May 2005

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

First, I want to thank all the people who helped put our budget together. This is an ambitious plan to make lasting improvements in our quality of life here in Butchers Hill. The budget that passed last meeting is something we can all be proud of.

I'm looking forward to our May meeting. Stephanie Simms from the Patterson Park Public Charter School will give an update on how that effort is progressing. They have accomplished so much in the year since they last spoke to our general meeting, but there remains much to do before the school opens in the Fall. Also, the task force working on a dog area in Patterson Park is going to make a presentation on their group's progress.

And once again, May is time to "Adopt-A-Teacher." Come to the May meeting and sign up; it really makes a difference.

--Dave Dyer.

COMMUNITY DUMPSTER,
SATURDAY, MAY 28
UNIT BLOCK S. COLLINGTON

The Streetscape Committee is planning to repair and refurbish Charles Halcott Square (100 block of S. Duncan St.). Volunteers will be needed to wire-brush and paint the fencing (among other things), beginning in June (more in the June newsletter). To volunteer, please contact Jeff Gabriel at 978-884-5498 or by email.

The next community dumpster day will be Saturday, May 28, unit block of S. Collington. Please remember: no electronics, batteries, paint, hazardous materials, or appliances. Call Bulk Trash for appliances, and save the toxic stuff for the City's semi-annual Hazardous Waste Day. It's important that the neighborhood use the Dumpster service properly, so that we don't lose the privilege. Volunteers are needed for dumpster sitting: contact Jeff.

We are also planning for a mural in Butchers Hill which will be representative of the neighborhood as a whole. Association members are invited to submit suggestions for a neighborhood location. Please include the reasons you feel your site is most appropriate, since that will help the Streetscape Committee make its recommendations to the Association. Please submit nominations to Jeff via e-mail by May 31st.

BHA Committees and Monthly Meetings

• Block Rep/Crime Prevention: Wednesday, May 18th, 7 p.m., 2105 E. Baltimore St. The committee meets monthly to share information from our 20 block representatives and to coordinate action. New block reps wanted; if interested email or call me: Carolyn at 410-522-4991 or by e-mail.

  We will be using our next regular meeting to say thank you to our current block reps and welcome to new ones. This meeting will be half social with nibbles, etc., and half orientation or reorientation on effective ways work with other residents on your block. We plan to have a representative from the city's block watch program present. Please e-mail or call Carolyn if you plan to come: 410-522-4991 or by e-mail.

  Crime Prevention Tip: Many vehicles allow the trunk to be opened by a latch on the inside of the car. Thieves are aware of this too, and often break into cars solely for the purpose of opening the trunk to see what's inside. Most vehicles have a key-operated lock to override this function -- use it, and don't keep anything of value in your car's trunk.

• 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.

• Community Representative, School 27 School Improvement Team: Carolyn Boitnott, 410-522-4991 (e-mail).

• Education Committee: Thursday, May 19th, 7 PM, 124 S. Patterson Park Avenue. Contact: Martha DelPizzo 410-522-6046, or by e-mail. See the Education Committee Report later in this newsletter.

• Land Use: Tuesday, May 24th, 7 PM, Patterson Park White House, near Patterson Park Ave. & Lombard St. 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 Committee: Tuesday, May 10th, 7 PM, 2223 E. Pratt St. Contact Rick Gilmour, 410-342-7061, or by email.

• Parking Committee: William White, 410-563-7941, (e-mail).

• BHA Executive Committee: Tuesday, April 19th at 7 PM, Simon's of Butchers Hill, 2031 E. Fairmount Ave. Contact: Dave Dyer (410-342-7655), or by email.

• Streetscape Committee: Wednesday, April 13th, 7:30 PM, 24 S. Chester St. Contact Jeff Gabriel (email). VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED to help with clean-ups and to watch the dumpster once it has arrived; contact Jeff. For other trash issues, contact Sue Whitson, 443-527-1103, or by e-mail (The former Trash Committee is now part of Streetscape).

• Newsletter: The deadline for the JUNE issue is Friday, May 20^th. Contact Steve Young (email).

  HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE DROP-OFF (paints, solvents, motor oil, batteries, old computers, etc.):

  Saturday, April 30, 9-3, and Sunday, May 1, 11-3. Poly-Western parking lot, 1400 W. Cold Spring Lane.

  ---

  MAY BUTCHERS HILL GENERAL MEETING
  Wednesday, May 4th. 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: PRESENTATION BY STEPHANIE SIMMS OF THE PATTERSON PARK PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL; PRESENTATION BY THE DOG PARK TASK FORCE.

  ---

  HIGHLIGHTS, April 6th BHA General Meeting.

  The complete set of minutes, prepared by BHA recording secretary Beth Needham, can be found at http://www.butchershill.org/association/minutes.shtml.

  Jeff Gabriel (Streetscape): Projects in the works include replacing the Butchers Hill perimeter signs (keeping same design); restoring the brickwork and replacing the benches in Halcott Square (Duncan Street Park); adding a street mural at a location to be determined; planting new trees. | William White (Parking): Chester Street residents on the unit and 100 blocks South have voted in favor of angle parking for those blocks. | Carolyn Boitnott (Crime Prevention): If you are uncomfortable giving your name and address when reporting a crime, you can get a block watch number; contact Carolyn for more information. | John Murphy (Treasurer): The 2005 BHA budget was distributed and approved by the membership present at the meeting. | Laurie Feinberg from the City's Comprehensive Planning Division (Department of Planning) gave a presentation on an ongoing review of zoning in Southeast Baltimore.

  ---

  A CLEANER, GREENER NEWSLETTER

  The Newsletter you are reading now-the final output of the printing and production process-is actually the first time this month's news and views have appeared in hard copy. Thanks to new equipment installed by our printer, National Press, newsletter production is smoother, more eco-friendly, and of better quality than we have been used to. (Just compare the photos in the January or February Newsletter with those in the March or April issue.)

  Monthly production starts with the Friday deadline, when BHA committee chairs and others with responsibility for content send material to Steve Young, the Newsletter Editor. Using his iMac (running OS X) and Microsoft Word(r) (with its extensive "tables" capabilities), Steve creates the newsletter a page at a time, and then e-mails it to the printer. (He also e-mails final copy to Hal Laurent for posting on www.ButchersHill.org).

  National's new pre-press computer, a product offered by Xerox, displays the pages for any final touch-up by the operator, and then etches the page image at 1200 or 2400 dots per inch directly to special polyester printing plates using a proprietary "toner." This plate-making process can actually take place on the printing press, eliminating the need to handle the plate after it is made. There are no photographic film or chemicals, no sensitized metal, and no separate handling of halftones (photographs) in the process.

  The printing press, an A. B. Dick 9910, uses inks that are 99% vegetable (soy), plus regular tap water. The inks are liquid rather than gooey, and they can stay on the press almost indefinitely, eliminating much labor-intensive "washing down" of the press. Better ink handling also means that less paper is used at the beginning of the job to adjust print quality. The ink also dries faster once it has been applied to the paper. Our Newsletter goes through the folding machine half an hour after printing rather than the 11/2 hours it used to take.There are, of course, some trade-offs. "You use less labor," says Mike Makowski of National Press, "but workers have to be more skilled, especially in computer processing." And consumables like the polyester plates and the toner are slightly more expensive per unit, at least until the technology becomes more widespread. Still and all, overall costs remain at least competitive with older printing technology. As Mike observes: "They have to be, or we couldn't stay in business!"

  -Rick Gilmour.

  ---

  EDUCATION COMMITTEE REPORT: The Education Committee will host Stephanie Simms from the Patterson Park Public Charter School (PPPCS) at the May 4th General Meeting; she will bring us up to date on the charter school and answer questions. | The May meeting is also the time for the 2nd annual Adopt-A-Teacher event. BHA members choose a teacher's "wish list" and collect/purchase items from the list so that the teachers will have their supplies by the beginning of the new 2005 school year. | The Education committee will send out letters to developers/realtors/landlords in Butchers Hill asking them to support the "Locks and Clocks" project for School #27, to replace the school's defective room and closet locks and non-functioning clocks. The estimated cost is $2500. If you know of someone who could contribute, please let Martha DelPizzo know (see contact information on page 2). | The BHA is sponsoring the Patterson Park Fun Mobile this year. The Fun Mobile is staffed by a certified teacher and is held in the Park on Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons with art projects and games for children & adults. The project is funded by the BHA. Dates to be announced.

  ---

  COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD

  St. Andrew's Orthodox Church, corner of Chester and Lombard, will be having our annual Spring Flea Market on Friday, June 3rd, and Saturday, June 4th, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Clothing, white elephant items, kitchen appliances, jewelry, books, toys, furniture, 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!

  THE ART WALL
  AT SIMON'S OF BUTCHERS HILL
  2031 E. Fairmount Ave.
  410-534-7100
  http://www.simonsofbutchershill.com
  - - - - - - - - - -
  THE WORKS OF
  JOAN COX
  WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MAY

  ---

  
  Butchers Hill Gothic
  School 27 clean-up volunteers Tom Braun (behind rake), Beth Needham, Sandy Sales, John Boitnott, Carolyn Boitnott.

  ---

  GOOD NEIGHBORS

  Thanks to Sandy, Beth, Tom, John, and Carolyn for cleaning the playground, sidewalks and curbs around school 27 during the city-wide cleanup on April 23rd, and to the Julie Center for their commitment to cleaning the recreation center grounds.

  Also a special thanks to those neighbors who continually sweep the blocks around where they live, two people regularly observed in this wonderful act are Teresa in the southern part of our neighborhood and Barbara in the north.

  Also a big thank you to Hal who fixed School 27's microphone on the PA system.

  SPRING CERAMICS SHOW!

  Saturday May 8th. Perfect for Mother's Day! Kirsten Lapointe will open her studio in the back of 2215 East Lombard St. for her annual spring sale. Many of the items for sale will include fresh flowers or blooming plants. The show will run from 11 to 4 and refreshments will be served.

  Ralph J Young Recreation Center access: Access to the front door of the recreation center behind School 27 will be changed beginning May 1st. Due to security issues, the Woodbourne Center will be permanently locking the gate off their parking lot in the 2000 block of Fayette, through which many users of the Recreation Center went to get to the front door. Users of the Recreation Center will have to access the center from Washington Street, along the side of the basketball courts or off Fairmount, through the playground area at the back of the center.

  FOR SALE: 2 antique armoires, upholstered chaise, antique dresser, black microwave hood, black countertop microwave and beautiful queen sleep sofa (used only a few times). Prices are negotiable. Please call 410-342-5912 from 9-5 or e-mail cherylatkins1@comcast.net if interested in any of these items.

  MAY IN PATTERSON PARK

  PREAKNESS FROG HOP: Pulaski Monument, Wednesday, May 11th, noon.

  BIKE JAM: Saturday, May 28th. Cycling fun all day long. For more info: www.bikejam.com.

  Are you tired of spending five minutes to drive to work, then fifteen minutes to park? Downtown traffic jams got you down? Now that the weather is getting better, you have another option . . . your bicycle! Friday, May 6 is bike to work day. There will be a bike to work rally from 7 to 9AM at the Harborplace amphitheater (Pratt and Light Streets) featuring info, food, and goodies. Fire up the old Schwinn and pedal yourself to work, swing by the rally, and pat yourself on the back the rest of the day for saving gas, burning calories, and fighting congestion and pollution. Log on to www.bike2workcentralmd.com for more info.

  ---