Sustainable Christmas Decorations

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas all over Webster Groves! And the Parks & Recreation Department was hard at work making the city look festive while continuing to focus on sustainability.

“Nothing the City discards gets past the Parks Division without first being scrutinized for possibilities,” said Yvonne Steingruby, Parks Superintendent. “The Parks staff has grown to embrace the sustainable decoration idea and we are always looking to reuse and recycle our resources.”

The idea of sustainable decorations began with the first herd of reindeer that were made years ago using oak trees removed from Garden Avenue. Since the original creations were made with oak, they only lasted a few years and then began to decay. This year’s herd, created by Parks and Recreation employee Jeremiah Wallace, is made of cedar logs, which were collected and stockpiled for several years.

Several years ago Public Works replaced all of the globes on the City light posts. Parks pounced on the old globes before they ended up in the trash, thinking they could be useful. Ideas emerged in the form of penguins, elves, polar bears, Santas, and classic ornaments.

Over the years, the Parks Department has created holiday trees from pallet wood, honeysuckle spindle trees, snowmen, and Grinch, carolers, and North Pole silhouettes. All creations are made in-house by the Parks Department, but this year they had help from the Rotary Club during Make a Difference Day. Volunteers spent that day painting dead trees and sticks. The small dead trees were saved from removals throughout the year. With a paint cabinet bursting at the seams, the volunteers came up with bright colors to adorn the displays. Branches from the viburnum bushes around 44/Elm have also been collected and painted and now adorn the many holiday containers around town. Some of the evergreens used in the containers were harvested from removals in the parks.

“The greatest compliment to our efforts is when we see other versions of our creations by citizens, around town,” said Steingruby. “We hope that the decorations/creations continue to spark ingenuity throughout the City of Webster Groves and that they highlight the importance of completely utilizing all of our resources’ potential, and extending their lifecycles beyond the norm.”

TIF Commission Votes 8-4

The Webster Groves Tax Increment Financing Commission voted in favor of recommending the Douglass Hill TIF to Council at a vote of 8 to 4 at their Tuesday, November 23 Meeting.

The Webster Groves City Council will next meet on Dec. 7. They will need to vote on the TIF request by December 31, 202. Beginning January 1, 2022, the recently enacted state TIF Act prohibits new tax increment financing projects from being authorized in a flood plain as designated by FEMA. The area of the proposed Douglass Hill redevelopment falls into that limitation.

Douglass Hill Community Meeting

The City of Webster Groves is organizing a community information event on the proposed redevelopment:

City of Webster Groves Douglass Hill Community Meeting
Tuesday, November 30
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Location: Hixson Middle School Gymnasium (enter at the side doors near 44)

Information areas will focus on:

TIF/Financing
Flooding
Workforce Housing
Traffic
Greenspace

This meeting will allow residents to meet with Councilmembers, City staff, and members of the development team to talk about the key aspects of the development, share feedback and have one-on-one conversations.

Note: Please park on the side parking lot near 44 and enter at the side door. The event will be held in the Old Gymnasium. Masks are required.

Upcoming Events

Gazebo Artists Market
Sunday, December 5
12 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Shop, snack, and enjoy live music at the Old Orchard Gazebo Park. This event is sponsored by the Webster Arts Foundation

Old Orchard Holiday Tree Lighting
Sunday, December 5
Dusk
Mark your calendar for the Holiday Tree Lighting on Sunday, December 5 at dusk in Gazebo Park. Be sure to drop a letter in Santa’s Mailbox located in the Old Orchard Gazebo while you’re there!

Join the list at webstergroves.org/thefridaypage. The Friday Page is published at the end of each week online at www.webstergroves.org/thefridaypage and is distributed to subscribers via webstergroves.org/notifyme.