Update 19 – December 2019
President’s Message Zola Brown
It’s hard to believe but 2020 is almost here and I look forward to another great year as your 19th Ward President. We spent a lot of time in 2019 making people aware of all the incredible things we do as a community of volunteers. We started 2019 rallying for community residents in a fire and we wrapped up our year rallying for a community business from a robbery. We had record attendance numbers at our House Tour event hosted by School 16 and our Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration program hosted at Arnett Library. Square Fair was successful! We formed new committees and engaged more community residents. The delegates were more involved in 2019 activities. Despite the closing of Keybank and Cutaia’s Meat Market on Chili Avenue, the 19th Ward unified as a community to face our challenges together. We must keep the positive momentum going for 2020 by increasing our membership numbers, bringing our neighbors together more, supporting our local businesses and creating more opportunities for young people in the community.
Please contact the 19th Ward office and volunteer your time in 2020. Some areas include: sign up for a 19th Ward Committee; participate in the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration and Luminary events; host a Candlelight Dinner for your neighbors, or sign up to help with the Spelling Bee, Farmers Market or Square Fair. Check out our list of events at www.19WCA.org.
Many residents call needing help with their homes. Please send us your references if you know someone in the neighborhood who is handy with odd jobs, does snow removal, fixes computers, paving, roofing, or much more. We can add their name to our good neighbor list.
I wish Jackie Farrell a happy retirement and welcome Ruth Jenerson, our new office manager. Congratulations to Jeremy Coleman, 2nd Vice President and Rich Damick, Treasurer. Thank you to everyone that served on the 2019 Executive Board and Delegate Council and welcome 2020 Board/Delegates. We welcome our businesses, churches, renters, homeowners, and everyone in between to become a member of the 19th Ward Community Association!
In Unity,
Zola Brown, President
New Office Manager – Welcome Ruth!
Ruth is excited to work as the new office manager at 19WCA! She has extensive experience in the administrative field supporting senior management at the University of Rochester, Bausch and Lomb, and Xerox Corp. She retired from Gannett Newspapers in 2018.
Ruth is a lung cancer survivor and shares her cancer experience to encourage others to advocate for their health story. She is the Associate Pastor and Director of Community Outreach at her church.
Ruth has one son, Jordan and 2 granddaughters, Laila and Nyla.
Update 19 Update
Greetings from the 19th Ward Communications Committee! We are trying out a new format for Update 19 to start the New Year. The Communications Committee is working on updating our website, and while we’re doing so we thought we would use the blogging feature to keep Update 19 current. This format allows us some flexibility in when the monthly newsletter is posted, and a more consistent format. If you have any feedback or concerns, please get in touch with our new Office Manager Ruth, or join us the third Tuesday of the month, 6pm at Arnett library to meet with the Communications Committee directly!
Recent Events
Citizen and Merchant of the Year Dinner – October 5th, 2019
Our annual Citizen and Merchant of the Year Dinner took place on October 5th.
Pearl Rugless, Hall of Fame Award 
Mary Daniel Cooper, Citizen of the Year 
Tae-Kwon-Do Studio, Merchant of the Year
Annual Convention – November 22, 2019
At our Annual Convention on November 22, we had our usual business meeting, elections, raffles, and fun with our neighbors!
Upcoming Events
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- Celebration at Arnett Library on Saturday, January 18th from 12pm-1pm. From the Arnett website: “Performers include the New Life Gospel Choir and the Boys and Girls Club Choir. Presented by the 19th Ward Community Association and the Arnett Friends Music Series team.”
- Luminary Night and Neighborhood Hot Spots on the Monday, January 20th from 6pm-9pm. Get in touch to host a hot spot!
Skating Party
- February 1st, 2020 at the Genesee Valley Park Ice Rink in collaboration with the University of Rochester
Candlelight Dinners
- February 8th, 2020. For over 25 years, it has been a winter custom to have potluck dinners throughout the 19th Ward, bringing together old and new neighbors, for an evening to celebrate community. Get in touch with our office if you would like to host or attend!
Spelling Bee
- March 28, 2020. Check out the video from last year!
Palm Sunday Breakfast
- April 5, 2020.
Square Fair
- June 6, 2020. Westside Farmer’s Market opens!
Delegate Council
- January 9
- February 13
- March 12
- April 9
- May 14
- June 11
- September 10
- October 8
- November 12
- December 10
Check upcoming issues of Update 19 for more information about our summer and fall events!
Committee Reports
Schools Committee
Highlights:
The Schools Committee meets the first Tuesday of the month at 7 pm in the association office.
This year we will coordinate the 10th Annual 19th ward Spelling Bee. It is a collaboration between Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, Rochester Area Community Foundation, University of Rochester, Arnett Library, Rochester City School District and the 19th Ward Community Association. The event is for students in grades 3 through 6 at schools 10, 16, 19, 29 and 44. Each school will be represented by two finalists and one alternate in each grade level. RACF funds $500 scholarships for all winners as well as funds for the event, teachers work with the students to prepare them for the competition, U of R provides the facility and lunch, the fraternity members host the students and run the spelling bee, RCSD provides a bus to transport students from the 19th ward to U of R, Friends of the Library provide refreshments, and the library hosts practice sessions. This year the Spelling Bee will be held in Hoyt Hall at 1pm on March 28. The co-chairs are Douglas and Charlotte Giebel.
The committee is working with the 19th ward schools to help them make the transition to community schools. You will hear more on this throughout the year.
Garden Committee
Highlights:
The Garden Committee is a brand new committee! Read about their work in the full report below and reach out to our office manager if you would like to get involved.
Communications Committee
Highlights:
Chair: Kate Phillips
The Communications Committee is also brand new! The Communications Committee meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 6pm. During market season (June – October) the committee meets at the Westside Farmers’ Market and during the off-season the committee meets at Arnett library. So far, we have focused on the following goals:
● Redesigning the 19th Ward Website to better meet community members’ needs.
● In connection with the History & Archives Committee, planning an Instagram account to share the stories of our residents and businesses.
● Designing new materials for the 19th Ward Community Association to engage residents.
● In the new year, the Communications Committee plans to join with the Strategic Planning Committee.
House Tour
Highlights:
Chair: Tracey Hanmer-Karl
The 39th House Tour took place on Saturday, October 19th. House Tours generally take place every 2 years. All who are interested are welcome to join our committee.
Accomplishments:
● This year’s House Tour was a great success with 226 tickets sold. We met and exceeded our goals and had a net profit of $4,427.83, which is more than double the previous tour.
● The feedback from the homeowners, volunteers, as well as the post tour survey responses was overwhelmingly positive.
● Publicity both print and online were successful. We held a raffle and publicized at Beats at Brooks and the Market which was new, fun and engaging. A feature article written by Mary Chao for the D&C was great publicity and drove some of the day of ticket sales.
● The headquarters was at School #16 with a pre tour talk given by SWBR, the architectural firm responsible for the school remodel. Principal Lisa Garrow arranged for her teachers to give tours of the school after the talk and these tours were a big hit.
Housing Committee
Highlights:
Chair: Scott Beck
The 19th Ward Housing Committee meets the third Thursday of each month at 1 pm, at the Neighborhood Service Center, which is located at 923 Genesee St. Our meetings generally last about an hour. A City representative from Buildings and Code Enforcement attends to work with us on specific properties, concerns/issues, code enforcement, etc.
The Housing Committee is actively seeking new members – join us!
Schools Committee
Highlights:
The Schools Committee meets the first Tuesday of the month at 7 pm in the association office.
This year we will coordinate the 10th Annual 19th ward Spelling Bee. It is a collaboration between Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, Rochester Area Community Foundation, University of Rochester, Arnett Library, Rochester City School District and the 19th Ward Community Association. The event is for students in grades 3 through 6 at schools 10, 16, 19, 29 and 44. Each school will be represented by two finalists and one alternate in each grade level. RACF funds $500 scholarships for all winners as well as funds for the event, teachers work with the students to prepare them for the competition, U of R provides the facility and lunch, the fraternity members host the students and run the spelling bee, RCSD provides a bus to transport students from the 19th ward to U of R, Friends of the Library provide refreshments, and the library hosts practice sessions. This year the Spelling Bee will be held in Hoyt Hall at 1pm on March 28. The co-chairs are Douglas and Charlotte Giebel.
The committee is working with the 19th ward schools to help them make the transition to community schools. You will hear more on this throughout the year.
Delegates Council
Highlights:
Delegates Council continues to meet at 7:00 PM the 2nd Thursday of the month at the Arnett Branch Library. Our next meeting is on Thursday, January 9th, 2020. See full list of dates above!
Other news:
Work Camps Home Repair – Application Deadline March 31, 2020
Empire State Trail Survey
“Common Ground Health based in Rochester, NY is currently conducting a Health Impact Assessment on the Empire State Trail – located on the Erie Canal. They are seeking to learn more about how neighborhoods interact with the trail, if you are from the 19th Ward and have a moment to share your experiences please answer this short survey to help us learn more about your community!”
Teen Empowerment
Check out Teen Empowerment‘s important mission of supporting our youth.
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