Happy Birthday to one of the area's longest-running fundraisers!

In January, 1983, The Lord's Bounty was organized as a nonprofit resale store. The mission was to sell moderately priced clothing and household items and to use the profits to support the College Hill community.

From the beginning, the store has supported Christ's Community in College Hill and other College Hill organizations. A major part of the store's profits provide undergraduate college scholarships for young people in the community.

Costs are low:  Everything the store sells is donated by people in the community and all workers and board members are volunteers from College Hill area churches.

The store, located at 5852 Hamilton Avenue, south of Cedar, accepts donations of clothing and household items during store hours, Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 AM to 4:00 pm.

Drop in to donate or buy, and know that your items or dollars send College Hill kids to college.

Story contributed by Jim and Mary Bodmer

The College Hill Gardeners will host evening Greenhouse Growing Workshops at Aiken University High School, and you may join in--for FREE!

Thanks to Principal Dr. Virginia Rhodes, last Saturday a half-dozen GE employees from around the world worked alongside College Hill Gardeners Kevin Corcoran, Beth McLean, Mary Cinquina and Susan Osborn to get a third greenhouse cleaned up and ready for expansion of the popular program.  

Over the past six years, CHG has taught many adults in their evening workshops, hundreds of students during the school day, and welcomes therapists from Children's Hospital College Hill Campus this year. Yet, there is still room for you.  

Come and grow with the Gardeners each Wednesday evening beginning March 12 from 6-8 pm. Program continues through April.  

For directions and information, call Beth at 513-681-1326.

Story contributed by Beth McLean.

When last weekend's Olan Mills photo fundraiser had to be cancelled because of the weather, House of God Community Ministries didn't cancel the fun.

About 50 people braved the weather and gathered for the free breakfast originally planned for the photo sessions, says Pastor Anthony Hoskins. Free breakfasts will be held monthly in 2008, with the next breakfast scheduled for the fourth Sunday in March.

The fundraiser has been rescheduled for March 9, so it's your chance to have a professional portrait taken at a bargain price. For a $10 ticket, Olan Mills will provide a 10 x 13 portrait or a child package of smaller photos. Additional packages will be available for purchase.

To schedule a portrait, call Vanessa Lovett at 513-531-5280 or 513-706-1846. You do not have to be a member of the church to participate in either activity. Anyone in College Hill and surrounding communities is invited.

Story contributed by Pastor Anthony Hoskins

 

Aiken graduate and world-famous choreographer Shane Sparks is appearing on MTV as one of the judges of "Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew."

For the last two seasons, he was a judge and choreographer for the Fox series "So You Think You Can Dance."  Shane has choreographed for movies and television, and has won numerous awards, including a 2004 American Choreography Award for best choreography and a 2005 BET Award for co-choreography with Omarion. He also teaches master classes around the world.

Randy Jackson is familiar to many as a judge on "American Idol." The other judges on Randy's show are JC Chasez (former N'Sync member, currently a songwriter, singer, and producer), and hip hop sensation Lil' Mama.

The show started last week on MTV and MTV2. For dates, times, and channels, see the site above.

Pleasant Hill Academy is a busy place this quarter.

Earlier this Februrary it held its monthly PTA meeting and its quarterly parent/teacher conference night. Last Thursday was Donuts for Dads day, when dads, grandfathers, uncles and other important men in students' lives were invited to visit.

This Thursday, students invite their families and the College Hill community to their Black History Program, which will feature performances celebrating African-American culture.

March 5th, families of 4th and 7th graders are invited for Math Night. Tutors from Aiken will be at the school to show families home activities to make learning more fun. The event is from 6-8 pm, and includes a 7:30 dinner. Childcare is also provided, so how can you go wrong?

Story contributed by Pamela Bowers

Sonshine House Consignment Store (the yellow house near the corner of Hamilton and Llanfair) will kick off its new monthly story time this Saturday with an end-of-season warehouse sale.

Children ages 2-1/2 to 6 and their parents are invited to the first Sonshine House Story Time on Saturday, March 1 at 10:30 am. This half hour event will include stories and songs geared toward preschoolers, though older siblings are also welcome. The sale begins at 10 am and ends at 2 pm.

Launched by Three C's Nursery School (of College Hill Presbyterian Church), the store's ultimate goal is to use store proceeds to fund and develop youth-related programs in College Hill. Their high-quality, reasonably-priced merchandise keeps bringing customers back.

"How can anyone pass up this store?" says one faithful shopper. "Every time I come in, I'm getting great deals on great stuff. It's the first place I shop for toys, books, and clothes."

Monthly storytime will be at 10:30 am on the third Saturdays of the month beginning in April. A special "Christmas in July" toy sale and seasonal warehouse sales are also planned. Regular store hours are Tuesdays, 9:30 am to 3 pm; Thursdays, 9:30 am to 5 pm; Saturdays, 10 am to 2 pm. For information call Jenny at 513-853-8489.

Story contributed by Toni Alander

Allen Howard III, son of Valerie Grant Howard of College Hill and Allen Howard Jr. of Hamilton, was one of four young men in Boy Scout Troop 772 to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout this year.

Nationally only 3 percent of Scouts achieve that rank. The troop is headquartered at Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church, and is led by Scoutmaster Don McClellan.

For his Eagle Scout project Howard, built toy boxes and collected toys for Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

The troop's other three Eagle Scouts are Michael Oliver Cole (Wyoming), Michael Linwood Williams (Forest Park) and Richard Lee Washington (Finneytown). Read more about them in an Enquirer article here.

Pictured: Eagle Scout Allen Howard III (back right) with Scoutmaster Don McClellan and fellow Eagle Scouts.

College Hill was one of four neighborhoods represented at Mayor Mark Mallory's Urban Markets Summit.

Designed to help the neighborhoods attract business, the summit included representatives from College Hill, Northside, West Price Hill, and Avondale--all "underserved areas," according to the city--with representatives from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, and national nonprofit Social Compact.

Read the Business Courier's coverage here.

This accolade comes on the heels of her selection as a First Team Academic All-American by PrepVolleyball.com, the only one selected for this team from Ohio. She will be attending the University of Dayton next year on full scholarship.  

Story contributed by McAuley High School, photo by www.arcticferrett.com.