As the President of the NNA, I would like to reach out to residents throughout downtown Jersey City to invite you to join our Gardening Group to plant the first public gardens in Newport. This is a special opportunity as the NNA has been authorized to plant gardens on the Port Authority mini-park, aka pocket park, in Newport, the first publicly accessible gardens in Newport.

The poignancy of this moment is particularly noted because of the fact that many within downtown have expressed to me their sense of alienation from the beautiful waterfront community here in Newport. I empathize with your feelings and offer you the opportunity to begin to break down some of the barriers that have existed by joining with us in planting a garden in this pocket park. To learn more about this opportunity, I invite you to our public meeting this evening, Wednesday, June 4th. The NNA Spring Meeting will be held in the conference room in the James Monroe Condo on the first floor beginning at 7:30 pm. The meeting will run to about 9 - 9:15 pm. The James Monroe condo address is 45 River Drive South, directly across from the Duane Reed Pharmacy. You can take either the Bergen Hudson Light Rail to the Pavonia Newport stop or the PATH to the Pavonia Newport station and walk about a block to the James Monroe condo. We welcome you to Newport this evening. The NNA website address is www.newportneighborhood.org and I can be reached at rvivien2003@yahoo.com.

The Newport Neighborhood Association invites you to its Spring meeting Wednesday nite, June 4th at 7:30 pm. The meeting will be held in the first floor conference room of the James Monroe Condominium at 45 River Dr. South in Newport.

The NNA will be launching our new Nutrition & Exercise Group lead by Kanwal Ullah, who's committed to providing healthy diets, who will discuss our fun-filled agenda for the spring, summer & fall seasons that include cooking classes, bike rides, and more.

The NNA will also be organizing a team to help plant a garden in Newport on Saturday, June 14th. This is a special opportunity for downtown residents to connect to the Newport community by working side by side to plant gardens on the only public property in Newport.

We will also be organizing teams for our second annual International Cultural Festival. The teams include the
i. live performance team
ii. silent auction/raffle team
iii. restaurant team
iv. Ad Journal team w/ ads from sponsors/vendors,

If you have a talent, skill or knack for marketing, or want to volunteer to make our second Festival an even bigger success than last year's, come register and share your ideas.

Raise your voice about other issues such as the noise problem coming from South City Grill on weekends, management problems, etc.

Post a message on the NNA website http://www.newportneighborhood.org and get involved in your community.

Mark your calendar now and join us on Wednesday, June 4th at 7:30 PM. By joining with us, you'll have the opportunity to help shape the future of our community!

RSVP rvivien2003@yahoo.com.