Now is a good time to support your neighborhood association by being a dues-paying, voting member of ECCO. ECCO has two membership levels – Regular and Premium. Regular Membership is $10 a year while Premium Membership is $50 a year. The Premium level also includes the new Earlewood T-Shirt and a raffle ticket to win one of three weeks of vacation – a cottage in Daytona Beach, a cabin in Maggie Valley or a Houseboat on Lake Keowee. Only Premium Members participate in the ECCO Raffle.

To join ECCO and pay online go to www.earlewood.org and click on 2015-2016 Membership Drive or click here >.

ECCO is excited to offer the new Earlewood T-Shirt with original “Doodle Art” created by Earlewood residents Bill Roberson and Scott Holder. The back of the shirt depicts drawings of well-known Earlewood landmarks – The Amphitheater, NOMA Dog Park, Championship Disc Golf Course, Humane Society Fountain, NOMA Community Garden, Monument on River Drive where Columbia surrendered to Sherman in 1865 and the Earlewood Porch Parties. The Entrance Sign to Earlewood is on the front of the shirt. T-shirts are available in either Comfort Green or Comfort Blue.

To order and pay for your T-Shirt online go to www.earlewood.org and click on T-Shirt Orders or click here >. If you want to make sure you get the T-Shirt size and color you want, please place your order soon. The T-Shirts will be available on November 1st at the Amphitheater event in Earlewood Park. After that date you may purchase the ECCO T-Shirt at Classical Glass located at 3031 Main Street.

During the 2014 Membership Drive, ECCO is introducing new membership levels, and everyone who joins before August 31, 2014, is entered for a chance to win one of our wonderful raffle prizes!

Join online today on our website or call 803-200-COLA (2652).

Check out our handy infographic below for all the details on the new membership levels, raffle prizes, the new Earlewood Discount Card and more!

Join Today!

(Click the image to view the larger image)

Voting for the Free Times Best of Columbia starts today, and there are so many Earlewood local and Earlewood-owned nominees!

Please keep in mind:
* Voting runs from June 11 to midnight on June 27.
* Only ONE vote per VALID email address will be counted. Duplicate votes WILL BE THROWN OUT.
* You don’t have to make a selection in every category, but you MUST vote in a minimum of 15. Complete fewer than 15 questions, and your vote WILL BE THROWN OUT.

We’ve compiled a list of nominees that have some connection to Earlewood, so if you’d like to support our local and locally-owned nominees, please consider voting for those listed here!

The Color Run will be coming through Earlewood this Saturday! This is a very fun event, and we’d love to have Earlewood residents come out and cheer for the brightly-colored runners!

All residents on the route should be advised that traffic may be affected from 9AM – 11:30AM. The race will come down Park, Union, Lincoln and Beaufort between the trestle and Marshall Park.

Please see the message below from Color Run organizers, and don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any questions!

Dear Resident,
The Color Run™ would like to inform you of our upcoming 5k event in Columbia on March 1st, 2014. The race starts at 9:00am at Finlay Park and will follow the route shown below. Be advised that traffic may be affected throughout the duration of the race. The event will end at approximately 11:30am.

For more information please visit us online at:

http://thecolorrun.com/columbia/2014-03-01/

Please contact us at info@TheColorRun.com with any additional questions.

The Earlewood Community Citizens Organization will meet quarterly, rather than monthly, in 2014.

The way that residents look for information about our neighborhood has changed, and the need for monthly meetings is not as great as it once was. In an effort to keep up with the changing needs of our residents, ECCO will only be holding membership meetings every three months in 2014. Please make sure to let us know what you think about the change in meeting schedule, and please mark your calendars!

• Thursday, April 17
• Thursday, July 17
• Thursday, October 16

All meetings will still be held at the Earlewood Park Community Center, and will start with the Police & Safety meeting at 6:30PM, followed by the Regular Membership Meeting at 7PM.

For those residents who enjoy getting together with neighbors and getting information on the latest happening around Earlewood, fear not!

• You can still connect with ECCO Officers and Committee Chairs anytime through email
• Get your news from the Earlewood Email Newsletter
• Catch up with neighbors on the ECCO Facebook Group, the Earlewood Facebook page and the Earlewood Twitter account.
• And, starting this year, more monthly social events including Earlewood Night Out and Porch Parties!

You can also drop us a line using the Contact page on this website if you ever have any urgent matters to discuss with members of the Earlewood Executive Committee.

If you’re feeling like doing a little something extra for your neighborhood, you’re in luck! Earlewood is launching two fundraising campaigns for Fall 2012.

Adopt a Tree for the Amphitheater

Anyone who has been to the amphitheater in Earlewood Park in June or July knows how hot it gets! ECCO is raising money to plant 8 trees at the top of the the amphitheater and 6 trees around the stage to provide some much-needed shade. We need to raise $1,700 for all of the trees.

Click here to make a donation online, or pledge a cash or check donation.

National Humane Alliance Fountain plaque and Elizabeth Glover Davis Garden Marker

The National Humane Alliance Fountain stood in Earlewood Park from around 1950 to 1980, and through the tireless efforts of Earlewood residents, the fountain has returned to our neighborhood. With the fountain’s return, the Earlewood Community Citizens Organization is working to ensure that the fountain’s rich history is preserved for generations to come by erecting an plaque detailing the story of the fountain and it’s significance to Earlewood and Columbia.

The fountain is placed inside a small garden that will be named for Elizabeth Glover Davis, a resident of Earlewood for most of her life, who played a huge role in the push to bring the fountain back to our lovely park. Mrs. Davis has been a dedicated member of the Earlewood Community Citizens Organization since its inception, and has been one of the neighborhood’s biggest advocates. A marker will be placed in the garden to indicate the naming in her honor. We need to raise $2,000 for both the historical plaque and the garden marker.

Click here to make a donation online, or pledge a cash or check donation.

Attention Earlewood residents! The Race for Life 10K route will be going through Earlewood on Saturday, October 6th. They’re expecting about 250 runners.

Some streets in Earlewood will be closed for a short time during the race.

Click the image to view the large map

The streets on the route are as follows:

• Park Street from Elmwood Park to Union
• Union Street from Park to Columbia
• Columbia Ave from Union to Northwood
• Northwood Street from Columbia to Gadsden
• Gadsden Street from Northwood to Florence
• Florence Street from Gadsden to Lincoln
• Lincoln Street from Florence to Beaufort
• Beaufort Street from Lincoln to Park

You can view a map of the race route through Earlewood on the right. To view the full race route on the Palmetto Health Foundation website (PDF format), click here.

Streets on the route will be closed for about 45 minutes sometime between 8:30AM and 10:15AM.

The team from the Palmetto Health Foundation will be delivering fliers to all residents and businesses along the route about a week before the event to let them know about the street closures.

The police will not close the roads until they see the runners coming, and will keep them closed for the shortest amount of time possible. If you live on any of these streets, please be aware of the race and try to plan your morning accordingly.

Having events like these go through our neighborhood gives us a great chance to show how awesome Earlewood is and how we have the best residents in the city! If you’re not sleeping late, try to go out and cheer on the runners as they pass. It could be a lot of fun!

Let us know if you have any ideas about how we can more effectively get the word out to residents when events like this one are coming to our neighborhood!

We’ve got a very exciting meeting for August!

6:30 PM – Police & Safety Meeting
Special speaker – Richland County Gang Unit speaking on how to recognize gang signs and gang activity (to be confirmed)

7:00 – Membership Meeting
*Rudy Mancke*, the illustrious naturalist who many will know from NatureScene, will be joining us at our August meeting! He’ll speak about the natural world in our area, specifically what snakes and creatures we might find.

Please bring your questions and photos for Rudy to the church.

Also at the meeting, we’ll introduce those who have been nominated for ECCO officers for the 2012-2014 term, and we’ll open the floor to accept nominations from the membership. Nominations from the membership MUST be made during this meeting.

** You must be paid up in your membership dues in order to vote during the elections, so this is a great time to get that taken care of!

Hope to see you there!

This Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) located at 1011 Edgefield Street won a “Treasured Tree” award from Columbia Tree & Appearance Commission, presented by Susie Heyward of Columbia Green on Arbor Day, Dec. 2. This Live Oak was part of the 1931 Fannie C. McCants School playground. South Development Corp. saved this tree and five other grand oaks along with the old school in Earlewood as the company developed the Laurel Hill neighborhood. This Live Oak, with a 42″ trunk and branches spanning more than 50 feet, now shades the home of J. Clive Johnson, next to McCants School. South Development designed Mr. Johnson’s home to accommodate the old school yard oak. With its tree-appeal, this home was one of the first to sell in Laurel Hill.

View more information on the City of Columbia Treasured Trees Program on the City of Columbia website.