N. Monroe Business Meeting, Aug 29

N. Monroe Business Meeting, Aug 29

This month’s North Monroe Business District meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday, August 29 at 6pm. It will be held at Petunia’s Marketplace [map].

Prior to the meeting, the NMBD is asking business owners to take the following short multiple-choice survey that will help focus their efforts.

1. What is your business focus?

  1. Customer service
  2. Community outreach
  3. Public service
  4. Retail
  5. Other: ___________

2. What is your primary business goal?

  1. Increase revenue
  2. Increase public awareness
  3. Generate interest from the city/state
  4. Other: ___________

3. What are your concerns about the N. Monroe Business District?

  1. More foot traffic
  2. Better signage
  3. Better pedestrian access
  4. Easier parking (on-street or off-site)
  5. More events that promote the business district
  6. Other: ___________

You can e-mail your survey answers to petuniasmarketplace@yahoo.com, fax them to (509) 328-4259, or better yet, bring them to the meeting.

Depending on turnout, they’re hoping to plan some upcoming autumn events and think of ways to make the holiday shopping season even more successful.

Questions? Connect with Petunia’s on Facebook or call Stacy Blowers on (509) 328-4257.

COHBC Parking Lot Party, Aug 26

COHBC Parking Lot Party, Aug 26

Christ Our Hope Bible Church (COHBC for short) will be hosting a party in their parking lot [map] on Sunday, August 26 from 6 to 8:30pm. It’s the church’s first event of this kind. And if it goes well, it’s possible that there will be many more.

There will be live entertainment, fun activity booths, and food. Singer/songwriter Eric E will be laying down electro-acoustic grooves, and magician — sorry, illusionist— Matthew Light will amaze and astound with his legerdemain.

You don’t have to be a member of the church to take part. In fact, you can come from any religious or nonreligious background. The point of this Parking Lot Party is to give people in the neighborhood a place to come together and socialize. COHBC has already become a big supporter of Emerson-Garfield by hosting garage sales and events like this one, as well as taking part in other neighborhood-wide events.

COHBC could use more volunteer help for this parking lot party. If you’d like to offer a hand, please contact Bob DeLateur via e-mail or at (509) 893-8644.

N. Monroe Vintage, Hearts and Flowers Family Event, Aug 24

N. Monroe Vintage, Hearts and Flowers Family Event, Aug 24

Several neighborhood businesses on North Monroe — including The Heart of Spokane, The Hub Tavern, Destiny Floral, TheRetroVixen, Blackwood Designs, Paint in my Hair, and Fabulous Finds — are holding a family-friendly event called North Monroe Vintage, Hearts and Flowers to help raise money for the Women’s and Children’s Free Restaurant.

It will take place on Friday, August 24 from noon to 6pm along the stretch between 2901 and 3036 N. Monroe [map].

The flyer for the North Monroe Vintage, Hearts & Flowers family event on Friday, August 24 from noon to 6pm.

The event centers around a canned food drive but will also feature face-painting, a small vintage fashion fun with al fresco modeling out on the sidewalks, barbecued hot dogs, and more. All they’re asking is a donation of two cans of food.

You’ll also have a chance to make a small donation in the form of a $3 raffle ticket. The prize is an original artwork donated by local artist Cecile G. Charles.

Beyond all that, it will be a great opportunity to browse the shops that help make North Monroe unique. There will be a few vintage cars and motorcycles, and the Spokane Humane Society will also be there with dogs and cats in need of a good home.

Someone from the Women’s and Children’s Free Restaurant will be on hand to answer questions about their organization. The WCFR is a great resource for many low-income families across Spokane and a huge supporter of our neighborhood.

Check out the Facebook page for the event to see who’s going. For more info about the fundraiser, get in touch with Cecile or Susan at (509) 443-4799 between 10am and 5pm, Mon-Fri.

New Sidewalks Along Madison

New Sidewalks Along Madison

Lest it seem that our neighborhood requests routinely fall on deaf ears or get nixed due to lack of available funding, allow us to draw your attention to Madison Street, where construction crews are currently putting in new sidewalks.

The channel has been dug for the new sidewalk.

We’re hoping that these sidewalks will ultimately run all the way down Madison to Emerson Park. This tends to be the principal route that families and older children take toward Emerson Park, and it will be better for both them and drivers if they no longer have to be on the road.


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Unfortunately, the construction crews had to cut down very old and distinctive black locust trees in at least one block to make way for the sidewalk. We hope these will be replaced with new street trees — with more added to the parking strip along the way where they’re lacking.

We’ll keep you updated with photos of the new sidewalk as installation progresses.

What’s next for Madison? A bike lane, maybe?

Neighborhood Potluck Wrap-up

Neighborhood Potluck Wrap-up

The Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Potluck took place last night at Emerson Park. There was a great turnout of people from all over the neighborhood and a ton of food that included great dishes like quinoa salsa, English shortbread, Asian peanut noodles with tofu, and seafood salad (in addition to the free hot dogs, of course).

City councilwoman (and current state senate candidate) Nancy McLaughlin took part, as did former councilman Steve Corker. Downtown’s Main Market Co-op was also on hand to help spread the word about affordable local food. As part of the market’s contribution to the potluck, they brought along a giant bowl of the popular kale salad from the deli.

During the meeting portion of the event, all the attendees were given a chance to introduce themselves and talk about what they wanted for the neighborhood. Their suggestions included more bike lanes on the residential streets, better collaboration between local businesses and residents, steps to reduce crime (although a city police officer noted that Emerson-Garfield actually has one of the lowest neighborhood crime rates in Spokane this summer), and more community-wide activities.

We also discussed and voted on park improvements. Several new pieces of playground equipment — possibly including a seesaw, a merry-go-round, swings, and a slide — will replace the single unit in Emerson-Park, and both Emerson and Corbin Parks will get new electrical hook-ups for things like live music. Corbin Park will also have a new set of swings put in.

At the end of the evening, we got the chance to find out about something else that’s going on in the neighborhood — SpoFlow, which takes place every Wednesday night at Emerson Park [map] during the summer. It’s a fun live music jam session with yoga and hula hoopers.