By Scott Babcock
I recall a time seven or so years ago that the City talked about doing away with a residential recycling program entirely. Thanks to the efforts of Mayor Hickenlooper and the relatively high participation rates of Denver residents, this program is now the model that other forward-thinking cities and counties hope to duplicate. Today, the City is taking its recycling program one step further, and now is offering some residents a composting collection service. Thanks to a grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and donations from Rehrig Pacific and A1 Organics, the City is testing composting collection through a new pilot program. Organic material, like food, soiled paper and yard debris, is the single largest item we throw away in our landfill and it is 100 percent compostable.
The residential composting collection began this October to test collection services at a maximum of 3,300 Denver homes. Each home was provided with a green, 65-gallon composting cart (the same size as the purple Denver Recycles carts) and a small kitchen pail to collect organic material inside the home. The green carts will be serviced weekly during the growing season, then every-other-week through the winter.
The areas eligible for the pilot program were selected to provide a representative sample of the City and County based on a number of different factors. At this time, funding limits the project to 3,300 homes in these areas (with the nearest area being Park Hill).
The composting collection program currently accepts organic material that includes: yard debris (grass clippings, plant trimmings, small branches, weeds and leaves); food (fruit and vegetable trimmings, meat, dairy, coffee grounds, bread and other processed food); and soiled paper (used paper plates, paper coffee cups, tea bags, coffee filters, non-foil lined paper milk cartons, paper ice cream cartons), and much more. The program prohibits any type of plastic materials. These contain contaminants that prohibit the ability to compost the organic material.
The Pilot Project will last until June 2009. It will be evaluated at that time and depending on the outcome, it could be expanded city-wide.
The Mayfair Board welcomed several new members to the board and elected new officers for 2009. New members are Kevin Kennedy, Elizabeth Lewis and Kristin Love.
At the December meeting, Scott Babcock was re-elected as president of the board, Wayne Sirmons was elected co-vice president (along with David Bromberg), and Elaine Zupancic was elected secretary, replacing Mike Nelson who has left the board.
Congratulations to new board members and officers, and thank you, Mike for your service to Mayfair Neighbors.
By Marilyn Bromberg
Mayfair Neighbors’ held its fall general meeting at Palmer Elementary on October 14. A brief recap of presentations follows:
Board Update
Board President Scott Babcock shared that the Board and our association are involved at multiple levels—neighborhood and city—to provide input on issues that affect Mayfair. In partnership with Bellevue-Hale, we sent a letter to our city council representatives, traffic engineering and police, outlining various traffic concerns. See the cover story for their response.
Palmer Elementary
Palmer principal Elizabeth Trujillo began by thanking Mayfair residents for the donation from the silent auction and wine tasting the year before that enabled the school to purchase much-needed books and maps for students. She then spoke enthusiastically about significant gains at the Palmer with the new school year. Compared to 2007:
Marcia Johnson, District 5 City Council
With the elections just around the corner, Councilwoman Johnson talked about the ballot initiatives of interest to the city, and urged residents to vote early, and take advantage of mail-in voting whenever possible to avoid long lines on election day.
Denver Police
District 3 liaison Officer Tony Burkhardt shared the good news that crime in the Mayfair area was down from the previous quarter. He reiterated the importance of citizen participation at the regular meetings where the Department reviews what’s happening on the crime front in every neighborhood of the city. To view the latest crime statistics by neighborhood, click here.
University Hospital Redevelopment
Marcus Pachner with Shea Neighbors explained that the project’s general development plan was awaiting city approval, with public hearings on the plan beginning in early December. He described the various zoning elements of the plan that support the area’s proposed mixed use of high density commercial and residential, including access to new commercial space that will be facilitated by the re-establishment of the street grid at Albion between 8th and 9th Streets. Construction begins in 3Q 2009, with an opening date in 3Q 2010.
Lindsley Park Update and Environmental News
Ray Allen, president of the Bellevue-Hale neighborhood association, talked about the $25,000 grant from Rose Medical Center for improvements at Lindsley Park, and that planning is underway for its use. Bellevue-Hale is also seeking supplemental funding from the City. Ray also spoke about the growing interest among consumers around energy efficiency and conservation. He suggested two sites with helpful information: Smart Energy Living and State of Colorado.
The meeting closed with an invitation to all residents to become involved in the issues affecting our neighborhood. If you would like to get involved in one of our committees, e.g., Parks and Recreation, Transportation, Crime and Safety, please email
info@mayfairdenver.org.
Next General Meeting
Mark your calendars now to attend the fall general meeting on Tuesday, April 14, 7:00 p.m. at Palmer Elementary School. In addition, all are invited to attend the Board’s monthly meetings held the first Monday of each month at the East Montclair Community Center. 6740 East Colfax Avenue.
By Mark Gardinier
Mayfair Neighbors extends many thanks to those who attended and donated to our annual silent auction. This year’s event was held on October 22 at the Cork House, and thanks to those who attended, we were able to donate more than $950 to the Palmer Elementary PTA from the proceeds of the event. Our President, Scott Babcock, spent enormous amounts of time contacting local businesses and other places where he does business to generate the items that we auctioned off this year. Other members of the Mayfair Neighbors board chipped in to make the evening run smoothly.
The Board thanks all these Mayfair community sponsors and businesses who contributed items for the auction: King Soopers, Dr. Percy Lyle; Fairfax Home Solutions; Mayfair Liquors; Matt Bergles; Firehouse Animal Hospital; Blaine Olsen; Elaine Zupancic; The FAX Partnership; City Floral; Seasoned Chef; Safeway; Mayfair Cleaners; MK Creations; Emick’s Auto; Relax the Back; and Chelsea Gardens.
Other businesses that contributed to the auction include: Park Hill Golf Course; Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum; Heritage Square; Colorado Symphony Orchestra; Tall Grass Spa & Salon; See Eyewear; and Highlands Garden Café.
Please remember these businesses and their support for Mayfair Neighbors and Palmer Elementary!
By Marilyn Bromberg
How do you spell “opportunity?” What is the meaning of “success?” Ask a third-grader at Palmer Elementary and you’re likely to get the answer “Dictionaries!” On September 29, Mayfair Neighbors board members Nancy Jackson, Elaine Zupancic and David Bromberg ‘went to school’ to participate in the annual distribution of dictionaries and thesauruses to about 50 students in two third-grade classes led by teachers Mrs. Kerry Offord-Duncan and Mrs. Kate Logan.
The distribution of these books represents a significant boost to learning for students, according to the teachers, who incorporate dictionary skills into their lesson plans, and provides lots of opportunities for the children to put the books—and their skills—to the test. Each book is personalized for the student, and is theirs to keep. In many cases, these books represent the only book in the child’s household.
The annual Dollar Dictionvary Drive is part of the Dictionary Project, a national program founded in 1992 to improve the reading ability and comprehension of all children, everywhere. Locally, Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation (INC), an association of local neighborhood organizations throughout the city, coordinates the Dollar Dictionary Drive, and has been distributing dictionaries to every third-grader in Denver Public Schools for the past 13 years. Mayfair Neighbors donates toward the purchase of dictionaries, and is one of 33 registered Denver neighborhood organizations to participate in the program.
Contributed by Mayfair Neighbors and INC board members
Nancy Jackson, long-time Mayfair resident, Board member and neighborhood advocate passed away on November 3, 2008 at age 79. In addition to her tireless dedication to all things Mayfair, Nancy’s activities and careers included teaching Army dependents in Europe for ten years, in the public schools here in the states, librarian and legal assistant. Community activities included active participation in Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation (INC), the Mayfair Citizens Group, Montview Presbyterian Church and choir, mentor to young children, and election committee worker. Past-times included playing bridge, reading, enjoying music and the arts, pets, and gardening.
One of Nancy’s greatest causes was her love of and support for Dictionary Project, a national program that raises funds to provide dictionaries to students to keep and use as their own personal reference books. (See story at left.) Steve Nissen, the local Dollar Dictionary Drive (DDD) co-chair, remembered that in the early days of the INC Dollar Dictionary Drive, finding the total number of dictionaries needed was sometimes problematic. One year, the DDD bought their books from K-Mart, but K-Mart did not have enough. Nancy happened to travel to New York just about the same time and stopped by a K-Mart, where she discovered that the store had enough books to make up the difference. Nancy bought the books, packed her suitcases to the brim, and flew those needed books home with her. (She shipped her clothing back separately!) For those who knew her, our reaction was, “That was Nancy!”
Nancy will be missed by all of us on the Mayfair board, her neighbors, and her colleagues at INC. If you would like to make a donation in Nancy’s memory, please mail a check made out to “The Dollar Dictionary Drive” to Dollar Dictionary, P.O. Box 18347, Denver, CO 80218. Go here for more information.
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