Pilot Program to expand

The results of our 21 day pilot program at Davenport Park are as follows. All three bins were used but never completely filled. The Plastic and Aluminum bins were close to half-way full and the Glass bin contained only a few bottles.

We have decided to expand our studies to include Lighthouse Park and Hamilton Upchurch Skate Park beginning this week. If you are out enjoying any of these parks in the month of December please recycle.

Thank You.

Pilot Recycling Program Begins at Davenport Park

The 21 day pilot program has officially begun at Davenport park. Three large recycling containers have been placed at the park's entrance/exit, labeled "Aluminum", "Plastic" and "Mixed Glass". The containers will be checked daily by members of 450NEXT in order to measure the amount of recyclable items rescued from our trash, and eventually our landfills.

Project 2 Pilot Program will begin Monday, November 8, 2010

450NEXT is set to deploy phase I of project 2 beginning Monday, November 8, 2010.

Davenport Park a.k.a. "The Carousel Park" will be the subject of this 21 day experiment and data collection exercise. 8 handsome recycling containers will be available for public use.

If you find yourself at Davenport Park in the month of November (maybe taking a few spins on the carousel) please recycle with a smile, knowing you did your part in helping keep unnecessary materials from our landfills. If we all work together, we can make a difference.

Project #2

The 450 Next Committee has decided to tackle the lack of recycling awareness in the City and surrounding County. Only 43% of the city resident's recycle and we want to increase that percentage. Therefore, we are going to create, along with community children, recycling containers to be placed at four pilot parks (Upchurch, Davenport, Fullerwood and Lighthouse) to act as symbols for our awareness campaign. We have a lot of work to do to accomplish this goal so, any input is appreciated!

A recent appearance in The St. Augustine Report

Public art for community - youth lead the way

It takes a village to raise a child - and a community to establish public art, like the recently completed mosaic wall at the entrance to the Calhoun Community Center.
The combined efforts of some 100 youth, under the guiding eyes of artists Wendy McDaniel and Corrie Borglund, created the mosaic tribute to youthful energy. They came from the after school programs at American Legion Post 194, Boys and Girls Club, Collier-Blocker-Puryear Park and Solomon Calhoun Center.
Groups supporting the three-month effort included county government, West Augustine CRA, and 450 Next (Young Professionals of St. Augustine), connected through the St. Johns Cultural Council.

Bright wall a group effort | StAugustine.com

Bright wall a group effort StAugustine.com

Calhoun Center wall shining example of a community effort | StAugustine.com

Calhoun Center wall shining example of a community effort | StAugustine.com

Saturday was AWESOME!

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day. The weather cooperated perfectly and we had a great turnout. We got started at 9 am on Saturday with unpacking all our tools and materials and getting ready for an intense day of grouting.

We unpacked 3 bags of grout that we quickly went through. We were well short with only 3 bags of grout so we sent Meredith on a "Grout Run". She came through in a big way delivering 10 bags of grout from Home Depot but unfortunately the color was not a perfect match. We had to get creative if we were going to finish on Saturday. Wendy and Corrie came up with a creative solution of mixing 2 different colored grouts to match the first 3 bags of grout. With a full bag of light grey and 17 "Wendy handfuls" (almost a metric system), we were back to grouting.

Here is a picture of the crew getting back to work. We worked the rest of the afternoon until about 3 pm to get the wall complete. Meredith again showed her enormous worth by providing us with a huge bag of tacos from Taco Bell. They tasted so good with a little grout mixed in.

The wall turned out so well. The dark grey grout really made the colors stand out. At the end of the day, we were all worn out but proud of having accomplished so much.

We got a ton of compliments on how great the wall looked. George, a long time St. Augustine resident, also shared with all of us how this wall will give so many children a sense of pride. It was great to hear him share with us its importance to the community.


In all, it was a great day for all of the people involved in the project. I encourage everyone to ride by this wall to see what we all accomplished working together. I know we have more great things on the horizon for 450 Next.

From right to left: George, Leigh, Trey, Corrie, Meredith, Wendy and Rhett (sporting a 450 Next T-Shirt)

See all photos

Tile chips are flyin'!

We're bustin' tiles! It's all part of the mosaic process.

Finally setup at the Calhoun Community Center! We'll be there with help from children of various after-school programs for the next three weeks, assembling the tiles like tiny puzzle pieces onto more than a dozen concrete boards which will eventually be mounted on the wall to make up the final design.

Check out some photos!

The Kid's tiles are complete!

Thanks to Corrie, all 90 kids finished their individual pieces. Check out some photos!

American Legion Post 194 After School Program

A few 450Next-ers stopped by American Legion Post 194 After-School Program to help out with production. Corrie Borgland instructed the group of approximately 12 elementary school-aged children on the details of creating mosaic art. Then the creative juices began to flow!

Check out the video!

450NEXT Public Mural Project 01 from Seth Ferreira on Vimeo.

Plans are under way!

We're very excited with how the project is progressing.

Wendy McDaniel and Corrie have been chosen as our artists and managers. Their selected medium, Mosaic Tile! They will be involving the children of the West Augustine community in the process. It has been decided that the conference room of the Calhoun Center will be used as the studio to create the mural pieces. All materials will also be stored there.

The children from the Boys & Girls Club, American Legion and Calvin Peete after school programs will be driven to the Calhoun Center by their own buses to work on the project. Volunteers from 450NEXT and YPO will assist in the production.

Wendy and Corrie are now coordinating with Greg White to order and store the materials.

We got our wall!

We are super excited to announce that our lunch meeting was truly divine intervention. Below are the photos of the wall. It is ready to go at the new Calhoun Community Center. Greg White, chairperson of the West Augustine CRA steering committee, was wondering what to do with the back of the wall when we started our lunch. During the lunch he decided we could be the group to coordinate a mural for the wall. He has money for paint, the children and Wendy McDaniel and another artist will help. Our contribution will be to fundraise to pay for the artist time. All of YPO can get involved if they are interested.

Juneteenth Celebration

The Juneteenth Celebration was a success! The '65 Sport Van flew the 450Next banner in the parade to kick off the event. Our tent attracted kids immediately due to the 20 foot inflatable monster truck bounce house that rose behind it! The only requirement to jump, they had to paint a picture. And the paint began to fly! When the dust settled we saw some great talent! Sharks, houses, self portraits, hearts, boats and some very interesting abstract creations in an array of colors.

As the kids waited in line to paint, we were able to speak to the parents about our project and vision, and it was very well received. The only thing we wished we had was a "leave-behind" to pass out.

After sampling a few hot dogs and some garlic crabs we all agreed it was a successful day and look forward to the next step!

Here are some photos:

View Cheryl's Photos

Topic Chosen!

After much debate and deliberation we have chosen a topic! The first 450Next project will be a public mural. We'll be calling upon the artistic talents of the children in West Augustine to help us paint our masterpiece.

Visit us at our table at the Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 20-21 at Collier-Blocker-Puryear Park at 10 N. Holmes Blvd. The parade starts at 10am, then stop by the table to paint your ideas for the mural! Bring the kids!

See ya there!

Top 4 chosen

We have narrowed the list to 4.

1. Public Art
   a. Lighthouse
   b. Lion
   
2. Public Mural
   
3. Recycling Awareness
   
4. Local Recreational Sports Team

Bounce House!

Set up bounce houses for young professionals that have small kids

Community farming

Community farming

Local Artist Auction

Sponsor a local artist auction.

Community service festival

Community service festival