13th Street Resurfacing

Greetings Neighbors!
I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter weekend.

If you live on 13th street, or if you use it to go towards downtown this message is for you.

Starting May 9, 13th street, I-80 to Leavenworth, will undergo some major repairs.  I was informed the project will only last around 7 to 10 business days, depending on the predictable Nebraska weather of course.  Everyone that lives or operates off 13th will be notified by mail soon.

There will be some minor traffic congestion, but the good news is that the street will not be shut down. The plan is to alternate work on the north and south bound lanes. If you are worried about the loud sounds of construction keeping you up at night, no worries, where homes are present the work will be done during the day.

If you are like me, and have a driveway you have to use on 13th, park on the cross street so you don't get blocked in during the day they are working on your portion of the street.

I was told that the process goes quickly and that once the new pavement is poured it can be driven on after 8 hours. A good tip, I recommend not turning in your driveway right after the new pavement is poured. If you do, your tires will make an indention in the new pavement. The streets will look fabulous and you will be left with a reminder of how you forgot about this tip or couldn’t wait. I am just going to park on the side street till my section is done and it has had adequate time to dry and cure. If you need more info shoot me an email.

Take Care and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Deer Park Neighborhood Cleanup - May 21

Hey Everyone!

I hope you are getting ready for some beautiful weather. I have used these last few cold days to clean my garage and storage areas.  Why so soon? Our neighborhood Spring Clean up is coming up.

The Neighborhood Clean-Up Program is a partnership between the City of Omaha and Keep Omaha Beautiful (KOB). Neighborhood groups begin cleanups tomorrow, April 17^th. At the neighborhood cleanup kick off I heard that 101 neighborhood groups will participate in 2011’s Neighborhood Clean-Up program.

This is a great program that thousands of neighbors utilize every year, so don’t forget to thank the City and KOB for this program and especially extend thanks to those community volunteers, your neighbors, who will man these sites.

Deer Park Cleanup Info

When: Deer Park Spring Cleanup is scheduled Saturday, May 21. 
           Dump sites are open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: Bancroft Elementary School south parking lot (2700 s 6^th St.) 
            The map below shows where you will find us moving out dumpsters all day long.

View The Deer Park Spring Clean Event in a larger map

What: All smaller to mid sized items are welcome at our local Deer Park Cleanup Site.

Rules: No hazardous materials, large bulky items, or large loads will be accepted at the

            local site.

Full railroad ties will not be accepted at any Clean-Up locations.

Spring Clean-Up does offer the opportunity to dispose of large limbs and brush not eligible for the City’s weekly yard waste collection and/or our local cleanup sites. Take large loads of brush or tree limbs to …

River City Recycling

60th Street between Harrison and Q streets.

Residents can pick up a voucher at our cleanup site to pay for one load.

Disposal opportunities for bulky items or difficult to dispose of items such as chairs, couches, appliances and tires will be available at one designated site each Clean-Up Saturday. These locations can be obtained by calling the Clean-Up hotline at 444-4636, or you can use the interactive map below. 

View Spring Cleanup Sites in a larger map

If you don’t live in Deer Park and want to know when your neighborhood Cleanup is,

Call (402) 444-4636. If you are one of those ambitious community advocates, we still need volunteers to help with the cleanup. Please email Oscar Duran, to sign up.

We are a little more than one month away, so get ready. 

Orchid Show Blooms at Lauritzen Gardens

Omaha's Orchid Society hosted yet another great Orchid show last month.  With over 20,000 species of orchids, the show displayed quite a variety including around 6 species found right here in the Omaha metro.  Here are just a few of my favorites.

Habitat Omaha Launches Project Demolition!

On March 21, 2011 Habitat for Humanity of Omaha kicked off its new program, Project Demolition, a partnership with the City of Omaha. With more than 443 single resident homes on the city's demolition list, Project Demolition is an effort to eliminate run down houses making way for new construction in distressed areas of the community. The goal for the project this year is to demolish 40 homes in North and South Omaha. Habitat Omaha often get calls from people who have a distressed house they want to donate.

Some of these homes have been on the city's condemned list for years, and the owner has nowhere to turn. Habitat Omaha can now address the problem through Project Demolition. It's a win for the owner who donated the house, the neighborhood, the City of Omaha and for a deserving family who will purchase the new Habitat Omaha home that will be built.

The first demolition took place near 17th and Manderson Streets. Two homes were torn down to make way for seven new Habitat Omaha homes. The seven new homes will be built during the week of Habitat Omaha's 2011 Builder's Blitz.

For more pictures click here.

Story Provided by Habitat For Humanity Omaha (HFHO)

This exciting project will assist neighborhoods rid their blighted structures and make way for new homes and families to come in. As read above, HFHO is also launching this project in South Omaha. As a resident, I know Deer Park has a few vacant homes that are considered "uninhabitable", and I am compiling a list of them. If you know of any properties near your home, please submit the address to me by either phone or email. This will not guarantee the property will make the Habitat Demolition Program, but regardless we need to know where these properties are and, TOGETHER, decide how we can mend these struggling blocks in our neighborhood. If you want to learn more about this program, please come to our next Neighborhood Association meeting.

Thanks for being such a great neighbor, See you at the next meeting!

Oscar Duran: Deer Park President

South High Student Art Showcased in Deer Park

Hey Neighbors!

The students at South Omaha High have a magnificent art display at the Bancroft Street Market.  Oscar and I went to the opening reception and we were floored by the amount of discipline these students have when it comes to creating masterpieces.  Some of my favorite pieces were family sticks (see picture).  Each different color represented something important in the students' lives.  They each added different embellishments on each to enhance their individuality.

I have never seen so many kinds or art.  These students excelled in oil, chalk, sculpture, trading cards, watercolor and some kind of art where they layer newspaper, paint on top of it and rip apart the layers.

A small but mighty orchestra ensemble filled the room with immaculate notes to set the tone for a real art show.  Art teacher Linda Shepard told us the students won 26 AWARDS at the state competition.  I think we need to show these kids our pride in their work by supporting them at the show this Saturday and Sunday at the Bancroft Street Market (10th and Bancroft) from 1-5 p.m. on both days.

See you there.

Katie Duran: Deer Park Secretary / Newsletter Editor

Temperature Changes in Deer Park Omaha

Greetings Neighborors,
I hope your March month is beginning nicely. This morning, as I stepped out to get my Snoopy lunch box out of my car, yeah, I rock a snoopy lunch box to work, the cold weather caught me off guard literally stinging my senses. Once outside I began to recall the sensual temperatures of yesterday, and a large smile overtook my face. No I am no crazy, but if you do not know me I am certainly a glass half full person.

Rather than be upset that the weather had returned to a shockingly cold temperature, the temperature fluctuation assured me a season change had arrived. For me, the season transition time is typically the most reflecting and exciting time of the year. During this transition time I start to get excited of the things I will get to do in the coming season; Moped rides through downtown, trips to the South Omaha palleteria with my wife, playing basketball at Deer Hallow park, bike riding to Baylis park, biking the Taco ride on Thursday nights, hosting a community garage sale, and having a bar be que outside with neighbors and family.
I then reflect on the things I will miss from the previous season. Do not get me wrong, I dislike the extreme cold, however, there is something beautiful about the winter season; how the street and yards turn powdery white,  the excitement of my family members' anticipation of Christmas, children outside playing in the snow, and our Deer Park Christmas party. Well it was a quick reminder that things always change, even in less than 12 hours. This made me think that I should remind everyone that, like the weather, community action and progress can take a change just as dramatically. Sometimes it takes shocking a 40 degree overnight temperature drop to remind us of this, other times it takes noticing a newly designed newsletter or a growing web page following to grab your attention.

If you have not been to the last couple of meetings, brace your self, you are in for a dramatic temperature change of our association. As the seasons, our neighborhood is also in a transition stage, and we should all use this time to reflect and celebrate the things that made this neighborhood great, and start to anticipate the exciting things to change and will make our community thrive.

To end this blog post, I want to provide two videos about community organization/development programs. This will be a teaser of something that is starting in our boundaries, and will spurred by a partnership between the Deer Park Neighborhood Association and Habitat for Humanity. The project is in planning stages, and we expect to kick it off soon. If you want to learn more, and I bet you do, come to our meetings and see how you can be a part of our neighborhood revitalization initiative.

Remember, celebrate our transition season.

Quotes To Inspire

Oh my, our blog is starting to get more traffic.

Thanks to those of you who visit this site monthly and or weekly, your views and comments are much appreciated. For you first time readers, this is our Neighborhood Association blog. We active citizens in the Omaha Deer Park neighborhood wanted to start a site that would allow readers to learn of the things occurring in our neighborhood. On this site you can learn of not only the things we are doing to improve our community, but the concepts and ideas that spur our ambitions. I started this posting group called Think Tank to share the different scholars and teachings I am using to implement new growth strategies in our neighborhood.  

In this month’s Think Tank I wanted to share some timeless teachings. Now I know that there are a few renditions of the preceding quotes, but please do not get a hang up on if it was quoted perfectly. All these quotes have been written in several versions of their according texts. Personally, I recite a saying or proverb in my mind on an hourly basis, not sure why. I often wonder if others do as well, I bet you do. Regardless, the following quotes are ones that I think to myself on a monthly if not weekly basis. I hope they motivate you as much as they do me. Enjoy!

"Do all the good you can, and make as little fuss about it as possible." - Charles Dickens

While the spirit of neighborliness was important on the frontier because neighbors were so few, it is even more important now because our neighbors are so many.  - Lady Bird Johnson

"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile." - Albert Einstein

“One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade. “- Chinese Proverb

“...A community needs a soul if it is to become a true home for human beings. You, the people must give it this soul.” - Pope John Paul II
“When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

"Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections, some literally give their life's blood. But everyone has something to give." - Barbara Bush

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Mahatma Gandhi 



"To give, and not to count the cost  to fight, and not to heed the wounds,  to toil, and not to seek for rest,  to labor, and not to ask for any reward, “ — St. Ignatius of Loyola

“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was:  "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?"  But... the good Samaritan reversed the question:  "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" - Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I am only one, But still I am one. I cannot do everything, But still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do." - Helen  Keller

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”  -Winston Churchill

"I know of no great men except those who have rendered great service to the human race." – Voltaire 

“We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.” - Cesar Chavez