Gateway Planting
The year starts with cleaning up the Park and planting flowers and grasses in planters provided by the City and placed at the gateway signs into Enos Park. Volunteers keep the planters watered throughout the year.
Alley Clean Up
In the spring, summer, and fall the Association conducts “alley checks” and volunteers drive all of the alleys in the neighborhood looking for large items and other fly dumping, which is reported to the city’s Housing Inspector. The Association also holds a neighborhood wide clean up in the spring and fall to clear vacant lots, alleys, and curbs. Volunteers are assigned to different sections of the neighborhood and Public Works picks up the accumulated items. This is just one example of the EPNIA’s strong working relationship with the City of Springfield; the Association provides the volunteers and manpower, and the City provides the follow up and enforcement.
Adopt-A-Street
The EPNIA participates in the City of Springfield’s Adopt-A-Street program and regularly picks up litter along 5th, 6th, and 7th St. If you are interested in volunteering to help clean a street, contact Michelle Higginbotham at 553-4629. It takes two volunteers approximately one hour to clean a street from Carpenter to North Grand.
Neighborhood Patrol Walk and Cookout
Late spring or early summer, members of the Association walk the neighborhood to meet and greet their neighbors, handing out flyers with numbers to call to report suspecious activity. The Neighbor Police Officer and other patrol officers join the walk and are guests of honor at the cookout held in Enos Park after the walk.
Home Tour
In the fall, the EPNIA puts on a Historic Homes Tour to highlight a sample of the houses in the neighborhood that are unique, both due to their architecture and their history. Most of the homes date back to the turn of the century, and some even to Abraham Lincoln’s time. The 2010 Homes Tour featured 8 residential properties, 7 of which have been identified as potential candidates for the National Register of Historic Sites and/or Springfield Landmark homes. Abe and Mary Todd Lincoln were also on hand to greet visitors, as impersonaters in period costume walked the neighborhood during the tour. Refreshments were served at the Edwards Place.
If you are interested in having your home featured on a future tour, contact Linda Maier at 971-9138. If your business would like to advertise in the tour program and/or be a site for pre-event ticket sales, contact Steve Combs at 494-6668.
Enos Park Annual Thanksgiving Pie Sale
The Enos Park annual Thanksgiving Pie Sale is the Association’s primary fund raiser. We start with three professional bakers, 30 volunteers, and three straight days of mixing, filling, baking, and boxing. We use 225 lbs. of flour, 120 dozen eggs, 230 lbs. of sugar, 100 cans of pumpkin, 45 lbs. of pecans, 25 lbs. of coconut, and 105 lbs. of Crisco. All funds generated are placed in a special “Safety and Security” account. We use funds from this account to retain a lawyer to bring legal action on behalf of our members and the residents of Enos Park to eliminate problem properties. We also use it to maintain an answering service to take calls regarding ongoing problems. A record of these calls is tabulated and we pass the information on to the police or housing inspector for follow up action.
Cookie Walk
The last event of the year features beautifully decorated Christmas cookies and specially designed chocolate candies. In 2010, almost 170 dozen cookies were baked for the Christmas Cookie Walk.
