• Congratulations and a big thank you to all the great people who made Discover Irvington such a huge success on May 9. The Blues Fest at 5547 Project on Bonna Ave. was wildly successful and the merchants and restaurants did steady business. Best yet, the weather was great (until that pesky cloudburst rolled through).
• The 2013 Miss Irvington Amelia Keenan and 2014 Miss Irvington Kendra Obermaier will perform at the 2015 Irvington Church Choir Invitational on May 31st at Downey Avenue Christian Church 111 South Downey Avenue at 6:30 p.m. They will join with seven local church choirs to celebrate the beginning of Pentecost. This evening of special music is a free event with a offering accepted for the ICAN food pantry.
• The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office has joined Verizon Wireless, the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and other community partners in the HopeLine cell phone collection drive throughout the month of May. Used phones, tablets and mobile phone accessories will be collected at several locations throughout the state. Since 2011, HopeLine has collected 9 million phones, granted 14.2 million in cash to organizations and provided 123,000 phones for use by domestic violence survivors. The donated electronics are then refurbished and sold. Proceeds from the sales are used to fund non-profit agencies and to purchase other wireless phones for survivors of domestic violence. To participate in the HopeLine drive, please drop off your used mobile devices and accessories at the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office main office located at 251 E. Ohio Street, Suite 160.
• State Representative Dan Forestal will have his annual tree giveaway May 16th at Ellenberger Park, 5301 E. St. Clair, from 2 to 4 p.m. It will be a great day with snacks, a fire truck visit, and free trees!
• Emerson Heights will hold their monthly neighborhood meeting May 21 at 6:45 p.m. at the Wallace St.. Evangelical Church, 4805 E. 10th St. IMPD East District Commander Bruin and Steve Talley will be guest speakers. Blake Johnson, who is running for City-County Council District 12 will also be on hand. Everyone in the neighborhood is welcome to attend.
• Parents, policymakers and educational practitioners are invited to a discussion on ways to improve high school graduation rates during the next program in The Indianapolis Public Library’s “Conversations About Education” series on May 19 from 6 – 7:30 p.m. at Central Library, in the Clowes Auditorium, 40 E. St. Clair Street. Leading the discussion will be John Bridgeland, CEO of Civic Enterprises, a public policy firm in Washington, D.C., and co-author of Building a GradNation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic. During this program, Bridgeland will discuss promising strategies, ways to improve K-12 practices, and implications for the 2015 GradNation report to be issued in May. Call 275-4099 for more information about this free program.