Van and motorcycle club launches beautification

Several motorcycle clubs helped with the project.
By KATIE LIBECCO
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
WARREN -- One Good Partner Van and Motorcycle Club proves that an organization is never too new to do good things.
The club began a beautification project of the Palmyra Heights area after only being on the road for one month.
The project started Saturday morning with the repainting of a graffiti-covered sign at the entrance from Palmyra Road and an effort to clean up the road's grass divider and sidewalks. One Good Partner encouraged the community, especially children, to attend by word-of-mouth advertising and fliers.
"We've been asking the city for help for years, but it never happened. We decided to make it happen ourselves," said Tony Farrell, president of One Good Partner.
Work on the sign and grass divider was done with music in the background and food available to everyone that stopped to help. The community and its children were invited to attend the project.
Reaching out
"We hope that this will be a big thing for the community and for victims of Hurricane Katrina," Jonah Cole, vice president of One Good Partner, said. Members of One Good Partner also accepted monetary and material donations for the Red Cross to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Cole and Farrell are both residents of the Palmyra Heights area and said that many of the other members of the club also reside there.
As a Warren police cruiser drove by people working on the project, the officer slowed to a stop and rolled down his window.
"It's a good thing you're doing here today. This is my area, too," the officer said, and offered to come by later to help the efforts.
"We are really hoping that we will be able to reach out to the city of Warren through this project and others," Cole said. "Then we'll reach out to the county and the rest of the state. We want to do something positive for the community."
Plans for park
One Good Partner is also trying reopen a small park in the Palmyra Heights area.
"The kids in this community need something to do. They can either walk around or ride a bike, if they have one," Farrell said. "They need to have somewhere to go and something to do."
While it was open, the park, with its playground and swimming pool, was owned privately by the Palmyra Heights developers. The pool has since been filled in, and Councilman James Pugh said that it had been overgrown with vegetation.
"People need to realize how much work is involved in reopening that park. It's going to take a tremendous effort," Pugh said. "It's going to take a lot of work, but if the city helped, it would be great for this community."
"This is about everyone coming together to help the community and give the kids somewhere to play." One Good Partner member Mark Shaw said. He has raised five daughters in the Palmyra Heights area and said the park is something the area children need.
Others came out to support One Good Partner, including Brothers of the Hammer, Just Us, New Style Riders and the Most Wanted motorcycle clubs.
Farrell said that One Good Partner is a motorcycle and van club so more people will be able to get involved, even if they don't have a motorcycle. There are 31 members in the Warren Chapter, and there are charters in Georgia and New Jersey.
"We want this to be open to everyone and have a lot of minds working together," he said.