MLCA News

Halloween on 2nd Avenue!

Join your neighbors this Halloween Friday October 31st for Halloween on 2nd Avenue! The street will be closed between Field and Estes streets for maximum safety and maximum fun! Enjoy trick-or-treating, a haunted garage, hay rides, and more!

Watch for updates by email, NextDoor posts, and/or the MLCA website at mid-lakewood.com for further info about this event!

Annual Holiday Tree Lighting

Join your neighbors on Sunday, November 30th at 5pm for the Annual Holiday Tree Lighting in Meadowlark Park.

This fun, family event is a long tradition in the neighborhood and a kickoff for the holidays! The event will include music, hot chocolate, cookies, and a countdown to the lighting of the tree!

All neighbors are welcome!!!

Holiday Lights Contest!

This holiday season the MLCA is launching a holiday lights contest for the neighborhood. The winning residence with the best holiday lights will win a prize.

• December 1 to 15 - Nominate your neighbors with outstanding holiday lights to be one of the finalists by using the online form.
  
• December 16 to 30 - Finalists will be chosen and a link will be sent to MLCA members to vote on the winner.

Save our 250+ Ash Trees in MLCA!

The Ash tree species is threatened by the Emerald Ash Borer insect which is typically fatal to the trees. 

Annual Meeting

Thank you to all of you that attended the Annual Meeting on Thursday October 2nd. While there was no Candidates Forum this year due to the Ward 1 City Council race being unopposed, we had good discussion about the Meadowlark Park improvements, Ash trees and Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), and the current zoning changes that are being debated and passed by the Lakewood City Council.

Meadowlark Park Improvements

Improvements will be made to the Meadowlark Park playground area! This work will happen in two phases. It is expected to start this fall. 

First, the concrete path around the playground and pavilion will be removed and replaced to refresh and bring up to compliance. As part of this, grant-funded chess tables and grills will be installed. These are grants that MLCA applied for and was awarded through the Lakewood Neighborhood Participation Program (NPP).

The second phase of the project will be a replacement of the playground equipment. The timeline on this phase is less certain, but this could take place sometime in 2026. 

These improvements will be a valuable upgrade to Meadowlark Park and to our neighborhood!

MLCA Civic Committee

The new MLCA Civic Committee strives to stay informed of current events and laws that impact the residents of MLCA. The MLCA website (mid-lakewood.com) will be used to notify residents of important changes, meetings, and forums.

Residents of MLCA may be interested in Lakewood City Council Meetings or Ward 1 meetings held with City Council members the first Saturday of the month from 9:30am -11am at Holy Shepherd Lutheran Church, 920 Kipling St, Lakewood, CO, 80215.

Help a Neighbor Program

The MLCA is once again running a fall/winter program to match neighbors needing help with those able to provide it. Think snow shoveling, raking leaves, house chores, meals, etc. Please contact us at midlakewoodcivicassociation@gmail.com if you are interested in receiving or providing help!

Letter from the President

Summer has transitioned to fall, and we have several exciting neighborhood events approaching!

This year, we're introducing a new neighborhood Halloween celebration on 2nd Avenue! My family has hosted a haunted garage on this street for several years, and with the help of the MLCA, we're expanding the festivities. We will close off 2nd Avenue between Field and Estes to ensure safe trick-or-treating and provide fun activities like hay rides. We encourage everyone to join us—costumes are highly recommended!

We will also continue our Annual Tree Lighting event at Meadowlark Park on Sunday evening, November 30, at 5 PM. Join us for music, hot chocolate, and the lighting of the tree as we kick off the holiday season.

At our Annual Meeting on October 2nd, we provided several important neighborhood updates. The Meadowlark Park playground will undergo renovations soon; please see the nearby article for more details. We also discussed the value mature trees bring to our neighborhood and the threat posed to our Ash trees by a disease. We have created a map of where these trees are, along with information about the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) and treatment options, which are available on our website. Please consider treating your Ash tree(s) to protect these valuable and beautiful assets in our neighborhood.

During the Annual Meeting, we also shared financial details about the MLCA. We are currently nearly 40% behind our membership goals for the year. The rain at the picnic did not help, as this is typically a time when we see many sign-ups and payments. We are still accepting 2025 membership payments; please send a check by mail or make a payment on our website today. Remember that 100% of your membership funds directly support neighborhood events. Thank you to everyone who has already signed up this year! We also apologize to those who received returned letters due to a PO box error on our part. This was our mistake for not renewing the PO box on time, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience of needing to resend your payment. We appreciate your continued support!

Lastly, I will be stepping down from my role as President of the MLCA. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and consider my time in this role a success, but I now wish to allocate more time to other pursuits. My sincere thanks go to Board members Ed Black, Joedan Hite, John Hunter, Cassie Kotter, Geneva Locke, Becky Rinehart, Bobby Rinehart, and Jasmine West for making this a great year. All of these board members will be returning next year to continue their excellent work.

Enjoy the remainder of the year and the upcoming holiday season!

Chris Gibbons, President
midlakewoodcivicassociation@gmail.com
650-776-3808

2025 MLCA Events

• Friday October 31st - 2nd Avenue Halloween, 2nd Avenue between Field and Estes Streets
• Sunday November 30th - Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony, Meadowlark Park, 5pm
• December - Holiday Lights Contest! Nominations for finalists 1-15th. Voting for the contest winner 16-30th

South of 6th Sustainability

• • Yard Waste Recycling: 9am - 1pm.  At Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church, 11500 W. 20th Ave. Accepted materials include: plant matter, woody debris, limbs/branches up to 4 feet long and 3 inches diameter, and pumpkins. Leaves are not accepted. Scan QR below for more details..
  • Learn to Compost! On Sat., Nov. 15, 10 a.m. at 70 S. Allison St
  • Leaf Recycling:. Email  Info@Southof6th.org for curbside pickup or drop at South Lakewood Elementary Community Garden. You can also drop off your leaves Nov. 15-30 at the City Greenhouse. See details at Lakewood.org/LeafRecycling.
  • Holiday Lights Recycling: Drop off unwanted or broken string lights at South Lakewood Elementary Community Garden so that they can be recycled.

• Christmas Tree Recycling: Jan. 4, 2026 at South 

Lakewood Elementary School

Contact info@southof6th.org or visit Southof6th.org for details

Business Sponsors

MLCA is so grateful for the support of local businesses! These organizations provide goods for events, monetary donations, and assist with volunteers or space for events and advertising. If you have a business you would like to advertise in our newsletter, website, or on posters at our events, please contact us!

MLCA has a number of ways you can get involved:

• Work with the committees for the Picnic and Tree Lighting events
• Volunteer for another committee of MLCA
• Consider serving on the Board of Directors for MLCA  

Contact us: