The Colony
Neighborhood
Summer News 2016
Best In Bloom
Out of more than 250 nominations, the Colony Neighborhood Association received a Lexington in Bloom Runner-Up Award for the native planting category in our greenspace next to Wildcat Chase Stream. The Lexington in Bloom contest is sponsored by the Lexington Council Garden Club and is held
every other year. The Colony also received a
mention in the Herald Leader when the
results of the contest were published.
More nominations were received in 2016
than in the previous year. To be eligible all
gardens had to be seen from the street.
Categories included residential gardens
created by professionals, amateur gardeners,
large and small business gardens and
miscellaneous (the category the Colony
received recognition).
An awards ceremony was held June 26, 2016 and was attended by Jane Madden, Jerry and Sherri Weisenfluh and Iby Morales. It’s unknown who nominated the Colony for a native planting area award but a big thank –you to them and to the volunteers who made it possible. This award might just be the first as the Colony has many beautiful residential gardens and perhaps more will be nominated in 2018.
Fourth of July
The Colony Neighborhood Association would like to say a BIG "Thank You" to the New Colony for celebrating and honoring the Fourth of July. Take a few minutes to thank our neighbors for their tradition of placing flags at the Colony entrance and lining the streets with flags on the fourth of July.
Former Colony Resident, Ben Withers Named Dean at CSU
The new dean of Colorado State University’s College of Liberal Arts is an art historian and former department chair who has a track record in expanding and strengthening undergraduate programs, promoting multidisciplinary collaborations, fundraising, and supporting diversity and inclusion.....
Wildcat Chase Updates
A lot has happened lately at the Wildcat Chase greenspace.
In June, we received a “runners up” award in the native plant
category of the 2016 Lexington in Bloom competition
conducted by the Lexington Garden Club. Unfortunately, the
competition took place just before we installed our new plant
markers. The great looking markers might have gotten us a
first place. We also just received certification for the site as a
Monarch Waystation. We’ll be putting up a sign for that this
month.
If you’d like to learn more about native plants, stop down and
look at our progress. We have about 75 different varieties of
plants now, and many of them are in bloom. The markers tell
you the common and scientific names for each plant. By fall,
we hope to have a field guide or website that provides more
information about the plants in case you want to include them
in your own garden.
In July we were visited by two representatives from the Urban
County Government, Demetria Kimball Mehlhorn, Program
Manager with Natural Resources Protection , Division of
Environmental Services and Ben Krebs, Grant Manager with the Division of Water Quality visited the Wildcat chase Stream Project and Ken Cooke, Friends of Wolf Run. If you were up early on July 26, 2016 at 5:30 AM you may have caught reporter Lee Fields with WLEX, Channel 18 conducting a live interview with Demetria and Sherri and Jerry Weisenfluh, featuring the Wildcat chase stream. Two additional segments were taped and will run in the next two weeks. (see below)
Island Improvements
Based on your survey responses we know your top priority is the attractiveness and maintenance of the Colony islands. In response we have big plans for the islands. We’re really fortunate to have board member, Jane Madden, in charge of landscaping this year. With her background as a landscape designer and her extensive knowledge of plants, she has some great ideas to improve the appearance of the islands. The guidelines for these proposed changes are to reduce maintenance, add colorful specimens, use native plants where possible, and improve visibility for motorists. This may mean moving, thinning, or removing some problem plants and replacing with better selections. You can see some of her work at the Colonial Drive/Mayflower island. These new plants were all selected for draught tolerance and should do well with minimal maintenance. The next priority will be the Colonial Drive/John Standish Way island, followed by the big island at Colonial Drive/John Alden. We’ll keep you informed on the changes as work progresses.
In Appreciation
The Colony Board of Directors announced in the May Annual Meeting appreciation to all who have served as past and present board members and a desire to recognize past presidents of the neighborhood association. Small brass signs have been placed on the bench at the median located at Mayflower and Colonial Drive. The following have been recognized for their service:
Bill Taylor Walt Whitlow
Fred O’Bryan Mike Hart
Perry Bozarth Carin Lovell
On behalf of the board we offer a BIG "Thank You" to all who have served. Our neighborhood would not be what it is today without the efforts of many.
Letter from the President
Welcome to our new Colony Neighborhood website and online Newsletter at The-Colony.info.
I want to offer a big thank you to Kim Bragg for providing the technical expertise to launch the new website. There are many advantages to an online Newsletter. Reducing printing costs of course saves money, we can include more current information, and finally our survey results indicated a preference for an online newsletter. We know this is a big change, so please feel free to let the Board know what you think. As I start my new term as President I welcome hearing any concerns, comments and suggestions. You can email me at sherriweisenfluh@gmail.com or phone 859-806-0186.
It’s been a busy summer. Hopefully, you saw the email I sent announcing our recognition as a “Runner-Up” in the Lexington In Bloom contest for the Wildcat Chase stream restoration project in the native planting category. Board member, Jane Madden has been refreshing some of the islands to improve appearance and enhance low maintenance. Jane’s landscaping experience is in evidence and much appreciated. Also please take some time to appreciate the many beautiful yards/gardens located throughout the colony.
Unfortunately storms created some broken limbs and tree damage this month. Given the number of large old growth trees in our neighborhood, the damage could have been greater; however our sympathy goes out to those who lost trees.
Please plan to attend our Annual Colony Picnic, hosted this year by Mike and Tracy Hart and Ellen Tunnell (1272 Colonial Drive) September 18, 2016 from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM. You should have already received an invitation with details. Please RSVP to Jennifer Rice at TeamRice08@gmail.com or 727-656-2116. I’m looking forward to seeing you at the picnic.
As we find ourselves saying goodbye to neighbors we also are welcoming new arrivals, and as always thanks for making the colony such a friendly welcoming neighborhood.
-Sherri Weisenfluh, Colony Board President
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Blazing Star Plant
in Wildcat Chase
LEX18 Interviews the Weisenfluh's About Wildcat Chase Stream
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