Last fall neighbors in the Severance area began working with the president of the Cleveland Heights Citizens Advisory Committee, Jim Cull, to clean-up and beautify the area's streetscape. The Severance Neighborhood Organization (SNO) was formed to improve the street aesthetics in the neighborhood that includes the newly formed Inglewood Historic District and is served by Noble and Oxford Elementary Schools and the Noble Neighborhood Library.

The streetscape SNO is targeting for improvement is the stretch of Mayfield Road that runs from Warrenville Center to Vandemar Road on the north side, and from Warrensville Center to South Noble Road on the south side.

The group held its first clean-up in the fall and will be continuing their efforts with a clean-up and planting to be held on Saturday, May 10. All volunteers should meet at the corner of Mayfield and South Noble roads at 10 a.m.

Merchants in the area will provide the water needed to start and maintain plantings. Plantings will be donated by the neighborhood. Boy Scout Troop #403, Cub Scout Pack 3, and Girl Scout Troop #1282, all from the Oxford neighborhood, have generously offered their energies and time to work on the clean-up. And, the city's community relations department is providing assistance.

A lot of help will be needed throughout the spring and summer to create and maintain the plantings. Volunteers are needed to water the plants throughout the summer months. Severance Neighborhood Organization needs people to volunteer to water the plants for only one or two days this summer. (That is one or two days in the summer—NOT the same days every week). Additionally, SNO needs the energy and creativity of the people in the area to develop long-range plans for improving the street aesthetics of this neighborhood (for example, purchasing and maintaining hanging flower baskets and public art).

Anyone interested in developing this organization and/or working on the streetscape this summer, please email SNOneighbors@yahoo.com or contact Fran Mentch, 381-5356, or Teresa Ciz-Madia, tgciz@aol.com. And, please contact us if you would like to be added to our emailing list.

Fran Mentch is a resident of the Severance neighborhood.