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Letter from your President

March is here and South Carolina is strutting its colors already. Forsythia, daffodils, azaleas and dogwoods are budding and blooming. Birds are shaping their nests or passing through on their way north. A stroll through Sherwood Forest is a nature hike, with daily scenic changes. While you are exploring Nature’s glorious transformations take time to say hi to others and to talk a moment with new residents and old friends.

Resident survey results show that these are the best things about living here:

• 1) Being nestled or sheltered by nature in our urban forest.
• 2) Being able to share a smile or a story with a neighbor.
• 3) Hiding the best kept secret – USC Belser Arboretum – in our own backyard.
• 4) We like our location in the city, near good schools and stores.
• 5) And we feel safe, enjoy the quiet and the animal life.

Our Branding Task Force assembled your survey inputs and we are trying out sample mottos that capture this spirit. We will vet these ideas at our meetings the next several months with a goal of using it in our communications, including gateway signage – greeting people to our neck of the woods. We have already applied for a Richland County grant to assist funding these signage efforts.

Larry Hembree is developing plans for an Art event at the Arboretum. Ideally, we would have up to 15 visual and performing artists in various locations, sharing their talents in Nature’s finest theater. We are hoping for a June event though discussions continue. More details on our efforts are available in the draft minutes from our last General Meeting, February 8.

And finally, I am encouraged by the enthusiasm of our newest residents and neighbors. Lani Stringer and Nick/Belle Greene shared their stories of the challenges they have faced on renewing their purchased properties that had been previously neglected with gross deterioration, and an infestation of mold and fleas. We applaud their dedicated and costly clean up efforts as they continue to make these properties their own.

That being said, I offer you the opportunity to seek help if your life’s circumstances put you in a position that you cannot maintain your property. We will all face the challenges of physical and financial inabilities. We are your neighbors and helping others makes us feel good about ourselves.

Call or email me anytime. We have a supportive team ready to help you and our neighborhood thrive.

Gail Wojtowicz
president@sherwoodforestneighbors.org
618-402-8736

SHERWOOD FOREST: Nurturing roots; Fostering Community

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USC Belser Arboretum Open House
Sunday, March 19, 1-4pm

Open House is always the 3rd Sunday of every month.

Dr. Charles Horn of Newberry College will present on native azaleas, his research focus. Meet at the Outdoor Classroom at 1:30. Dr. Horn will lead a walk to see native azaleas in bloom at the Arboretum.

Open for walkers and volunteers Wednesday and Saturday 10am-noon, Thursdays from 3pm-dusk.

Follow the Arboretum on Instagram and see Facebook for event info.

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Forest Friends
Ban the Bradfords!

Have you noticed all the lovely white blossoms in the neighborhood and along the highways recently? Mostly they are Bradford pears, widely used for a while to line streets and adorn yards, but now extremely problematic. The Bradford pear, a cultivar of the non-native Chinese Callery pear, was promoted as an ornamental that was sterile and would not jump into the wild. Disastrously, that has not been the case.

Bradfords have successfully cross-pollinated with other pears and reverted to their ancient thorny Callery form, contributing to one of the worst invasive plant species in the Southeast. The trees readily seed into natural habitats. They appear to be beautiful in the spring, especially along the highways, but they form impenetrable thorny thickets that choke the life out of our valuable native species.

Beginning October 1, 2024, it will be illegal for Bradford Pear trees, Callery pears, and other related species to be sold at nurseries in South Carolina, but the law does nothing to eliminate existing problematic trees.

If you have a Bradford pear on your property, consider taking it down and replacing it with a beautiful native. Most Bradford pears in our neighborhood are very old anyway and past their peak. No one likes to remove established ornamentals, but if you have a Bradford pear and want help evaluating it, the Forest Friends Committee would be glad to help.

And, come fall, you can get a free replacement through our native tree give-away program!

Email Valerie Marcil with questions.

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City Solid Waste Pickup Schedule

The schedule for waste collection by the City of Columbia in our neighborhood is every Thursday for bagged household waste (green rollcart), every second and fourth Thursdays of the month for loose recycling (blue rollcart), and Fridays for yard waste.

Recently some yard waste pickups in the Forest have been on Thursday. The pickup schedule is sometimes altered due to unusually high volume, staffing shortages, or other factors.

The City’s web site has a Waste Wizard where you can find a customized calendar and set up email, text message or other means of notification for regular schedules and holiday schedules. You can also use the Waste Wizard to learn how to recycle particular items.

See the City of Columbia’s web site for more information.

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SFNA General Meeting
Wednesday, May 10, 6:30pm-7:30pm
Sherwood Forest ARP Church

If you have an issue you would like discussed at the meeting please let us know! A full agenda will be available on the website.

The meeting will also be available on Zoom.

Draft minutes from the 1st quarter general meeting…

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SFNA Adopt-A-Highway Clean Up
Saturday, May 20, 9:30-11am

Mark your calendars!

Contact Dave Nelson at 803-447-4793 or appearance@sherwoodforestneighbors.org for more information.

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Join the Sherwood Forest Neighborhood Association

Become a member or renew your membership now for 2023!

The SFNA is a volunteer organization of neighbors working to create a greater sense of community in the Forest.

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