Shaw Neighborhood Residents Set 1st Annual ‘TogetherFEST’ – 25 May 1992 P-D

Residents of the Shaw neighborhood will hold their first TogetherFEST Saturday, with a parade, music, food booths, pony rides and such events as bicycle and sack races.

Volunteers from various groups and churches in the area have been planning the first of what is to be an annual event, starting with a parade at 11 a.m. at Mullanphy School, 4221 Shaw avenue. The parade will go south on Klemm Avenue to Shenandoah Avenue, then east to 39th Street and north to Castleman Avenue, where activities will be held in the 3900 and 4000 blocks. Many of the activities will be on the playground of St. Margaret of Scotland School.

Among activities scheduled are basketball and gunny-sack races from noon until 2 p.m., a bicycle-safety event for younger children from noon to 2 p.m. and a bicycle auction from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Groups include the Shaw Neighborhood Improvement Association, the International Institute, St. Margaret Housing Corporation, 39th Street Redevelopment Corporation, Missouri School for the Blind, Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Sherman and Mullanphy community schools and BicycleWORKS.

Alderman Steven Conway, D-8th Ward, has worked with various groups and officials to hold the event. The goal of the event, said Kate Klimut, who has been involved in the planning, is to have broad participation and special programs for youths.

For more information on the event call 771-3943.

Event Seeks To Draw Neighbors Together – 23 Jan 1992 P-D

A ”togetherfest” is being organized for this spring or early summer to encourage people and groups in the Shaw neighborhood to meet one another.

Alderman Steven Conway, D-8th Ward, announced that an umbrella organization of groups in the Shaw neighborhood has been organized to host the event, coordinate other events, share information and get people to know one another better.

Alderman Steven Conway, D-8th Ward, said, ”We plan to hold a togetherfest geared toward bringing various segments together on one project that also has some fun in it. We will have a series of bike races among youngsters in the community from each of the different blocks, a community parade to start it off, and winners of the trial heats will, hopefully, be racing against police officers in the final race.”

The event will be held in late spring or early summer. ”In its own way, that will bring the community together,” Conway said.

Renovated bicycles will be auctioned at moderate prices, mostly to children in the area, Conway said. He added that volunteers are needed to repair bicycles. Anyone wishing to donate a bicycle can telephone him at 773-4329.

Groups in the umbrella organization may plan their own events, said the alderman.

For example, he said, ”We would look for garden tours by the Shaw Neighborhood Improvement Association ›and! house tours by the St. Margaret Housing Corp. . . The Compton Heights Band may have a concert or play music.”

The group’s activities will allow older people to become involved with youths in the community, he said.

Among groups and officials involved are the South Side YMCA, Compton Heights Baptist Church, Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Shaw United Methodist Church, St. Margaret of Scotland Church, Tower Grove Baptist Church, Tyler Place United Presbyterian Church, Tower Grove Park, principals at Sherman and Mullanphy schools, St. Margaret of Scotland School and the 39th Street Redevelopment Corporation.

Conway said Anthony DeFilio and Diane Oloskevich of Shaw Community Organizations worked closely with him in forming the umbrella group last month.