To celebrate Welcoming Week (September 8 – 17, 2023), Norwood Together, in partnership with Queen City Clay and Off-Pike Market is organizing the Norwood International Art Show, September 16, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
We are inviting local artists and artists with diverse backgrounds and media to join us. Registration information will be announced soon.
We are also inviting local organizations and businesses to support the art show. For details on how to sponsor this event, please email norwoodtogether@gmail.com.
Welcoming Week is a network of events throughout communities in the U.S. and abroad where communities bring together neighbors of all backgrounds to build strong connections and affirm the importance of welcoming and inclusive places in achieving collective prosperity. Read more about Welcoming Week from Welcoming America.
Norwood Together is part of Welcoming America’s global network of nonprofit organizations and government members to transform communities into more welcoming places for all residents, including immigrants.
The weather was beautiful for the Fourth Annual Norwood Historic Home Tour and Fall Festival and Off Pike Market at Victory Park. The day showcased not only Norwood’s gorgeous old homes, but also new developments and businesses, and our talented community, with performances from Norwood Orchestra, W Monty’s, and the Cable Guys; a storytime with the Norwood Library; and family games and crafts.
Norwood Together coordinated the event with a collection of partners: the Norwood Historical Society, Off Pike Market and the City of Norwood. The event also was sponsored by Jennifer McGillis Realtor, Duke Energy, Huber Lumber Co., Perry Contracting, Inc., Naegele, Kleb & Ihlendorf Funeral Home, and the Acanthus Group LLC. Special thanks to Northwood Cider Co. and The Valley Church, and the dozens of volunteers who kept the day running smoothly.
The tour began with the Norwood Historical Society and the Cincinnati Type & Print Museum before riding to Park Avenue to discover the neighborhood’s history and architecture. We had the unprecedented opportunity to tour an exquisite Queen Anne Victorian home thanks to Linda Prues. Her iconic Norwood was once the Y.W.C.A.
The walking tour included the history and architecture of Immaculate Conception Church, corner stores, and Dorl Field, originally built for printing employees and families and named for Theodore C. Dorl. “Teddy” was a general superintendent of U.S. Printing & Lithograph Company and president of the Craftsman Club.
We visited the site of the former U.S. Printing & Lithograph Company and the U.S. Playing Card Company, including the Samuel Hannaford and Sons designed brick facility at Park Avenue. The companies shared a restaurant, the land which became Dorl Field, and multi-family units for employees.
The tour included the police training facility and canine officer, as well as the Happy Hollow Inn, featured in the Bruce Willis movie, Hard Kill, which was mostly shot at the U.S. Playing Card buildings before being demolished.
Finally, Salvation Army, originally Kemper-Thomas, known for their advertisements, colorized calendars, Vienna art plates, thermometers, and brewery products. The company could arrange room and board for employees at the aforementioned Queen Anne Victorian Y.W.C.A nearby.
By Alisha Loch & Mary C Miller (published on Strong Towns, August 18, 2022)
Representatives of both Norwood, OH, and Jasper, IN, meet up in person after facing off in the finals of this year’s Strongest Town Contest.
Dozens of aspiring towns entered the competition to be named 2022’s Strongest Town. The two finalists—Norwood, Ohio, and Jasper, Indiana—are both midwestern towns of similar population, the former an urban place surrounded by the metropolis of Cincinnati, and the latter a rural county seat in the farmlands of Indiana. Both towns are moving in a similar trajectory, revitalizing their downtown areas, creating events that bring residents together, building collaboration between city entities, and being mindful of their financial futures.
Those of us in Norwood, Ohio, gathered on the steps of our historic middle school with music, our local coffee trailer, balloons, and face painting in April to celebrate the results of the Strongest Town competition, regardless of the outcome.
Our advancement round after round had us elated to be able to come together and celebrate the resilience of our community, and it was clear that our co-finalist, Jasper, Indiana, was a worthy contender. Before the results were in, a connection had already been formed in the interest of the two towns moving forward together, learning from each other, and celebrating the good things happening in both communities.
On June 26, help a Norwood teen make a difference at Lower Millcrest Park.
Diana Ferra Villalobos, a Norwood resident and senior at Mount Notre Dame Academy, is organizing a clean-up of Lower Millcrest Park from 9 a.m. to noon June 26. Norwood Together and Keep Cincinnati Beautiful are supporting the project.
To help, all you have to do is show up!
Here’s an essay Villalobos wrote about why she decided to clean up Lower Millcrest:
The Meaning of Millcrest By Diana Ferra Villalobos
The one planet that allows us to live is deteriorating. Unfortunately, I did not come to that conclusion until I saw the effects of it.
In 2020, our world was turned upside-down, especially with COVID-19 and quarantining. However, we must not forget the tragic wildfires in California that had taken many souls and homes. From the moment I saw the skies turn grey, the birds fly away, and the trees turn to ashes, I knew that our only home was being destroyed. I want a better, more beautiful earth for us all. This is why my project focuses on Millcrest park.
I moved to Norwood in December 2019, but it wasn’t until this year that I frequented Millcrest. It was also this year that I attended my very first clean-up (also at Millcrest), and it came to my attention that there is a lot more garbage than I expected. I went to this clean-up and had to move around the roots and plants just so I could reach a can of Sprite. I believe that my family and I spent around three hours there, but we couldn’t get everything. I don’t want it to be that way anymore.
I want us to walk around Millcrest freely without having to see a bag of chips, cans, or beer. Not only is this dangerous for the little ones, but it also harms our plant life. The space that the garbage is taking up could have been for flowers, but now it is reserved for plastic debris. However, that can change. We can change that, which is why this project is so important to me. Not only are we taking initiative, but we are also creating space for new life to grow. The earth has allowed us to survive, I am simply hoping we can return the favor.
Wasson Way Mini-Grants are meant to encourage experimentation, build leadership, and bring people together. And that’s exactly what Jon’s micro park has done already. Dozens of residents donated to this project, which includes two benches, a trash can, two trees, and a large garden bed. Neighbors, including a handful of children, came together to install the park, and some of them will be helping Jon with maintenance of this new community space.
Funding for the Wasson Way Mini-Grant program came from Norwood residents who wanted to encourage their neighbors to use the biking and walking trail, and make it easier for people to access Wasson Way, which runs along the south end of Norwood. From beginning to end, the micro park at Floral and Hudson is a community project — one resident’s idea, supported by the work and generosity of his neighbors. It’s a wonderful thing to see. Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen!
You raised more than $2,500 in the fall of 2019 to improve Norwood’s section of Wasson Way and encourage residents to use the walking/biking trail that runs through the south end of our city. Working with Wasson Way and listening to residents’ requests, we used your generous contributions to purchase trash cans and dog waste stations for the trail.
Thanks to volunteers Jeanne Sickinger and Collin Loch for installing the stations!
Like so many Norwood residents, we love the Norwood Day Parade and were sad when it was, understandably, canceled because of Covid-19. We want to give people something else to look forward to this summer. So, on July 21, Norwood Together is giving away FREE cones at Creamy Whip!
The first 100 people to visit Creamy Whip that day during normal hours and mention Norwood Together will get a free ice cream cone.
You can donate to help create a new resident-designed, funded and created pocket park at the corner of Floral and Hudson avenues.
Jon Moore is spearheading this neighborhood plan, which has city approval. Already, residents have pledged $1,300, but another $1,300 is needed for pavers, dirt, a trash can and a bench. You can donate through Norwood Together — just follow that link and be sure to make a note that your donation is for the Floral-Hudson Pocket Park.
Your steps can earn parks improvements for Norwood.
The 2020 Million Step Neighborhood Challenge begins June 15! Over five months, Norwood will compete with neighborhoods across Cincinnati to see where residents can log the most steps. The winning neighborhood earns a donation for its parks. We won last year’s challenge, and Norwood Together is working with Go Vibrant and the City of Norwood, with help from the Norwood Police Department and Norwood Historical Society, to create a Healthy History Trail in the city.
Go Vibrant has developed an app for logging steps. Download it here, and follow Norwood Together and Go Vibrant on Facebook to make sure you have the most up-to-date information to make your steps count!
Big congratulations to Sadie, whose “Stronger Together” illustration won our Chalk Art Contest! Not only was Sadie’s artwork beautiful, her message is a reminder that our community is at its best when we work together.
