Northridge West Neighborhood Council, NWNC Northridge West Neighborhood Council, Unity in Our Community, NWNC
To all Northridge Stakeholders:
This past Saturday was fantastic on three separate fronts. First – Beckford Elementary School held its 2011Family Fun Day with hundreds of fun seekers. Second – Role Model Middle-school student Sam Dobry and his friends along with board members and stakeholders from Porter Ranch and Northridge West Neighborhood Council worked with Councilman Greig Smith cleaning up Limekiln Canyon exposing its beauty. Lastly Operation Clean Sweep completed the cleansing along the north side of Plummer Street from Shirley to Corbin Ave.
Beckford Elementary Rocks! Principal Shelly Brower, along with Kelly Mattenson and the entire Beckford ES staff held an Awesome Family Fun Day. Northridge West’s Engineer/Inventor Charles Gonsowski – A.K.A. Ski had the students and parents lined up at the NWNC booth in an attempt to conquer Ski’s Steady Hand Luke challenge. Of the approximately fifty (50) plus challengers only three (3) individuals made it into the Masters Program by demonstrating they were able to meet the challenge by crossing the 12” bare rod without setting off the alarm. One student spent hours circling and probing the device until she excitedly conquered the challenge with an ear to ear smile that captured the audience’s attention in addition to with high fives and shouts of “I Did It”. One parent had the right stuff from the beginning exhibiting the patience and skills with a steady hand and eye for accuracy. The third individual to conquer Ski’s marvel brain teaser was a student from Beckford with approximately 2 hours of analyzing and practicing her skills to move within the “I Did It” circle. The shine of her eyes and a smile from ear to ear told the story of success.
Limekiln Canyon shines on! Porter Ranch and Northridge West Councils came out in support of Role Model Sam Dobry to clean up the trash and debris finding it way into the Limekiln Canyon Park. The effort lead by this young man demonstrates that pride of ownership isn’t just an adult concern but one of a community concern of all ages. This type of support and commitment by Sam Dobry and the numerous volunteers reflects the growing trend by stakeholders to get actively involved in their community’s efforts to push back the blighted areas dotting our neighborhoods. A Great big shout out to Sam Dobry, Greig Smith and his staff, Dick Rippey, JoAnn Phillips, and Teri Grossman and all the other volunteers that turned out to lend a helping hand.
Operation Clean Sweep tackles Plummer Street! Thanks to the fantastic volunteers of Northridge Operation Clean Sweep was able to complete the sweep along the north side of Plummer Street from Shirley to Corbin Saturday. After three attempts I am happy to report that the area littered with broken bottles, discarded solvent cans, curtains rods, wooden fencing, concrete and masonry has now been swept clean. This area has long been an eye sore for the community not to mention the hazard presented by the broken glass, abandon wood fence and masonry blocking the sidewalks. It is with great pleasure to report the area is now clean, green and safe to walk.
I’d like to thank our newest volunteer Cristina who joined Mr. & Mrs. Paul Bunion Ron & Marlene Wengler, Northridge Rockabilly Teri Grossman, Coach Dick Rippey, Clipper Shark Joe Oswald, the Wilson Clan lead by For Ever Young Martha Wilson and her two rock star performing sons Glen and Robert, Get it Done Now Chris Williams, Coffee Connoisseur Juativa Spurlock, Reciprocating Saw JoAnn Phillips, the Three Beckford ES Graduates Bspice Johnson, Kayley Varga, Kelsey Gonzales, along with Mr. Dependable Robert Graf , Incredible Hulk Craig Michayluk and to a Mighty Fine Craftsmen/Inventor/Engineer Charles Gonsowski, a.k.a. Ski for participating in making Saturday’s events successful and most importantly Fun.
With the help of these volunteers and that of our newcomers who are stepping up and joining Operation Clean Sweep we are making our best attempt to meet the challenge to stem the tide and push back the blighted streets of this great city. These volunteers are demonstrating that giving back to your community can be fun; promotes pride of ownership while developing and building new and existing friendships. These efforts exhibit a community coming together to achieve a shared goal of having a cleaner, greener and safer community where we can live, work, learn and play.
A special Thank you to Thursday’s Dream Team for their efforts along Wilbur Street just north of Chatsworth Street. And to the group of individuals that were responsible for the clean up along the north side of Devonshire Street between Melvin and Corbin. Great job!
Please come join our Thursday Dream Team on April 14, 2011 at 9am along the west side of Wilbur Avenue south of Chatsworth Street as they transform the area back to the glitter and sparkle it once was for all the residents and daily commuters to see and enjoy. Park on Wilbur.
See how you can become involved in helping to improve your neighborhood by going to our web site NorthridgeWest.org for all upcoming events. Thank you and have a great week
Tom Johnson
President
Northridge West Neighborhood Council
PS: Northridge West Neighborhood Council is preparing to conduct a CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams) for all stakeholders of Northridge West. This training will educate you about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact our community. It will train you in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. If you are interested in signing up for this free training please send an email to
