Old North St. Louis Restoration Group is proud to report that our 8th season of North City Farmers' Market along the 2700 block of North 14th Street (at St. Louis Avenue) got off to a great start on Sat., June 7, with much excitement from the crowd of customers, including a diverse mix of Old North residents, outside supporters, and visitors who just stumbled across the market while in the neighborhood for a treat across the street at Crown Candy. 

The market runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday through October 18.  For regular updates on events, activities, and vendors at the market, visit the market's blog by clicking HERE. 

A variety of entertaining and community building activities can be found EVERY week at North City Farmers' Market!  In addition to our usual crop of food vendors offering fresh fruits and vegetables and baked goods and local artist/craft vendors, this week will feature more cooking demonstrations from St. Louis University's Nutrition & Dietetics program, free blood pressure screenings by SLU's School of Nursing, live music from Fresh Heir, performances by youth from CHIPS, Hula hooping exercises with Energizing Enterprises... and so much more than can be listed here.

Various portions of the programming at the market are made possible by generous financial support from Regional Arts Commission, Dana Brown Foundation, Trio Foundation, and Covidien.  Thank you to all of these and other funders!

We've got stickers, mugs, and t-shirts to help you spread the word that Old North is alive and well - and home to a lot of wonderful people, businesses, schools, churches, events, and programs. Contact us at 314-241-5031, stop by our office at 2700 N. 14th Street or the info booth at North City Farmers' Market, or visit our merchandise page at ONSL.org by clicking HERE, to get your Old North stuff.  We're especially excited about our new ONSLRG t-shirts produced by STL Style.

We are thrilled to share the news that the Lane Family of 1303 North Market received one of this year's Most Enhanced Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation from Landmarks Association of St. Louis.  The award was presented at an official ceremony on May 22, but visitors to this year's Old North House & Community Tour had a chance to see this incredibly cool property up close and in person days before the public award presentation. For images of their home and more details about the award, click HERE.

Charlotte Harris is the latest addition to our Old North St. Louis Restoration Group staff and is the first person to greet you when you walk through our front door at 2700 N. 14th Street.  A resident of Old North from just a couple blocks away - and one of the 13th Street Community Garden's many gardeners, Charlotte comes to ONSLRG via the AARP Foundation's Senior Community Service Employment Program.  Please stop by our office on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday to say hello and introduce yourself to Charlotte.

A few years ago, Kaid Benfield of the Natural Resources Defense Council called Old North "one of the country's best revitalization stories."  On Saturday, May 17, a few hundred people had a chance to see why when they attended ONSLRG's Annual Old North House & Community Tour.

Among the highlights: the debut of the Old North "Little Free Library" and a chance to see several Landmarks Association "Most Enhanced Award"-winning properties of previous years as well as one of this year's winners.

For more info and images from the tour day, take a look at our blog post with highlights of the tour by clicking HERE.

The Old North House & Communtiy Tour wouldn't have been possible without generous support from many sponsors.  This year's lead sponsor, our Tour Presenter, was PNC Bank.  We also thank Tour Sponsors American Bank of Missouri; Raven Development; Commerce Bank; Duffe-Nuernberger Realty/ND&S Management; Equifax; Husch Blackwell LLP; and U.S.Bank; and many other House Sponsors, Garden Sponsors, and Supporters. The full list of sponsors at all levels was included in the tour booklet - and also can be found on our website.  

Our list of reasons to visit Crown Square just keeps growing. Over the past couple months, we've welcomed the following new endeavors:

• KRAV boutique, a clothing store for women and men at 2717 N. 14th Street, owned & operated by Ebony Wilson (owner of the former Therapy boutique that had occupied that space) and her business partner, Walt Johnson;
• Building Futures, a non-profit that teaches carpentry and woodworking skills to young people, at 2617 N. 14th Street, run by Frank & Gay Lorberbaum; more details about their programming can be found by clicking HERE;
• UrbArts, a spoken word arts center, which offers workshops and poetry slams for young people and hosts other events, at 2600 N. 14th Street; for more about their programming and their announcement about opening at Crown Square, click HERE;
• and the 14th Street Artist Community has moved down the street into 2607-09 N. 14th Street; learn more about them by clicking HERE.

ONSLRG and our partners at Rise Community Development are happy to report that almost all of the commercial spaces now have tenants or active, community-serving programs occupying the storefronts along N. 14th Street.  However, there still are opportunities for commercial tenants at Crown Square.  Contact Susan Sauer of Duffe-Nuernberger at 314-571-7654 or send her an email (ssauer@ndconsulting.com) for more information.

Please join us on Wednesday, July 16 for the opening of our latest exhibit at the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group Gallery (adjacent to the ONSLRG office), 2700 N. 14th Street.  The exhibit features the photography of Sylvester Jacobs. The opening of the exhibit entitled "We Are of the Same Essence" coincides with the latest installment of the "So Reel" Film & Discussion series, our collaboration with YWCA of Greater St. Louis.  This month's topic is "Healing Racism Through the Arts," and will start with a brief video at 6 p.m., a discussion with artist Sylvester Jacobs at 6:30, then a reception from 7:30-9 p.m.

The program is generously supported by Regional Arts Commission, Arts & Education Council, and Missouri Humanities Council.

We always like it when outside parties say nice things about Old North, so we can't pass up this opportunity to pass along a few lines from a story posted on the Riverfront Times' DailyRFT.com on July 9.  

In addition to bringing attention to our efforts to preserve 1316 North Market, the article by Chris Naffziger also offers the following perspective:

"Old North St. Louis represents one of St. Louis' great success stories in the last twenty years.  Once a rapidly declining neighborhood full of blight and abandonment, Old North was one of the few areas of the city to see its population grow in the 2010 census.  Located just a fifteen-minute walk from downtown... the neighborhood has benefited from a resilient population and stalwart businesses such as Crown Candy Kitchen."

There's more, but rather than re-type it all here, you can read the whole piece by clicking HERE - and you can contribute to the cause by clicking HERE.

Since keeping Old North St. Louis Restoration Group afloat is a responsibility shared by many, ONSLRG Boardmember Doug Rasmussen has stepped up to the plate once again by recruiting some out-of-state musical talent to perform at a benefit concert on Saturday, Sept. 27.  We are pleased to announce that Plush, at 3224 Locust, has agreed to serve as the concert venue, and that 3 bands based in the southeast will come to town for this worthy cause.  For info, check out our Facebook event page by clicking HERE or just go ahead and get your tickets online via TicketFly by clicking HERE.

Old North now has yet another summer program to serve and support girls living in the neighborhood.  Girls Inc. has agreed to hold fun and educational programs for girls at the ONSLRG Gallery (2700 N. 14th Street) on Tuesday & Thursday afternoons from 2-4 p.m. throughout the summer.  If you know of any girls who could benefit from this program, let us know.

It's been a long time coming, but THIS Saturday, July 12, will be the first official chess lessons at the soon-to-be finished Chess Pocket Park at 2713 N. 14th Street.  This collaborative effort is made possible by a broad range of people, companies, and organizations, including Rosemann & Associates Architects, E.M. Harris Construction, Cole, the Chess Club of St. Louis, the Sustainable Land Lab initiative of Washington University and the City of St. Louis, and so many more.  Come on out Saturday at 10 a.m. to play, watch, or just to show your support.  Watch for later notices about a formal ribbon-cutting scheduled for Aug. 21.

The Mighty Mississippians at 13th & Montgomery held a great Solstice celebration on June 21 and will once again be offering yoga at their site on Saturdays during our farmers' market hours (watch for more details later).  

At the Sunflower+ Project lot on Warren a new crop of sunflowers started blooming in late May under the watchful eye of "Farmer John" (a creation of ONSL's beloved musician/artist Jamaica Ray).

Work on installing the Chess Pocket Park at 2713 N. 14th Street continued throughout the spring with an official ribbon-cutting scheduled for August 21.  Chess lessons for youth (& possibly others) led by the Chess Club of St. Louis will take place every Saturday, STARTING THIS WEEK.  Come on out at 10 a.m. to participate! 

And, over on Blair & St. Louis Avenue, the HUB garden (a competition finalist that later got selected for designation as a Land Lab lot), the HUB Garden has seen installation of new benches and the beginnings of a permeable paver path, with much more to come.

Click HERE for a full-size view of recent progress or activities at 4 of the lots, as shown in the image above.

Last year our Crown Square co-developers Regional Housing & Community Development Alliance (RHCDA) held a street party on N. 14th Street to announce their re-branding as Rise Community Development.  Since everybody enjoyed that event so much, Rise has decided to hold another street party this year on Thursday, August 21 from 6-10 p.m. at Crown Square.  For more information about the Rise-Up Festival, click HERE or contact Larry Perlmutter (larry@risestl.org). 

Watch for another eNewsletter soon with details about or updates on: 

• our community gardens & beatification initiatives;
• neighborhood safety programs, including the Neighborhood Ownership Model;
• interns, practicum students, & volunteers helping making Old North a more sustainable community;
• the summer jobs program for youth, made possible by United Way and the City of St. Louis;
• Old North's own Girl Scout troop;
• plans for new housing and/or historic rehabs;
• the Old North Walking Club - every TUES. evening!
• profiles of Old North residents who are doing phenomenal things; reports on neighborhood open meetings, the vibrant arts scene in Old North;
• visits to Old North from far & wide & interest in our community building from students, journalists, and community development professionals...

And thank you to all of the determined and dedicated residents of Old North and friends from outside the community who have supported Old North St. Louis Restoration Group over the past 33 years!