July 2009 – Page 11

New urban farming project launches at Findlay Market

On Tuesday, July 7 Cincinnati will take its urban gardening/farm program to the next level when Findlay Market plays host to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Cultivating Healthy Environments for Farmers (CHEF) project.

This Findlay Market pilot program aims to “recruit and train new urban growers.” According to Findlay Market, there are four families participating in the program, which began in April of this year, who will also be on hand for the event.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will start at 12:30pm and celebrate the establishment of these new urban farm plots located just south of the Market (1611-13 & 1626-28 Pleasant Street, between Green and Liberty streets) in historic Over-the-Rhine.

The CHEF project compliments the recently established Urban Gardening Pilot Program by the City of Cincinnati to establish community garden/farm plots throughout the city. Vice Mayor David Crowley will be on hand at this ceremony to speak about this particular project and the future of urban farming in Cincinnati.

Photo from Scott Beseler

Good times in the 513

On Saturday, June 20 thousands of people converged onto Over-the-Rhine to participate in the GoOTR 5k and enjoy the festivities at the first annual OTR Summer Gateway Celebration afterwards.

I can honestly say that the 5k was exhausting in that heat. I averaged an 11 minute mile which is not much better than a brisk walk, but I raised money for the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce and got to hang out with lots of fun people in OTR all day.

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The Summer Celebration was a great addition this year as in past years people seemed to hang around looking for something to do after the 5k. In addition to the awards ceremony from Rookwood Pottery and drinks from Christian Moerlein, this year had tons of local vendors selling food, crafts and other items.

On the other side of Vine Street some neighborhood children set up a lemonade stand to take advantage of the perfect business opportunity. There was even a stage for music and dance performances that kept the crowd entertained at 12th & Vine all day long.

A couple of drinks, a mett and a wood-fired pizza later I was ready to head south towards Fountain Square to check out the Civil Rights Game Youth Summit festivities that were ongoing.

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There were lots of out-of-towners and lots of people enjoying the interactive areas for the kids (pitching area, batting cage, etc). Earlier some Reds players spoke to the youth baseball players and fans at Fountain Square.

The day was truly special and will hopefully be just as good, if not better next year with the second annual OTR Summer Gateway Celebration and the second consecutive year of the Civil Rights Game being held in Cincinnati.