Ecofactory.com did a little number covering these and I share it with you below. Read the whole deal at Ecofactory.

[by the way friend up Mills50 on the facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Mills50 , and follow on the twitter: @mills50]

Here is the city's announcement:

In honor of the 13th annual Children's Week, Orlando children will be enjoying a new playground at the Colonialtown Neighborhood Center. The new playspace will be officially opened by Mayor Buddy Dyer and District 4 City Commissioner Patty Sheehan on Thursday, April 2, 2009 from 3:30 p.m. 4:30p.m. As part of the healthy lifestyle focus of this year's Children's Week, free pedometers will be given to children on a first-come, first-served basis.

Hoping to blow off work to make it. But seems to me that we have already official opened it despite their caution tape. This is just the photo op.

In case you just don't know where, map below:

Our bit of Orlando has an odd mix of food, business, ethnicity and flavor. Mills 50 Main Street is putting on its first big event, "Taste of Mills 50" to showcase the nifty that centers on the namesake intersection. An installment of the Orlando Main Street program, Mills 50 is a business association for the area to help create and promote the identity of the area. Taste of Mills 50, billed as a "community’s vibrantly-creative and progressively-minded diversity" is the first of what is to become and annual event.

Locked in are 30 artists, food and drink from the many restaurants, music and more. Tarot card readings, DJs, massages as well as a silent auction for services from area businesses. This is a big event, 3 unique spaces in the Cruises Only building and next door at the Cameo Theater. You will also be able to get into the the new discount program as a Mills 50 member.

Partial list of the good stuff:

Food + Drink include:
Funky Monkey Wine Co. - Dandelion CommuniTea Cafe
- Loving Hut
- Atlantic Thai
 Viet Garden
- Seven Sisters Coffeehouse

LIVE Music & Performances include:
Osho
Beef Wellington and Divinci
Black V Tribal
- "Fringe" Performers

Visual Artists include:
Donna Dowless
- Nancy Flynn - Julie Kessler
- Carl Knickerbocker
- Blair Lassiter
- Douglas Nesbitt

Mind-Body-Soul Experience includes:
All Behrons – Hypnotist & Reiki
Angenette Massage. Community Therapy
Knowledge for Spiritual Living - commUNITYcenter
- Geho Gold – Soul Light Transformations


Details:

Saturday, March 28, 2009
6 pm to 10 pm
@ Cameo Theater + Cruises Only [1011 + 1013 Colonial Dr.]

more info at www.mills50.org contact Kristine - kristine@mills50.org

First off Saturday, possibly the biggest and best yard sale every year, 9th Annual Colonialtown Yard Sale. A bunch of money hungry residents throw their random junk on the lawn and sell it to you. It is the chance all year to get some good stuff on the cheap. Starts early and you need to move fast. [Map Below]

Next, Leu Gardens Annual Plant Sale. free admission and great plants for good prices. After you have loaded up your car with furniture and the lost dvd collection of Murder She Wrote [you know you will buy if it is cheaper than 2 bucks] head over to finally get the yard looking like some one lives there. 50 plus vendors on both Saturday and Sunday. So you have a chance to still get some yard sale action all day.

And I have already told you about the Think Pink Lemonade Stand. Both days stop by and buy many, many glasses of pink lemonade and help a girl and her very personal fight against breast cancer.

So you have it planned, right. Check out the larger map link below the map to get all the addresses.

See you this weekend.

Angela was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer last April that quickly metastasized in her bones. Over the next months she kept things going, preparing home and work for her absence. She lived a full life till the end. February 14th the cancer finally won. She was married to Reid Petrucelly and had Victoria and a 4 year old son, Vincent.

Now Victoria and her friend Jesse are setting up shop this Saturday and Sunday to hopefully raise "$50" to donate to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Orlando where her mother was treated. A simple goal that is rooted in something much deeper. The loss of a great woman and a mother. A loss that Victoria hopes to make sure no one else goes through again.

I never knew Angela but from what I have read, I believe that she is already proud of her daughter and her Think Pink Lemonade Stand. Victoria and her simple goal is much beyond her age and what any girl should ever have to understand.

Stop by, 1810 Nebraska St - map below, and buy a few dozen glasses of pink lemonade. Hours 9 am to 5 pm Saturday, March 21st and 11 am to 5 pm Sunday, March 22nd.

Pass this along to any you know that likes lemonade [and hates cancer].

Many had wondered why the nearly finished playground got dug up. I speculated that it was a trick to keep us off of it before the real opening. But not. Turns out they need to add a some copper wire, buried for anti-theft and safety, to the large metal poles protruding from the table area that serves as lightening protection. That might be a good idea.

I have heard lots of talk about the Ferncreek situation. Big talk on the new playground.

Commissioner Sheehan has been pushing hard for those schools in District 4, and also the other small neighborhood schools [11 in city limits], to remain open as they will have big impacts on the immediate areas if they were to close.

They are still on the list. She passed along an email from the City Planner in regards to the properties and some of the details of why they were chosen. Of interest is the investigation of the deeds, maybe the City is trying to find ways to hold up some of the closings. There are also use agreements for some of the schools and closing may will impact those as well.

I have mixed feelings about this. I am a teacher and my wife is in education as well. I see the argument for the community schools and the long term benefits. But as our family has received news of possible devastating results of cuts I am not in the position to trade buildings for jobs at this point. [We are not employed by OCPS and not effected by these closings or OCPS cuts]

I have included the letter and the referenced statistical snapshot* below for you to check out and interested in your comments

In light of the anticipated budget challenges next school year, one of the many options being considered by Orange County Public School (OCPS) staff as they work on recommendations to present to the School Board is closing between five to eight elementary schools. It is not clear if OCPS staff plans to close these schools on a temporary basis, until the economy improves, or if the closure would be permanent. We also do not know exactly what schools may be closed and/or what schools may be merged. We do know of the 26 schools on the list for consideration, 11 are located within the City of Orlando and include:
· Fern Creek Elementary
· Hillcrest Elementary
· Kaley Elementary
· Lake Como Elementary
· Rock Lake Elementary
· Richmond Heights Elementary
· Ivey Lane Elementary
· Orange Center Elementary
· Eccleston Elementary
· Washington Shores Elementary
· Grand Avenue Elementary

According to OCPS staff, these schools were selected based on three criteria: student population, geographical proximity and not scheduled for renovation in the next two years. Attached is a statistical snapshot for each of the schools listed above. The snapshot includes the school’s capacity, student enrollment, attendance zone, and the year the school is scheduled for renovation. I’ve included a separate map showing the schools geographical proximity to other elementary schools. I hope you will find this information helpful.

Our neighborhood schools help create the unique and distinctive fabric of our city. Closing small, neighborhood elementary schools could have a profound and long lasting impact on not just our school system, but our neighborhoods as well. The closure of neighborhood schools could result in substantial and sustained loss for the surrounding community if done in an ill-advised manner. For our traditional city neighborhoods, schools serve as a cornerstone providing neighborhood identity, sustainability, and community interaction. Neighborhood schools foster parent and community involvement and reflect community pride. They provide a place for community gatherings, recreational activities, neighborhood meetings and are places where members of the community get to know each other.   

The City of Orlando has made a concerted effort to preserve existing single family housing stock in our traditional city neighborhoods and has encouraged new infill residential projects to attract development and families to the area. We know that quality schools attract families with children and retain residents. Homebuyers often list schools as a top priority when selecting a home. The City has partnered with OCPS to provide our neighborhood schools with the same amenities, resources and educational advantages as the newer schools being built on larger sites outside the city boundaries. You will notice on the attached statistical snapshot that we have ongoing joint use agreements with many of these schools providing the schools with use of the City’s adjacent ballfields to make up for the lack of recreational facilities at the school. The City also provides these and all other schools located within the City, support through the Mayor’s Education Partnership Grants Program, Pre-Kindergarten Initiative and Action Council, and after-school and cultural arts programs.

The schools currently being considered by OCPS are all located on property zoned for public benefit use. Under this zoning classification, the school sites can only be used for civic purposes. The properties would have to be rezoned if they were to accommodate another use. The properties surrounding the school sites are zoned for single family residential.

Our Real Estate and Legal staff have reviewed the deeds for the schools being considered for possible closure. Two of the school properties, Hillcrest and Rock Lake were deeded to OCPS by the City. However, none of the deeds contain a reverter clause or a restriction that the property must be used for educational purposes only.

You’ll recall that last year the School Board, Orange County, the City of Orlando and other municipalities in Orange County adopted the Amended Interlocal Agreement for Public School Facility Planning and Implementation of Concurrency. This agreement, as well as state law, requires coordinated planning and the participation of local governments with the School Board “in the processes of evaluating potential school closures…” City staff anticipates that we will be given an opportunity to have meaningful discussions with OCPS on the impacts school closures may bring about.

The School Board has scheduled a work session on March 3^rd at 4:00pm to discuss school attendance zones and rezoning. On March 9, 6:00pm the School Board will discuss merging small schools and school closures. Both of these work sessions will be held in their Board chambers. I will be attending these meetings and will provide you with a recap.

I hope you will find this information helpful. Please let me know if you would like additional information.

Linda


Linda Rhinesmith, AICP
Chief Planner - Governmental Liaison
Economic Development Dept.
City of Orlando
407-246-2203
407-748-4778 (cell)
linda.rhinesmith@cityoforlando.net

School Facilities rec closure.pdf

  

Julio is opening up the joint for another art spectacle. You only have one night to get to this one. It looks pretty cool and worth the Saturday night out. Here is more info:

Altered State, a one night only art experience.
Each artist has created a distinctive piece illustrating their own skewed view of life in Central Florida. Featured artists: Johannah O’Donnell, Joseph Williams, Linda Hartmann, Morgan Steele, Pam Treadwell, Patricia Coyle, Peg Martin and Tom Hope.

This event will be held February 28, 7 – 11 p.m. at Say It Loud, located at 1121 N. Mills Avenue in downtown Orlando.

For more info hit their site at: http://floridaalteredstate.wordpress.com/

UPDATE: Free tickets have sold out. But only $10 cash at the door. Still a deal.

Voci Dance presents a kinesthetic art experience blending modern dance, technology, music, and fashion at the Big Orange Studio space in Orlando's ViMi district.

Collaborators Include:

Julio Lima/Creative Activist

Brian Feldman/Performance Artist/Actor

Consuelo Bellini/Fashion Designer
Matt Simantov/Videographer/Technology

Anna DeMers/Choreographer/Dancer

WHO:

Voci Dance with Guest Collaborators

WHAT:

iMove//dance/blog/art_
WHEN:

Feb 6 & 7, 2009 @8pm
WHERE:

Big Orange Studio 1121 N Mills Orlando, FL 32803 Free street parking on Mills Ave. and neighboring side streets.
TICKETS:

Limited # of tickets FREE as part of United Arts ArtsFest. Visitwww.redchairproject.com for information. OR $10
(cash only) at door
CONTACT:

Kelli Cummins-Branson
407.616.8775
vocidance@yahoo.com
www.vocidance.org