ECCO ELECTIONS

The next ECCO meeting will be held on October 20 at 7:00 pm at the Earlewood Park Community Center. The Police and Safety Meeting will begin at 6:30. The 2016 – 2018 officers of ECCO will be elected at this meeting so it is important for you to attend. The Nominating Committee composed of Drue Barker (Chair), Virginia Bedford and John Sinclair has put forth the following slate of Earlewood residents to serve as officers for the next two years:
President, Kathleen McDaniel. Kathleen has lived in Earlewood for the past 10 years. She is an attorney at Callison, Tighe & Robinson, LLC, practicing in the areas of government, administrative and environmental law and general litigation. She is involved in many community activities and is the immediate past president of the Rotary Club of the Vista Night.

Vice-President, Fred Monk. Fred has lived in Earlewood for the past 18 years. After retiring in 2015 as President of the South Carolina Export Consortium, he began working as a senior advisor in International Strategy and Trade division of the S.C. Department of Commerce. He served two terms as president of the neighborhood. Fred has served as vice president of ECCO for the past two years.

Secretary, Evelyn Butterworth May. Evelyn has lived in Earlewood for the past 30 years. She is a nurse practitioner at SC ENT Allergy and Sleep Medicine. Evelyn is an accomplished gardener and a member of the NoMa Community Garden. For the past several years Evelyn has planted the Earlewood entrance beds on Park Street and River Drive.

Treasurer, Yvette Sistar. Yvette was born in South Carolina and moved to Columbia in 1981 where she attended Midlands Tech and Columbia College. She has lived in Earlewood for the past 12 years. Yvette is the Finance Director for the SC Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism.

Member-at-Large, Jennifer McBroom. Jennifer has lived and owned property in Earlewood since the late 1999’s. She is a realtor with Coldwell Banker and has worked in real estate for over 20 years. She also serves on the Columbia YMCA Board.

After the slate of officers is presented by the Nominating Committee, there will be an opportunity to nominate other officers from the floor. Only current members of ECCO may nominate and vote for the 2016-2018 officers.

ECCO Membership

Membership dues in ECCO are $10 ($12 by PayPal) a year and the membership year runs the calendar year from January 1 through December 31. Membership dues are spent on beautification projects and social events. Dues may be paid by check or PayPal.  Out mailing address is P.O. Box 30225, Columbia, SC 29203.  To pay online go to www.earlewood.org.

Name: ______________________________________________

Address: _____________________________________________

City/State/Zip: __________________________________________

Cell Phone: _______________________________________

Email: _________________________________________ @ _________________________

Committees:  Please check committee(s) you are interested in helping withBeautification

Membership

Grants

Zoning

Police and Safety

Parks

Communication

•      Newsletters
•      Website
•      Public Relations
•      Social Media

Events

•      National Night Out (August)
•      Thanksgiving (November)
•      Holiday Party (December)
•      Big Flea (April)
•      Monthly Porch Parties (May – October)
•      Amphitheater Events (Spring & Fall)

Earlewood T-Shirts

Earlewood T-Shirts are available in two colors – stone-washed blue or green and feature “doodle drawings” of neighborhood landmarks such as The Humane Society Fountain, the Civil War Surrender Stone, the Disc Golf Course and Earlewood Amphitheater.  The shirts were designed by Earlewood residents Bill Roberson and Scot Holder.  T-Shirts are $20 and may be purchased on-line at www.earlewood.org or by calling Virginia Bedford at 803.546.1482.

Earlewood Porch Parties are a casual and relaxed gathering of Earlewood residents and offer a great informal and fun way to meet your neighbors. They are held the third Friday of each month from May through October and begin at 7 pm. We ask that you bring a dish to share and if you want an alcoholic beverage, please bring your own. Our hosts provide non-alcoholic beverages, paper plates, utensils, cups, and napkins.

May 20 – 3103  Lakewood Avenue (Kathleen McDaniel)

June 17 – 3418 Keenan Drive (Julia & Jim Prater)

July 15 – 3223 River Drive (Kasey Hamick)

August 19 – 3123 Park Street (Jennifer McBroom & Chelle Hook)

September 16 – 2825 Earlewood Drive (Gregg & Katherine Hilton)

October 21 – 3402 Earlewood Drive (Lucinda Statler)

We will be having the Big Flea Saturday May 14th, rain or shine! Start time of 8:00 am

The Big Flea is a neighborhood yard sale.  Instead of having everyone bring their stuff to a central location to sell, you can sell your stuff at your own home.  We will have a start up booth at the Reformation Church where our buyers will pick up a map and begin their tour of all the wonderful yard sales.

You can sell items at your own home or donate items to be sold at the Earlewood table at the start up location.

We will charge $25.00 for Earlewood members and $35.00 for Nonmembers.

This Fee includes your City of Columbia yard sale license (required by law), advertisement, individual yard signs, and your yard/porch will be posted on our map for buyers. The extra $10 for nonmembers buys you a one-year membership in ECCO.

If you have questions you can contact Susie King through Facebook or call me at 615-506- 9994

Beware for those who do not have a license.  The City could fine you.

This will be a lot of fun, and a good fundraiser for our Wonderful Neighborhood Earlewood

Registration: http://www.earlewood.org/?page_id=3096

Payment: http://www.earlewood.org/?page_id=3103

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.

While Kyle Petersen and Annie Boiter-Jolley have planted themselves firmly in the Columbia arts and music scene for close to a decade, it hasn’t been until recently that they finally decided to put down serious roots in the area, specifically in the Earlewood community.

After renting a home on River Drive for the past two years, the couple has decided to call Earlewood their permanent home. They recently purchased the vacant house next door to the one they currently live in and will be moving in soon.

The couple both graduated from USC in 2009, got married in 2011, and are currently both working on earning their PhDs.

Since their time in college, Petersen and Boiter-Jolley have both been heavily involved in the local arts scene. Petersen works as a DJ at WUSC, writes for the Free Times, Shuffle Magazine and is the music editor of Jasper Magazine. Boiter-Jolley also works at Jasper Magazine as operation’s manager and is a member of the Columbia Community Orchestra.

While they’ve lived in various places across Columbia during the years, they said they found the growth and hospitality of the Earlewood neighborhood to be inviting and a good reason to call the area home longer than they had expected.

What attracted you to Earlewood in the first place?
K: We wanted to be close to downtown, and we’ve always been fans of older homes that feel like they have a sense of history about them. When we got a good deal on a house with plenty of room, we jumped on it.

Why did you decide to buy a home here?
K: We debated for a while about whether to buy, since we are both graduate students. A tenure track position often requires moving across the country. At this point, though, we feel such a part of the Columbia community that we really feel comfortable putting some roots down.
A: In addition to the larger Columbia community, we also love the sense of neighborhood community that Earlewood has, which we realized during the year and a half that we’ve rented here. The community is so active, and it really seems like people watch out for each other.

How have you seen the community grow and change since you’ve lived here?
K: Well, I’ve been in Columbia for about eight years now, since I started undergrad, and Earlewood about two years. It definitely seems like the Earlewood community is fairly active and growing, with a nice mix of older and younger residents. In the larger community of Columbia, it’s been great to watch the Main Street area blossom with all these new art galleries and businesses. Being five minutes away from the Nickelodeon and the Columbia Museum of Art is something too easily taken for granted.
A: I grew up about 30 minutes outside of Columbia, but came to town often, so I’ve really seen Columbia change over the years. It does feel like maybe more younger people are moving to the neighborhood.

In what ways would you like to see the community grow or change?
K: I’m all about change, but for right now I think Columbia is moving in a good direction in a lot of ways. I don’t think city and county governments are always at their best in terms of ethics or transparency, but you have to take the bad along with the good. It will be great when the Riverwalk and Greenway finally get completed. I’d like to see a few midsize music venues, a midsize black box performance space, that kind of thing.We’re still in the infancy of nurturing a creative class, and it will take a lot of little things to keep moving forward.
A: I’d love to see more business like the Wine Garage open in the area. I’d also like to see more stuff happening at the amphitheatre in Earlewood Park.