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Sunday

Miracle Among The Ruins: The Welcome Table Kitchen Garden Park project i...



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Monday

See The Vision: Miracle Among The Ruins.

http://www.youtube.com/my_videos_edit?video_id=KN_3HJTdLxM&ns=1

Above is the link to the video produced by OU Design Studio and A Third Place Community for The Welcome Table Kitchen Garden Park project, transformation "TNT" vision in TulsaNorthTurley. Go be amazed at the possiblities and share this post with as many as you can.

Below is the link for the video that shows a part of the property and area the way it is now, from a first video produced as a project by OU Graduate Social Work students working with us at A Third Place. The project has morphed and evolved into the vision of the video above, but we thank the students for helping us imagine this project last summer and fall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhgFKD6_i_w

The next video we need to make will sure the surrounding area and the number of burned out still standing and other vacant abandoned homes around this proposed. This project is one of several we have going on, but it is our major one at the moment and is connected to the larger plan of community renewal that calls for action for justice. We who live here are beginning it, but we invite you to be a paret of our "E.P.I.C." movement, experiencing and participating in the imagining of community, especially here where community has been fragmented.

In our area of the lowest life expectancy in the Tulsa area, in a healthy food desert, with 40percent of vacant homes abandoned, with school cutbacks especially in science in our area, with gang activity nearby, with community centers being shut down, a group of local residents are organizing community in an association called A Third Place, 6514 N. Peoria, and we are transforming in our area a city block of rundown property on a hill overlooking downtown Tulsa, in an area bridging two diverse ethnic neighborhoods, 60th and N. Johnstown Ave.

What you see is the garden park project divided into three overall areas.

The southern third of the transformed city block will be an open space with a gazebo for entertaining; this is the side with the best views of downtown Tulsa from this hilltop; the middle third of the park will have a portable and fixed kitchen areas for demonstrating and teaching and family use for grilling or dehydrating etc. the food grown on site, and it contains a fire pit for community or family gatherings, picnic tables for eating and meeting, and a playground;

the northern third will be the community garden beds, many raised for accessibility; what isn't shown as much will be the compost and toolshed areas. We have volunteers ready to go and are lining up other groups to help us with hands on volunteering, grantwriting and fundraising to augment our phased in creation of this vision

We are working with the OU-Tulsa Graduate Design Studio, which made this movie and our architectural plans, and with the OU Tulsa Graduate Social Work Department which helped us launch this dream, but our Miracle Among the Ruins can only, will only, happen with your donation by going to www.turleyok.blogspot.com for more info and to donate and only if you share this with someone else.

Thank you for your action.

Friday

The Four Directions Initiative: A "TNT" 20-20 Vision Project

For several months, our A Third Place Community has been engaging in projects and initiatives small and big throughout our service area of Greater, or historic, Turley area from 46th to 86th St and Highway 75 to Osage County Drive...The Welcome Table Kitchen Garden Park project, see below for this transformative and much needed Miracle Among The Ruins event, has only been the most visible. Our partnerships are deepening with others within this area, and we are beginning or planning projects for community health, community beautification, community education, and community redesign, all of which will lead to a better sustainable environment for our children and businesses and associations to thrive.

For several months, the overall big picture has been emerging which will connect the dots of our past, current, and emerging projects, visions and dreams.

The Four Directions Initiative: a "TNT" (TulsaNorthTurley) 20-20 Project is the result.

Working with the OU Graduate Design Studio and others we will produce graphic designs to help show the project which will allow us to present it to community residents who will help us shape its final forms.

In the meantime, here is a look: Imagine and come help us bring it to reality.

The Four Directions Initiative is a renewal vision that refers to projects ongoing and planned in our service region between now and the Year 2020 that creates "corridors of community" between these end or destination points along our boundaries:

I.
West (Northgate addition, Vining Park, Horace Greeley school) to
East (O'Brien Park, new soccer and sports complex, Highway 75 wildflower plots),
with the following projects and points in a corridor between these two destination areas:

1. current Greeley School Gardening and Beautification project spinning out to include Northgate addition
2. Turley Residential (Correctional) Center, future partner, 61st and N. Cincinnati
3. The Welcome Table Kitchen Garden Park Project, 60th and N. Johnstown,
4. Turley United Methodist Church, 61st and N. Johnstown, including community garden space and native plant trail and improved primitive trail on far south side where children and others walk now.
5. Osage Prairie Trail intersections beautification wildflower projects ongoing and emerging, just west of Peoria
6. Historic Church Renovation into A Third Place Community and Food Justice Center, OU Community Health Clinic, Urban Monastery Prayer and Meditation Space, Let Turley Bloom Center, at 59th and just west of N. Peoria.
7. Cherokee School Outdoor Classroom Garden Learning Spaces ongoing and emerging, possibility for community school designation for Cherokee and increased community space and events at 6001 N. Peoria.
8. A Third Place Audubon Bird Sanctuary GreenSpace, 61st Street east of Cherokee along current path school children walk. Project pending purchase of one acre for sale inexpensively.
9. Veterans Center Building and grounds and sign improvement at 61st and Utica where we worked to remove grafitti.
10. Vann Industrial Park, 61st and Lewis, future partners with emphasis on creating green jobs
11. Scottsdale Addition, near 61st and Lewis, future sign renovation beautification to finish grafitti removal.
12. Park Meadows Mobile Home Park, near 61st and N. Lewis, partners for safety, beautification, and community events
13. O'Brien Park, 61st and N. Lewis, current partners in gardening, beautification, and community and family sustaining events.
14. Extending corridor to the south along E. 56th St. North at Lewis to include beautification project and welcome project at old Allen's BBQ building, ongoing and emerging project
15. Extending to Highway 75 and 56th St. to include current and future partnerships with North Tulsa Farmers Market, new soccer and skateboarding complex under construction, to make community friendly and supporting of local residents and Turley businesses.
16. Highway 75 and 56th Street Exit Wildflower Beautification Plot currently sponsored by A Third Place and the State Dept. of Transportation
17. Extending to north to 66th St. and N. Lewis near O'Brien Park to include our new Welcome to Turley beautification, wildflowers, and signage at intersection project currently underway.
18. Back on the western edge extending south to include beautification and community projects at Gilcrease Middle School, the planned new City/County Health Department facility, both at 56th and N. Cincinnati, Houston Elementary School, Carriage Trails neighborhood, Chamberlain Center, and Louisa May Alcott gardening project.

II.
South to North: along Peoria Ave. and immediate area from 46th St. to 76th St.

This would become the hub for a Far North Main Street Project, along North Peoria from the historic Turley area, 46th St. to either 66th or 76th St. for the Main Street Oklahoma grant project. The aim would be increased infrastructure of streetlights, sidewalks, bus stop improvements, beautification projects, plantings, cleanup, Redbud Avenue tree plantings, shopping centers revitalization, McLain High School initiative, and more.

Partners and projects along the Far North Main Street Project, current and future, include:
1. on the southern edge Generation of Destiny youth center at 46th St.,
2. McLain High School initiative and Greenhouse Project,
3. the PlanIt Tulsa envisioned corridor for part of this area by the old McLain Shopping Center, and shopping center just north of McLain.
4. new neighborhood association by the McLain shopping center,
5. New Beginnings Church sign beautification project near 54th and Peoria,
6. Northside YWCA, current and emerging partner, near 54th and Peoria, in the old Wiley Post School building,
7. the redeveloped and expanded to four lane 56th and Peoria intersection with signage directing people to parks, health department, and business districts,
8. the Welcome to Turley sign at 56th St. redeveloped and expanded by A Third Place with Keep Oklahoma Beautiful grant
9. wildflower beautification reclamation projects all along North Peoria with planters around abandoned signposts, some currently underway, and at businesses.
10. Cherokee School projects, with sidewalks and lights and other neighborhood safety issues and neighborhood watches
11. Old Turley Fire Department flower bed beautification project of rundown historic building.
12. Bus Stops with Shelters and beautification plots
13. Turley Post Office signage and visibility for promotion
14. transformation or destruction of long abandoned and rundown commercial buildings along this stretch of North Peoria.
15. 66th and N. Peoria intersection beautification where old Smith's grocery store was, and across the street in vacant land owned by the Freedom Bank, a future partner, and triangle median.
16. Extending beautification projects to 76th St. to include past and current ones at the northern limit where there is current renovation we are doing of the Welcome to Turley sign and at the nearby Donut store area beautification plot we put in.
17. Extending just west of Peoria along here for Osage Prairie Trail projects. The trail connects downtown Tulsa with northern Tulsa County Skiatook and beyond.
18. Extending behind McLain High School to include Penn Elementary gardening and beautification future, old Monroe Jr. High building where Tulsa Adult Learning and Margaret Hudson program are located, and Berry Park, 48th St. and Utica, as well as partnering with Sarah's Senior Living Center in the area.

Plus projects beyond these 36 to be included but unknown now at this stage; perhaps one you have.
We are currently already involved in several of these 36 projects, not waiting but acting, or we are about to start them. But putting them into the "big picture" and naming them helps to give focus to our energy, to recruit partners and helpers for these projects, and to shape our grants and fundraising for completion beyond our current capacities.

The "Four Directions" in the name also alludes to the importance of community spirit, ownership, and above all sense of place, to the original settlers of our area since we were and are a part of the Cherokee Nation.

The "Far North" designation for the Main Street Project is borrowed from the designation of our area by the Tulsa Community Services Council demographics research.

The "TNT" designation for TulsaNorthTurley alludes first to how we have "exploded" with community renewal energy these past three years and to the "vision explosion" to come through the initiative above; and secondly by linking TulsaNorthTurley we name our interconnection and destiny with one another despite any differences of ethnicity and history. For example, even as we may continue to work for incorporation of much of the currently unincorporated area of Turley in particular to get additional resources to help in this initiative, as well as for other reasons, we also know that because of Tulsa North and Turley's proximity and weaving together of where people go to school, shop, live, go to church, etc., that the two differently named areas are similar in many ways and share common issues and destiny.

Stay tuned for further developments as we work on visually presenting this project, in soliciting input about adding to it, and which parts of it should receive top priority, and how you can be a part of the adventure right now.

We hope you are inspired by our small acts, even moreso now that you can see how the dots connect into a bigger picture.

Fourth Annual Turley Area Festival at A Third Place Community Center on Juneteenth Weekend, June 18-19

Plan now to attend, and come help us put it on: The Fourth Annual Turley Area Festival, Juneteenth, Friday June 18, noon to nine pm, and Saturday June 19, 10 am to 10 pm, at A Third Place Community Center, 6514 N. Peoria. Free Festival For All. Music. Art. Games. Free Food. Programs. Free Swimming. Children's Activities. Community Info and Exhibits.

Sponsored by A Third Place, along with the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa Graduate Social Work Dept, and O'Brien Park. Far North Greater Turley Area includes the neighborhoods from 46th St. North to 86th St. North and from Highway 75 to Osage County Drive.

Turley Area Festival Theme: "Our Past, Present, and Future"

Friday, June 18:
Lunch and Kickoff Celebration Ceremony 12-1pm
Band and Games (board, Wii) 1-2 pm
History Presentation and Turley Tour 2-4 pm
Band and Supper 4:30 to 6:30 pm
Hands-On History Project 7-8 pm
Band and Games 8-9 pm

Saturday, June 19:
Free Swimming at O'Brien Park with contribution of food for the A Third Place Community Center Food Pantry.
Tye Dye Tshirt Making 10 am to Noon
Presentations on Turley Area Present and Community Renewal Projects 10 am to Noon
Lunch and Band Noon to 2 pm
Tye Dye Tshirt Making 2 to 4 pm
Panel Presentation: Our Healthy Community Future: Plans and Visions 2 to 4 pm
Dinner and Band 4:30 to 6:30 pm
"TNT" Event: Your Voice For "TulsaNorthTurley" Map of the Future 7 to 10 pm
Closing Celebration Band 8 to 10 pm

ongoing Jupiter Jump, art gallery exhibits, exhibits on community businesses, groups, projects
ongoing Great Giveaway from Giving Room, consignment sale opportunities, games and activities, and more.

Stay tuned for schedule of Festival Planning meetings. Get involved. Renew lives, communities.
Email thirdplaceturley@aol.com, or call 794-4637 or 4301150 or 6913223.

Wednesday

Our Latest News in Tulsa Northern edge: Food Justice and Community Renewal

A Third Place Community Center just received news we have become an official pantry site with the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. Just now need to build more shelves to get ready for the extra food. Besides the food we can distribute for free, we can also purchase some items for a low cost. Help us provide healthier food that way. Donate through the button above.

Also, this summer A Third Place Community Center will be conducting the summer free lunch program for all in our community from one years old to 18 years old and will be held at Cherokee School, 6001 N. Peoria Ave., from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. Donations needed to help with those costs, as well as volunteers. Donate through the button above.

And tonight, Wednesday, May 12, at 5:30 pm come to the Center for the unveiling of the plans and visual design from the OU Graduate Design Studio for our The Welcome Table Kitchen Garden Park project to be located at 60th and N. Johnstown, transforming rundown abandoned homes and property into a wonderful community neighborhood revitalization and community gardens space.

Saturday

Coming Events in Turley and Area For You, With You, From You

A Third Place Community Center, 6514 N. Peoria Ave., where small acts of justice done with great love change the world. It has been a wonderful three years of growing in mission here. We had our Grand Opening in June 2007.

We just finished last rainy weekend the Beautify Turley Day, and were surprisingly and wonderfully joined at the last minute by a church youth group from Kansas which helped clean up our streets (thanks Vanessa and the Center for Racial Justice for their recommendation), and the renewed Welcome Sign is looking beautiful and still being finished; the music was great at the community center, and the schools gardens are growing too. We helped Cherokee School with a partner in education lunch Friday and made more good plans and connections there. Then did the same with From Turley to TU community coalitions networking at State Rep. Seneca Scott's monthly meeting--lots of people doing great things and lots of ideas for working together. We had our monthly community breakfast today.

Here it comes our Summer of Transforming Love.

We have brought the Bookmobile back this summer to Turley, to A Third Place Center, after it has been gone from our area for many years. So exciting. First day will be Friday June 4. Spread the word and let's swamp them with a welcome and customers. Come to the center and get fliers and handouts on the bookmobile schedule and pass out wherever you are.

We will have a Community Health Initiative working with OU social work students, and also another project working with OU pre med and medical students coming to Turley. See below.

We will have our Fourth Annual Turley and Area Festival Celebration Juneteenth Event, June 18-19. Food, music, programs on Turley and area Past, Present, Future. Celebrating our Difference, and the Difference We Make. Art. Tyedying. Community Info Expo. Seed and Plant exchange. Children's activities. Board games, Wii games. Rodeo Parade.

We will feed all the children in our area a free lunch everyday at Cherokee School from June 7 to August 6 so even though they aren't in school where they are primarily fed they will continue to have at least one good meal a day, and we will have activities for them too.

Coming up right away to support all the above:
Sunday, May 9, 10 am missional Mothers Day. communion, conversation, common meal.

Tuesday, May 11, 11 am north tulsa community coalitions networking at Job Corps, a great program on the demographic changes and issues coming to our area of Tulsa; then come to 6:30 pm at the center every second Tuesday Let Turley Bloom ecological documentary; this day it is critically acclaimed "Manufactured Landscapes" and sustainability conversation and community gardening planning.

Wednesday, May 12, 5:30 pm unveiling the final design from OU Tulsa Graduate Design Studio for our project to transform a city block of abandoned homes into the Welcome Table Kitchen Garden Park project at 60th and N. Johnstown. We have a closing date on purchase coming up and still need some 100 people to give an average $100 to help us begin the project. Go to posts below to read more. Go to button above to donate online, and pass it on. It only happens with your help. Donate more if you can, less if you need to, and spread the word to others. See the full vision on the website.

Friday, May 21, 2:30 pm Turley Leadership Council networking at the Center

June 4-5, June 18-19 and July 2-3, Community Health Initiative with OU Graduate Social Work students and A Third Place. Two neighborhoods and others will be closely surveyed to build an understanding of the community health problems in our area, information that will help us, we hope, get grants to help alleviate the issues.

Fridays July 9 and 16 Community Health Project with OU premed and medical students in our area.

Remember our community health clinic meets every Monday and Friday at the clinic in the mornings.

Remember our Food Pantry always needs food, and we should be coming a part of the community food bank soon.

And ongoing worship Sunday mornings with the church at a third place center and Rev. Ron Robinson, community and guerilla gardening and the "usual subversive activities" during the week. Or just come hang out. And working working working on the Big Vision news hope to unveil soon too about creating safe and sustainable spaces, outdoors and indoors, from one end of our area to the other.