• Baseball must be starting because the lawnmowers are busy. Beech Grove will have an Opening Day parade to celebrate the Beech Grove Little League and the Beech Grove Girls Softball Affiliation teams on April 27 at 9 a.m. starting at Sarah T. Bolton Park, 1300 Churchman.
• Kathleen Angelone of Bookmamas wants everyone to know that as part of the Celebrate Irvington day May 11, the Friends of Irving Circle will be having a clean-up of the circle at 10 a.m. Kathleen has been working tirelessly on the Celebrate Irvington project, and is doing a great job of keeping us informed.
• If you haven’t been to one of Sunday concerts at Irvington Presbyterian, 55 Johnson Ave., you are missing out on some great music. Don’t miss the West Winds Big Band on April 28 at 6 p.m., a free pizza reception will follow.
• Sports Voice columnist Steve Nicewanger had knee replacement surgery April 22, and has dubbed himself the $5.5 Million Dollar Man. He’ll be doing his rehab on the south side and will be up and around in no time. Get well soon!
• Cricket on the east side? Not the insects, but the game. Mayor Ballard recently announced that the city is building a sports complex at the Post Road Community Park (1313 S. Post Rd.). Money from the Rebuild Indy fund will be used to build fields for cricket, rugby, lacrosse, and hurling events in hopes of attracting international events. The project will also include trails, more parking, restrooms, and concession stands. And did you know we have a local cricket club? Find out about Hoosier cricket at the web site www.indianacricket.org
• There’s a solar farm coming to Franklin Township. The 156 acre site will be developed by Sunrise Energy Ventures, LLC. They’ll begin construction probably in July or August and be completed in eight months. The Zoning Board approved variances, and it looks like the project is ready to move forward. Indianapolis Power and Light agreed to buy power generated by the solar arrays.
• Speaking of solar energy, the biggest hurdles to creating a solar generation facility at the former Eastgate Mall have been completed. Once the panels and everything are installed, the facility will operate off solar power, generating 4 megawatts of power. Alex Carroll, owner of the property and the Lifeline Data Center, noted in a recent e-mail that installing the panels will be the final exterior addition for the largest part of the property — and the parking lot and all of the access roads will be repaved shortly.
• Remember drive-in movies? Indy Parks is introducing Bike-In Movies at Garfield Park on the lawn (between the Arts Center and the Burrello Family Center) on First Fridays. Bike in with the family for a free movie, which will begin shortly after dusk (about 9 p.m.). There will be food trucks on site. The first movie will be The Princess Bride on May 3.