Highlights of 2025

We are incredibly grateful for every member and Harrison West hero who gave time and paid dues in 2025. Because of you, the art in our parks remained insured, our website stayed open, more trees and flowers were planted, community events like National Night Out and neighborhood litter pickups happened, and voices were raised on development in our neighborhood. 

Here are some of this year’s highlights:

Building Neighborhood Pride:  The chair of the Harrison West Society’s parks committee (Bob Mangia) and volunteers kept our neighborhood looking good. In March, the annual neighborhood litter pickup removed trash along the sidewalks and streets. During the monthly park cleanups that took place from Spring through Fall, volunteers tended to flower beds and removed honeysuckle. Perry Street Park came into being and 2025 ended with 25 new trees planted by the city in Harrison Park, with behind-the-scenes advocacy by Bob for more trees, thought in locations, and variety.  Last, but not least, we continued to insure and maintain the art in the Harrison and Side by Side parks and gained an arts committee chair(Rob Mason) to explore ways to get more art in our parks.

Making Connections: We held monthly meetings (headed by President Michael Metz) that shaped our approach for tackling issues relevant to the community. The communications group continued to host HarrisonWest.org and to send out monthly newsletters and other communications. In addition to conducting official business, we also aim to have some fun. Our social committee organized several events in the second half of the year, including National Night Out, our first Marathon Watch Party, and our Annual Holiday Party. We are pleased to be on-boarding a new social committee chair – Merica Young – and look forward to even more in 2026. 

Enhancing Safety: We successfully won a grant from the city of Columbus to host a National Night Out event where neighbors, police and fire gathered for food and casual conversation. Our crime watcher, Chris Ruder, reported on crime statistics and we stayed in the loop via our police liaison at the society’s monthly meetings. Harrison West Society also participated in the annual light survey to identify nonworking street lights.

Shaping Development: One of the society’s more difficult tasks is reviewing variance requests, so we were more than pleased when Travis Young stepped up to be the development chair to help navigate this process.  With changes being made to the zoning code, the Harrison West Society also hosted presentations, attended workshops and meetings, and provided written comments with the goal of better development. The society continued to work with the city on permitted street parking by reviewing the parking study conducted following last years’ permit expansion. 

Everyone is welcome at the Harrison West Society.  We look forward to seeing you at our future social and volunteer events.  Here’s to an even greater impact in 2026!

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