Growing up in Riverside in the 1990s, Careena Jackson remembers going to her near westside neighborhood’s parade every September.
“I loved the energy, like the music and the candy that they used to give out,” she said, with a giggle. “When I was young, I always loved the candy and waving at dignitaries.”
Now, as president of the Riverside Civic League, she’s planning the parade on Sept. 6, 100 years after the first one. Riverside’s first parade celebrated when the city finished paving Harding Street in 1925. An Indianapolis Star headline said, “Crowd Estimated at 10,000 Persons Frolics on New Surface.”
The parade is still a celebration of the neighborhood. Last year, there were dancers, the Riverside Riders biking along the route, and local organizations like the Flanner House and the school where Jackson teaches, Global Preparatory Academy.
Riverside is a historic neighborhood with bungalows built in the early decades of the 1900s, the same years the Civic League got its start. It’s home to Riverside Park, with its new 1 ½ mile promenade trail. The park hosts the annual BLACK: A Festival of Joy and Shakespeare plays at Taggart Memorial Amphitheatre.
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When Jackson was 11, she, her brother and her parents moved to another neighborhood in Indianapolis. In 2018, she returned to Riverside and bought a house across from her parents.
“I would say my favorite thing about living in Riverside is that I live close to my family. And I love the promenade trail,” she said. “There’s the good restaurants around here, of course. You know, obviously Harding Street Fish and Chicken.”
You can find Jackson, 39, at the restaurant once a week, eating a whiting dinner: fried fish, french fries and coleslaw.
In 2021, the neighborhood historian, Phyllis Hackett, told Jackson the Riverside Civic League needed a secretary and a treasurer. Jackson did both roles, until they got a treasurer. She served as secretary for three years.
Yuri Smith, the former president, encouraged her to become the next leader of the Riverside Civic League in 2024. The organization takes care of the area with community cleanups and connects neighbors to resources like their mayor’s neighborhood advocate, IMPD and services for veterans.
“I understand, you know, that it’s a lot of work. I was like, ‘I don’t want to do it.’” she said. “But what got me to do it was that I knew it was for the community. I knew I was operating out of a spirit of service.”
It’s been a labor of love.
For the last six years, the Lillian Davis Foundation planned Riverside’s parade. This is the first year the Riverside Civic League is taking the responsibility back, and Jackson is working to find sponsors and plan logistics.
“I’m just hopeful that we can establish a forward momentum,” Jackson said. “I want to have a set of standard operating procedures so we can keep the sustainability for Riverside Civic League for years to come. So that’s my hope, and I also hope that the community can feel connected and feel engaged.”
Neighbors pack in for Riverside Civic League meetings
The Riverside Civic League meets at 6 p.m. the first Thursday each month in Riverside Park Family Center. At the April 3 meeting, Jackson and the other leaders sat at a table up front, speaking from a microphone connected to a Fender amp.
About 30 neighbors sat in rows of chairs, and sandwiches, chips and bottles of water were served. It was decorated for a retirement party, in honor of Tony Johnson, who spent years as the manager of Riverside Park.
Community members, like an officer from IMPD, the Riverside Park manager and a representative from DIP-IN, a diabetes prevention program, had five minutes to share updates and five minutes for neighbors to ask them questions.
Residents asked about how to get the city to take care of illegal dumping and City-County Council President Vop Osili stopped by to give updates on the opening of the 30th Street bridge.
Each resident can pay $5 a meeting or $60 a year for dues to fund the league’s events and programs.
Mirror Indy reporter Sophie Young covers services and resources. Contact her at sophie.young@mirrorindy.org.
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