade Fundraiser!!! will be held (ironically) on Friday the 13th of September from 7-11 at 2718 Bainbridge St 23225. There will be MUSIC and PUPPETS and DANCING!

Our OHNA meeting will include all the usual updates from police and VCU and our councilman and the only current agenda item is a presentation by a VCU group to promote a writers group.

In other announcements, OHNA has been awarded a Community Roots Grant that will provide 10-12 street trees for our neighborhood! I’ve placed the priority on trees that will positively impact Open High and St Andrews School, but other wells will get trees as well. We will need volunteers to help plant the trees and to participate in watering for the first 2 years. Email me if interested.

Finally, I ask that you be careful if visiting Monroe Park, especially with pets and small children. A lady and her dog from the area were recently in the Park as they were spraying chemicals on trees and her dog collapsed from a seizure, presumably from the exposore. She incurred a $300 Vet bill. One of the chemicals sprayed was an RTSA Horticultural Oil which is listed as a category 1 substance in the Aspiration Toxicity Category by the government. If you get enough of this in your body, it will KILL YOU. I just received the lengthy FOIA Request yesterday and will have more information soon. These chemicals were sprayed by a company hired by VCU.

See you Tuesday, Todd