Around Edmond this week! New schedule every other day! Happy Birthday Citizen’s Bank!

Hi everyone! It’s been a lovely Spring so far, and knocking on wood, the tornado season will continue to remain mild this year. This Spring has seen a February snow that went away as quickly as it came, and that lovely snowfall had us head for Arcadian Getaways to shoot snow covered cottages and countryside, seen in our last issue’s 5 Things to Love feature. Without any further freezing, this Spring saw the trees and tulips around town blooming a full 3 weeks earlier than usual, with just enough rain throughout the winter months.

So, as you also may have noticed, we were hacked in January and this is our new site! It took Google 3 months to make sure we had no violating files to remove that awful red warning page, and here we are! Thanks for hanging in there while we fixed the issues. And, with that fix, back to the plan to post Around Edmond every other day, I’m really looking forward to it as the local business atmosphere is becoming so collaborative, we’ll have more than enough to post!

The City Council finally approved the Edmond Urban Chickens proposal which now allows hens on some of Edmond’s residential lots, due in large part to Lanie Copeland’s persistent efforts, and as she so eloquently described to the City Attorney and to the Council, its popularity is really high in other communities around the country, with niche industries booming in its wake.

All seemed pleasant and a perfect entry into Spring…

Then came the local elections.

Our Mayoral race saw Mayor Charles Lamb gain 2 more years as Edmond’s Mayor with a majority of the vote, and this election also saw a group of residents stop further development of Spring Creek Plaza dead in its tracks, on the privately owned land at and north and east of 15^th & Bryant.

This conversation brought out all sides of this hotly contested issue at our Facebook page at EdmondActive, with one post and its conversation reached over 39,000 people. For most people, they didn’t mind the further development featuring more shopping and dining but were adamantly opposed to apartment development in this particular area.

Just a quick note, this Saturday’s Farmer’s Market, usually held in Downtown Edmond, will be held just this weekend at Mitch Park from 8-1 pm!

It was awesome, whichever side you found yourself on at our Facebook page, to see civil conversation occur and disagreements happen without nasty politicking, which another local group ran its opposition on particularly.

At the end of the day, Edmond saw almost 4 times its normal turnout for a local election, and that makes me smile. It’s truly nice to see people get involved locally and make their voices heard in how they want Edmond to develop, regardless of which side of that issue you supported.

And that is the real story here – and in fact an important and positive one, with so many feeling helpless in the changes happening around them nationally.

Edmondite posted the photo below we shared with all of you showing the progress on the Covell Rd. Garage which will open May 9! Yum!

Amazing new and locally owed businesses coming to Covell Rd, by Uptown!

Edmond’s development has seen some national level departures which appear to be due to ebb and flow of their markets, but much more coming in and our local development is at its highest level in years. From a City’s point of view, though and sometimes not understandable to local residents who lean toward locally owned business support only, some corporate development is always necessary to keep our sales tax base stable, so that our City infrastructure stays running, and so we may continue to enjoy the parks and open spaces paid for by these funds! I trust that Mayor Lamb and Edmond Chamber of Commerce President, Sherry Jordan, have the City’s best interests at heart and are heading in a great direction!

Speaking of development! Did you attend the March 2017 Opener for Heard on Hurd?! Over 32,000 residents from and around Edmond attended, and it was fabulous! This event happens the 3^rd Saturday every month from March to October. It’s mellow atmosphere surrounding Pop Up Shops, the metro’s best Food Trucks and Edmond connected musicians allows our community to connect in ways that other 1 time events do not. In addition, economically, in 2016, Heard on Hurd brought over $4 million dollars in economic activity to our community. If you ever get the chance, stop by the newly renovated lobby at 1^st & Broadway to say thanks to those at Citizen’s Bank of Edmond who did this every month, as volunteers. The lobby and bank are not only gorgeous, but useful as a spot to connect with their new meeting space.

Click here to check out our digital edition of the latest issue out this weekend!

I had to expand this issues City Buzz section, with so much going on, and in this issue, we feature what’s next for the Edmond Urban Chicken’s group going forward, Martha Hall, of Arcadian Getaways, reviews a new trend in bible journaling, we bring you coverage from the last two Heard on Hurd events and some reviews on 4 of the Food trucks. I am also reprinting an old favorite Perfect Margarita recipe provided to us by Vance Gregory, owner of Edmond Wine Shop since 1973. This is the ONLY Margarita recipe you may ever need, and just in time for patio weather! Life Happens features an article by Edmond Family Counseling, and is a timely piece about self-sabotage, and one that may be relevant to someone you know, so pass it on!

As we have always printed 8 to 10 issues of EdmondActive a year, this year my schedule seems to be backwards, and I am happy to be into the monthly mode, yet again. As always, be sure to follow our social networks, with almost 30,000 other local residents at Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, for daily information about our community and from our supporters.

See all of you Around Edmond!

Sherri