BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID;X-RICAL-TZSOURCE=TZINFO:-//com.denhaven2/NONSGML ri_cal gem//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN VERSION:2.0 BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:CHADWICK AVENUE BLOCK ASSOCIATION\nOFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE: Su nday\, May 20\, 2012\nContact: Sandra L. West\, 973-733-5411(day) or San draL.West@yahoo.com\nFROM BOXING GLOVES TO GARDEN GLOVES\nThe small inne r village of Chadwick Avenue between Nye &\; Custer avenues is typica l of aging urban communities: residents battle problems of drug invasion \, abandoned buildings\, and illegal dumping. This April\, residents too k off the boxing gloves and put on garden gloves. the West-Milton Neighb orhood Garden becames official Sunday\, May 27th\, 2012 at 4 p.m. with t he hoisting of the sign that proudly proclaims it is "sponsored by The C hadwick Avenue Block Association\," in Newark\, NJ. The ceremony takes p lace on the corner lot of Chadwick &\; Hawthorne Place\, near 368 Cha dwick.\nThe garden was initiated in April 2012 by concerned citizen and avid gardener Charles Cooper who said he wanted to "keep the neighborhoo d in the neighborhood." He planted rose bushes and other perennials\, an d makes sure the lot is well manicured and just as neat as the garden of his own home\, directly across the street. Cooper believes "Nature abho rs a vacuum\, so with these flowers we will fill this vacuum." Cooper wo uld like block association meetings to now be held in the neighborhood g arden.\nLast Saturday\, on May 19th\, several neighbors joined Cooper to add flowers\, to trim flower bed edges\, and to sprinkle black mulch ar ound the posies. One person was Janice Kettles of nearby Bock Avenue who is running for South Ward District Leader #30. Another\, public school teacher and civic leader Samantha Lott-Velez\, made it a day of communit y service for her family by bringing her husband and two of their four c hildren to prod the earth and plant something of beauty.\nSandra L. West \, president of the association\, ordered oak trees\, red bush trees\, a nd white button shrubs from the City of Newark but the bulk of the purpl e and pink flowers and green striped bushes and red bushes \;are pur chased by the residents themselves\, \;and \; \;work put int o the garden is a labor of love.\nA person who respects history\, West n amed the garden in tribute to the late Mr. Milton - a former block assoc iation member whose first name she never knew but who maintained a sizab le vegetable garden on Bergen &\; Hawthorne Place when she was growin g up in the area - and the late Mr. Willie A. West - a labor\, civic\, a nd religious leader who founded the block association in August 1959.\nW est mentioned the garden project to Deacon Walter Frager at her church\, Bethany Baptist Church in Newark\, and asked him to please make a black and white sign for the garden. But when the sign was completed and unfu rled\, it was not a plain white background with simple black letters but vibrant green and gold with flourishes and curlicues\, a work of art th at will be hung ceremoniously on Sunday\, with a proud Deacon Frager loo king on as flashbulbs snap.\nChadwick Avenue may be like a lot of old st reets in an aging city\; sometimes the negatives can be overwhelming. Bu t\, Cooper\, West\, Kettles\, the Lott-Velez family\, and other supporte rs of the garden are not giving up. Full of purpose\, they continue to p lant yellow roses\, red bush trees\, and white button shrubs because the y feel the garden\, on a lot that has been abandoned and abused for at l east 30 years\, will not only beautify the area and make the air smell s weeter\, but pull neighbors together to do something of value for the co mmon good.\n-30-\n \; URL:http://newarknj.patch.com/events/from-boxing-gloves-to-garden-gloves- block-association-dedicates-neighborhood-garden SUMMARY:From Boxing Gloves to Garden Gloves: Block Association Dedicates Neighborhood Garden LOCATION:368 Chadwick Ave\, Newark\, NJ 07112: 368 Chadwick Ave\, Newark\ , NJ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR