Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Parties
By OneWhoKnows
June 19, 2007 2:18 PM Link to this
The St. Anne’s Hill association “leaders” are always too busy planning parties to take care of serious historic district business, so they aren’t taken seriously by the city, state, or many of their own St. Anne’s residents. They were asleep at the wheel regarding the McClure Street bridge, and now this: Why should Dayton or the State be concerned about St. Anne’s when St. Anne’s is too lazy to take care of itself BEFORE things go wrong?
Rosemary Grant
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By Denny in Dayton
June 19, 2007 2:59 PM | Link to this
Dear OneWhoKnows (rosemary), the “leaders” of St. Anne’s don’t plan the parties, that’s delegated to a committee. If you look at police information on programs such as “neighborhood watch”, they recommend neighborhood parties so people get to know each other and build community. The neighborhood has been trying to do something about the McClure St. bridge for years, it’s reconstruction was a City not a State project and not related to the 35 reconstruction. Come to one of the parties, they’re fun!
I'd like to respond to Rosemary, and to others I know are out there who feel the way she does. She recently attacked the Board of trustees of St. Anne's Hill as being too busy planning parties to care about what happens in the neighborhood, and being asleep at the wheel regarding issues like the McClure St. bridge, abandoned houses and the like.
First, a word about the socials. Having a monthly gathering of neighbors where the focus is on entertainment and not on meetings or work is a valuable community building tool. To meet and reconnect with the people that live around you leads to better community spirit and promotes "neighborliness". Contact any police organization regarding neighborhood watch programs and one of the first things they tell you to do is have monthly socials.
As to the Board being too busy planning parties, well, there is a committee in place to plan the socials. These people work very hard to plan events that the whole neighborhood would be interested in. If you haven't been to a social, or just haven't been in a while, plan to come out to one. You'll reconnect with old neighbors and meet a few new ones.
Second, I can personally attest to the fact that the Board is not asleep at the wheel regarding major issues. We have continually been in contact with city and county officials. A lot of work goes on every day in this neighborhood that the average homeowner doesn't see. For example, you wouldn't believe the number of phone calls, emails, etc it took to get Clayton Luckie to agree to set up the town hall meeting on the 18th of June. That is not to say Mr. Luckie was unwilling. On the contrary, he was interested and happy to be of service. It just takes a lot of coordination. This year's board of trustees have worked to bring interesting speakers to our general membership meetings, and are working on projects and programs to better the entire neighborhood.
Did I mention that St. Anne's Hill is an all volunteer organization? This means no one gets paid for anything they do for the neighborhood. Everyone from Tom Allen (president) on down work for "free". Most of us work full time jobs and maintain/rehab our own properties in addition to the things we do for St. Anne's Hill. This also means anyone is welcome to step up to the plate at any time. If you don't like the way things are done, please get involved and work to bring attention to the projects that are important to you.
And I will sign my name to this. Because I am proud of the time and effort I put into this neighborhood, and no matter what anyone thinks of me or what I do, I can sleep well at night knowing I try my best, with the best interests of St. Anne's Hill at heart.
Susan Gray
To One Who Does NOT Know (aka Rosemary Grant,
LAZY LEADERS?
St. Anne's lazy leaders initiated and through numerous phone calls and follow up were granted the meeting last evening between ODOT, Clayton Luckie and the neighborhood, as well as, initially meeting with ODOT before the SR 35 project was ever started. In addition, the St. Anne's Hill lazy leaders head and work a fund raiser every other year known as the St. Anne's Hill Christmas Tour; the longest continuous running (20+ years) and most successful tour in the Dayton area. On the opposite year they plan and provide a garden tour that also brings in funds to the neighborhood. The lazy housing liaison is always working to help people comply with landmarks regulations regarding their homes. Our lazy leaders provide all new residents with a welcome packet and make an effort to get them involved in the neighborhood. Over the years, some of our lazy leaders have been involved in major growth throughout this region and within the city and have employed numerous people. The lazy Social committee is always working to organize events that allow neighbors to meet and network - not just once a year or once a summer but every month of the year. The lazy Parks and Greenways chairman and committee work planting flowers and maintaining the neighborhood owned parks, traffic islands and corners. The lazy Membership chair does a continuous membership drive to try and get new people interested in SAH by maintaining an active email list, Blog and website. Do I really need to go on? And all these lazy leaders work full time jobs and don't get one cent for the efforts they put forth for St. Anne's Hill Historic District!
Your comment about the McClure Street Bridge is ridiculous. To what do you refer? If you are speaking about the initial proposal to build it back when the neighborhood was asked if they wanted it or not and they voted for it, that was more than 25 years ago! Times change and I am sure the drug problem and prostitutes coming over from Xenia Avenue was not an issue then. McClure St. is a city project and has nothing to do with the 35 project (just going on at the same time). If you think we had an opportunity to stop it while it was closed but didn't try, then I would suggest you should have helped acquire the dynamite, because nothing short of that was going to get rid of it. Oregon has wanted to get rid of the footbridge between their neighborhood and South Park for years. That isn't happening, either, and its not because Oregon's board is asleep at the wheel.
As for your statement that we are not taken seriously by the city and the state, again, you are mistaken. Mayor McLin told me years ago that our newsletter was her absolute favorite, that she always read it cover to cover and that St. Anne's was really on the ball. In the short time I have lived here the following are just a few things I have seen happen due to the efforts of the Board of St. Anne's Hill in regards to city and state issues: Stopped a skate park from being built at Bomberger, new street signs obtained from the city by writing and being awarded a grant, traffic islands built by writing and receiving a defensible space grant, alley sweeps so successful that city workers request they work them, helped develop and work with Weed & Seed Southeast Initiative to combat drug crimes, rebuild the pergola at Victorian Park, worked with Mike Turner and now Clayton Luckie to address problems with SR35. And that's just off the top of my head!
Rosemary, I have never seen you at a monthly general membership meeting, a social gathering, an alley sweep or any fund-raising event for St. Anne's. Nor have I ever seen you volunteer for anything that has to do with the neighborhood. If you feel the Board is doing such a poor job, why don't you make a positive effort to change things rather than whining and complaining and doing nothing? It's easy to sit back and do nothing, then find fault and complain about the people who are moving and doing. The truth is that the complainer is usually the only one who doesn't know what is going on!
Bobbie Puterbaugh
Even though I don't always participate in the parties, I think thy are an important part of building a strong neighborhood. The "friendly place with frequent neighborhood parties" reputation of St. Anne's was an important factor in my decision to buy a house here.
It seems that there are just a handful of leaders who are working to make this a better place to live (although we all contribute by caring for our houses). Of course there's lots more that could be done. But I, for one, appreciate the efforts of neighborhood leaders. And if I want to add something, it's a free country.
Let's not pull each other apart. Let's pull together ... for everyone's benefit.
Susan Jelus
La Belle St.
Just a note from Jim & Ellen Foreman -- we KNOW how much the St. Anne's leadership does and appreciate every single effort. We don't attend the monthly socials (usually not around when they are happening unfortunately) but are looking forward to the Trash and Treasure and were very happy to be on the Garden Tour a couple of years ago (I think it was a couple of years ... time goes by too quickly!). So please do know that your neighbors know and appreciate all that you and the neighborhood leaders do for St. Anne's! Thank you again.
Just a slight correction Bobbie, I think we were talking about using thermite instead of dynamite on the bridge. Thermite is a steel cutting charge that would drop the bridge, dynamite would scatter it around East Dayton. Either would be fun.
-Denny in Dayton
I happen to think the Social committee is fabulous, as is the rest of St Annes.
Put up, or shut up.
I have not always been able to attend meetings or socials, but I surely make an effort when I am able. I am proud to tell people where I live, and it's specifically because of the reputation we have for being a friendly and pro-active neighborhood. I very much appreciate the time and effort our leaders put in to help keep St. Anne's Hill such a nice place to be. So in case I've not said it before... thank you!
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