Open House

On June 1, the Dayton Area Board of REALTORS (DABR) is organizing a community-wide "Open House" to help promote homes for sale. If you are interested in buying or selling a home in St. Anne's Hill, you might want to contact your real estate agent to find out how to get involved.

Here is some brief information from the DABR website:

Summer is upon us and so is The Ultimate Open House Event on Sunday, June 1st! The Dayton Area Board of REALTORS® and the Dayton Daily News are co-sponsors of this Miami Valley wide, open house day. If you are looking to purchase a new home, June 1st will be a prime day to visit a number of homes in every price range. With hundreds of houses open to view, you’re sure to find that perfect dream house. Plus, you can register to win home improvement prizes from Lowe's just by registering at every house you tour! So click on the banner below to view all the open houses coming your way!

The Dayton Daily News also mentioned the event:

Organizers had expected to draw around 600 homes into the event, Jones said. However, as of Wednesday, May 28, more than 550 homes had signed on and officials estimate the number of participating homes to climb to 1,000.

Happy house hunting!

PS. Don't forget, our next regular meeting is Tuesday, June 3rd at the Liederkranz! Bring a friend and your ideas for the neighborhood!

Ruskin Merger

There was a major announcement tonight regarding the future of the new Ruskin School. The school, located at the intersection of McClure Street and Xenia Avenue, is within walking distance of the St. Anne's Hill neighborhood. Read on!

Ruskin to house former charter school

By Scott Elliot, Dayton Daily News
Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 10:07 PM

The city school board Tuesday entered into what may be a first-of-its-kind partnership when it inked a deal to absorb an independent charter school but allow it to operate independently under the district’s control.

Construction of the district’s new Ruskin Elementary School in the Twin Towers neighborhood is nearing completion, but East End Community School had operated in a nearby district-owned school and draws many students from that neighborhood.

East End is an independently run and sponsored charter school founded in 2002. Under the agreement, the school board will have ultimate authority for the school but its day-to-day operations will be overseen by a five-person committee with two representatives from the school board. School officials said they believed the deal is the first such partnership in Ohio.

The school, with about 200 students, will roughly double in size when it moves to Ruskin. Its students will become part of the district’s enrollment count for school funding and the students’ state test scores will count toward the district averages.

So that seems to suggest a student head-count around 400 when the school opens in the fall. That number is consistent with the other new elementary schools in Dayton.

Along with Stivers, the new school will be a huge asset for the neighborhood in terms of attracting new families to our community. We should all look forward to welcoming these students to the new Ruskin School!

Lights on!

Now that the weather is warming up, I've taken to jogging around the neighborhood again. I prefer to go out in the evening, when the air is crisp and cool. However, in some areas there are few street lights and it can be hard to see where I'm going, much less what might be around the next corner.


Although scientific studies have shown mixed results, it seems intuitive that effective lighting will generally make a neighborhood safer and help deter crime by keeping our homes and sidewalks lit for all to see.


So with that in mind, I'd like to suggest... Lights On! Please consider leaving your porch and patio lights on overnight. For pennies a day, you can help keep our community safe, especially for those (like me) that enjoy late night walks around the neighborhood.


Special thanks are due to the neighborhood watch crew. They've been driving around at night to help keep an eye on St. Anne's Hill while most of us are asleep or watching late night television. If you'd like to join them, stop by our next meeting or simply spend a few minutes sitting on your porch or patio at night. It's also a great way to meet your neighbors!


This year, National Night Out will be celebrated on August 5, 2008. Join Dayton and other local communities as they build support and awareness for public safety issues.


So this year let's turn the Lights On! for a safer community.

Free money!

Did you know that if you are a homeowner in St. Anne's Hill, you could be eligible for a property tax discount? That's like free money!

The City of Dayton has a program called Community Reinvestment Area (CRA). To qualify, you must complete a major renovation or build an addition in an eligible area, like a historic district. If you meet the criteria, you won't be taxed on your investment for a certain period of time. Contact the City's Department of Planning and Community Development at 333-3670 for details.

Also, if you are a homeowner over age 65, you may qualify for the Homestead Reduction through Montgomery County. Contact the County Auditor's office at 225-4341 for more information.

So there's two great reasons to invest in St. Anne's Hill.

Now what are you going to do with that free money?

Reminders

Just a quick reminder that our next meeting is this Tuesday, May 6th at the Liederkranz. If you have any ideas to share, or just want to meet your neighbors, you are welcome to attend. The fun starts at 7 pm.

Also, don't forget to volunteer for the Garden & Art Tour, scheduled for June 21. There are plenty of opportunities to help out, even if you dont' have a green thumb!

SPAVA

There's a great event happening at Stivers School for the Arts this week...

Stivers to host centennial arts festival
School celebrating 100 years

The exuberance, talent and energy that flows through Stivers School for the Arts
keeps it youthful; it's hard to believe the school is 100 years old! In that joyous spirit, the school will continue to honor that storied artistic spirit and celebrate its centennial year of existence with a four-day spring arts festival.

The Stivers Performing and Visual Arts (SPAVA!) Festival will take place May 1-4 at Stivers' new and renovated facility at 1313 E. Fifth St. Beginning with the opening session Thursday evening on through a birthday party (complete with cake) on Sunday, SPAVA! will showcase local, regional and national artists in concerts, demonstrations and gallery exhibits. Some artists will conduct master classes with students during school hours on May 1 and 2. In addition, free workshops on everything from glass blowing to swing dancing will be offered to the public on May 3.

Stivers students will showcase their talents, as well. The festival features performances by the Stivers orchestra, string academy, pianists, hand bell choir and dance ensemble. Another SPAVA! activity will honor a Stivers alum who also turned 100 this year. The street adjacent to Stivers will be renamed Milton Caniff Drive in a special ceremony honoring the famed cartoonist.

Most festival events are free, with the exception of evening concerts and the school's annual "Soup Dressed Up" fund-raiser (soup served in bowls created by Stivers students). Admission for the concerts is $10 each evening; a $30 ticket buys admission to evening concerts May 1-3. Cost of "Soup Dressed Up" is $10. SPAVA! concludes on the afternoon of May 4 with a free concert by the Air Force Band of Flight and free birthday cake for all attendees. For more information, go to http://www.spava.info/.

Also, here is a copy of their Fall student newspaper , with a great article about what it was like to return to the renovated Stivers for the first day of class. Take a look!

Finally, on a somewhat related note, here is the Sanborn Map that shows what the Stivers site looked like back in 1887, with today's school site outlined in red:

UPDATE: The opening ceremony and concert were really something! Our own Ms. Bobbie P. presented Stivers with a plaque recognizing their status on the National Register of Historic Places in honor of their 100th anniversary.

After short speeches from Rep. Lucky, Sen. Roberts, and Superintendent Percy Mack, the Stivers Orchestra wow'ed the crowd with an assortment of classical and modern works. The highlight was easily the medley from Phantom of the Opera, which included flashing lights, a fog machine, and a peek at the Phantom himself.

Trust me, you owe it to yourself to check out SPAVA this weekend!