Sylvan Park Day of Caring

On September 19th, NCNA joined United Way in a Day of Caring at our Sylvan Park Project. We had over 20 volunteers onsite furthering our neighborhood green space initiative.

Day of Caring at Sylvan Park Bird Sanctuary, Sept. 19th

The group filled up 9 large trash bags with garbage, pulled countless invasives like english ivy and privet plants, and collectively set the stage for the new trail connectivity work in the near future.

The NCNA Green Spaces committee wants to give a big thanks to all our neighbors who joined us, to the Young Professionals of Chattanooga (YPC), United Way, and Elder's Ace for your energy and investment in our community.

Thanks to the volunteers who removed invasive privet!

Trailbuilder, Barry Smith, and his team will be in Sylvan Park this fall adding a new entrance, as well as a trail that will connect the park up to Colville Street. We are excited because the path will provide a valuable connection to Forest Avenue for neighbors near Sylvan who don’t have any sidewalks, as well as a way for everyone to enjoy the bird sanctuary and beautiful reclaimed green spaces.

Also, using the funds that we raised through our campaign, we have ordered benches, a picnic table and waste receptacles that the Chattanooga Parks Department will install soon. After everything has been installed, we will add new signage to the park!

Stay tuned for our next work day at Sylvan Park and other ways to get involved in our neighborhood green spaces! 

Great to see our NCNA members and leaders at Sylvan Park, also!

And thanks again to all of the Sylvan Park Green Space Initiative Sponsors: the Wallace and Campbell families, the Wright family, the Wright Payne family, the Hunter family, the North Shore Merchants Collective, Sally and Andy Michaud, the Grassy Patch Crew, the Taylor family, and the Poole family.

Sustainable Spaces: Local Support for Eco-Friendly Living in Chattanooga

🌿 Chattanooga RainSmart Rewards

A city-led initiative offering reimbursements for residential green infrastructure:

• Rain Gardens: Up to $2,000 per property for establishing native plant beds that capture runoff.

• Rain Barrels: $50 per barrel reimbursement (max 10 per property).

• SupportScapes: Up to $1,000 per property to remove turf/invasive species and replace with native plantings.

🌦️ RainSmart Yards (City of Chattanooga / WaterWays)

• Homeowners can get their yards certified by installing green infrastructure like rain gardens, rain barrels, native plantings, and SupportScapes.

• Certification delivers up to 75% off the annual stormwater fee

• This is a local complement to Smart Yards, targeting stormwater reduction and ecological yard design.

🌳 Free Tree ReLeaf (EPB)

EPB’s program provides free trees to homeowners to enhance shade, energy savings, wildlife habitats, and stormwater absorption .

🏡 EPB Home Energy & Solar Initiatives

• Free Home Energy Checkups: EPB experts inspect and advise on energy efficiency improvements (insulation, sealing, etc.)

• EPB Solar Share: Energy retrofit programs and a community solar‑panel leasing option to reduce home carbon footprint

• EPB Home Uplift (Income-qualified): Up to $10,000 in free home improvements (HVAC, insulation, efficient appliances) for income-qualified households. Average annual savings: $400/home

🌱 Tennessee Smart Yard

Steps to Certification:

• Download Materials: Get the Smart Yard workbook and yardstick tool to guide and track your progress.

• Learn from Experts: Watch 9 online video lessons covering sustainable yard care practices.

• Take Action: Complete at least 36 inches worth of environmentally friendly practices from a provided list.

• Submit for Certification: Fill out the online form, upload your yardstick, and receive your certificate.

• Share & Expand: Order a yard sign, share your success, and help spread the word in your neighborhood.

Local Sustainability: NewTerra, Overlooked Materials & CHI Market

Looking for easy ways to live more sustainably in Chattanooga? Three local initiatives—NewTerra Compost, Overlooked Materials and CHI Market—make it simple to reduce waste, support the local economy, and care for the environment right from your home.

🥕 NewTerra Compost

• Offers curbside compost pickup for homes, schools, and businesses.

• Helps divert food waste from landfills, reducing methane emissions.

• Turns food scraps into nutrient-rich compost that can be used in gardens and landscaping.

🧪 Overlooked Materials

• A community glass recycling initiative addressing the lack of municipal glass recycling.

• Collects glass from residents and local businesses for responsible recycling.

• Partners with artists and regional processors to reuse or repurpose glass.

• Helps reduce landfill waste and promotes a circular economy for materials often “overlooked.”

🛒 CHI Market

Open at St. Marks Church on Mississippi Avenue, down at The Venue; Thursday: 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM; Friday - Saturday: 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM

• A neighborhood market offering locally grown and produced goods.

• Supports regional farmers, makers, and small food businesses.

• Reduces the environmental impact of long-distance food transport.

• Encourages seasonal eating and helps keep food dollars in the local economy.

These local efforts show how everyday choices—like composting, recycling glass, or shopping locally—can build a healthier, more resilient community.

Treasure Found During Trash Pickup!

At our neighborhood clean up day, a neighbor came across this old cast iron mailbox sign that had a name and address for a home in Red Bank. The neighbor brought the sign home, cleaned it up and set out to look for its owner.

Cast iron mailbox sign found in the Sylvan Park Bird Sanctuary!

Turns out the family still lives at the home, and he was able to return the sign to the son who hadn’t seen the sign since he was a little boy. The son now has the mailbox sign displayed in his home, and his sisters have been equally overjoyed to be reunited with the bit of family history.

We loved the story of the trash collection turning up a treasure! Makes us wonder what other glimpses of Chattanooga’s history we will uncover as we continue to reclaim the space at Sylvan Park.

Join Us for NCNA Clean Up Day – Hyper Local Impact!

Feeling like you want to make a difference but don’t know where to start? Look hyper local. Join us for NCNA Clean Up Day on April 5, 2025, starting at Frances B. Wyatt Community Center. This is a fantastic opportunity to connect with neighbors, beautify our streets, and celebrate our hard work with a neighborhood potluck!

Why Join NCNA Clean Up Day?

We love our community, and this event is a chance to show it! A cleaner neighborhood benefits everyone—it boosts our quality of life, brings people together, and fosters local pride.

Event Details

Date: April 5, 2025
Time: 10 AM-1:30 PM
Location: Frances B. Wyatt Community Center @ 406 Colville Street

Schedule:

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Neighborhood Clean-Up
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM: Potluck Lunch

We’ll provide the trash bags, gloves, and even flower seeds to add some extra beauty to our streets. All you need to bring is comfortable clothes, a water bottle, and some friends and family to make it even more fun.

Stay for the Potluck!

After a productive morning, let’s celebrate with a potluck lunch at the small building near the playground. Sign up for a dish here.

Spread the word! We’ll see you on April 5th.

Tennessee Smart Yards

Please join us at 6 p.m. on April 16th at North Chattanooga Community Center (406 May Street) for a joint presentation for the NCNA and Hill City neighborhood association. Laurie Michell and Ann Brown will be presenting on the Tennessee Smart Yards program. Tennessee Smart Yards is a program from the University of Tennessee Extension that guides and assists homeowners and neighborhood associations on practices they can apply in their outdoor spaces to create healthier and more sustainable living spaces and communities. The program is a cooperative with TVA and the Tennessee Water Resources Research Center.

The program guides the homeowner through the 9 fundamental principles to sustainability. Some examples of the 9 principles are watering efficiently, providing for wildlife, and reducing storm water run off and its pollutants.The homeowner doesn’t have to be an expert gardener or landscaper to create and certify a Tennessee Smart Yard. With the guidance from the Tennessee Smart Yard handbook and educational videos, the 9 principles are attainable for the homeowner. Both HCNA and NCNA residents have shown that they are very conscientious of the environment, and we are confident that they will be interested in becoming a Tennessee Smart Yard. 

In addition to smart yards, the University of Tennessee also has a program for your communities to become a Tennessee Smart Yard Community. The program has three categories to reach the community, Education, Stewardship, and Connection.  They will discuss this program at their presentation as well.

The event will include information about Tennessee Smart Yards, and they will also have a table at the NCNA Earth Day celebration April 5th. Hope you can join us!

Sylvan Park Update: 42% of funding raised!

Preliminary design for Sylvan Park Improvements

As of today, thanks to the generosity of many neighbors, we have raised 42% of the estimated funds needed for our partnership with the Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors to reclaim the Sylvan Park Bird Sanctuary. We have raised these funds through the sale of NCNA merchandise and through the generosity of multiple smaller donations to the park, and the bulk of the fundraising has come through the support of our sponsors. 

---

An overview of sponsorship opportunities:

New Path Sponsor: The Campbell and Wallace Families 

The Campbell and Wallace families are sponsoring a path from the existing path through the woods to the new park entrance on Noll Street, which will be recognized on a sign at the entrance. 

New Picnic Table Sponsor: $2,500

1 available

You will be sponsoring a new picnic table, which will be recognized with a plaque on the table, where neighbors will enjoy relaxing in the park with a picnic.

 
New Sitting Spot Sponsor: $2,000

3 available, 1 sponsored by an anonymous donor

You will be sponsoring one of the new sitting spots / benches that will be spread throughout the newly revitalized park, and your support will be recognized with a plaque on the table. These seats are essential for any park visitor to be able to enjoy the bird sanctuary and natural beauty of this quiet and reflective space. 

New Waste Receptacle Sponsor: $500

2 available, 2 sponsored by the Wright-Payne family and the Hunter family

You will be sponsoring one of the new waste receptacles in the park, and your support will be recognized on a park sign. These receptacles are essential for keeping our revitalized park litter-free and providing a place to put pet waste. 

New Welcome Sign Sponsor: $400

2 available, 1 sponsored by Sally and Andy Michaud

You will be sponsoring one of our new park welcome signs, which we will be installing one at each of the three new and clarified entrances to the park to welcome visitors and increase the visibility of the park

New Educational Sign Sponsor: $200

4 available, 2 sponsored by the Taylor family and in memory of Angie and Austin Poole

You will be sponsoring one of our new educational signs around the park that will share interpretative touch points, directing visitors to the natural space, as well as to the history of those who have inhabited this place before us.

---

Sylvan Park on our recent snow day!

If you are interested in one of the remaining sponsorships, please complete this form and purchase your sponsorship here. 

As the weather allows, Wise Construction will be donating labor and the use of their equipment to clear the path from Colville Street to Sylvan Park. We are applying for a variety of grants with the hopes of hiring the Southeast Conservation Corps to install the other essential trail elements. If you have experience grant writing and would like to help with these efforts, please reach out to us at northchattanooganeighbors@gmail.com. 

Thanks for supporting our NCNA Green Space Initiative, we look forward to seeing this park filled with children heading to play basketball at the Wyatt Community Center, urban hikers connecting from North Chattanooga to Stringer's Ridge, bird watchers observing wildlife and commuters walking safely to the many businesses at the base of Forest Avenue and more. We believe that this vision is consistent with the National Park City goals that many Chattanoogans supported when signing the charter for the National Park City initiative. Forest Avenue connects to the Walnut Street Bridge, so this will be another park option for visitors to our city who are looking for a quiet place of natural respite and adventure close to the city center. There seems to be limitless potential for all who will benefit from this park and trail.

Investing Locally This Giving Tuesday

This Giving Tuesday, we invite you to invest in our amazing North Chattanooga community by supporting local initiatives that make a difference. 

1. Consider purchasing hats, stickers, or T-shirts from the North Chattanooga Neighborhood Association to help fund our efforts to improve Sylvan Park.

2. You can also contribute directly to our Sylvan Park revitalization campaign through the Green Spaces Initiative, or consider asking your employer to participate as a sponsor of one of our new park components or sponsoring in honor of someone important in your life!

Sylvan Park Sponsorship opportunities. Your business or family name will be honored on park signage for your sponsorship!

3. Your time is just as valuable—volunteer with our "Welcome to the Block" program to greet new neighbors. Sign up here!

4. Or join the "Play Streets" Initiative to create safe and fun spaces for kids and adults to build community. Sign up here!

5. Additionally, you can support families in our local school community by donating food and clothing. Drop items at the Normal Park Upper or Lower School, or you can put them in the tupperware bin on the porch at 1022 Normal Avenue. 

• Food Items Needed: Mac and Cheese, both the box and the microwavable; Canned veggies, fruits, and soups; Individually wrapped breakfast bars, granola bars, etc.; Snack items, gummy snacks, cracker packs; Fruit cups and apple sauce; Cereal boxes, both large and individual sized; Ramen; Peanut Butter both large jars and small individual ones; Pasta noodles and Sauces; Jugs of water

• Clothing Items Needed: new girls black or grey leggings or joggers with a drawstring pants size small (6x), size medium (7/8), size large (10/12) and size x-large (14/16)

6. You can also lend a hand by clearing covered or overgrown sidewalks (or reporting them via 311) to help keep our neighborhood more pedestrian-friendly. 

7. Support our local businesses who pour so much into our community. Get food from Tremont Tavern after they were impacted by a car accident this week. Purchase books from The Book & Cover (It might cost a dollar or two more, but they provide so many free community programs!). Schedule a haircut at Hair A Go Go or Geno’s Salon. Purchase local art from Amy Packer, Marian J. King or In Town Gallery. 

Every act of generosity helps strengthen our neighborhood and build a more connected, caring community!

Sylvan Park Update: September

At the September NCNA meeting (9/5/2024), we heard from the Department of Parks and Outdoors regarding our first Green Spaces Initiative: Sylvan Park Revamp. For the last month, sheep have been grazing on non-native plants, helping clear the forest floor and paving the way to reemphasize native species. Most exciting, we reviewed a planning sketch that incorporates the feedback and comments collected during the GSI Survey.

Note: This draft sketch is for planning purposes only and is contingent on our shared, continued success of partners and funding.

Fundraising efforts to support this cause are underway. The next Beautification-Sustainability Committee meeting is scheduled for October 17th - 7pm at a member’s house near Sylvan (reach out for exact address if interested). We will see the latest progress in the park and discuss the individual elements involved with the private-public partnership that has been driving this initiative.

Please note: Do not feed the sheep! This can cause serious harm to the animals.