May/June 2022 Newsletter

NMCA Announcements, Newsletters

 

 

Spring Social

It was great to see everyone at the spring social on May 1 at Larkin’s Sawmill.  We had over 160 in attendance and all seemed to enjoy the day, the food and the music.

 

 

Once again, thanks to our event sponsors:

  • City Council Member Dorothy Dowe
  • Realtor Lil Glenn
  • Sunnie & John DeWorken
  • U.S. Rep. William Timmons
  • S.C. Rep.Jason Elliot
  • RCMA/Redhype
  • Berkshire Hathaway Home Services – C. Dan Joyner, Realtors

 

We provided gift bags for the sponsors and we’d like to acknowledge and thank those local businesses who contributed:

 

And for those who asked for contact information, our musician that day, North Main’s own Brian Heinbaugh, can be reached at 864-884-5556 or redshiftrecords@hotmail.com  He is always available to play for your next event.

 

 

 

New Board Members Needed

We recently sent out an email asking for those interested in getting more involved in NMCA and their community to drop us a note to let us know and we’d be happy to provide more information.  We have published the board positions and descriptions on our website, and we encourage you to take a look and see where you may be able to help.  We had a couple of folks express interest at the May 1 social and we appreciate it.  Elections will be held this fall.  None of the positions are that time consuming.  The position is really what you make it.    Email northmaincomm@gmail.com

 

City News

  • There is an online petition to request that a “traffic calming” study be conducted for the specified area on Croft St, Robinson St, and W. Earle. If you live in the affected area, please check it out and share with neighbors. To see more information and sign the online petition, go to https://publicinput.com/T5804
  • Following the adoption of GVL2040, Greenville’s new comprehensive plan, the City has undertaken a project to write a new development code that aligns with the plan and addresses issues related to development across the community. The new code will be written in 2022 and will shape Greenville for years to come.

Draft plans for the five areas (one of which is Stone and Main) will be developed during May and June. The plans will outline development visions for the areas and demonstrate the application of code tools that will be found in the new development code. The draft plans will be available for public review this summer.  NMCA President, Steve Mills, is serving on this working group, but the entire neighborhood needs to be involved if you want to impact how we move forward in years to come.

The next online Code Development Sessions will be June 8 and July 13.  For more information on how to participate and to view presentations and recordings of past meetings, click here.

 

  • Did you know that The National Arbor Foundation has named Greenville a Tree City USA recipient for the past 38 years?  Hard for many of us to believe if we look around at how our neighborhood has changed.  If we hope to keep that title, we need to pay attention to things like the new development code, changes in the tree ordinance, etc.  As the article below from the City’s website mentions, only about 1/3 of Greenville is canopied.  As trees reach their maturity and die or are removed for development, how much of the city will end up covered in concrete in coming years?  Please plant trees.  If you have to remove one, try to replace it.  Get involved in your neighborhood and tell your friends and neighbors to keep planting trees.  Let’s keep the green in Greenville.

Rooted In Greenville: The Tree Plan.  The majority of Greenville’s trees were planted in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and close to a century later, they are aging out. A recent study by the Green Infrastructure Center found that only 36% of the City of Greenville is currently under a tree canopy.

To protect and enhance the natural environment and aesthetic beauty of our community, the City is actively working to preserve existing trees. The City also promotes and supports tree planting efforts citywide. As part of that effort, the City has committed to planting 1,000 trees annually in City parks and the public right-of-way. The City will also conduct an ongoing public awareness campaign – including tree giveaway events – to encourage city residents to plant trees on private property.  (https://parks.greenvillesc.gov/744/Greenvilles-Trees )

In a 2020 presentation to the public, city staff presented the map below showing canopy change from 2003 and 2019, with the green areas showing where canopy is/was.  You’re looking at I-85 (the largest line) with Laurens Rd on left and Woodruff Rd curving across the top.

  • The Greenville Fire Department will be offering Hands-only CPR training on June 6 and June 11 at 206 S. Main and Main Street Falls Park Entrance.

 

  • Reminder:  Recycling and trash are NOT collected on Monday, May 30, Memorial Day. Recycling and trash will be picked up one day later for the entire week.

 

 

 

2022 Greenville Scottish Games

Memorial Weekend in 2022! Ticket sales and online registration for Heavy Athletics, Piping/Drumming and Scottish Clans are now open!

Great Scot! Parade will be Friday, May 27th at 6pm on Main Street in downtown Greenville, SC.

Greenville Scottish Games will be Saturday, May 28th at Furman University in Travelers Rest, SC.

9:30am – Opening Ceremonies

11:00am – Military Salute

6:00pm – World’s Greatest Scottish Happy Hour & Celtic Jam

Free Parking!  Bring your chairs!  For more information go to https://gallabrae.com/

 

2022 Elections

The SC primary is coming up fast.  The primary will be held June 14, 2022, with run-offs scheduled for June 28, 2022.  To see a list of those candidates who have filed, click here.  You can see a sample of your ballot by clicking on this link and filling in the requested information.  For the primary, you will have to select a party to see the ballot.  For more information, go to https://scvotes.gov/

 

 

The Problem with Poop

It bears repeating!  Not only is pet waste unsightly and smelly, but it contains an abundance of bacteria, parasites, worms, and more that wash into local waterways and pollute our natural resources.  Pet waste can also make people, pets, and wildlife very sick by acting as a vector for disease transmission.  It even attracts unwanted attention from pests.

Isn’t dog poop a natural fertilizer? No!  A dog’s diet and gut composition are much different than those of manure producing animals, such as cows and chickens.  The high levels of bacteria, parasites, worms, and other pests are unsafe to be used as fertilizer.  Dog poop is also highly acidic, which means using dog poop as fertilizer will produce the exact opposite results than you had intended for your yard.

What about wild animals? Dog poop contains 23 million bacteria per gram, which is far more than wild animals.  The natural environment has evolved to handle wildlife that is naturally found in those areas but can only naturally support about 2 dogs per square mile.  In Greenville County, there are more than 400 dogs per square mile.  The accumulation of waste of all these dogs overloads and strains the natural system.

Can I compost pet waste? Yes!  Special pet waste digesters and composters are available.  Pet waste should never be added to a regular compost pile.  Pet waste must steadily reach temperatures of 165 degrees or more to kill any unwanted residents and eliminate the risk of making humans and animals sick.  Traditional compost piles do not generally reach these temperatures.

Please pick up after your dog with a plastic bag.  You can even buy biodegradable bags.  And please put them in the trash.  DO NOT put them on a pile of yard waste!!  Landfills are lined to prevent contaminants from leaching out into soil and groundwater.  

Want your very own Poop Fairy sign?  Post a friendly reminder in your yard with a “There Is No Poop Fairy” yard sign, available for free to Greenville County residents! These are great for communities and individual homes! Available in two sizes 12″ and 23″.  Contact Lynn Pilewski for availability.

Remember, signs must be placed on private property. 

 

COVID

 

While about 65% of eligible residents in Greenville County have received at least one dose of vaccine, only about 56% have been fully vaccinated, and this percentage rises with age.  These data are likely much more accurate than data on COVID cases because so many are using at home antigen test kits and are not reporting their positive results.

While our community data are still considered low in terms of outbreaks, according to DHEC’s county-level dashboard, updated weekly on Tuesdays, cases have been on the rise the last several weeks. This includes 951 cases the week of March 27-April 2, and a consistent rise each of the following weeks, with 5,566 cases the week of May 8-14. In that same timeframe, COVID-related deaths dropped each week, from 27 the week of March 27-April 2 to 10 deaths during the most recently reported week. If you have done a home test and the result was positive, it’s fairly certain you have COVID.  If negative and you have symptoms, you may want to get a PCR test to make sure.  There are many free locations.

Want to help insure more accurate tracking in our community?   Join a movement – report your symptoms to outbreaksnearme.org to help #publicHealth track the #COVID19 Pandemic.

Even if you’ve ordered the free CDC tests previously, you can order more now to replace what you’ve used or just to have on hand.  Just go to https://www.covid.gov/tests or https://special.usps.com/testkits

 

Summer in Your Yard

One problem I often see is mowing improperly…even by yard maintenance companies.  Mowing too low (also known as scalping) stresses the turfgrass, and the mowing height should be adjusted by raising the mower to the correct mowing height for your lawn type.  For example, fescue lawns should be cut to 3 inches tall and you should be removing no more than 1/3 of the grass blade when you mow.  NEVER weed eat your lawn.  It will be uneven and too short and may kill it.  Practice “grass-cycling” which is simply leaving the clippings on the lawn. Grass clippings decompose quickly and can provide up to 25 percent of the lawn’s fertilizer needs. If prolonged rain or other factors prevent mowing and clippings are too plentiful to leave on the lawn, they can be collected and used as mulch.  Vary the mowing pattern over the course of the season to create an even surface. This encourages grass shoots to grow upright and eliminates wear tracks on the lawn.

Why is it so important to mow at the proper height?  It all has to do with root:shoot ratio which is the ratio of the amount of plant tissues that have supportive functions to the amount of those that have growth functions. Plants with a higher proportion of roots can compete more effectively for soil nutrients and water, so mowing at the correct height leaves a higher proportion of photosynthetic shoots or leaves that can collect more light energy to feed the roots to keep them growing and healthy.

Don’t fertilize cool season grasses during June and July. Cool season turf grasses begin active growth in fall and need fertilizer at that time.  Warm season grasses can be given fertilizer during summer but stop as fall approaches as those grasses are preparing for dormancy.  And don’t overdo it as this can encourage disease.

It’s challenging in hot weather to keep plants looking good.  The SC Garden Guru has a list of plants that do well with less water.  But any plant, even native plants, need water for establishment before you can cut back on irrigation.

 

And, of course, with summer comes mosquitoes.  A  scientific study suggests that what you wear could help alleviate the scorn of mosquitoes.  Researchers at the University of Washington led the study, which concluded that wearing colors like red, orange, black and cyan attracts mosquitoes to your body. On the other hand, wearing clothing composed of colors including green, purple, blue and white may actually deter different species of mosquitoes.  Also, mosquitoes’ ability to smell carbon dioxide, which human beings cannot, activates their visual sense. Mosquitoes essentially smell a potential host first and then activate their visual senses to locate said host.

 

“CO2 travels far distances,” researchers said, including mosquitoes’ ability to smell it from as far as 100 feet away. “Their vision is not as good as ours, but they can start seeing us from 20 feet away or so. Once they see us, they investigate us.”  Another cue is integral to understanding mosquitoes’ attraction to humans: the color red located in human skin.  These orange-red colors present in skin emit a type of signal to mosquitoes to detect and locate hosts.  Other factors that might make you more attractive to mosquitoes include being pregnant, drinking beer, sweat, blood type, etc.

 

 

For the Birds

My hummingbirds have been back a few weeks now and I was lucky enough to see a few migrating birds this spring including a rose-breasted grossbeak. Most hummingbird activity around feeders, however, does not really pick up until midsummer. Hummingbirds are attracted to tubular red flowers like red salvia, bee balm, trumpet creeper, cypress vine, crossvine, firecracker vine, red buckeye, native azaleas (Oconee, flame and plumleaf) and woodbine, and they will readily seek out others such as hibiscus, hollyhock, petunia and impatiens. Hummingbirds also feed on small insects. Remember to keep clean water out for the birds for drinking and bathing, especially as it gets hotter.

And we’ll still be seeing baby birds for a while.  Some species have more than one clutch during a season.  Virtually all songbirds lay one egg per day, usually in the early morning, until the clutch is complete. In some larger species the female will lay an egg only once every 2–3 days. Most bluebird pairs raise one or two broods per season, but some raise three broods, rarely even four or five. Among the most impressive are mourning doves. They have multiple broods, as many as six in one year at southern latitudes, extending their nesting season well into the early fall.   When it comes to late nesters, American goldfinches top the list. They don’t begin until late June, July or even September in some cases. That’s because, unlike most other species, they don’t feed their babies insects, just seeds.  And the plants they like to use for nesting material is more plentiful.  Even as fall approaches and the days start growing shorter, you may still spot baby birds hopping around in your yard.  You can find out the clutch sizes for many North American species in Cornell’s All About Birds species guide.

 

Weather Tidbits

According to climate data from 1884 to the present, the average maximum temperature for Greenville in June is 88°F, and the average low is 66°F. The maximum high was 105 on June 20, 1887, and June 29, 2012. The maximum low temperature was 80 on June 29, 1931 (an all time record).  The minimum high temperature was 58 on June 10, 1913, and the minimum low was 40 on June 1, 1972.  Average rainfall is 3.8”. Maximum precipitation (rain) in a 24-hour period was 4.21” on June 1, 1964, and June 16, 1969.  The wettest June was in 1886 when we received 10.99 inches for the month.  The driest June was in 2008 when we only recorded 0.13 inches. http://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/index.php

The season outlook for May/June/July shows SC can expect above average temperatures and average rainfall.  Based on preliminary analysis, the average annual temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 54.5°F, 2.5°F above the 20th-century average and ranked as the fourth-warmest year in the 127-year record. The six warmest years on record have all occurred since 2012.

The nationally averaged maximum temperature (daytime highs) for 2021 was 66.4°F, 2.4°F above average, ranking as fifth warmest in the 127-year record.

The nationally averaged minimum temperature (overnight lows) during 2021 was 42.6°F, 2.6°F above average and ranked sixth warmest in the 127-year record. Temperatures were above average across the vast majority of the Lower 48.

There were 20 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2021, just two events shy of the record set in 2020. These events caused at least 688 fatalities and scores more injured.  https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/national/202113

 

For Our Four-Legged Friends

It’s kitten season!!  What do I do when I’ve found a litter of kittens?  It is a question that gets asked hundreds of times throughout kitten season. Since kittens require overnight care, most shelters are unable to care for kittens who may be unsocial or too young to be put up for adoption.  Check the GCAC website for five easy steps to help you navigate kitten season while also making a difference in the lives of our feline friends.

Wait Till Eight… Kittens can be spayed or neutered at eight weeks of age.  Click here to see how to tell the age of kittens.  If you are interested in fostering kittens that are too young to be adopted, please get in touch with GCAC by emailing fosterapet@greenvillecounty.org or call 864.467.3950.  Average time fostered is 3-8 weeks.

When you are taking your best friend on a walk this summer, remember that pavement can get extremely hot on paws.  This image puts it in perspective.

 

 

 

Shop Local

 

Keep your dollars in your community. The following companies are committed to preserving the beauty and economic well-being of the North Main Community and the greater Greenville area.  Please thank them and give them your business when you can. Hover your mouse over each company name to read a brief description or click to go to their website:

Small businesses have been hurt by the COVID pandemic and are still struggling as customers are still slow to feel comfortable to shop or dine inside. Please continue to support our small and local businesses as much as possible.  Thank you!

 

 

 

  Gardening and Plants

 

Law Firms/CPAs/Financial

 

Insurance

 

Retail/Home Décor

 

Realtors

 

Food/Drink/Catering

 

Personal Health/Well Being

 

Home Improvement/Builders/Architects

 

Miscellaneous Professional Services

 

If you would like to see your company listed here, please join the NMCA today!  Businesses do not have to be located in the North Main Neighborhood.  They only need to provide services to North Main residents.

 

   

The North Main Community Association does not give, sell, or otherwise distribute your email or other information to third parties.

The use of trade names or advertisements in this publication does not constitute endorsement or discrimination by the North Main Community Association.

 

 

 

May/June 2022 Newsletter
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