As part of AbsoluteDSM.com’s fifth anniversary, they are holding a tour of some of the new properties in the East Village. This is an excellent opportunity to get out and meeting others that have a great interest in downtown Des Moines. I will be there for sure!

Please RSVP to admin@absolutedsm.com. The group will probably go out for cocktails/food afterwards somewhere in the vicinity for those who want to chat and mingle.

Condo sales have continued at a slow pace when compared to 2008, there have been 27 units sold this year compared to 44 during the same first eight months last year.

The big winners for 2009 continue to be an old stand by, The Plaza, and the new contender, 4th & Court Condominiums.

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Are you interested in helping keep downtown beautiful? If so, you should come out and join your neighbors in the the 8th Annual River Run Garbage Grap, a Des Moines River clean up effort.

The event takes place this Saturday, August 15th, and starts at 9am. This event allows volunteers the opportunity to remove trash from the river or along its adjacent trails–paddlers, rowers, power boaters, walkers, hikers, bicyclers, mountain bikers, birders, etc are all welcome!

Also there will be a riverfront celebration at 6PM at the Simon Estes Amphitheater where live entertainment and food will be provided FREE for volunteers. Music provided by Community Jazz Center Big Band. Door prizes will be given away.

For more details go to: http://www.riverstewards.org/

Next Tuesday evening, August 4th at Nollen Plaza, your local Downtown Neighborhood Association and the Downtown Community Alliance are hosting the 26th Annual National Night Out event.

This is an excellent opportunity to get out and meet your neighbors, listen to live music and sample some cuisine and services from downtown businesses. Some of this year’s sponsors include: Sbrocco, Splash Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar, Fong’s Pizza, Atelier Hairspace, Dos Rios Cantina & Tequila Lounge, and sandwiches courtesy of the Pork Producers.

I plan on attending and would love to meet some of my regular readers, so come join us.

It started just a couple of weeks ago, but Des Moines is taking a less from the City of Chicago, that lessen being offering free yoga in the park for area residents.

On Saturday mornings, beginning at 9am, June through September, you can go to Gray’s Lake and take a free yoga class. No experience or pre-registration is required. Parking available at the north-side beach.

Check out some pictures from last week’s event, courtesy of Tina Johnson, your downtown gal and others on Gray’s Lake Park Facebook page.

We wanted to say thanks to the residents and sponsors of the First Annual Downtown Garage Sale. We had a huge success for our first sale, and from what people are saying, they can’t wait till the next one. We will definitely have one next summer and will start planning it February or March. This time we will be asking for a representative from each housing unit complex downtown to be on our planning and organizing committee. Residents that sold saw up to $300 a person in revenue from the sale Saturday morning.

A special thanks goes out to the Downtown Neighborhood Association who helped with our advertising budget and to Nelson Construction for providing the venue for the sale and to the residents of 418 Liberty Luxury Condos for organizing the event.

Here are some more photos from the event.

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The 2009 Alice Rodine Volunteer Recognition Awards were announced recently. Each year, neighborhoods are asked to nominate one business, one city staff person, and community volunteer that has demonstrated outstanding leadership in their neighborhood. Every nominee is recognized for all their hard work and dedication to the community. I received one the for Citizen Volunteer for Downtown. Alice Rodine was a well-known neighborhood activist that died in 2000, but the awards are held to remember her tireless works over the years. Here is a list of this year’s winners.

Overall Citizen- Bob & Nelda Mickle
Overall City Employee- Skip Moore

City Employee

Ed Leedom- North of Grand
Tom Vlassis- Cheatom Park
Mary Neiderbach- Sherman Hill
David Dunn- Merle Hay, Riverbend
Greg Cloe- Meredith, Mondamin Presidential
Sgt. Larry Davey- Beaverdale
Skip Moore- Waterbury
Sgt. Laura Pascuzzi- FCCI
Donald Tripp- Gray’s Lake
Sgt. Brent Harris- Capitol East
Sgt. Brian Harris- South Park

Business Award

The Community Housing Development Corporation- King Irving
Bauder’s Pharmacy- North of Grand
John R. Grubb YMCA- Riverbend
Owen Crist- Cheatom Park
Union Park Health Services- Union Park
Glen Echo Christian Church- Lower Beaver
Southside Church of the Nazarene- Magnolia Park
MLK Jr. Parkway Hy-Vee- Meredith
14th Street McDonalds- Capitol East
First American Bank- Beaverdale
14th STreet Mendards- South Park
Iowa State Bank-FCCI
Stone Printing- Sherman Hill
The Cornerstone Credit Union- Waterbury

Citizen

Duane Koethe- North of Grand
Tayla Obumseli- Cheatom Park
“Kids with a Kause”- Waveland Park
Nelda Mickle- Sherman Hill
Steve Addy- Riverbend
Dawn Jorgensen- FCCI
Elizabeth Rush- Magnolia Park
Doug Wheeler- Meredith
Bill Miller- Beaverdale
Larry Bradshaw- Downtown
C.J. Stephens- Waterbury
Whyline Gardner- Gray’s Lake
Jean Schooley- Capitol East
Andy & Janet Clark- South Park
Robin Hamel- Mondamin Presidential
Don Mayberry- King Irving

Some local residents at 418 Liberty Luxury Condos recently got together to help plan, organize and host the first ever downtown garage sale. Any resident that lives in any of the downtown complexes and come register and come to the 418 Liberty Parking Garage on Saturday morning, June 13th to set up their own space and sell whatever items that they may have.

There should be a lot of traffic from the Farmer’s Market a few blocks away and it should be good time for all. If you live downtown and would like to register for your free space to sell that morning, go to: www.downtowngaragesale.com and sign up. LivingDowntownDesMoines.com is one of the many sponsors of the event.