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DECEMBER 2001 President's Message: Happy Holidays! Hope everyone had a fruitful Thanksgiving. I know there was a lot of traveling going on, uniting with friends and family. It seems even more important this year with our country recovering from the crisis. On the topic of joining together, I hope to see most of you at our holiday get-together on the 16th. It's always a highlight of the season for BHA. Keep in mind that everyone is welcome, and with each family bringing a dish, it has such a nice community sharing feel. We also welcome volunteers to help decorate, and set up the afternoon before the affair. Call Rick at 410-342-7061 if you can help out. Thanks to all those active and vigilant neighbors who helped bring to our attention and help solve the problem in the Lamley-North Collington area. Coming from many sides, I believe we took care of the nuisance. It's so rewarding when neighbors work together to clean up and get rid of problems. Check out the addition of trees to BHA; special thanks to John Papagni and those who literally dug in to help. More to come, but I can already see great progress in beautifying our neighborhood. Lots going on this season in Baltimore-Wassail at the Walters, Dec. 6th, 5 p.m.; Very Merry first Friday at the Can company, Dec. 7th, 6 p.m.; Merry Tuba Concert at Harborplace the 15th, 3:30-4:30; Patterson Park Holiday House Tour 2-5, December 16th. All free! And Dollar Day weekend at the Aquarium the 8th & 9th. Hope your holiday season if full of peace and joy. - FUN FOR ALL AT THE ANNUAL BUTCHERS HILL HOLIDAY POT-LUCK DINNER Welcome all residents and members of Butchers Hill on Sunday, December 16th, 5-8 p.m., St. Andrew's Church hall (corner Chester & Lombard Streets). Bring your favorite appetizer, main dish, salad, or dessert (doors open at 4, if you want to bring your dish early; we will have heating and warming ovens plus refrigerators). The Butchers Hill Association will provide beverages. This is an event for the whole family and you are welcome to bring friends. It has always been a great party with plenty of food (thanks to you), a chance to meet new neighbors (quite a few this year), and sing and talk together in the holiday spirit. Mark the date. A warm note of thanks and appreciation to all our reliable distributors who ensure, month after month, that this Newsletter reaches your home: Carolyn Boitnott, Weldon Hunt, Alexis Johns, Kay Kodak, Virgil Bartram, Kitty Thompson, Carter Glass, Bill Duffy, Beverly Wall, Carol Richman, John Murphy, William Baedeker, Ann Wolfe, Tom Braun, Rich Anderson, Barry Glassman (mailings); and to Rick Gilmour and Sandy Sales for their unfailingly cheerful help in production and distribution. Christmas and New Year's both fall on Tuesdays this year, so there is no trash pick-up. Please remember not to put your trash out on those days! Recycling material is collected the following trash day (Friday). BHA COMMITTEE CHAIRS, COMMITTEE REPORTS, AND MONTHLY MEETINGS Block Rep/Crime Prevention: No Meeting in December, but Block Reps should call Carolyn with any updates by December 19th for the monthly report to the police. 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. Reminder: Please keep an eye out for your neighbors; there is often an increase in theft during the holiday season. Don't advertise your vacation plans: Have a friend or neighbor pick up your mail and newspaper, or have your Post Office and local newspaper stop delivery while you're away. If you make a large purchase (TV, computer, etc.), dispose of the packaging carefully, so as not to advertise what valuable new items you may have in your home. Butchers Hill Citizens on Patrol (C.O.P.) conducts its walk-around on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of this 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. Education: Larcia Premo (410-675-5634). Community Representative, School 27 School Improvement Team: Carolyn Boitnott, 410-522-4991. 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 Committee: No meeting in December. Contact Rick Gilmour 410-342-7061 Trash Committee: There will no longer be a scheduled monthly meeting. Anyone interested in joining the committee should e-mail me there name and telephone number and they will be contacted with the date, time and location of any trash committee meetings. We work with the Sanitation Dept. to help keep Butchers Hill streets clean. Contact Sue Whitson, 410-522-3932, e-mail Streetscape: Wednesday, December 26th at 7, 2214 E. Pratt St. (The committee meets the fourth Wednesday of each month.) Contact Noel Brown (410-534-8057), Book Club: Thursday, Dec. 13th, 7 p.m. Discuss whatever you have read recently at dinner at Chester's, 1717 Eastern Ave. If you're coming, call 410-522-6773 by the 11th so that we have a good count. Anyone welcome to join us! BHA Executive Committee: Thursday, December 20th at 7, 2029 E. Pratt St. Sue Noonan, 410-522-6773. Newsletter: The deadline for the January Newsletter is Friday, December 21st. Drop off written items at 103 S. Chester St. Contact Steve, 410-342-3842, NO BUTCHERS HILL GENERAL MEETING THIS MONTH PLEASE PLAN TO COME TO THE BUTCHERS HILL POTLUCK ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16th 5 to 8 p.m. at St. Andrew's Church hall, Lombard Street at Chester Highlights of the October Meeting:
SLATE OF OFFICERS FOR BUTCHERS HILL FOR 2002 The Nominating Committee will present the following slate at the January meeting of the Butchers Hill Association. Nominations from the floor can be made at that time, providing the nominee has consented to nomination. President Sue Noonan MODERN RAPID TRANSIT IN BUTCHERS HILL After experiments with state-of-the-art transit technology in the nineties, Butchers Hill began the century with the most modern rapid transit system available. What's that? You didn't notice any such cutting edge transit system? Perhaps that's because we are talking about the eighteen nineties, and the beginning of the twentieth century. Since 1859, Baltimore had been served by horse cars, small railcars laboriously and slowly pulled by one or two horses. One of the first lines served Fells Point, and in 1871 the Citizens' Railway opened a horse car line out Pratt Street to Patterson Park Avenue, returning west via Baltimore Street. This horse car line probably had much to do with the development of Butchers Hill. Horse cars proved very difficult and expensive to operate on Baltimore's rolling topography and the transit company looked for relief. A short experiment with a small steam engine failed in 1876. The answer came from across the continent: cable cars. Yes, just like the ones which have been operating in San Francisco since the 1870's. Long steel cables move continuously under the street, powered by an enormous stationary steam engine. Using a releasable "grip" which extends through a slot in the road, the car is pulled along like a skier on a rope tow. In 1891 the Butchers Hill horse car line was converted to cable. It was a success, but it lasted only five years. Why? Because it was rapidly overtaken by improvements in an even better and cheaper technology: electric streetcars, in which power from overhead lines ran motors on each car. Although the cable cars cost only half as much to operate as horse cars, electric cars cost half as much as cable. The economics were so obvious that in 1896 the "new" Butchers Hill cable car line was converted to electric streetcar. The electric cars lasted much longer, but the streetcar line was converted to bus in 1949, and that has been the mode of Butchers Hill "rapid transit" for over fifty years. A few signs remain of our transit heritage. The largest is the city warehouse at Pratt Street and Central Avenue, which was built in 1891 to house the massive steam engines which moved the two mile long cable under the streets of Butchers Hill. Rail occasionally pokes up through thin asphalt at Baltimore Street and Patterson Park Avenue, and the rhythmic choppiness of sections of Pratt and Lombard Streets bears witness to the ancient crossties rotting away under the bricks and asphalt. Mostly though, Butchers Hill's once modern rapid transit is gone without a trace, the lumbering #7 bus its only legacy. FAMILY FUN NIGHT at the Ralph Young Rec Center behind Commodore John Rogers Elementary School between Fairmount and Fayette, Friday, December 8th, 6:30-8 p.m. Bingo and Christmas Crafts for the whole family. A night specially set aside for adults and children who live in Butchers Hill. Call Sherman Cypress for more info 410-342-6313. A REMINDER: -PLEASE DO NOT PUT YOUR TRASH OUT ON CHRISTMAS OR NEW YEAR'S DAY- RECYCLING MATERIAL IS COLLECTED THE FOLLOWING TRASH DAY (FRIDAY) COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD RELIQUARIES: DAN BROWN December 4th through January 7th Simon's Pub is proud to exhibit works by Maryland artist Dan Brown this December. This show, entitled RELIQUARIES, features Brown at his best:-large and small-scale oil and acrylic paintings that explore the diverse and fascinating terrain of the female form as well as allude to mystical and/or saintly properties in a Hollywood-esque style. Intrigued? Then come to the opening on Tuesday night, December 4th from 6-9 p.m. to see the work and meet the artist. Brown's paintings will be hanging from December 4th through January 7th, 2002, . . . and remember that original art makes the ultimate Christmas gift! See you at Simon's! For more information, call Simon's Pub at 410-522-4477. Artists Wanted: If you're interested in showing your art at Simon's Pub, please contact Carole Poppleton at 410/276-0333 or email her at: carpoppleton@prodigy.net. The Patterson Park Community Development Corporation is sponsoring a Holiday House Tour on Sunday, December 16th, in the Patterson Park neighborhood. Come join us to celebrate and tour the wonderful homes of the Patterson Park Community, December 16, 2-5 p.m. Starting at 2618 East Baltimore Street. Music & Refreshments. Sponsored by the Patterson Park Community Development Corporation, and International Asset Group and Partners. FREE! Prickly Pear Cactus. It is large (almost 4 feet tall and 4 feet across) and healthy (lots of blooms). It requires a good amount of sun, and very little care. Free to a good home. Call your neighbors, Megin or Don, at 410-342-9597. A Christmas Cookie Sale will be held at St. Andrew's Orthodox Church, corner of Chester and Lombard, from 11 a.m. till noon on December 9th. An assortment of homemade baked cookies will be available in beautifully arranged packages perfect for gift-giving. Come early for best choice. Fells Point is having its holiday kickoff for the "Festival of Lights" on Saturday, December 1st. Our activities include Lighting the Square at 5 p.m., the Parade of Lighted Boats at 6 p.m., Candlelight Shopping from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., with stores holding Open House and serving refreshments. Running from December 1st through December 24th is the "Fortnight of Giving," a charity event to benefit the House of Ruth. There will be carolers through the holidays and a "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindog" contest on December 8th at 3 p.m. We are also involved in the holiday competition sponsored by The Downtown Partnership of Baltimore. We encourage people to come see "the lights of Broadway" and Lollipop Lane, to name a few decorated areas! 1329
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