April 2004

President's Message :
Spring is finally here. It is time for us all to work together to make Butchers Hill more beautiful. Anyone who wants to pitch in should join the new Streetscape Committee. Just give me a call (410.342.7655) and I will enlist you in the effort.

Since this is the first meeting of Spring, Amy from Lowe's is going to talk to us about Spring planting and how to make our gardens more beautiful. Also, Joe and Roxanne Rehak will give us an update on the upcoming Garden Tour.

I would like to thank William White for accepting the challenging task of restarting the Parking Committee. The proposed angle parking will be coming to referendum soon, and William is doing great work to make the referendum happen.

Finally, April is membership month. Please take a moment to send in your membership form and dues, or just bring them along to the April meeting.
-Dave Dyer.

BLOCK BY BLOCK
The City's Spring Sweep Day-April 17th
And Our Block Representative Program

Several years ago we launched a program to have a representative on each block who would be a contact for neighborhood activities. For the most part we have used these block reps for reporting crime and dealing with vacant buildings. We would like to expand this effort with a broader goal of bringing residents together block by block to work together to create a sense of neighborliness and shared responsibility.

We hope as many blocks as possible will start by using the City's Spring Sweep Day, Saturday, April 17th, as a way to begin: we will be meeting in the unit block S. Chester at 9 AM. We will provide bags and other supplies for blocks that will sweep their areas clean (donuts, too!). Current block reps will be called in early April to see if they are able to participate on April 17th. Anyone interested in helping please contact Carolyn at 410-522-4991 or email c.boitnott@verizon.net .

We hope this kick-off will grow into other kinds of activities residents on their blocks can do together, such as:

• Greet new neighbors, both renters and homeowners
• Block-watch for crime
• Clean-ups & Beautification-mulching trees, planting flowers, a scrub steps day, etc, graffiti removal
• Sidewalk and tree pit weeding
• Stoop reading if there are children on the block
• Develop a "buddy system" for vacant or problem properties or dumping spots
• Block party/cookout

Follow-up on our February Crime Prevention meeting on juvenile crime:

Pat Flanagan, our Assistant Area Director from the Department of Juvenile Services, has provided some numbers that may be helpful if you are aware of juveniles involved in crime or in harmful situations:

• DHMH Maryland Youth Crisis Hotline 1-800-422-0009 or www.crisisline.org
• Maryland Coalition of Families for Children's Mental Health 410-730-8267 or info@mdcoalition.org
• Youth Opportunity Center/EBCC youth employment & high school completion, 1212 N. Wolfe St., 410-732-2661
• The Family Tree, 2108 N. Charles St., 410-889-2300
• Family Crisis Center (for families experiencing violence) 410-285-4357, 410-828-6390, or 410-825-7496
• Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Community Psychiatry Program, Child and Adolescent Outpatient Services 4940 Eastern Ave D3-East, 410-550-0070
• Tough Love , 1-800-333-1069
• Community Conferencing Center (conflict to cooperation), 2315 St Paul, 410-889-7400.

BHA COMMITTEES AND MONTHLY MEETINGS

Block Rep/Crime Prevention: Wednesday, April 21st, 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.) 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: Thursday, April 22nd, 7:00 PM, 124 S. Patterson Park Avenue. Contact: Martha DelPizzo 410-522-6046, e-mail mdelpizzo@comcast.net . Anyone interested is encouraged to attend.

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: Monday, April 12th, 7:00 PM, 2223 E. Pratt St. 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).

Parking Committee: Tuesday, April 6th, 7:30 PM, White House in Patterson Park. Contact: William White, 410-563-7941, e-mail: willilicious@hotmail.com .

BHA Executive Committee: Tuesday, April 20th, 7 p.m., Simon's of Butchers Hill, 2031 E. Fairmount Ave. Contact: Dave Dyer (410-342-7655), or dave@viacapital.net .

Newsletter: The deadline for the MAY issue is Friday, April 23rd. Contact Steve Young: young@umbc.edu .

COMMUNITY DUMPSTER, SATURDAY, APRIL 3RD - On Saturday, April 3rd, there will be a Dumpster in the 100 block of South Collington. No electronics, hazardous materials, batteries, paint, or appliances. The dumpster leaves between 10-11 AM, so get there the night before or early Saturday.

HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE DROP-OFF (paints, solvents, batteries, etc.): Saturday, April 24, 9-3, and Sunday, April 25, 11-4. Poly-Western parking lot, 1400 W. Cold Spring Lane. -

NO TRASH OR RECYCLING PICK-UP ON GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 9th. PLEASE DO NOT PUT YOUR TRASH OUT!-

APRIL BUTCHERS HILL GENERAL MEETING
Wednesday, April 7th.
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 DAVE DYER, 410-342-7655.

AGENDA: Update on the Garden Tour; Presentation by the Lawn and Garden department from Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse.

A PRESIDENTIAL PROFILE

Here's an interesting Butchers Hill riddle: What do a Soviet specialist, an artillery officer, a one-time candidate for the state legislature, a fraud-prevention expert, a water-ballet star, a remodeling carpenter, and a consultant on management of corporate working capital contribute to the neighborhood?

Answer: They're all the same person, our current president, Dave Dyer. (And there are probably a few chapters in Dave's career that aren't listed above!)

Dave grew up in the university town of Storrs, Connecticut, attending a high school that was run by the university. He swam competitively for four years little realizing that there was "fluid movement" in his future. After high school, he went on to the University of Connecticut, where he joined ROTC and received a bachelor's degree in 1988 in Soviet and Eastern European Studies. But instead of becoming a "cold" warrior, he was just in time for the "hot" Gulf War. An artillery officer, he requested front-line duty, but was assigned instead to a training base in Germany.

In Europe, Dave started graduate work that continued at UConn after the war. One of his extra-curricular activities was a run for the Connecticut legislature. "It nearly killed me," he recalls. Concluding that the financials weren't right for him, he chose a career over a Ph.D. and soon found himself working for Zurich Insurance developing mathematical models and computer algorithms for detecting financial fraud. These models proved successful enough that Dave began teaching them to agents in FBI special investigative units.

Zurich sent Dave to Baltimore in 1998 as a Business Systems Manager, and he was happily residing in Charles Towers when he met two people who would be very influential in his future. One was Carol Orth, who recruited him for the Fluid Movement water ballets, thus introducing him to Patterson Park and its surroundings. The other was Will Backstrom, who helped Dave decide that "although I could live anywhere in the world, I wanted to live in Butchers Hill!"

Dave currently has a day job and a night job. He works as a carpenter for a local contractor doing residential restorations, and he is developing computer models and programs to support him and his colleagues consulting with corporations on minimizing their needs for working capital.

As for Butchers Hill, Dave thinks that a high priority for the neighborhood is education. "If we can't develop and encourage an array of acceptable educational choices, we're going to continue losing our friends with school-age kids. I don't want that to happen." -Rick Gilmour.

EDUCATION UPDATE:
SCHOOL 27 NEWS: The next PTA meeting is Monday, April 19, 4 PM in the school auditorium. The PTA is actively raising funds to assist with the 5th grade closing (graduation) activities.

The Patterson Park Public Charter School planning committee meets the first Monday of each month from 6:30 to 8 at St. Elizabeth's Hall. Contact Stephanie Simms, 410-732-2212. They have a fund drive and are asking residents to save labels from Campbells and Pepperidge Farm products. You can check the website at www.labelsforeducation.com , which lists all the products that are eligible. A box will be placed at the BHA meeting or anyone can drop them through the mail slot at 124 S. Patterson Park Avenue.

DON'T MISS THE FUN IN PATTERSON PARK THIS MONTH!

• April 14th, 4-6 pm:Arbor Day! Help us and neighborhood kids plant trees on the north side of the Park. Meet at the White House.
• April 22, 7:30 pm: Patterson Park in The War of 1812. Slide lecture with Geoffrey Footner & Scott Sheads. Call the Creative Alliance for ticket info: 410-276-1651.
• April 25, 1-4 pm: Turn On The Fountain! Celebrate the return of the historic Marble Fountain. Music, food, fun.
• May 1, 1-3 pm: The American Visionary Art Museum's Kinetic Sculpture Race once again invades Patterson Park! Come see the wild, wacky and amazing human powered vehicles traverse sand, mud and bad pavement. Best place to watch is the Central Pavilion near the Casino.
• For more information and more events, go to: http://www.pattersonpark.com/Calendar/calendar.html .

COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

THE ART WALL AT SIMON'S OF BUTCHERS HILL
2031 EAST FAIRMOUNT AVENUE http://www.simonsofbutchershill.com , 410-534-7100
JORDAN FAYE BLOCK
April 18 through May 16
Opening Reception Wednesday, April 21, 6:30 p.m.

Jordan Faye Block grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Over the past ten years she has been working as an artist, teaching art to young adults, and running various galleries as she traveled from the Midwest to the East coast. Her work has been shown at Sotheby's in New York City and has been represented through Sothebys.com's Online Auction House.

She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, NH. Currently she lives and works in the Station North Arts District in Baltimore, where she has a printmaking studio: PIP GAL ART. She is also pursuing her Master of Fine Arts at the Mount Royal School of Art-Maryland Institute College of Art. In 2004 she revitalized the Station North Artists Project, which gives arts a voice in the new district.

St. Andrew's Orthodox Church (corner Lombard and Chester) will be having its annual Spring Flea Market on Friday, April 30th, and Saturday, May 1st, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Clothing, white elephant items, kitchen appliances, jewelry, books, toys and other items will be available for purchase. A bake sale will also be held, and refreshments will be available for a nominal charge. All of our neighbors are welcome!"

Washington Hill's Artist Housing, inc. will have their annual Sidewalk Arts Festival and Community Fair on Saturday, June 19th. They are looking for participants for both their Art and Crafts Show and Sale and the Be a Star performance competition. Applications for participation from NEARBY neighborhoods will be given preference in the selection process. Call 410-563-3790 for more information.

Moving, must sell! Pedestal sink-$40, Cement Bench-$35.00. Call 410-327-6229.

Larson's Food Market, 2131 E. Lombard St. (corner of Lombard and Collington) now offers fax and copy service, an ATM, and bill-paying service for many establishments (1-3 day posting to your account). Store hours are: Monday through Saturday 6:30 AM to 7:30 PM, and Sunday, 8 AM to 4 PM. Phone: 410-327-6817.

The Orthodox Church celebrates Easter this year on Sunday, April 11th (the same date as Western Easter). This means that St. Andrew's Church (Russian Orthodox in America), at Chester and Lombard, will celebrate Midnight Mass on Saturday, April 10th. At midnight, the church bells will ring for 15 minutes to mark the Resurrection of Christ. Residents may be startled by the church bells at midnight, so please be prepared.

A special thanks to those individuals who volunteered at School #27 this past month: Carolyn Boitnott, Sandy Sales, Sue Noonan, Catalina Stinling, Anne Puckett, and Martha DelPizzo.

A new congregation has moved into the church located at 2117 E. Fayette Street, near Chester Street. The New Jerusalem Full Gospel Worship Center is pastored by Rogers L. Jewell, III.

Weeds are Here: Last summer we made some progress in organizing weeders for 50 foot segments of the pathways in Patterson Park. If you are interested in adopting a segment or can just help occasionally, please contact Lesley Gardiner, Volunteer Coordinator at Friends of Patterson Park, 410-276-3676, e-mail: Lesley@pattersonpark.com , or call Carolyn Boitnott at 410-522-4991.