November 29, 2010
Mayor's Holiday Celebration: Friday, December 3, 2010 The Mayor’s Holiday Celebration complete with holiday entertainment, the lighting of the official holiday tree and fireworks will take place on Friday, December 3, 2010, 6 p.m. at City Hall, 901 Bagby, 77002. The featured entertainer will be Grammy Award winner Eddie Levert of The O’Jays. The O’Jays have celebrated R&B success with six top ten singles and a multitude of enduring and soulful gems, including the hit song Love Train. Please bring your entire family as well as a new unwrapped toy to the Reliant Energy Booth to make the holiday brighter for a child this season! Also, have your photo taken with Santa or one of the many Houston Ballet characters from The Nutcracker. Reliant Energy is returning as the official tree sponsor and is supplying an energy-efficient tree that uses LED lights. New partners for this year include Southwest Airlines as presenting fireworks sponsor and vitaminwater as sponsor of the “Holiday Greetings for the Troops” area. We enjoy the continued support from the Houston Downtown District, Houston Public Library Foundation and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department. The event is free and open to the public. For more information see www.houstonspecialevents.org. Wednesday City Hall Farmers Market As the holiday season approaches, the City Hall Farmers Market is a great place to choose holiday ingredients. You can shop at the market or e-mail the vendor ahead of time to secure your products. The market is open every Wednesday from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. and is located around the Reflection Pond on Smith, between Walker and McKinney. To add to the festive environment, enjoy musical guests while shopping and/or eating lunch purchased at the Wednesday market:
Every week there are over 40 vendors selling fresh fruit, vegetables and prepared items. Each vendor is committed to sustainability as well as local and fresh food. For vendor information contact Urban Harvest at https://www.urbanharvest.org. Operation Outreach Stocking Stuffer Annual Toy Drive Please help the Houston Fire Department (HFD) provide holiday joy this year to hundreds of children by donating a new or gently used toy to the annual Operation Outreach Stocking Stuffer Toy Drive. HFD will collect toys December 2 - December 16, 2010. Toy Drive Kick-Off: Fire Stations: For information on the 2010 Toy Drive, visit www.houstontx.gov/fire, www.click2houston.com or contact the HFD Public Affairs Office at 713.495.7900. Clothing donations will not be accepted. Great Toy Giveaway:
As the holidays approach, the Houston Fire Department would like to remind you of the steps you can take to make the season safe and joyous for your family and friends. Visit www.houstontx.gov/fire for the latest in fire safety information on everything from cooking to heating and decorating your home. REMEMBER: Working smoke detectors save lives! Have you tested yours lately? Test them today! Houston Police Department's Annual Food Drive Needs Your Help The Houston Police Department’s (HPD) annual La Comida Food Drive is entering its 25th year of serving our communities. Now, more than ever, your help is needed to reach out and help our less fortunate neighbors enjoy a family meal this holiday season. HPD partners with Fiesta Mart, Inc. and The Pepsi Bottling Group to collect, package and distribute boxes of food to Houston’s underprivileged families. Last year, HPD was able to distribute 3,500 boxes of food. Donations of non-perishable food items and cash will be accepted from noon to 8 p.m. on Thursday, December 2, and Friday, December 3, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, December 4, and Sunday, December 5. Please visit one of the 14 participating Fiesta Marts below to contribute to this important Houston community need.
For more information contact the HPD Community Services Unit at 713.308.3200 between City of Houston Embarks on 20th year of Christmas Tree Recycling The City of Houston (COH) Solid Waste Management Department will embark on its 20th year of Christmas tree recycling after the holiday by providing recycling drop-off sites throughout Houston. All drop-off sites will be closed on New Year's Day. Every year, Houstonians discard thousands of used Christmas trees that could be recycled into useable items. The COH is encouraging residents to recycle their Christmas trees to give them a new lease on life and make the recycling of Christmas trees a family tradition. Please remove tinsel, lights, ornaments, plastic tree stands and plastic water bowls from the trees. The recycled trees will be converted into mulch, which will in turn help save landfill space and help preserve the environment. Trees with artificial snow (flocked) will not be accepted for recycling; they will be picked up on the neighborhood's scheduled "Junk Waste" day in February. Commercial vendor trees will not be accepted. Living Earth Technology, a leading composting company in Houston, has partnered with the COH to make this a very cost-effective program for the city. Living Earth Technology composts all the Christmas trees at no cost to the COH. Homes with COH automated garbage collection service may place their trees at the curb on their "Tree Waste" day in January or bring them to one of the Christmas tree recycling locations. For more information visit www.houstonsolidwaste.org or call 3-1-1. During this Holiday Season, Make the Commitment to Recycle The City of Houston Solid Waste Management Department has several locations for you to drop off your holiday recycling. Christmas trees, burned out compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulbs, holiday wrappings and appliances may all be recycled. Please commit to having a greener holiday season. See www.houstonsolidwaste.org for more details. Neighborhood Depositories/Recycling Centers accept:
Locations:
Recyclables may also be taken to:
For the holiday collection schedule and hours of operations at Solid Waste Corral the Grease: Reducing Sewer Problems A simple act in your kitchen could save you from costly repairs and reduce the possibility of having a sink, toilet or drain back up during the holidays. Do you remember when your grandmother would save cooking grease in a jar on the stove and use it later? This small practice could help save millions of tax dollars in repair and maintenance cost to the city sanitary sewer lines that run from your home to main sewer lines that run underground. Pouring fats, cooking grease and oils down the drain is a common mistake lots of cooks make. Animal fats, greases and vegetable oils poured into drains solidify and clog pipes. Cooking grease can get as hard as concrete, causing sewage to back-up and overflow into streets, yards, and storm ditches. The most practical way to reduce grease from kitchens is to follow some easy steps. Unclogging sewer lines is costly to repair and maintain.
Homeowners have the ultimate responsibility to maintain the sanitary sewer lines that run from their homes to where it connects to the city line. If a blockage is causing problems in a home and it is discovered to be in a city line, a crew will come out and clear the line. For more information on how you can reduce sewer line blockages, visit the “Corral the Grease” website at https://www.publicworks.houstontx.gov/utilities/corral_grease.html. |
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