The Colonial Hills Civic Association

We know, last year’s Fourth of July celebration was a home run. This year we are going for bottom of the ninth, Grand Slam! DO NOT MISS the 80th celebration of the Fourth of July in Colonial Hills (on the 250th birthday of our country!). This year we plan on having:

• Bounce houses, blow up water slip and slides, dunk tank and face painters!
• A watermelon eating contest.
• Local exhibitors, hot dogs & burgers & snacks at reasonable prices!
• Midway Games!
• An exhibit with displays of authentic artifacts made during the 10,000 year prehistoric period graciously provided by Randy Sanders and promoting the local Columbus Archeology Chapter. Turns out this land has been around longer than 250 years.

So, if you haven’t already volunteered, please volunteer now for one or both of these areas:

1) Click our SignUpGenius link https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050E45AEAE28AAFF2-64000568-4thofjuly#/ for the midway and related activities – games (classic and new), bounce houses, slip ‘n’ slide, dunk tank, setup and cleanup

and/or

2) Email Jeff Spain jspain01@cscc.edu to volunteer for helping with the 5K Run Through the Hills (please see the separate 5K Volunteers blogpost for specific activities you can help Jeff and Courtney with).

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Register for the 5K Race to run/walk in the race.

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The overall schedule for all events for the 4th of July is:

• 8:30 AM Sharp! – Start of the 47th Annual 5K “Run Through the Hills”
• Around 10:00 AM – Gather for the Kiddie Parade – Circles Selby Park
• Around 10:30 AM – The midway games, bounce houses, food services and more will open for all to enjoy. Purchase your midway activities wristbands before the parade to avoid the lines!
• Around Noon to Maybe 1:00 PM – Depends on how hot it is! – End of activities – But don’t be late!

For those of you new to our neighborhood, please see the blogpost recapping the 2025 4th of July. You will see that you will be enjoying a fun, festive celebration for everyone in the neighborhood – games, food, decorations, and the great company of everyone having a fun time!

Note: Teens, and especially rising seniors – you could volunteer for more than one activity over the period of the 3rd and 4th and thus get your two events credits for the CHCA scholarship! For instance, you could volunteer for setup and/or cleanup plus one shift for the midway and/or contact Jeff Spain for volunteering for the 5K. Don’t be disappointed at the last minute that you have not met the minimum 2-events qualification for scholarship consideration during your senior year! And also, try to attend a CHCA meeting this summer before your hectic senior year schedule kicks in – the meetings are the second Tuesday of the month at 7:30 PM at the Selby shelter house, so why not attend in either July, August or September?

A meeting of the Worthington ARB/MPC will be held on Thursday, June 25, at 7:00 PM at City Hall, 6550 N. High St, where discussion will be held that the Elford Development / Boundless PUD Preliminary Plan PUD 01-2026 be recommended to City Council for approval.

Colonial Hills residents who determine that the information in this PUD is relevant to them might wish to review the agenda and updated Boundless PUD application documentation for this meeting, which has been extracted from the Worthington website into this PDF: ARB-MPC-Agenda_and_Boundless_PUD-06-25-2026.pdf.

This document includes updates to the PUD Preliminary Plan incorporating discussion requests from the January 22, 2026 ARB/MPC meeting. This document also contains the first seven pages of the Traffic Impact Study, Revision 1, 6/17/2026, down through the conclusion. The full Traffic Impact Study with Appendices has been downloaded from the Worthington website into the PDF Boundless_TIS_Full_Report_w_Appendices-6-17-2026.pdf.

The Run Through the Hills 5K has been a beloved tradition in Colonial Hills for decades. If you’re not planning to run or walk this year, we’d love for you to join us as a volunteer!

We’re looking for enthusiastic helpers for:

• Course setup and preparation
• Packet pickup (July 3 and the morning of the race)
• Water stops along the route
• Post-race tear down and cleanup

This is a great way to support your community, cheer on friends and neighbors, and be part of an unforgettable Fourth of July morning.

Interested? Email Jeff Spain at jspain01@cscc.edu to learn more and sign up to reserve your favorite race volunteer position. Let’s make this year’s event the best yet!

PS. Any one of the above race volunteer activities goes to fulfill one of the two CHCA event requirements to be eligible for the CHCA scholarship – so e-mail Jeff now!

All Colonial Hills residents are invited to host their own garage sales on Saturday, June 13, starting at 9:00 AM, and e-mail their participation to the coordinator Rachael Dorothy at RachaelRDorothy@gmail.com.

Or, you can sign up online using the Google form but please e-mail Rachael or sign up online by the deadline of June 6, in order to have your place listed on the neighborhood map of garage sale locations and receive a garage sale sign from this event’s sponsor CYMACK Real Estate.

Please note: Sellers will be responsible for obtaining their own free Garage Sale permit from the city of Worthington: www.worthington.org/596/Garage-Sale-Permits.

A list of homes hosting a garage sale will be communicated the week of the sale online and via a list available at the Selby Park Shelter House.
Note, 6/9/2026: The map and list of homes as of today is shown below.

Post Garage Sale Donation Pick Up: A Volunteers of America (VOA) truck will be parked at Colonial Hills Elementary School (CHES) June 13th, 2:00pm-4:00pm, the day of the Garage Sale, to pick up your unsold items. Just last year, our neighborhood loaded almost 2,300 lbs of donations into the truck! So good luck with your garage sale, but remember you can then head over afterwards to CHES for a feel-good charitable donation!

The Colonial Hills Civic Association is pleased to announce that we have awarded a $1,000 scholarship to the following well-qualified candidates: Alex Chomos, Lauren Curran, Lucy Darbaker, Jack Jolley, Sean Roche and Francis Scardina. All six applicants have been shaped by living in Colonial Hills and have given back and helped shape our community.

They are shown below, in alphabetical order, accepting their awards at the Thomas Worthington HS Local Scholarship Ceremony May 21, presented to them on behalf of the CHCA by Will Pearce. Photo credits to TWHS.

In their own words, from their CHCA scholarship application essays:

“This consistent kindness from the people around me did not just make the neighborhood a pleasant place to live; it actively taught me how to treat others.” – Alex Chomos

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“Colonial Hills is a place where I have felt a strong sense of community and love. It has shaped me into a person who understands how important these things are and who wants to create that same feeling for others anywhere I go.” – Lauren Curran

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“I used to wonder why “The Friendly Community” was included in the sign. Was it a reminder for residents to be friendly to one another? Was it a way to distinguish Colonial Hills from the other neighborhoods? … I realized that it was neither. It was simply the truth – Colonial Hills is a friendly neighborhood. I believe growing up in Colonial Hills has positively influenced me and made me who I am today.” – Lucy Darbaker

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“One friend that grew up elsewhere was surprised when I explained how we used to walk around the neighborhood just trying to find people to hang out with. This togetherness and type of community are something you see very rarely and we are lucky enough to have them in Colonial Hills.” – Jack Jolley

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“On top of the events, the people in my community have helped me grow as a student, a worker, and a person overall. I have had great teachers, neighbors, and role models who pushed me to do my best and treated me with respect.” – Sean Roche

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“In my neighborhood, people don’t hesitate to reach out, offering empathy and support to ensure the well-being of others. It was at that moment that I began to understand just how special my community truly is.” – Francis Scardina

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As a reminder, community service is one required part of this scholarship application so if you want to get in on the action, the Fourth of July is a great time to sign up and learn the joy of giving back!

Do you believe in Easter Bunny? I sure do; I saw Bunny, hopping along with the Bestest Easter Egg Hunt maker EVER — Annie Schuster — over at Selby Park, for the annual Colonial Hills Egg Hunt. Annie and Bunny sprinkled more of those colorful eggs than ever before in the history of egg hunts!!! It was Eggstra Amazing — Bunny, who also resides in a lovely cottage here in Colonial Hills was a big hit with the throngs of kiddos who came up to say hello and get a picture.

Thank you especially to Bunny’s Bestie (and Hunt Chair) Annie, who knocked it out of the Egg Park with lots of special touches to make this year absolutely Speggtacular — thank you Bunny and Annie, for being YOU, and for making this community so special!!

The CHCA also wishes to thank our generous sponsors for the Egg Hunt event Meacham Real Estate Company and Equitable Mortgage Corporation.

(And now for the photos (Photo Credit: CHCA Webmaster) – please click the “Continue reading” link below to see these pics which have the following descriptions)

_01 2026 Egg Hunt #1
_02 2026 Egg Hunt #2
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_06 2026 Egg Hunt #6
_07 2026 Egg Hunt #7
_08 2026 Egg Hunt #8
_09 2026 Egg Hunt #9

Update, 5/28/2026: The agenda item for Rezoning for the Elford Development/Boundless PUD 01-2026 was tabled in advance of the meeting due to Elford’s notifying the ARB/MPC that Elford was not prepared to present at the meeting.

A meeting of the Worthington ARB/MPC will be held on Thursday, May 28, at 7:00 PM at City Hall, 6550 N. High St, where discussion will be held that the Elford Development / Boundless PUD Preliminary Plan PUD 01-2026 be recommended to City Council for approval.

Colonial Hills residents who determine that the information in this PUD is relevant to them might wish to review the agenda and updated Boundless PUD application documentation for this meeting, which has been extracted from the Worthington website into this PDF: ARB-MPC-Agenda_and_Boundless_PUD-05-28-2026.pdf.

This document includes updates to the PUD Preliminary Plan incorporating discussion requests from the January 22, 2026 ARB/MPC meeting.

Please sign up to help pack Buddy Boxes and join your Colonial Hills neighbors at the Worthington warehouse of the Buddy Box Connection, 6520 Singletree Dr, Columbus, OH 43229 — on Sunday, May 3, from 1:00-2:00 PM.

Many children who qualify for free lunch or reduced fee lunch at their schools have little to eat at home and return to school after weekends distracted by their hunger and unable to focus on learning.

Buddy Box Connection’s goal is to bridge the gap; to send these kids home with a Buddy Box every Friday during the school year to alleviate their hunger. A Buddy Box is a box filled with kid-friendly, nutritious, nonperishable, individual sized-food items that are easy for children to eat or prepare on their own. These meals and snacks help sustain children on the weekends when they are not in school.

Please visit Buddy Box Connection for more information about additional opportunities to volunteer or donate.

Below is a photo of Colonial Hills neighbors after packing Buddy Boxes.

Please volunteer at the shelter house via our SignUpGenius for Egg Stuffing, 3/21 and/or Egg Hunt Course Setup, 3/28

On Saturday, March 21, starting at 10:00 AM for about an hour, volunteers will help stuff plastic eggs with candy and prize tags. It’s an easy, fun way to pitch in, and it makes a huge difference for everyone who looks forward to this tradition every year.

Then on Saturday, March 28, starting around 9:00 AM, for about an hour, volunteers will help set up the Easter Egg Hunt course, by stringing flagging tape around and along the stakes to delineate the lanes, taping age-group signs at the end of the lanes and spreading out in the lanes the plastic eggs that volunteers stuffed the preceding Saturday. With many volunteers, we should have our course completely ready before the exuberant start of the Egg Hunt at 10:00 AM sharp!

An application to re-zone 20.3 acres at the southeast corner of the Boundless site as a PUD to allow multifamily development, will be considered at the next meeting of the Worthington MPC/ARB, Thursday, January 22, at 7:00 PM, at City Hall, 6550 N. High St.

The complete agenda for the meeting, and the detailed documentation for the Boundless PUD application have been extracted from the City of Worthington website into this PDF: ARB-MPC-Agenda_and_Boundless_Item-01-22-2026.pdf. Images of selected pages are shown below.

Colonial Hills residents who determine that the information in this PUD application is relevant to them might wish to attend this meeting. Also, analysis of what this PUD may mean for Colonial Hills might be found in the Colonial Hills Advocate Together (CHAT) Facebook Group.