July 7, 2011
Ramp project sign of improved cooperation By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A renewed spirit of cooperation among community leaders in Clintonville, Northland and North Linden has led to this: What do you do with 250 pounds of bird droppings? “We didn’t save it,” according to Clintonville Area Commission chairman John DeFourny.
Instead, he said, the appalling amount of pigeon poop collected by volunteers at the June 25 Revamp the Ramp cleanup project at the Interstate 71 and John DeFourny Cooke Road interchange was disposed of in a Dumpster with a scale that DeFourny has for his real estate business.
The effort was a joint project of the Northland Community Council, Clintonville Area Commission and North Linden Area Commission, with volunteers from the Adena Brook Community of Clintonville also turning out to help. The project was not only successful, according to members of some of the civic groups involved, but also could herald the dawn of a new era of cooperation among neighborhoods and neighborhood
organizations. “I’m ecstatic about the collaborative nature of this project,” NCC vice president Emmanuel V. Remy said. “With tighter budgets with local government, state government, federal government, things need to be done more at a grassroots level. “I think we all as community activists need to figure out ways to do more of this kind of work with our neighbors and other
community organizations if we want to get things done,” he said. DeFourny called Revamp the Ramp, which was conceived first separately and then jointly by Remy and the CAC’s James R. Blazer II, “something small that could be big.” “Now there will be some growing cooperation, especially as we discuss these See RAMP PROJECT, page A4
Wounded officer to be honored at CAC meeting By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
At the next monthly meeting of the Clintonville Area Commission, two commendations will be issued for Columbus Division of Police officer John Sullivan, who was wounded in the line of duty in late April. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. today (Thursday, July 7) in the Whetstone Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Sullivan, who at one time served in the precinct that includes Clintonville, will be receiving commendations issued by state Sen. Jim Hughes (RColumbus) and one from the area commission, District 7 representative Dave Southan said Jim Hughes last week. Southan is the CAC’s safety liaison. The July 7 meeting will be preceded by a session of the zoning and variance committee starting at 6, according to area commission chairman John DeDave Southan Fourny. The regular session will open with the welcoming of new members Rob Wood and Nancy Kuhel, according to the agenda DeFourny distributed last week. Wood takes the place of Mike McLaughlin as the District 1 representative while Kuhel will Rob Wood be replacing Sarah Snyder for District 2. Snyder and McLaughlin opted not to seek additional terms in the election that was held in early May. Also on the agenda will be variance requests relating to the Nancy Kuhel property at 60 Oakland Park Ave. One is for a reduction in the side yard setback from 10 feet to eight feet and the other is for
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
(Above) Melanie Long, owner of Virtue Salon and Barber Shop, cuts Emily McKewen’s hair on June 30. Long opened her vegan shop earlier this year. (Below) Some of the vegan products used at the salon.
Vegan approach paying off for salon owner By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
A vegan restaurant? Sure. But a vegan hair salon? Why not? That was how Melanie Long looked at it when she began contemplating the idea of going into business for herself. She had worked for others from the time she was 17 in her native Galion and continuing after she moved to Columbus to finish her college education at Ohio State University. Most people who launch their own small business want to adopt the best practices they observed where they previously worked. Long sought to jettison the worst practices she saw working in various salons in the Columbus area. Now 26, Long is the owner-operator of Virtue Salon and Barber Shop LLC at 3333 N. High St. Launched earlier this year, Long is fairly certain hers is the only vegan salon in Ohio. Long, who has a degree in art from OSU, was drawn to the idea of being her own boss after working for others for around nine years. “It is kind of a hot thing right now, to have a small business,” she said last week, noting that people are increasingly trying to support enterprises in their own neighborhoods.
But in launching her own salon, Long said that she wanted to be much more eco-friendly than some of the shops where she had worked. “Maybe eco-friendly to the max,” she said. At the same time Long was making plans to start a hair salon, she was trying to maintain a vegan lifestyle. In the process, she said that she became aware of the availability of vegan haircare products, ones that were organic and sulfate-free. There are small product lines manufactured throughout the United States — and Long had already decided to stick with American-made — that use no animal byproducts and are “botanically based,” she said. “It’s not as easy to find,” Logan said. “It takes
an extra step.” In point of fact, Long added, once found, these domestic products turned out to be no more expensive than non-vegan ones made in this country. “I though there were a lot of people in Clintonville who were passionate about that,” commented Long, who lives in the neighborhood herself. “Virtue Salon is a built around a group of ideas that promote a more sustainable lifestyle,” according to the website. “As a hairstylist, I began to ponder ideas about how the beauty industry could have a positive approach to life and the environment. “Many salons have become extremely wasteful and dangerous for the environment. I started to research product lines and other ideas to create a more sustainable salon. I was surprised to find how many small companies and manufacturers were working hard to make their products environmentally sound. These companies not only use vegan ingredients but they also use 100-percent recyclable materials for all of the shipping and product packaging.” After finding a spot for her enterprise at the site of a former Indonesian market and recordSee VIRTUE, page A3
See CAC, page A3
Bridge project will Chapter concludes successful year close street, trail MOMS Club By KEVIN PARKS ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Moms: You gotta love ’em. Members of the MOMS (Moms Offering Moms Support) Club of Clintonville give back some of that love by doing service projects in the community. According to Elisabeth Gibson, whose yearlong stint as president of the MOMS Club of Clintonville ended last week, during her terms in office the members: • Adopted the section of the Olentangy River at Kenney Park and held three cleanup days. • Collected old greeting cards for St. Jude’s Card Recycling Program. • Held a book collection for Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the Columbus Metropolitan Library. • Donated food to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. • Donated toys to Goodwill and Toys for Tots. • Donated hats, gloves, blankets, etc. to the Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resources Center. • Sponsored a North Clintonville Intramural League girls T-ball team. • Donated money to the ClintonvilleBeechwold Community Resources Center Ring Around the Roses 5K run.
A closer look The MOMS Club of Clintonville is a local chapter of the International MOMS Club. The nonprofit organization was founded in 1983 by Mary James, a stay-at-home mother in southern California. Originally the Clintonville-Worthington chapter, the MOMS Club of Clintonville split off on its own in 2006. More information about the chapter is available at clintonvillemomsclub.yolasite.com.
• Donated money to the Whetstone Library children’s area. Oh, and they also spent a lot of good times together and had fun outings to various Metro Parks, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Firefly Café, COSI, pumpkinharvesting and apple-picking. “You name it, if it’s something going on in Columbus, we find it and try to make it fun,” said Gibson, whose place as president has been taken by Kari Dew. The MOMS Club of Clintonville is a local chapter of the International MOMS Club. The nonprofit organization was founded in 1983 by Mary James, a stay-at-home
mother in southern California. Originally the Clintonville-Worthington chapter, the MOMS Club of Clintonville split off on its own in 2006. Past-president Gibson said that she became a member in August 2009. “I just had a son who I wanted to have some interaction with other kids,” she said. “I kind of wanted to meet some other moms.” After seeing a notice about the local Moms Offering Moms Support chapter, Gibson said that she checked into it and “really fell in love with the group.” “I think for this MOMS group in particular, Clintonville is a close-knit community and everyone’s kind of like-minded,” Gibson said. All of the approximately 45 members, with around 70 children ranging from newborns to around 7 years old, are stay-athome moms or mothers who only work part-time. A number of the local chapter’s members are wives of graduate students at Ohio State University whose families may be hundreds of miles away, according to Gibson. “This kind of becomes their family and who they rely on for stuff,” she said. More information about the chapter is available at clintonvillemomsclub.yolasite.com.
Franklin County Engineer Dean C. Ringle announced last week that the replacement of the Dodridge Street Bridge, spanning the Olentangy River between Olentangy River Road and Neil Avenue will require East Dodridge Street and the Olentangy Trail, which passes beneath the bridge, to be closed on or about Wednesday, July 13, weather permitting. The street and trail, both located just south of Clintonville, would remain closed until September 2012, according to the announcement. “The project involves the demolition of the current bridge and the construction of a new triplespan, arched, concrete girder structure,” Ringle said in a statement. “Architectural enhancements include decorative railing and street lighting, and a pierfree river span.” The Olentangy Trail and embankment retaining wall adjacent to the bridge will also be rebuilt. The bridge that is being replaced was built in 1967, ac-
cording to a Web page the engineer’s office has set up for the project. The posted detour route for eastbound motorists on Ackerman Road/Dodridge Street will follow Olentangy River Road south to Lane Avenue, east to Neil Avenue and north to Dodridge Street. Westbound traffic will follow the detour in the opposite direction. The posted detour route for southbound pedestrians and biSee PROJECT, page A4