Hiya neighbors from your crazy ECA figurehead, content wrangler and sometimes funny guy Banana Claus! Here’s hoping ya get all the cool stuff ya could ever want plus a big helping of friendship, peaceful moments, evergreen and good lovin’ from family, friends and pets. All we want from you for Christmas, Hannuka and Kawanzaa are articles for the Spring newsletter written from your point of view. A paragraph or two is plenty! If you can, send a picture to go with it or even a web link where people can find out more.
Tell us about living in good old Elizabeth. Let’s connect to each other in any way we can! Feel free to suggest story ideas to us, too. Send your Shakespearian discourse to hminor@carolina. rr.com and I’ll make sure it gets to our editrix/designer/ whipcracker (ouch!) on time. Until we get a chance to wave to each other in person, I’m a wavin’...“Happy Holidaze!” —Banana Claus, a.k.a. Hardin Minor Front cover photo submitted by Cal Watford, back cover photo by Richard Thomas
ECA BOARD 2005 deadline for spring 2006 newsletter: Friday March 10th see page 16 for details Elizabeth online: http://elizabethcommunity.com name
address
work tel.
e-mail (home or work)
Peter Tart
1517 E. 8th St., 28204
372-4147 petart@carolina.rr.com
committee ECA prez / zoning committee
Rachel Eldridge 2423 Vail Ave., A13, 28204
333-1887 reldridge@thompsonchildrenshome.org ECA secretary / race committee
Jean Galloway 2101 E. 5th St., 28204
377-3936 jgalloway@firsttrustnc.com
ECA treasurer
Linda Nash
1921 E. 9th St., 28204
342-5293 NashMan99N@aol.com
social committee / block captain
Terry Lett
2107 Greenway Ave., 28204 377 0052 terrylett@bellsouth.net
social committee
Brad Miller
1812 E. 8th St.,28204
432-0458 bjmiller@ci.charlotte.nc.us
traffic committee / block captain
Babak Emadi
725 Clement Ave., 28204
334-1648 babak@urbana-architecture.com
zoning, trees, community development
John Shurley
2342 E. 7th St., 28204
344-0445 jshurley@insightarch.com
zoning + festivals committees
Tony Miller
1515 Sunnyside Ave., 28204 377-8500 millerarchitecture@msn.com
zoning committee
Roxie Towns
1512 E. 8th St., 28204
342-1000 janeroxi@bellsouth.net
zoning + beautification committees
Kris Solow
2109 E. 5th St., 28204
806-4456 ksolow@carolina.rr.com
beautification committee
Ruffin Pearce
2121 Greenway Ave., 28204 331-4989 rpearce@wcsr.com
zoning committee
JoAnn Brown
1615 Elizabeth Ave., 28204
business representative
523-2446 JoAnn.Brown@asmnet.com
Dianna Desaulniers
the people pages
dianna.desaulniers@wachovia.com
membership committee
photos by Adam Schultz
A fall story by Hardin Minor Is the fall not a wild and wonderful time of year? Has this not been an exceptional one? We’re not yet caught in the holiday frenzy and in addition to the colorful poetry of our trees, there are so many things that take place very near or in Elizabeth. Our neighborhood is so close to uptown that we can just spill out of our houses and walk or ride the bus up to the many activities that are now in full swing. The opening of IMAGINON on October 8th has set in motion a new era for children’s education in Charlotte. At their stunning first production, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, it was said that this new Joe and Joan Martin Learning Center is all about the stories we read in great literature as well as those that unfold on the stage. Our lives together in this amazing neighborhood are an intermingling of story lines that make us unique and make me personally very happy!
Take for instance this year’s Great Pumpkin Wall. How lucky we are that Byron, Jeffery, Dan and Co. put this together again, giving us a satisfying creative communal moment. Who can forget the image and music of Manly Roberts on Lighting Night playing the keyboard beside hundreds of
pumpkins rising from the Clodfelter’s yard! With the myriad messages and faces, it almost seemed that it was a pumpkin choir joyfully belting out strange tunes and lyrics. Every year I’m usually so busy with my company’s (OMIMEO) fall show at the Children’s Theater that I can never manage a quick out-of-town
to see the panorama of the leaves changing. Of course, the Elizabeth canopy is so darn wonderful so that we can enjoy the couleurs fantastiques right out of our front or back door. But our performance schedule was shifted to spring (April 5-9 at IMAGINON) so I’ve been freer to shake loose and get to the mountains. Tucker, Linda and I took advantage of one of Charlotte’s best kept secrets: the South Mountains, an hour away. There you’ll find the 80 foot high Shoals Falls as well as a rewarding hike to a keen 2000’ elevation overlook (Chestnut Knob) from which we drank in the color and could clearly see Charlotte’s skyline 75 miles away. Nothing reconnects us to our natural consciousness like an excursion into nature. So as I write this, the first cold snap has just hit, the pumpkins are in deep compost and the brilliance of the leafy transformation has faded to russets, browns and down to the ground where–yeah, reality check–the millions will be raked, blown, bagged and recycled. Easy on those backs, the people pages
Dear Mr. Minor, I rolled around in fits of doggy laughter when I read the letter from Mister Poopy Shoes about his squishy sidewalk dilemma. Stupid human: does he think we only go for walks when our people attach us to one of those annoying leash things? Heck no! We cut loose any chance we get, and excuuuuse ME, sometimes we even poop on your precious sidewalks. And we don’t care who cleans it up. —Poop Dogg Dear Poop Dogg, You’re bad. But what can I say? You’re a dog. And speaking of dogs, we’d like to do a “dawgs in the hood” feature in the next issue. It’s a newsletter fundraiser, so send your stats and best doggy mug shot to me, the ECA figurehead, hminor@ carolina.rr.com, and send a check for $20 to Peter Tart, 2010 Chesterfield Avenue, Charlotte, NC 28205 —Mr. Minor dog courtesy of www. waggin tails gourmet treats .com
the people pages
folks! Welcome, old man winter! After having it developed, we discovered this photo. A very Enjoy the season and see ya young boy and girl standing ‘round the neighborhood! in front of a house that wasn’t The old house ours. We wondered. Were they by a neighbor friends of a family who used to live in our house or a brother With every renovation in and sister visiting friends Elizabeth, there’s discovery across town? and excitement. Found are such things as old heart-pine Our excitement is just about flooring hidden for years under over as we’re moving into the old carpet, old knob-and-tube new addition. But we hope electrical all of you wiring who live in and these old maybe a relics care glimpse for them into who and pay might attention to have lived the details in your if you ever home consider long renovating. before We did and some of us we’re glad. were even While its born. plaster walls look a bit We wavy and recently the picturehired a frame contractor molding to make is hard better to come use of an by if ever attic that it needs had been repair, it’s all worth the extra pieced together over the effort to keep this old house, years. As we combed through well, still old. the old, papery insulation that remained in the ruins On a side note, we buried our of our attic, we came across own time capsule in the wall, a rolled up negative inside a so someday someone will know tattered news clipping from that we lived here with our two the Charlotte Observer, dated dogs and a cat named Solar who 1937. ruled the trolley path as king.
Home Tour thanks by Terry Lett
train track photo by Adam Schultz
Weeks without rain–then just days before the Home Tour, the skies cried and continued to threaten the weekend’s attendance. Saturday October 8th was iffy, but the attendance on Sunday October 9th was more than promising. The Home Tour was again a success and I cannot take credit for any of this. I owe it all to the people who have laid the groundwork for this fund-raiser over the years. Linda Nash tops the list. Dawn Ballenger was Linda’s successor and again the Home Tour was successful. My thanks to our neighbors who opened their doors and the businesses that sponsored these homes. Also a big thank you must go to the florists who donated arrangements for the tour. Thank you to: Margaret and Brad Fleeman (the feature home)
Investments on Caswell and NoFo on Liz, Inc. Flowers by: Campbell’s Greenhouses
Emily & Will Mullinix Sponsored by: Adam’s 7th Street Market and Canine Training & Counseling Flowers: Oakhurst Flowers
Karen & Richard Bigham Sponsored by: La-Tea-Da’s and Royal Gardens Flowers: Midwood Flower Shop
put up posters and handed out flyers. To Janet Karner for hosting the Homes Tour dinner and to The Fig Tree and Adam’s Street Market for their food contributions to that dinner. I sure hope I haven’t left anyone out! Spring 2006 ECA newsletter cover contest by Hardin Minor and Little Shiva
Jon Johnson, owner of one of our newest Elizabeth small businesses, Cartridge World, Sponsored by: Urban Home Magazine has offered to sponsor the and Angie’s List ECA newsletter cover photo contest. The winning photo will be used as the front cover shot for the spring newsletter, and Jon Johnson will donate $100 in cartridge printer supplies as a prize for the lucky winner. What’s neat about Cartridge World is that it recycles all cartridges by cleaning and refilling them. It’s an awesome concept! Very green, very ECA. Responding to our call in the Hawthorne Lane United last issue, Richard Thomas sent Methodist Church in the photo that graces our Sponsored by: Donley Violin Company Sponsored by: Charlotte Council of back cover. It’s called “Steps, and Dickens-Mitchener & Associates, Gardens, Prudential Carolinas and Independence Park”, and was Inc. T.R.Lawing Realty shot one snowy day when he Flowers: The Blossom Shop Thank you also to the House happened to be the first visitor Captains, Linda Nash, Maya Cecil Stokes to the park. Adam Schultz sent Sponsored by: The Fig Tree Restaurant Packard and Dan McDonough in the picture on this page, as and The McAllister Group for their time in coordinating well as those on page 3. Flowers: Elizabeth House volunteers to man the homes. To participate in the cover And thanks to all the volunteers contest, send your best shot to Michelle & Erik Dagenhart (you know who you are) who Sponsored by: Edward Jones littleshiva@carolina.rr.com. The Charlotte Council of Garden Clubs
the people pages
Elizabeth trees by Cyrus DaGreat Neither Godzilla nor King Kong is responsible for the craftsmanship you see in the picture on the left. No, it’s not from Hurricane Katrina nor an old photo from the days of Hugo. This is what Elizabeth is to expect when the Duke Power tree pruning crews show up tp to do their maintenance work. If you like what you see, then I’m wasting my time. If you don’t like what you see and don’t care, then I’m wasting my time. If you don’t like what you see and do care for the future of Elizabeth and all inner city neighborhoods, then get involved with the ECA or let Mr. Henry Walace of Duke Power know how you feel about it. Henry Wallace Duke Power Community Rep. Certified Arborist Mail Code Newell 704.594.6757 Office 704.575.7507 Mobile hmwallac@duke-energy.com 24-hour pawn shop by Cyrus DaGreat Meet your new neighbor and say hello to your missing stuff. Conveniently located on Central Avenue nearThomas Street. Just knock on the back door. The 24-hour pawn shop is not in Elizabeth, but right next door. Elizabeth neighbors have found their missing stuff there. One neighbor even found it while it was still being brought in!
the people pages
photos by Babak Emadi cankerworm art from yardener.com
Poetree by Hardin Minor
wonderful combo of edibleness. So in addition to a continual As I write this I’m having a slab gathering of stories and photographic images that we’d of warm freshly homemade like from you dear neighbors, banana bread and a cold I’d like to ask for your poetry glass of frothy milk on a chilly and poems that inspire and Sunday morning in early November. If that’s not poetry inform your life to be possibly you can eat, I don’t know what published in future editions is. I just want to take a moment of this newsletter. (Short poems only, please). to express thanks for the I LIVE MY LIFE poetree person who resides in our neighborhood. You know, I live my life in growing orbits, the person responsible for Which move out over the things making poems pop up on telly poles and trees. Poems that are of the world. Perhaps I can never achieve the in such small print you have last, to stop and squint in order to read the selection. Though But that will be my attempt. mostly not earthshaking, these I am circling around God, little gems are in a way life changing in that you might just around the ancient tower, And I have been circling for a see the next leaf, tree, person thousand years. or cloud as a piece of living, breathing poetry. You might And I still don’t know if I am a reconsider the creamy mix falcon, Or a storm, or a great of bananasfloureggssugarbutter song. baked at 350 degrees for an –Rainer Maria Rilke / 1800 hour: it’s not just food, but a From Book for the Hours of Prayer The poetree guy, Kevin Keck, was featured in the spring 2005 newsletter, which you can find at www.elizabethcommunity.com/ newsletter.htm Wrapping reminder by Kris Solow The following article was written in 2003, but it is a timeless piece of information. And although by the time you get this information it may be too late to band your trees this year, my hope is that you will
mark your 2006 calendars for the end of October to wrap your trees. Elizabeth, I fear, is going to have an infestation like Plaza-Midwood if we as a community do not band together and protect our trees. Last year Elizabeth had hot spots of infestation where it was so bad that you could hear the little “ping-ping” of worm poop as you stood in your yard, or feel the crunchy brown poop droppings underfoot in the spring as you walked on the sidewalk. Not only is this disgusting, it’s a real respiratory health hazard to humans. As the worms eat our beautiful canopy of trees, they will indeed poop it all out! I’m sorry to be so graphic, but if that’s what it takes to get your attention, so be it. Part of the root rot problems we are encountering on our trees can be linked to the cankerworms as well, because they weaken our trees by repeatedly defoliating them. Tree wraps, tanglefoot and batting, the materials needed to wrap your trees, can be purchased at hardware or home improvement stores. You can also call an arborist to install the the people pages
annual holiday party It doesn’t seem possible, but another year is coming to a close, which means it’s almost time for our annual Holiday Party. Jane and Roxie Towns have graciously agreed to host the event this year. The Elizabeth Holiday Party is for all adults who live in Elizabeth and/or have their business in the neighborhood. If you’re a newcomer or a longtime resident, single person or family, owner or renter, resident or businessperson in Elizabeth. come join us. The party is loads of fun and a wonderful opportunity to renew friendships or meet neighbors. Drop in for a few minutes or stay and visit for a while, whatever suits your schedule for the evening.
wraps for you, or get together with your neighbors to purchase and install them together. When in doubt as to what to wrap, wrap all your trees. Kids raise money for hurricane victims by John McBride It was early September and the kids wanted to do something to help people victimized by Hurricane Katrina. They set up a lemonade stand on East 8th Street, put up signs and made fliers. People were very generous, and the children raised $176.16, which they gave to the Red Cross. You’ll recognize my children, Alan and Anne in this picture as well as Laleh Emadi and her friend Lucy Robinson.
The race is on by Rachel Eldridge Save the date: on March 26th 2006, the Big E Elizabeth 8K race returns for its 20th year this spring, and Big E himself will be back in action with the hot oil and jelly doughnuts! Spread the word to your friends, co-workers, and runners you know about this historic event. If you want to help with publicity or volunteer in other ways, contact Emily Shea Zarbatany at eshea@ dickensmitchener.com or Rachel Eldridge at 704-37842891 or racheldridge@ hotmail.com
The ECA will provide wine, beer, and a spiral ham. Guests are asked to bring either an appetizer or dessert ON A DISPOSABLE PLATTER to share with others. If you will be arriving on the late side, it would be helpful if you can drop your food item off earlier in the evening. You don’t want to miss this fun event! Remember what makes Elizabeth great is its people. Hope to see you there.
community and history
the people pages
kids photo by Babak Emadi
The Holiday Party will be held on Saturday, December 10th from 7:00-10:00 at the home of Jane and Roxie Towns, 1512 East 8th Street.
the BUSINESS SECTION
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the business section
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the business section
LaTeaDa quarter
1/27/05
9:49 AM
Page 1
Fine Catering and Event Planning 704.372.9599
( 1942 East 7th Street • Charlotte, NC 28204 www.lateadas.com
the business section
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Open Door Ad Elizabeth
5/5/05
5:07 PM
Page 1
An open door for movement and creativity. Dance and Fitness instruction for youth and adults in a non-intimidating atmosphere sure to challenge and inspire you.
Open House Sat., June 4th, from 9a.m. - 3p.m. Register for summer classes, camps or workshops, check out the space or try a free class. Please visit www.opendoorstudios.com for more information. 704-576-5034 / 1221-B The Plaza (Beside the post office) www.opendoorstudios.com email: info@opendoorstudios.com
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the business section
the business section
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