Solar Lamps have been lit

[Tim Sokoloff]

The solar powered street lamps are still working at better than expected capacity, even after a long sunless cold weekend we are still keeping the corner of Delmar and Chambers street lit via solar power.

With winter coming it will be a struggle to keep all the bills paid, and the office operating so every bit helps, especially since Yard Sales and other outdoor fundraising activities will not be possible. We are slowly but surely building a successful Ebay presence and have possibly identified a great new way to raise funds for our organization but we are still testing the waters so to speak.

Despite the fact that regardless of our efforts, we can't even get people to use our website to shop online, we manage to find a way to keep going. Also, those comments are not meant to guilt anybody into doing anything, they are just statements of fact so everyone is aware of our need for help.

Maybe if we repeat ourselves enough times someone will do something to assist us. Every day we make more progress and now we are working on taking control of some more properties in the area so we can clean them up.

I almost don't have the heart to say stop by our website and see what you can do to help, shop online using our links, subscribe to our newsletter because it is very depressing to work seven days a week, sometimes 12 hours a day or more, FOR FREE to improve our community and to feel as though it is all in vain.

Of course our volunteers and few supporters care, but I really thought that lighting up that little part of the street with these lights would get us some help. Sigh, maybe someday we will do something right. I guess that was not today.

[Tim Sokoloff]

So, five nights later our Solar Powered Street Lamp System is performing well ABOVE anticipated levels.  We are hoping to add more lights to this existing system as it is more than providing enough energy for more fixtures.

This prototype system will without a doubt provide power to our all original unit that we are restoring.

Again, my apologies to anyone who feels we left them out in our thanks, but this is not a one day, one week, or one year project. We are not talking about planting flowers in the beginning of the spring. This is a project that requires a tremendous amount of time, attention, dedication and effort and considering that we actually are accomplishing our goals I am perplexed at the lack of response we are getting.

There are three streetlights in my neighborhood, one of which is lit but is full of leaves and garbage so as a light is useless, that someone is paying to light. We can end that madness, and allow some residents to turn off the lights they are paying for on the outside of their homes as well.

Oh and I do also have to thank Dennis from Four Seasons Flea Market, he doesn't get down here very often, but he is a very busy guy with the absolute best in mind for his community, but he has always made a space for us at Four Seasons to pass out flyers, information and bring attention to whatever it is we are doing down here to make our community better.

I do feel bad for that as he is someone who has been helping us since 2007 on an ongoing basis.

To make true change, it requires a dedication and although myself and my various crews have never surrendered or backed down, everyone simply forgets, move on to other things, and by far, it is not like we are asking for hand outs, we work to put on our yard sales, our flea market and swap meet shows, our ebay acutions, and it took a lot of work and skill to put the links on our site, not to mention designing the site so that our valley residents could use them to shop online.

Certainly we would love for someone to just write us a check, we could turn this side of Campbell into the most incredible place you have ever scene, but we would be happy if people would just start supporting our efforts by using our website to shop online.

There are 220+K residents in Mahoning County alone. If 10% of the cell phone users recharging their phones at Wal Mart would use our site to do it we would have our first ©Envirominium up and running in less than 180 days. I can not imagine what we would do with 10% of the entire valley area. Maybe start fixing our streets, improving Roosevelt park, cleaning all the little areas of Campbell on side streets that are overgrown and being used as trash cans.

I was always told if you build it they will come, well we are building it. Maybe some folks would like to get a quote on what it would cost to have some solar powered lighting installed at their homes? I hope we start at least a trend towards more intelligent exterior lighting.

[Tim Sokoloff]

We thanked the folks who came out in 2007 a million time over, and still do as they were a great help that summer .... and you are correct we have received a little help in the past as far as volunteers go and in 2007 we even received some help in the form of cash from Tyler Clark and his group, which I am sure you were most likely part of as they comprised the majority of the volunteers that summer. We even had some help from our local elected officials. 

We didn't fall off the radar though, and if you go to our website you can see we continue to even make news over the next couple of years, and almost all of it positive. When things went sour and the neighborhood attacked us though, we stood alone. And year after year as we continued to make progress, continue to fight against the bad elements in the neighborhood and continued to work on developing a plan of what to do with the Company Homes if we would ever really get the ball moving.

That time has come, and I am sorry if you felt excluded as it was not my intention, but sometimes those who have been forgotten, forget things themselves. I should have said that Ron and his partner are the only people who have helped us on a level that has impacted us almost as significantly my actual team of resident volunteers I have had over the years.

We have had a small amount of help from outside influences ONCE in our going on five years here and Tyler Clark would be the greatest contributor who just came here out of the goodness of his heart.

Ron and Bill are partners, advisers, and teachers to us on a regular and ongoing basis. They are there with answers when we have questions, help whenever they can in any way the can, and are a continuing daily part of moving us towards our goals, and surprisingly more so Ron as we communicate and see Ron on a regular basis.

One day we shall put down a rock upon our hill with the names of all those who have come here and helped us and we hope not to leave any one single person out so I am sorry that I did not mention the help we received those years ago. And believe me it seems like it has been decades. In the end however, there are a million people that will come up with a million reasons why it is to hard to go to a website and click a link, or like us on Google, or vote for us when we go after the next Pepsi Refresh Grant, but in the end it only hurts our community to not foster the ideas that have the ability to move us forward for any reason.

What can it hurt to help build a chain of Solar Powered Street lights, it's not like we are gonna take the money and buy ourselves new cars, we may take some of it to design an hydrogen powered car in the future, but not today. Today we need more street lamps, more paint, more apartments with people in them, and more hope for our valley.

I do have to say though, that recently the questions, comments and discussions here have raised in value considerably. I again apologize for forgetting those who have helped but all I can do is continue to do my best to move my community forward.

[northside lurker]

Congratulations on your new lights!

A few years ago, I was one of many helpers at one of your initial cleanups. (I was one of the guys cleaning the waist-deep trash out of the basement stairwells.)

Until recently, the project fell off the radar.  Whether right or wrong, I assume there was some reason for this.  But, I honestly wish you the best.  However, I have my own project now, and (I know this sounds selfish) any extra time or resources I have will go to that.

I only write that because, when you make statements like this:

but since RON EISELSTEIN  AND HIS PARTNER ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE OTHER THAN OUR CREW WHO HAS DONE ANYTHING LIKE THAT IT WILL BE A SMALL LIST.

it seems like you're trying to guilt everyone into helping.  But, instead, it will just alienate them, and make them less likely to help in the future.

[Tim Sokoloff]

Greetings to all. Tonight marks the second night where the corner of chambers and Delmar are being lit by the power of the sun. Two 12 volt specially designed CFC bulbs sit inside a fancy housing on top of pretty posts lighting the corner of the street, the steps down to the road and the porches. These lights will replace the need for three bulbs previously powered by conventional means.

We are hoping to add two to three more of these lights before the end of the year to our already existing system but need to raise some funds for lights and fixtures.

A windmill built by our crew is also in the planning, but again, funding is always an issue. So are we proving we are capable on delivering on our promises yet.

I would like to say thanks to all of those who helped us out by using the links on our site to shop online, who have made donations through our paypal link and have donated materials and other things to us but since RON EISELSTEIN  AND HIS PARTNER ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE OTHER THAN OUR CREW WHO HAS DONE ANYTHING LIKE THAT IT WILL BE A SMALL LIST.

We can not even get people to use the damn links on our website but it's all good because even with all of that WE STILL HAVE OUR SOLAR POWERED STREET LAMPS UP AND RUNNING AND THEY LOOK BEAUTIFUL.

Feel free to contact us for more information or to find out HOW YOU CAN HELP.

Best Regards
Tim Sokoloff
Team Lead
Iron Soup Historical Preservation Company
Shining our light on the past and helping to illuminate our future.