Brandywine Village Civic Association

Brandywine Village Civic Association

Monthly Meetings

The Brandywine Village Civic Association meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm at Shortlidge School, 100 W 18th Street. Please enter at the caferteria entrance on 18th Street.

As a resident of the Brandywine Village you are eligible to participate in all Brandywine Village Civic Association meetings and activities.

Business owners and property owners are encouraged to attend meetings and activities in the Brandywine Village.

Good News!

Curbside Recycling Expanded to Include Fall Leaves and Yard Waste

City will provide FREE paper recyclable bags available to citizens. Call Constituent Services at 302-576-2489.

Wilmington Mayor James M. Baker and Public Works Commissioner Kash Srinivasan announced that beginning today Wilmington is expanding its successful curbside trash recycling program to include the recycling of fall leaves and yard waste.

The City currently diverts nearly 33% of its total trash stream from the landfill to recycling as part of one of the most successful curbside recycling programs in the region. Now, the Mayor says it is time to add to the City’s recycling efforts by collecting leaves and yard waste which will be composted to produce mulch for the City’s parks and open spaces. Leaves and yard waste collected this fall will be taken to a City composting site on East 12th Street where the City has informally recycled and composted leaf and yard waste materials for the past two years.

Citizens are also urged to bag their own leaves and yard waste in recyclable paper bags that will be distributed FREE by the City to citizens, community and neighborhood associations.

“I am very proud of the support we have received from citizens for our recycling and greening efforts in Wilmington,” said Mayor Baker. “It is time now to turn our attention to leaves and yard waste and do what is correct environmentally by recycling 100% of this material if possible. With citizen support I know we can move toward achieving this goal.”

Brandywine SugarBowl

Seen the construction and the fencing on the soldiers and sailors memorial side of the park?

Wonder what's going on?

Friends of Wilmington Parks Adopts "Sugar Bowl" Project The Friends of Wilmington Parks Board of Stewards voted in favor of adopting its next significant architectural project in Brandywine Park: the reconstruction of a domed structure commonly known as the "Sugar Bowl” pavilion.

Friends of Wilmington Parks will conduct fundraising and oversee management of the multi-year project, partnering with the Delaware Division of Parks and Recreation and a dedicated group of local engineers, architects and planners from the City of Wilmington and the staff at the University of Delaware's Center for Composite Materials.

Friends of Wilmington Parks completed its last multi-year architectural project, the renovation of the Jasper Crane Rose Garden, in June of 2004.

The original Sugar Bowl pavilion, named for its domed roof's likeness to a sugar bowl lid, was
completed in 1902 and demolished in stages mid-century after suffering irrevocable damage. All that remains is the concrete foundation upon its original granite base overlooking North Park Drive and Brandywine River near the Washington Street Bridge.

Much of Brandywine Park is defined by its art and architectural elements – statues, fountains,
bridges, and historic structures. When completed, the pavilion overlook will be a landmark that anchors the north end of the park, offering park visitors an aesthetic view within the City of Wilmington perhaps equaled only by the Rockford Tower overlook in Rockford Park.

Friends of Wilmington Parks is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization devoted to the preservation and restoration of the Wilmington State Parks: Rockford, Brandywine, H. Fletcher Brown, Alapocas Run parks and Kentmere Parkway.

For more information about the park, the Sugar Bowl Project or to learn about volunteer opportunities, visit www.brandywinepark.org or call (302) 656-3665.


RECYCLING in Brandywine Village

Wilmington's recycling program in partnership with the Recycle Bank is going strong.

To learn more about what you can and can't recycle, or log in to check your Recycle Bank points, visit http://recyclebank.com/

Alert: Do not put your recyclables in green garbage bags. All recycled items should be placed directly in your brown bin.

If you add items to your bin in a green bag or any other non-clear bag, your recycling will not be picked up. The workers on the truck cannot determine if the items are recyclable or trash.

Wilmington Fire Department

Willie J. Patrick, Jr., Chief

The Wilmington Fire Department supports the U.S. Fire Administration’s SMOKING & HOME FIRES CAMPAIGN

Encouraging Smokers to Put it Out. All the Way. Every Time.

The City of Wilmington and the Wilmington Fire Department recently honored a visiting nurse for her actions at an apartment fire. The fire was caused by carelessly discarded smoking materials which ignited combustible paper products. This incident serves as a reminder to the dangers of not disposing of smoking materials properly. The City of Wilmington experienced 35 fires in 2007 that could be directly attributed to smoking related materials.

Smoking is the number one cause of home fire deaths. To prevent these deaths, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) launched a nationwide Smoking & Home Fires Campaign designed to raise awareness and stop home fires caused by smoking before they start. The Wilmington Fire Department is supporting this important effort to help save lives.

The USFA’s Smoking & Home Fires Campaign is aimed at alerting people, especially smokers and those who live with them, to the fact that careless smoking is the number one cause of preventable home fire deaths. The goal is to prevent fire deaths by urging smokers to Put it Out. All the Way. Every Time. The campaign will promote fire-safe smoking practices through educational materials, community organization-sponsored events and a consumer-friendly campaign Web site.

“The Wilmington Fire Department is proud to be a partner with the USFA in this very relevant campaign. Far too many people in our communities have been killed in fires started by cigarettes. It is time for us to realize that one person killed in a preventable home fire is just too many” said Wilmington Fire Chief Willie J. Patrick, Jr. “Together, we can save lives.”

“Most fires caused by smoking materials start on beds, furniture, or in trash,” said Tom Olshanski, spokesperson for the U.S. Fire Administration. “It’s not just the smokers that are killed in these fires. In fact, one in four people killed in these kinds of fires were not the smokers themselves.” On average, 1,000 people are killed in smoking-related home fires every year and most people are asleep when the fires occur.

Smoke-related fires can be prevented by taking a few simple precautions. Smokers and those who live with smokers should ensure the following:

Smokers should smoke outside and use ashtrays with a wide, stable base that won’t tip over.
Always make sure cigarettes and ashes are out.

Never toss hot cigarette butts or ashes in the trash.

Soak cigarette butts and ashes in water before throwing them away.

Chairs and sofas burn fast so never put ashtrays on them and check for cigarettes under cushions if people have been smoking in your home.

If you are drowsy or falling asleep, put it out.
Smoking in bed is just plain wrong.

For more information on the Smoking & Home Fires Campaign and other fire prevention information, please visit www.usfa.fema.gov/smoking.

To learn more about the Wilmington Fire Department’s local campaign activities, please feel free to contact Captain Chris Murtha at (302) 576-3152 or the Wilmington Fire Marshal’s Office at (302) 576-3120.

Deputy Chief George Cunningham and the Wilmington Fire Marshal’s Office would also like to remind City residents in need of smoke detectors that they are available free of charge. Anyone needing smoke detectors should call the Smoke Detector Hotline at (302) 571-4361.

If You Smoke, Put it Out. All the Way. Every Time.

Headquarters (302) 576-3950
Fax (302) 571-4039

Crime Tip Hotline 1-866-WILMTIP
(1-866-945-6847)

Emergencies
911
Help Line
Non-Emergencies
(302) 654-5151

Smoke Detector Program (302) 571-4361

Important Numbers

Toll-Free Crime Tip Hotline (new)
1-866-WILMTIP (1-866-945-6847)
This toll-free crime tip hotline enables any citizen, anywhere, to leave a confidential, recorded message about criminal activity in Wilmington, the location of the activity, the time of day it is occurring and any information about suspects or vehicles owned or used by suspected criminals. All information supplied through the new crime tip hotline will be kept confidential.

Non-emergency crimes or nuisances.
654-5151 - Community Policing
Prepare to give exact location or address of problem.

Emergencies
911 - Wilmington Police
Use this number for emergencies and crimes in progress.

Constituent Services - Marcia Starks - 576-3112
One-stop shop...call for ANY community problems, concerns or complaints, including:

graffiti
potholes
utilities (street lights out, etc.)
abandon cars
shoes on wires
drug activity
loitering

Fire Marshal - 576-3129
Free Smoke Detectors - 571-4361

Links

Friends of Wilmington Parks
Recycle Bank

About our association

The Brandywine Village Civic Association

The Brandywine Village Civic Association is concerned with the quality of life of our community. We strive to maintain the integrity of this urban neighborhood. The objective of this association is theorderly revitalization and future development of the neighborhood and to promote the general welfare, safety, and civic spirit of this community.

Brief History of Brandywine Village

The first millrace was dug along the Brandywine in 1762. In 1869 Brandywine Village was annexed to the City of Wilmington. At the end of the 18th century, a dozen water powered flour mills operated along the Brandywine. By the 1880's water power was combined with steam. During the late 19th and 20th centuries the Village produced cotton textiles and cigars.

Revitilization

The long awaited Streetscapes Project was begun in 2004. As of 12/2008, the project is nearly complete.

The 100 and 200 blocks of 18th Street have brickpaver sidewalks.
Sidewalks were funded by State funds --thank you Representative Dennis Williams. The project was administered by the City of Wilmington. The City of Wilmington hired Stripe-A-Lot to build the sidewalks.

Old-fashioned lampposts were installed by Delmarva Power. These lamposts add real ambience and coziness to 18th street.

Arbor Day 2008 was welcomed with lovely Cherry Trees placed in the planting sqares on our Streetscapes. Trees were purchased with a State of DE Urban Forestry grant. Henry Poole at the Department of Agriculture was instrumental in helping us pull this off. (Trees carry a one year warranty.)

Residents of the 100 block have requested that City Councilman Norman Griffiths require the City to ensure the sidewalks are in compliance with City code. Several of the walks were dug too deep by the Stripe-A-Lot contractors creating an 11" rise from sidewalk to first step. The sidewalk was dug so deep the the pavers are below the poured concrete steps that join the residents' staircase to the sidewalk. This situation creates structural issues to the homeowners' concrete steps and persons with disabilities, the elderly, and the young are unable to clibm the first step from the sidewalk. Everyone risks low back injury in an effort to make an 11" step from sidewalk to step.

Would you like pavers, lamposts, and trees for your block? Come out to the Civic Associuation meeting and learn how!