About Wilmington's South Graylyn Crest

This spring the South Graylyn Crest Civic Association community event will be all about children who are in need. Many children go to bed at night without a good pair of pajamas or a bedtime story. Some of these children are in shelters and others are in foster homes waiting to be adopted. SGCCA will partner with Sprout to help them deliver a good night to children in need. The Great Sprout Tuck-In is presented in conjunction with the Pajama Program.

Our goal is 150 new pairs of pajamas and new bedtime stories. Our drive kicks off in March with the delivery of our newsletter and an empty bag. The first round of donation pickups will occur on Saturday March 31st. A second opportunity to donate will occur at the Easter Egg Hunt in Chatham Park where SGCCA Board Members will be available to accept your donation. We hope all houses will consider participating in this great cause.

To find out more about The Great Sprout Tuck-In please visit the website below. Our drive is seeking pajamas in sizes from infants to 18 years old. On the website you will find a link to the Pajama Program’s wish list on Amazon.com. http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/greattuckin/

Acme Markets has kindly donated the paper bags for donations – consider them on your next grocery run. Please set this bag out on March 31st by 11 AM for pickup! If you cannot make the March 31st pickup, please consider bringing your donation to Chatham Park on the day of the Easter Egg Hunt. If you don't live in South Graylyn Crest, please see the website above for instructions on making a donation.

Thank you in advance for helping give those in need a good night!!

Although we had some light snow in October 2011, last night brought a couple of inches of wet snow in Wilmington. It was pretty icy around 9 a.m., but by noon it had turned to a manageable icy layer with enough water under it to scoop to the side of the driveway. And my lovely South Graylyn Crest neighbor had used his snow blower earlier to do the front sidewalks of about half a dozen houses from his house to mine, so all I had to shovel was the driveway and path to my door.

Then I looked out my back window and saw this lovely sight. I had left a container with Juncus effusus (Big Twister - Twisted Rush) and alyssum for winter interest, and behold--it looked very interesting!

If you read my earlier blog, http://actvra.in/pbP you know that preliminary measurement and clean out was being done on the sewer laterals in Brandywine Hundred and in particular, South Graylyn Crest to prepare them for lining, per an EPA mandate. Rainwater and sewage were mixing and causing sewage to flow untreated into rivers. Not Good. So New Castle County set about lining main lines and laterals into houses to prevent this leakage and overflow.

Today was the day that workers Dave (the CCTV cameraman) and Octavio came to finish the job on my lateral (they still have a lot more houses to do in South Graylyn, then they move to North Graylyn Crest).

Here you see Dave checking the video screen to see how the lining is being inserted, then Octavio watches as Dave adjusts the camera feed. Below, you can see the steam when heat is applied to the lining which is sealing the liner. The sample piece of liner I saw at an earlier meeting looked like white felt. I could see a seam in the CCTV view, and Dave said it is sewn together, then taped along the length of the liner. Snug as a bug in a rug, I would say! Thanks, Team!

South Graylyn Crest is getting closer to having its sewers rehabbed with liners or injection grouted joints. Tree roots were eating into and clogging the County sewers--I have personal experience with this problem because even though I have a PVC line to the street, my maple tree roots were getting into the line where it meets the clay County lines.

The good news today was that Raul Lopez and Rob Scheeler are spending weeks at a time away from home in Milwaukee doing a final clean-out--getting all the roots cleared for one last time and using cameras and a computer gadget that measures the lateral running from the street to the house (which was the owners’ responsibility up to now). Then, after Christmas, and a few days back home in Milwaukee (so Rob can see his 2 month old baby), they will be back to line everything so that those EVIL ROOTS will have to go somewhere else!

Here are some pictures I took this morning as R&R (as they call themselves) worked on my lateral line to the street.

Here are Raul, Rob, the truck with computer equipment, and the gadget that measures the line and sends the info back to the computer.

Yesterday's Annual Halloween Parade in Chatham Park was co-sponsored by the Civic Associations of the adjoining communities of Chatham and South Graylyn Crest. (Although these communities have a postmark of Wilmington, Delaware, they are located in New Castle County.) I counted about 50 contestants, and ended up being one of the 3 judges, which gave me a good look at all the great costumes.

As you can see from the 2 pictures above, the event was well organized by Melissa Panek of Chatham (with megaphone).

The youngest contestant was a 6 WEEK old snowman, joined by a cute pink bug and the Angry Bird (the bird won the 2 and under group). These last 2 kids showed that they loved the spotlight by taking every opportunity to silently parade before the judges. Real star power!

Amanda Clifton, South Graylyn's VP, and David, her webmaster husband, along with little Yoda Logan smile for the camera, and a table full of goodies contributed by various families tempt the crowd.

Some of the winners were Dorothy (here with Superwoman) who won in her age group, and a shackled together Cop and Prisoner, who won for Best Group. I could not help but notice the big Superman who made sure he did not miss a thing at the goodie table.

Seen next is a little Ringmaster, whose original costume won her the Best in Show award. Another age group winner was the little Vampire in black (seen with a juice pouch) who is seen with the friendly Superwoman accompanying her. She looked really scary with blood dripping from her mouth and prosthetic fangs (sorry we missed that). One other winner was the Travelocity Gnome, and since I took these pictures before the contest, I missed him. Good work South Graylyn Crest and Chatham Civic Associations!