Home

Butchers Hill
Archived Newsletters

AUGUST

President's Message:
It was great to see so many brave the weather and come out to the Butchers Hill Association's potluck picnic in Castle Street Park. Extra thanks to Bev Wall for coordinating the food, beverages, tables, etc. The hard work was appreciated!

Many community residents and the Butchers Hill Association have worked hard toward making Castle Street Park a neighborhood asset. A lot has been done, but we still have a way to go. If you are interested in joining in, please let me know. If you are looking for a place to play, picnic, or just relax, please consider using the park. The more we care for and utilize this space, the better it will become.

Candidates Forum at Patterson High School. The League of Women Voters and Citizens Planning and Housing Association will hold a forum for candidates for the newly formed District 1 seat on the Baltimore City Council on August 21st from 7 to 9 p.m. at Patterson High School.
Have some spare time? Flea Markets, the House Tour, the Garden Tour, community clean-ups, Citizens on Patrol, community gatherings and many other volunteer-driven activities all help make Butchers Hill a great place to live. Joining the Butchers Hill Association and contributing time and ideas is a great way to meet your neighbors and keep these activities happening. Contact us through the web, the phone, the mail or at the general meeting if you would like to get involved.
-Rich Pardoe.

BEST FLEA MARKET EVER, Part II
Saturday, September 13th, 9 to 3
Patterson Park, Lombard St. Entrance

Get ready now for the Fall edition of the Patterson Park Flea Market. For the first time ever, we are trying two flea markets in the same year! Enjoy a day in the park with great vendors, good food, music by the Paul Snyder Trio, and a special section provided for local artists and crafters to display and sell their work.

AND our own Antiques team will be there: Is it just old or antique? Collectable or soon-to-be? From 10 to 1, Dotty and Bob Jansen will again do free appraisals of one item per person.

Reserve your space now-$15; $20 after September 5th. Contact Bev, 410-675-0148.

To donate fine junque to the Butchers Hill booth, contact Sandy Sales at 410-558-0148. She's also looking for gently used cook books and children's books.

By the way, the Butchers Hill booth needs a chair to coordinate volunteers for the day, and we can use help for set-up (early a.m.) and clean-up (mid-late afternoon). Contact Sandy, 410-558-0149.
Want to invite friends to this fun event? Postcards will be available at the September 3rd Butchers Hill meeting.

For those who ordered them, those wonderful Butchers Hill T-Shirts will be available at the August Butchers Hill Meeting. Tax deductible slips will be provided for those who donated items to the June Butchers Hill Flea Market .

BHA Committees and Monthly Meetings
Block Rep/Crime Prevention: Wednesday, August 20th, at 7 p.m., 2105 E. Baltimore St. The committee meets monthly to share information from our 20 block representatives and to coordinate action. Contact: Carolyn Boitnott, 410-522-4991, e-mail c.boitnott@verizon.net.

Butchers Hill Citizens on Patrol (C.O.P.) C.O.P. has been regularly patrolling the neighborhood for over three years, and conducts its walk-arounds on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month. We meet at 7:30 p.m. at the intersection of Patterson Park Avenue and Lombard Street. All are welcome. For more information, please contact Evan Helfrich at 410-342-2148 or via e-mail, ubik14@netscape.net.

Education: Volunteer needed; please contact Rich Pardoe at 410 732-669 or r_pardoe@hotmail.com.

Community Representative, School 27 School Improvement Team: Carolyn Boitnott, 410-522-4991. See page 4 for school news.

Land Use: Virgil Bartram (410-327-4964). The Land Use Committee would like to remind homeowners in the 2100 and 2200 blocks of E. Baltimore Street and the 2200 block of E. Pratt Street that you live in a City historic district. All exterior work and painting must be submitted to CHAP and Butchers Hill. We are always happy to help with any questions you may have. Call Virgil Bartram: 410-327-4964. CHAP's number is 410-396-4866.

Marketing/House Tour Committee: Tuesday, August 12th, 7 p.m., 2223 East Pratt. Contact Rick Gilmour (410 342 7061), gilmour@qis.net.

Trash Committee: Contact Sue Whitson, 443-527-1103, e-mail sbwhitson@hotmail.com (e-mail preferred).

BHA Executive Committee: Tuesday, August 12th, 7 p.m., 8 S. Chester St. Contact Rich Pardoe: 410-732-6669, r_pardoe@hotmail.com.

Newsletter: The deadline for SEPTEMBER is Friday, August 22nd. Contact Steve Young: steven.r.young@att.net.

COMMUNITY DUMPSTER, SATURDAY, AUGUST 2nd
There will be a Dumpster in the unit block of South Collington on Saturday, August 2nd. The dumpster is for residents of Butchers Hill. As always, no electronics, hazardous materials, batteries, paint, or appliances. There will also be a neighborhood clean-up from 9 to 11. If you can help, please meet us at the dumpster.

AUGUST BHA GENERAL MEETING
Wednesday, August 6th.
Coffee & cookies, 6:45 p.m. Meeting 7:00 p.m.
St. Andrew's Church hall, corner of Chester & Lombard Sts. (entrance on Lombard).
Contact Rich Pardoe, 410-732-6669.

AGENDA: Preview of Youth Football League and an update on options to address parking .
NOTE: Candidates for the 1st District City Council seat will be addressing the community at the BHA September meeting. Watch for details in the September newsletter.

ART OF HARMONY AT RONNIE'S GROCERY

The two new murals gracing the front and side walls at Ronnie's Grocery (Pratt at Chester) are part of a nationwide program called "The Art of Harmony." This program is sponsored by Coca-Cola and features the works of young artists. The mural on the Chester-Street side is entitled "Share One with Your Friends," and is by 16-year-old David Hendrix-Shorlin of the Carver center for Arts and Technology. The original was implemented as a pencil and computer-graphics work.
The mural facing Pratt Street is by 18-year-old Emily Campbell of Dulaney High School and is entitled "The Cola Girls." The original was a water color.

The contest takes place each year in eight major cities, including Baltimore and Washington. Student art, which needn't necessarily use an explicit "Coke" theme, is judged by an independent panel and ranked into first, second, third, and honorable mentions. Winners receive cash prizes from the Coca-Cola Company.

Meanwhile, Coke representatives are scouring their territories for suitable mural spaces. When an empty or graffiti-marred wall is spotted, the owner is contacted and arrangements are made to reproduce the art in large format. For this work, Coke hires itinerant artists, some of them well known in their own right, who work out of an SUV with dozens and dozens of colors of spray paint, taking two or three hours for each reproduction. In its way, this is reminiscent of the old "Mail Pouch" artists, who would paint the side of a barn in an afternoon, providing that side faced a highway!
Owner Jorge Espinoza of Ronnie's had the final selection of art from among the winners and honorable mentions in this year's Baltimore contest. Jorge notes that he's been a Coke retailer for about 10 years and was delighted when the company offered him the chance to participate in this program.
-Rick Gilmour

ANOTHER REMINDER! Our Best-Ever House tour is coming up in a few short months (October 12). If you'd like to make your home part of this tour, please contact Sue Noonan at 410-522-6773.

The Spring Flea Market was a big success, thanks in large part to the Butchers Hill folks who volunteered time to get things organized. Thanks as always to the food crew-Bill Novakowski, Greg Russell among them, the Grounds/Traffic Crew-Butch Mount and Sue Whitson, and to Sandy Sales and the Butchers Hill booth crew-Liz Elliott, Les and Martha DelPizzo, and Barbara Gilmour. John Murphy did a sign at Pratt Street pointing traffic up the hill. Bob Wall of Parks and Rec, and Nancy Supik and Tim Almaguer of the Friends of Patterson Park helped immeasurably with facilities support. Bev Wall did all the work to sell booths beforehand, Dotty and Bob Jansen gave generously of their time and expertise on antique appraisals, and, as always, Paul Snyder and his trio (featuring Mike Otto on percussion) gave us easy listening for easy buying.
-Rick Gilmour.

Residents are responsible for removing the weeds in their alleys. Property owners are responsible for weeding and cleaning the alley behind their property to the middle of the alley. Some of our alleys are badly overgrown and serve as a trap for all sorts of nasty and unhealthy stuff .

COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

TURTLE SOUP at the Fells Point Corner Theatre Neighborhood resident Diana Cantrelle invites us to "Come see my play! It's a good story, funny, with subject matter of an adult nature." Nina, Dee and Ginny (played by Diana) have been coming to the cabin in West Virginia for almost thirty years-through marriages, broken relationships, and the loss of old friends. This weekend, their friendships will meet one challenge they never expected and another they thought they would never face again.
The play, by Anne M. Lefter, directed by Miriam Bazensky, is part of the Baltimore Playwrights Festival XXII Anniversary Season. At the Fell's Point Corner Theatre, 251 S. Ann Street (410-655-4826), Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m.

About mid-August every year, we have a spectacular finale to the blooming season in Duncan Street Park (by the way, the daylilies were wonderful this year) with the Naked Ladies, a.k.a. Madonna Lilies. These lilies, actually wild amaryllis, put out their foliage in the Spring with the daffodils, and then disappear back to the bulb. Suddenly, in August, the shoots start growing like bamboo, and finish with a cluster of four brilliant pink lilies. Our Naked Ladies were donated several years ago by long-time Butchers Hill resident Toni Francfort. -Steve Young .

FREE CONCERT ON PAGODA HILL IN PATTERSON PARK Tuesday August 12th from 6:30 to 8 p.m. WYPR presents Mood Swings, Baltimore's coolest/hottest swing band.

The Pagoda needs more volunteers to work two or three hours shifts when it is open on Sundays between 12-6 and other special occassions. If you can give a block of time once a month, please call Friends of Patterson Park at 410-276-3676.

POWER WASHING call 410-563-0991, ask for Amelia. $5 per step (wider steps are $6 each). $3 for every sidewalk square. Can be done 7 days a week & hours are flexible. Must live in Butchers Hill area.

House cleaning and dog walking services by neighborhood resident. Call Carolyn Chavis @ 410-522-3107. Neighborhood references provided

 

1592