ANNUAL GARDEN TOUR: 1 – 5 PM, SUNDAY, JUNE 24

Throughout the past 17 years, those attending the garden club’s annual garden tours have had the opportunity to walk shaded paths, witness the flashing shadows of overhead branches on the ground and maybe, if one was nearby, sit on a garden bench.

Others have felt the cooling effect of a fountain or gazed into plant-filled pond and wondered why the koi fish within have grown so big while theirs had not.

Walk slowly, as you visit the many gardens on this year’s Irvington Garden Tour, so as not to disturb a monarch butterfly, delight in the pleasing color combinations of flower pots on a patio, and stop to smell the honey perfume fragrance of a nearby rose.

This year's tour is scheduled for Sunday, June 24, 1-5 p.m., and tickets are still only $10 (children under 14 are admitted free of charge). Tickets for the tour may be purchased the day of the tour at the Benton House Historic Garden, 312 South Downey Avenue.

Irvington Vinyl & Books, in partnership with The Irvington Lodge, will open their doors for the first time on Saturday, June 30th from 1:00pm- 7:00pm.

Held where Bookmamas and Irvington Vinyl once sat at 9 Johnson Ave, owner Elysia Smith will welcome us into her new concept with live music, poetry, vendors, walking tours of the Irvington Lodge, great sales, and new inventory!

• 6-7 PM TribeSoul

Come to the IDO booth every second Sunday at the Garden Club’s Farmers Market, from noon to 3:00 pm, Ellenberger Park. Irvington Green volunteers will be ready to talk and listen to your ideas for neighborhood renewability: waste reduction (especially single use synthetic plastics/styrene), reusing and recycling, healthy habitat, and fresh local food supply.
 
Irvington Green community event recycling bins will be on the scene in the park, and we’re adding community venues! We need a few more volunteers to help in August and October at the market and Irving Circle concerts. And of course a bunch more neighbors to pitch in and help with the recycling/waste management for the Halloween Festival week. Come by and sign up. Join our 2018-19 Irvington business sponsors in raising awareness and carrying through with effective reducing-renewing-recycling throughout our neighborhood.
 
Like and follow Irvington Green on Facebook, where we share information, updates, ideas, resources and events for local-to-global renewability issues and initiatives.
 
Contact us at irvingtongreen@gmail.com.

Living and operating a business in a historic district has great benefits for Irvington, but there are rules regulating what you can and cannot do to the exterior of your building. Use this link to see the map of the Irvington Historic district. (Note: not all of Irvington is in the designated historic district. The yellow area on the linked map indicates the designated historic areas). If you have had questions about how to proceed with making changes to your property, here is your chance to learn how it works and whom to call.  The Irvington Community Council, Irvington Development Organization, and the Irvington Historical Society invite you to join us at the Bona Thompson Memorial Center, 5350 University Ave., on June 28th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm when Meg Purnsley, Administrator for the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission, will present a workshop on IHPC, their policies, and procedures.

The event is free and open to the public, but please RSVP at info@Irvingtoncouncil.com so that we can arrange seating.

If you’re a Kroger shopper, you can prompt — at no cost to you — donations to IDO every time you shop.  All you have to do is register your Kroger Plus card on Kroger's website and choose IDO as your Community Rewards recipient.  At the end of each quarter, Kroger sends us a portion of its total charitable donation, based on how many of those points IDO supporters have racked up. The more supporters who register their cards for our cause, the more groceries purchased, the bigger share of the $500,000 pie for IDO.  

You do need to renew your registration every year or your purchases no longer count toward IDO’s portion of the donation. Right now, 15 families are signed up. We know there are more than 15 Irvington supporters who shop at Kroger, so please take these few simple steps to support IDO.

Have your Kroger Plus card handy (you’ll need the long number under the barcode on the back), go to www.krogercommunityrewards.com, and follow the directions for a new account.  Once you’ve registered, choose Irvington Development Organization as your Community Rewards recipient.  Our Non Profit Organization Number is 11523.

Then go stock up like an ice storm’s coming!  Remember to use your Kroger Plus card every time you shop and renew your registration a year from now.  

JUNE NEIGHBOR SPOTLIGHT: ERIC JAMES' TRES GATOS FARM & COMMUNITY GARDEN
By Nancy Larner Ruschman

Introducing Eric James, a new-ish resident of Irvington Terrace who started the cool and quirky Tres Gatos (Three Cats) Farm & Community Garden. Tres Gatos is one of the stops on the June 24 Irvington Garden Tour! Also, did you know that Eric offers FREE produce delivery within one mile of Irvington for any order over $10? Visit soon and follow Eric and his adventures at Tres Gatos on Facebook.

Tell us a little about yourself and how your business got started.

I'm a former Accounting Manager from California who has somehow found himself doing Improv comedy and farming in Indiana. My partner and I bought a house on Pleasant Run Parkway that reminded us of the beach and came with a sizable yard that we weren't sure what to do with. I'd hobby gardened in San Jose, but never grew for market or had ambitions of being a farmer. While traveling around Holland in early 2017 I became enchanted with all of the urban community gardens, particularly in Rotterdam. There's a tremendous amount of awe and inspiration one can get from seeing a beautiful green space in the middle of a dense city environment, and I realized immediately that's what I wanted to do - transform a boring grassy plot into a functional community space that could also inspire others to find a passion in gardening. And so the Tres Gatos Farm & Community Garden was born. 

How long have you lived and/or worked here in Irvington?

We bought in Irvington last April and officially made the move in July 2017.

How did you first hear of Irvington and why did you move here?

We were turned on to Irvington really by the house we ended up in - it is a quirky looking mid-century that stuck out like a sore thumb on the MLS listing. We also put a heavy focus on walking/bikeability since we're a one car household, and Irvington is great for both. The diversity and creative energy in the neighborhood was also a huge selling point - we have so many neighbors who are artists/craftspeople in many ways and I owe much of the community garden build-out to their generous help. It's also worth mentioning that the day we looked at the house included a walk over to Black Acre and Simply Divine Cupcakes, which contributed to the easy sell. 

What do you do for fun?

Gardening, improv comedy, Downton Abbey, and traveling overseas (which is now exclusively a tool to escape the Indiana winter). 

If you were Mayor of Irvington for a day, what changes would you make?

Bring all the food trucks and artists out to Irvington Plaza and have a street art extravaganza/swap meet. Or really anything that involves making Irvington Plaza functional. Is there resentment seeping through here?