Sometimes, as we look at Greensboro’s shopping centers and condos and multitudes of 20th-century homes, it’s hard to see evidence of our colonial past. But there’s lots of it, and sometimes, it’s right underfoot.
Archaeologists from Wake Forest University and volunteers from all over are working at David Caldwell Historic Park this summer, peeling back the layers of time. When they’re done, we’ll have a better understanding of David Caldwell’s colonial farmstead and, if we’re lucky, know more about his famous log college.
Want to volunteer at the dig? Call Adrienne Byrd, Greensboro’s director of historic parks, at 336-286-8565
The Greensboro Coliseum attracts thirsty people. Every year they down about 500,000 soft drinks –– now served only in recyclable bottles. Beer is served in 12-ounce aluminum cans, and there are plenty of those, too.
Coliseum visitors have had access to cardboard recycling bins throughout the complex, but they lacked eye appeal, and too many recyclables went into the trash.
Coliseum managers figure guests will do better if they have some visual encouragement.
Soon the coliseum will have 100 new bottle-shaped recycling containers, thanks in part to an $18,000 grant from the state’s Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance. The city is adding about $3,500, too.
The coliseum’s also installing a compacting Dumpster to process the recyclables more efficiently, and is putting in a chute to make filling it easier.
Greensboro’s recycling program already gets high marks, and so have the coliseum’s previous green efforts.
Each of Greensboro’s neighborhoods can identify physical characteristics that make it different from others. For the most part, these characteristics aren’t written down or talked about much. You and your neighbors just know them. They are what attracted you to live there in the first place.
In April 2007, City Council approved a process that allows neighborhoods to specify some of those unique characteristics and seek an ordinance – called a Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District (NCO) – to preserve them. Cities as diverse as Raleigh, Boston, Atlanta and Bozeman, Montana, have found NCOs to be a flexible method balancing concerns of preservation and growth.
City Council on Tuesday approved Greensboro’s first NCO, which was sought by the Westridge Neighborhood Association. The NCO covers properties facing about six long blocks of Westridge Road, a largely residential street of single-family homes that runs between Friendly and Battleground Avenues.
Homes along Westridge Road range from 1930s-era farm houses to new houses under construction. Some are modest; some are expansive. No two are alike, but many enjoy large lots, extensive tree coverage and generous front yard setbacks.
The Westridge Neighborhood Association, with guidance from the city Planning Department, crafted guidelines designed to preserve the look and feel of the neighborhood in the decades ahead. The process took nearly a year of community meetings, discussion and consensus building. Supporters believe the NCO will preserve the character of the neighborhood while encouraging that future development be compatible.
More than 90 percent of the affected homeowners signed a petition in support of the NCO. City Council approved the NCO by a vote of 8-0.
Councilwoman Goldie Wells noted that the NCO effort has had an unexpected benefit: it has introduced neighbors to one another, sparked regular potluck social gatherings, and strengthened community bonds.
Westridge was the first neighborhood to seek an NCO. Others soon will follow. If the Westridge experience can be replicated, we can all look forward to stronger neighborhoods and a stronger Greensboro.
Brad Kemmerer, president of ABCO Automation, is into robotics. So are the 50-some Guilford County high school students who make up Team 1533 “Triple Strange.” (It’s a scientific term. Really.)
The robot-building team recently took regional and national honors in the FIRST program (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology).
One award recognized the team’s efforts to encourage other students to get involved with FIRST projects. Team 1533 mentored a middle-school-age Lego robotics team. And the team helped start 12 other high school teams in the region, including three that will focus on robotics. Building robots able to perform prescribed tasks isn’t child’s play, but it can be a lot of fun.
ABCO and other companies provide Team 1533 with mentors, work space, and all-important financial support. In return, the companies get first-hand experience with the nation’s next wave of the best and the brightest. (ABCO has already hired two of the high-school students as interns).
When businesses get more involved with our students, everybody wins.
To watch a short video about Team 1533, click the triangle button on the window below.
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