Noble Neighbors reflects on eight years of advocacy

A workday at Delmore Community Orchard.

Noble Neighbors (www.nobleneighbors.com) is celebrating its eighth year of advocacy for the neighborhoods along Noble Road. In 2021, another year marked by adaptation and creativity, Noble Neighbors found ways to gather and serve the community, while maintaining COVID protocols.

The new mini-park at Noble and Roanoke roads—developed as a gift to the community by Barb Sosnowski, Laura Marks and others—served as the site of various community activities.

In January, instead of holding the usual annual dinner celebration, Noble Neighbors gathered to create a temporary art display at the park. All residents were invited to express wishes for the upcoming year, which were then displayed on colorful tin-can wind chimes hung in the trees. In April, an Arbor Day celebration included planting trees and flowers, and in July the park hosted Noble Neighbors' monthly meeting.

Noble Gardeners' Market took place in the park on Saturday mornings in August and September. More sellers and buyers participated than in any previous year, as the community embraced the concept of neighbors selling  to other neighbors the vegetables and flowers they grew in their backyards and community gardens.

Elsewhere in the Noble neighborhoods, the annual We Are Noble celebration focused on Noble's five community perennial gardens.

Delmore Community Orchard stewards hosted community workdays at the orchard, planting more pollinator-friendly flowers, trimming the trees, and devising more ways to deter the deer. They harvested the orchard's first fruits—pears, peaches and apples—and sold some at the Saturday market.

In October, a meet-the-candidates gathering offered one-on-one conversations with those seeking elected office, and 19 of the 21 candidates in local races participated.

The Noble Corridor brainstorming group continues its work to identify and advocate for revitalization projects.

Benches from the Noble Road Corridor Planning Project steering committee’s “Noble-Ity” project were installed along Noble Road, and a successful IOBY fundraising campaign was launched by FutureHeights to fund the next phase of the project.

Late August saw neighbors on their hands and knees chalking words of welcome and encouragement for the start of the new school year on the sidewalks outside Caledonia, Oxford and Noble elementary schools and Monticello Middle School. Students, parents, faculty and school board members joined in the fun.

Green Noble, a committee of Noble Neighbors with the purpose of building a diverse community through gardening, was active throughout the year. Highlights included viewing David Attenborough’s “A Life on Our Planet,” and visiting Vel’s Purple Oasis (www.velscott.com/purpleoasis), along with hearing from several guest speakers and carrying out educational activities.

Noble Neighbors also offered support to other organizations that are contributing to the Noble neighborhoods, including the Cleveland Heights Green Team, MetroHealth Friends of Mothers and Infants Program, Cleveland Heights Garden Walk, Noble School Community Learning Center and the Cigar Box Guitar Project.

Noble Neighbors is proud to be part of the Cleveland Heights community and grateful to FutureHeights and the city of Cleveland Heights for their support.

Susan Sanders and Brenda H. May

Susan Sanders and Brenda H. May are Noble Neighbors leaders.

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Volume 15, Issue 1, Posted 10:56 AM, 01.01.2022