This month, We From Upstreet Inc. will be celebrating its 15th anniversary. On Sunday, March 21, the community is invited to attend an anniversary service at the Memorial Moravian Church at 8:30 a.m. and a luncheon celebration at the Jarvis House Museum and Learning Center from noon to 3 p.m.
During the following months, the organization will engage the community with a series of activities to include a lecture series, walking tours, a homecoming reception, Spend Day in the Big Field, the WEFUS Summer Program, and the annual Labor Day picnic.
The history of the founding of the organization began in February 1995, when a group of old childhood friends in the Upstreet neighborhood met and decided to spearhead the formation of an Upstreet organization. The group’s first meeting, organized by Hillis Lewis-Edelen was comprised of Vernon Finch, Myron Jackson, Naomi Monsanto, Leona Raymo and Lola Roberts Richards. On March 10, 1995, a meeting of 13 persons, chaired by Vernon Finch, took place at the Petite Pump Room. All agreed that an organization of persons connected with Upstreet was needed and could contribute greatly to the area’s social, cultural and physical enhancement.
In a subsequent meeting on March 24, the geographical boundaries were established: the western boundary is the Grand Hotel and the eastern boundary is the Lovers’ Lane, now known as William Lewis Lane. The waterfront forms the southern boundary, and the northern boundary includes all of Hospital Ground to the Valdemar Hill Drive.
