At the November 2019 BNA general membership meeting, officers and executive board members were elected for 2020. They are:
- President: Russell Moore
- Vice President: Chandra Palmer
- Secretary: Vickie Grinde
- Treasurer: Sheila Radecki
- General Board Seats: Mario Gonsalez, William Harvison and Patty Goss
We very much want to thank former secretary Rob Sorbo for his excellent service on the board these past two years and welcome Vickie who will be filling his post. We also want to recognize former board member Louise Buck for all she did this past year and welcome back to the board Patty Goss who has served BNA for many years.
2019 has been a year of transition. BNA held fewer pot luck dinners and regular membership and board meetings, but also held more events – most notably several street cleanups, as well as ongoing L.A. Wise Park cleanup.
In short, we’re doing more and talking less! More than 300 attended the BNA-hosted Bissett Neighborhood Night Out in conjunction with the Bissett Elementary Open House in August. Over 60 households participated in the June neighborhood cleanup and about 30 households participated in the very successful July neighborhood-wide yard sale. In May, BNA conducted a workshop on bicycle safety, and closed the year with a very enjoyable Christmas dinner and party hosted by Faith Assembly of God Church.
In support of efforts to improve neighborhoods across the city, BNA continued providing advocacy for Bissett through participation in the Neighborhood Advisory Council, and in September, BNA conducted a workshop with residents to gather and provide ideas to the City in the Forward SGF comprehensive planning process.
In 2017 and 2018, BNA wrote successful Neighborhood Works grant applications to fund the L.A. Wise Park pavilion (built in 2018), additional improvements to the park, and a sidewalk connecting the park walking paths to Bissett Elementary. Lighting was added to the new pavilion in 2019, and we anticipate completion of the projects in 2020.
There are many who deserve our recognition and appreciation, without whom most of our 2019 activities would not have been possible, let alone successful. First, thanks to the many volunteers who helped with our events and meetings. Thanks to the meeting speakers and the many organizational representatives at our Neighborhood Night Out who helped our residents learn ways to improve health, their properties, and learn about many services available to them.
Thanks to the organizations and business partners that contributed food and funding, notably, Bubba’s Barbeque and Daylight Donuts, both on West Bypass, Complete Electronics Recycling on Chestnut Expressway, the Salvation Army, Culvers, and Faith Assembly of God off West Division.
Special thanks also to Caring Communities of CPO and the Park Board for their partnership in many of our events. And thanks to the City of Springfield for their financial support via the Great Neighborhoods Program, their support of the neighborhood-wide cleanups, communications support via this newsletter and its companion Website, and continuing staff support of NAC.
We look forward to another great year of activities in 2020 under the leadership of our newly elected officers and board.