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December 2004
It's hard to believe, but the holidays are upon us already! I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the Butchers Hill Holiday Pot-Luck Dinner, Sunday, December 12th at St. Andrews from 5-8 p.m. All residents are invited. 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 everything else. This is an event for the whole family and you are welcome to bring friends. It is great party with plenty of food (thanks to you), a chance to meet new neighbors, join together in the holiday spirit. See you there!. I am also looking forward to the January meeting, where we should be able to finish our neighborhood development standards. We will discuss the version published in the last newsletter, discuss and vote on any proposed changes, and finally vote to adopt (or not) the standards. This is a very important statement about who we are as a neighborhood, and I hope to see everyone there. -Dave Dyer. COMMUNITY DUMPSTER,
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4TH FUN FOR ALL AT THE ANNUAL
BUTCHERS HILL HOLIDAY POT-LUCK DINNER The Julie Community Center's
COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS CONCERT Unfortunately, the Men and Boy's Choir will not be able to perform this year. We will have a COMMUNITY Christmas concert, including a children's chorale. All adult and youth talent is welcome. Call Sr. Bobby at 410-675-6300. We count on your presence and support. Donations go to support the Julie Community Center, which, under the direction of Sr. Bobby English, provides a wide assortment of youth activities in our community all during the year. So take this opportunity to both provide and enjoy some beautiful holiday music and contribute at the same time to the community!
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24th (CHRISTMAS EVE) or FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31st (NEW YEAR'S EVE). PLEASE REMEMBER NOT TO PUT YOUR TRASH OUT ON THESE DAYS. BHA COMMITTEES AND MONTHLY MEETINGS Block Rep/Crime Prevention: Wednesday, December 15th, 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 at 410-522-4991 or e-mail c.boitnott@verizon.net. Often the holiday season is a time of increased theft. Be sure you property is secure, nothing is left in sight in your car, and be aware of your surroundings when on foot. Be a noisy neighbor, report anything suspicious, and maintain a presence on the street (it's a good time to sweep gutters and alleys). In the past six weeks we have had two street robberies and one house break-in.
Dumpster and vacant property misuse: Except for the monthly community dumpster advertised in this newsletter, other dumpsters are privately paid for by people working on their property. Please do not put your trash in these dumpsters. In one extensive cleanout in the middle of our neighborhood, neighbors have caused the cleanout crew untold hardship by putting all kinds of garbage and construction debris in their dumpster. We even found three stinking whole legs of lamb in the dumpster marked metal only, as well as over 20 movers boxes, mail from addresses within our neighborhood, as well as from outside, on the adjacent vacant lot. These thoughtless acts cost the workers time and money. The next community dumpster is Dec. 4th. Butchers Hill Citizens on Patrol (C.O.P.) Butchers Hill Citizens on Patrol (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. Community Representative, School 27 School Improvement Team: Carolyn Boitnott, 410-522-4991. Education Committee: No meeting in December. The next meeting is Thursday, January 20th, 2005. Contact: Martha DelPizzo 410-522-6046, e-mail mdelpizzo@comcast.net. See education report on back page. Land Use: The Land Use Committee reminds 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. Contact Virgil Bartram: 410-327-4964. CHAP's number is 410-396-4866. Marketing/House Tour Committee: No regular meeting in December. For last-minute gifts, what could be better than a Butchers Hill hat or T-shirt at $10 each? Contact Sandy Sales (410-558-0149) or Rick Gilmour (410-342-7061) (sorry, no children's sizes available). Trash Committee: Contact Sue Whitson, 443-527-1103, e-mail sbwhitson@hotmail.com (e-mail preferred). Parking Committee: William White, 410-563-7941, e-mail: willilicious@hotmail.com. BHA Executive Committee: Tuesday, December 21st at 7 PM, Simon's of Butchers Hill, 2031 E. Fairmount Ave. Contact: Dave Dyer (410-342-7655), or dave@viacapital.net. Newsletter: The deadline for JANUARY is Thursday, December 23rd. Contact Steve Young: young@umbc.edu. -NO TRASH PICKUP ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24th (CHRISTMAS EVE) or FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31st (NEW YEAR'S EVE. PLEASE DO NOT PUT YOUR TRASH OUT ON THESE DAYS!- NO BUTCHERS HILL GENERAL MEETING THIS MONTH ; the next meeting is
January 5th NOMINATIONS FOR BUTCHERS HILL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 2005 The Nominating Committee will present the following slate at the January meeting of the Butchers Hill Association. Nominations from the floor may be made at that time, providing the nominee has consented to serve. You must be a Butchers Hill Association member to vote.
President: Dave Dyer Hampstead Hill / Hampstead Heath Hampstead Hill features prominently in Baltimore history. In 1813 and more famously in 1814, citizen soldiers defending Baltimore were instructed to assemble on "Hampstead Hill." It had that name at least from the 1780s, when Fairmount Street was called "Hampstead Hill Street." Yet neither the Enoch Pratt Library nor the Maryland Historical Society seem to have authoritative clues as to who named it and why.
Moreover, the name "Hampstead Hill" never entirely "took." After the war of 1812, until at least 1835, the prominence was called "Loudenslager's Hill" after the butcher and innkeeper who leased a large hilltop tract from the Pattersons. After the Civil War, the neighborhood became known as Butchers Hill, a name that was revived in the 1970s as the neighborhood itself was reviving. Yet all during this period, the geographic feature as a whole kept the name Hampstead Hill. A recent chance remark by a British visitor to Patterson Park may offer a clue to the source of the name. When Tim Almaguer took the visitor to the top of the Pagoda and mentioned that the area was called "Hampstead Hill," the British visitor remarked "oh, of course." Of course? -it seems that the topography viewed from the Pagoda bears a remarkable resemblance to certain vistas observed from Hampstead Heath in London, and so we can infer that the Baltimore name was bestowed by some nostalgic Londoner in early Baltimore as a reminder of home. Doesn't Constable's Hampstead Heath Looking Towards Harrow (1821) seem like a view from Baltimore's Hampstead Hill before Highlandtown was built up? (The URL is: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/C/constable/constable_hampstead_heath.jpg.html ) Hampstead Heath, an open space six times as big as Patterson Park, is just four miles from the center of London. Part park, part nature preserve, part archaeological site, the area attracts some 10 million visitors a year. It offers organized and unorganized sports, concerts, swimming (male, female, and mixed) at three of its 25 ponds, hiking and biking, a zoo, grasslands, woodlands, bogs, wetlands, meadows, and even a tiny bit of heath. Kenwood, a former mansion now an art museum, is in the north of the area; to the south is Parliament Hill, the high point in London. After the great fire of 1666, poor Londoners were housed temporarily in shelters set up on Hampstead Heath. The area has, over the years, been a source of water for London, the grazing meadows for its dairy herds and for sheep, a popular spa, and a prolific supplier of sand dug out of many pits. A site called "The Barrow" is said by some to be the grave of Boadicea, the Celtic chieftain/queen who fought the occupying Romans in AD 62. Starting in the 1830s, developers fought residents trying to hold the space open for public use. At that time, the fresh air of the open space justified Hampstead Heath's being called "the lungs of London." Today's Hampstead Heath became public through various land transactions and Acts of Parliament from about 1870 to 1906. Hampstead Heath has a shallow "boat lake," offers fishing teach-ins, provides jazz concerts and other types of music, is a great site for kite-flying, frequently gathers poets, provides tennis courts, cricket pitches, bowling greens, and soccer fields, has many cycle paths, and can provide mushroom gatherers with an income of several pounds a day.
-Rick Gilmour, with thanks to Tim Almaguer.
COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD EDUCATION COMMITTEE NEWS Patterson Park Public Charter School (PPPCS) was given conditional approval by the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners at the November meeting. Neighbors all around the Park led by Board President and Founder of PPPCS Stephanie Simms have worked tirelessly to prepare the application, outline curriculum, clean and sort through books in the old St. Elizabeth's School on Baltimore Street and secure just the right educational provider, Imagine Schools, that specializes in the management of schools. The school is scheduled to open in September of 2005 and accept students from Pre-K through 4th grade in the St. Elizabeth's facility. Hearty Congratulations to all of the parents and neighbors who had the vision and pure determination to "go for it" and found a school they believe fits the needs of their children. It has been and will continue to be a tremendous amount of work and it is my hope that the BHA will support PPPCS just as it currently supports Commodore John Rodgers, School #27. Competition is a "good thing." Commodore John Rodgers School continues to improve and thrive under the leadership of the principal Mrs. Dawn Shirey. Those of us on the Education Committee, and some of the neighbors who volunteer, marvel at her leadership capabilities. PTA attendance has more than doubled over last year, the fundraiser that was just completed was an overwhelming success and she secured a grant that allows her to hire two part time teachers to work with students in Math and Reading. One of those new hires is our own Stacia Huff who recently moved to Butchers Hill and is a certified teacher. Jenny Kirkbride is conducting an Audubon program in the school with the assistance of BHA volunteers. BHA volunteers also work in the school on a regular basis and there is always room for more. We are planning an ice skating party early next year with the students of Commodore John Rodgers and hope that BHA members will join in and skate with the kids! -Martha DelPizzo, Chair December 12 - Holiday Trunk Show Please join Butcher's Hill resident, Megin Diamond Renaud, as she brings her contemporary jewelry and handmade tableware to the neighborhood. Special Holiday pricing. Something for every pocket. Plus, a free drawing for a silver pendant. See you there!
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
