Covington Neighborhood collaborative awards 21 beautification awards to property owners across city

The Covington Neighborhood Collaborative recognized 21 property owners with beautification awards in a standing-room-only event this week at the Behringer-Crawford Museum in Devou Park.

Nineteen homes and two businesses in 17 of the city’s 19 neighborhoods received the awards for the extraordinary investments of time, energy and money their owners made in efforts to make the city an attractive place to live, work and play.

“Although we haven’t kept any detailed records of attendance in the past, it’s probably safe to say that the turnout was the highest in at least 20 years,” said Reyna VanGilder, the president of the collaborative, an organization that brings together neighborhood leaders once a month to discuss issues of concern, make recommendations to the city commission, and support positive initiatives throughout the city.

“Some of the people who won awards were unfamiliar with the collaborative and many of them said they were impressed by the event and the role the organization plays in the city.”

Besides the beautification awards, the CNC presented Mayor Joe Meyer with a “Champion of the Neighborhoods” banner for his work with the CNC and his nearly eight years as the city’s top elected official.

Meyer has said on several occasions that the beautification awards have become his favorite annual event because residents from all over the city are getting support and an acknowledgement for all they have done by making their homes and businesses and, by extension, the city a better place to call home.

Meyer presented winners with certificates and banners and made comments before and after all of the awards were presented.

Ginger Dawson, former president of the Friends of Covington and a resident in the Mutter Gottes neighborhood, acted as the MC for the evening and read the narratives that focused on the properties and their owners.

The awards were first created and presented in 1989 by the Friends of Covington, an organization that disbanded a few years ago. The Old Seminary Square neighborhood presented the awards for one year before opting out in favor of the collaborative, which has membership and support in all of the city’s 19 neighborhoods.

The beautification winners are:

Austinburg
• Michele Halloran
• Patrick and Jameka Evans

Central Business District
• Opal Rooftop Restaurant and Bar
• Bill and Morgan Whitlow

Eastside
• Michael DeFallco

Helentown
• Patricia Ann Guillory

Historic Licking Riverside
• Mark and Pattie Byron

Kenton Hills
• Matt and Carol Rogers-Rivir

Latonia
• Mark and Shawn Insprucker
• Randy Ellison, Ellison Painting and Restoration

Levassor Park
• Leslie Schicht and Tom Seyss

Lewisburg
• Kevin, Joyce and Austin Unkraut

MainStrasse
• Paul and Kelli Greulich
• Ashlee Childs

Monte Casino
• Diane and Cliff Wick

Mutter Gottes
• Steven Maushart

Old Seminary Square
David and Christine Russell

Peaselburg
• Karen Verkamp

South Covington
• Mike and Linda Ackerson

Wallace Woods
• Chris and Megan Meyer

Westside
• Center for Great Neighborhoods
• Paula Mayberry

Covington Neighborhood Collaborative

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