Walthersonian Newsletter May 2015

WALTHERSON IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION

P.O. BOX 3622

BALTIMORE, MD 21214

www.waltherson.org

[email protected]

Tweet: @WalthersonAssoc

Twitter: Facebook: NextDoor:

NEXT WALTHERSON IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION QUARTERLY MEETING

When: Tuesday, May 5th, 2015 @ 7:30 PM

Where: Harbel (5807 Harford Road)

Get Involved Join WIA today! With membership your vote is counted and your voice heard in the community. Receive your monthly WIA newsletter to stay on top of what is happening in your neighborhood. Please complete the form below and send with your payment to: Waltherson Improvement Association P.O. Box 3622 Baltimore, MD 21214

May 2015

Recycling every Tuesday! Trash every Thursday! Bulk Trash (Call 311 to schedule) Street Sweeping 3rd Wednesday – Even Sides 4th Wednesday – Odd Sides

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Please Specify: □ Renewal □New

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*Paper mailings are for our elderly and disabled members; please choose this option only if needed.

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May Community Meeting Tues., May 5th @ 7:30 PM @ Harbel (5807 Harford Rd) Agenda –

Pam Wallace will speak about the Healthy Neighborhoods Program and the new target blocks within Waltherson.

Open forum for concerns related to the recent events and unrest in Baltimore City.

We will also vote to confirm Irona Thompson on our board to fill the vacancy of Member at Large.

President’s Letter

“Neighborhood community”. What does that mean to you? Maybe a “neighborhood” is merely a place in which you reside, where your home is. Maybe we just rush home after a long day’s work, only to waive at our neighbor (whose name we barely know), bolt inside & close the doors. “Community”, by one definition, is “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common”. That’s what I believe we have here when we share time with each other. Whether you are organizing a walking group to feel safe walking in numbers, but instead, you also gain friendships. Or, you can’t get out as much as you like, so you communicate on our websites. Or maybe you watch your neighbor’s pets while they are away. Maybe you give of your time for community service. There are many of us who have strong political views & want to be involved to help select our leading members. There used to be a group of us who drove together once a month for COP (Citizens on Patrol). Our presence alone seemed to make a statement as we rode by. Or maybe you see familiar faces at the local businesses & reach out to say hello. Whatever it may be for you, we are a community & a strong one, at that. We take pride in where we live & we hold it as our own. We look out for each other. This is not just a place where we lay our hat but a place in which we LIVE, gather, laugh, pray, socialize & even mourn together. WE are Waltherson.

Hope to see you TUES MAY 5th at 7:30 pm at the next quarterly meeting.

Happy Spring everyone, Helene Quinn WIA President

Mayor’s 3rd District Survey When you have a moment, please complete this short survey simply communicating what issue or concern is most important to you/your family. Please feel free to share this with your neighbors in the 3rd Council District and through your listserv. Your feedback will allow us to better assist residents in Baltimore City. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1M6zNWLQfdImuYU_hAHNFZytI97pVv9moVby-WXeB9N8/viewform[docs.google.com]

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IN AND AROUND WALTHERSON Upcoming Neighborhood Events:

May

1st – First Friday Art Crawl

o Hamilton Gallery 5502 Harford Road

o Hamilton Bakery, 5414 Harford; 5-9 http://www.hamiltonbakery.com/events-and-

specials/ (free cupcakes!)

o Mutt Mart Yappy Hour. Bring your dog for a free treat! 2904 Hamilton Ave.

o Creative Arts of Maryland 5424 Harford Road

https://www.facebook.com/creativeartsofmd

o 4300 block of Harford Road and the Market Connection Space September 5th, 6-9 pm.

Food, Wine, Shopping at the The Gift Cellar and Market Connection, Art Openings,

"side-walk snips" a la the The Chop Shop!

o Charmed Life Gallery, 4505 Harford;

o Additional details http://www.hamiltonlauravillemainstreet.blogspot.com/

5th – Waltherson Community Meeting

o Harbel (5807 Harford Rd) @ 7:30 PM

9th – Mother’s day adoption event @ Mutt Mart (2904 Hamilton Ave) 11am-3pm

At the Pratt

Films:

Annie – Monday, May 4th @ 4 PM

Into the Woods – Monday, May 18 @ 4 PM Book Discussions:

The Secret Girl by Molly Bruce Jacbos – May 21 @ 6 PM. Programs for Children:

Lego Club - Mondays @ 3 PM o Ages 5-12 - Build and create with Legos

Mother Goose Baby Steps – Wednesdays @ 10 AM

Preschool Leaps – Wednesdays @ 11 AM Just for Teens

Makerspace – Mondays @ 6 PM o A place for creation, innovation, and collaboration

Teen Game Day – Wednesdays @ 3:30 PM o Play your favorite board games

Wii Wednesdays –Wednesdays @ 3:30 PM

ReVamp your old t-shirts – May 7 @ 4 PM

DIY FlowerBands – May, 28 @ 4 PM

Performing Arts (Spoken Word / Video Performance) May 13 3:30-4:30 PM o Come explore the art of spoken word through poetry and acting. The performance will be

recorded on video

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Lakein’s Sign Renovation

Lakein’s Jewelry store completed a Historic Sign Renovation in April. Their sign was originally installed on

their store in Hamilton back in 1934. This is a beautiful improvement to their storefront and

demonstrates their continued commitment to our neighborhood and the city of Baltimore.

Unfortunately, shortly after this renovation, Lakein’s was vandalized along with a handful of other local

businesses including CVS, Pizza Bravo Plus, and the mobile phone store. Furthermore our taverns and

restaurants have been impacted by the recently imposed curfew in Baltimore City. Please try to stop by

your local businesses and restaurants and show your support for them this month and call 311 to find

out how you can volunteer to help clean up neighborhoods that have been more impacted.

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How to help: Donation and volunteer opportunities in the aftermath of riots

In the aftermath Monday's riots and fires, Baltimore volunteers are coming out in force looking for ways to help. Here are just few ways to contribute your time, money or resources:

Call 311: The Baltimore Department of Public Works announced a new 311 category to direct citizens to opportunities to clean up.

Check the Google doc: The Mayor’s Office of

Neighborhoods is now managing a public Google

form and spreadsheet where groups can request

volunteers and volunteers can locate

opportunities to help. The form, titled

“Baltimore: Where is help needed?” , collects

information about volunteer needs, including

dates, times, locations and the number of people

needed, and uses that information to populate a spreadsheet .

The form was created by a private citizen on Monday. Alexandra Smith, deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods, says the Mayor’s Office is “acting as a conduit” to spread the word about the document and volunteer opportunities. As volunteer needs are met, the office crosses items off the spreadsheet.

Contact the governor's office: The governor's office created the Maryland Unites page to share resources for Marylanders in need and to help volunteers find ways to assist in recovery efforts. The page lists four nonprofits -- Salvation Army of Central Maryland , Red Cross of the Greater Chesapeake , Central Region United Way and Associated Black Charities -- to which the public can donate.

The page also includes a link to a volunteer signup form instructing users to fill in their contact information so the Governor's Office of Community Initiatives can get in touch with ways to assist.

Donate to the fund: The Baltimore Community

Foundation has established The Fund for

Rebuilding Baltimore , which will aim to repair the

physical and emotional damage from the riots.

The fund is accepting payments via the

Community Foundation’s website or via check.

*From Baltimore Sun http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/bal-volunteer-donation-opportunities-20150428-story.html#page=1

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Support Baltimore businesses: Chicago-area photographers John White and Thierry Lyles launched supportbaltimore.com , a website selling vinyl stickers to raise money for Baltimore business owners who need assistance recovering from post-riot damage. The stickers, which display the black-and-white slogans “Baltimore Businesses Matter” and “I Support Baltimore,” cost $15 each or $25 for two.

On Wednesday morning, Support Baltimore contacted the Baltimore Community Foundation with their decision to donate profits from the site to The Fund for Rebuilding Baltimore.

“Last night, we were talking and thought, ‘How would we feel if we were in these businesses’ shoes?’ ” said White, of Crown Point, Ind., who has a day job as a marketing director. “That would be like something happening to our studio space and coming the next day and not knowing what to do.”

White and Lyles are still encouraging business owners to share their stories on the site so the public can learn who was affected by the violence and how.

See a concert: The Metro Gallery will host a benefit concert May 20 at 7 p.m., with all proceeds

donated to Baltimore Community Foundation's Fund for Rebuilding Baltimore. The concert, "Be More

Benefit: A Night of Music to Aid the Rebuilding of our City ," will include performances by local artists

Eze Jackson, Wing Dam , Blacksage , Joy Classic and DDm . Tickets cost $10, and donation boxes will be

placed around the venue for concertgoers to make additional contributions.

Bob Elder, a member of Joy Classic who helped organize the benefit, said organizers are hoping to raise additional funds by selling works by Baltimore artists.

Eat a pizza: From May 1 to June 30, Joe Squared pizza restaurants will donate 10 percent of proceeds from a featured charity pizza to the Baltimore Community Foundation’s Fund for Rebuilding Baltimore. The charity pizza includes pink sauce, chicken, diced shallots, sautéed mushrooms, sweet potatoes, mozzarella cheese, Boursin cheese, parsley and sea salt,

Joe Squared manager Okan Arabacioglu said the restaurants will also organize a fundraiser happy hour where 15 percent of proceeds will be donated to the fund.

Rebuild burned buildings: Southern Baptist Church in East Baltimore, which is across the street from the community center and apartment building that burned Monday , posted on its Facebook page asking the public to donate via the church website, which includes an "online giving" button. A GoFundMe page the church set up Tuesday was no longer active by Wednesday morning. *From Baltimore Sun http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/bal-volunteer-donation-opportunities-20150428-story.html#page=1

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Updates to Businesses in 3000 block of Hamilton Ave

Hamilton Volunteer Firehouse

As some folks may know, Hamilton-Lauraville Main Street (HLMS) purchased the old Hamilton Volunteer

Fire Company building in 2012. Since that time, the building has been partially restored on the first floor

- exterior and interior. The building was acquired for the purpose of incubating small retail businesses

on the first floor. Eventually, the Main Street office will move from the current location above the

Green Onion to the second floor of the old firehouse at 3015 Hamilton Avenue. This is directly behind

BB&T on Harford Road. Currently, Hamiltone Music is leasing the first floor. If you have not found your

way to Hamiltone Music, please make the trip to see this great new business.

For those seeking info about solar panels, HLMS has been in pursuit of a company to install solar panels

and solar tubes on the flat roof of the old firehouse. We have contracted Bollinger Roofing to begin the

installation of 22 solar panels, 3 solar tubes and an access hatch to the roof.

As you move around the neighborhood, keep your eyes on the building at 3015 Hamilton Avenue to

observe the installation. We anticipate the installation to begin in the next week or two, with

completion in mid-to-late May.

http://www.roofingbybollinger.com/[roofingbybollinger.com]

Hamilton Library

And, unrelated to solar, also be informed that across from the old firehouse is the original Hamilton

Library, an Andrew Carnegie endowment to the Hamilton Business Association in 1920. The address is

3006 Hamilton Avenue, behind the old Blockbuster building. The building has been in rough shape

(understatement), but will soon be receiving a much-needed facelift. (I need one, too) While the

restoration of the building will not be completely historic, the exterior work will be done according to

CHAP guidelines. (CHAP=Commission of Historic and Architectural Preservation).

Attention given to these two old buildings should spark additional clean up of the 3000 block of

Hamilton Avenue.

Stay tuned!

[email protected]

http://bmoremainstreet.com/[bmoremainstreet.com]

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Hamilton-Lauraville Tuesday Market

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First Friday – May 1st

Please support our local businesses. Many have suffered through the troubles we are seeing

around the city. Please go to dinner. Walk. Be seen. Bring your neighbors, friends and family.

The curfew that is in effect will cause loss of business to our favorite restaurants & pubs that

normally close well after 10:00. Wages will be lost. Please show your support. Thank you!

Friday, May 1st, is the normal First Friday in Hamilton & Lauraville. Most participants will be

open for First Friday, and the list for HAMILTON includes: Hamilton Gallery, 5502 Harford

Road; Creative Arts of Maryland, 5424 Harford Road; The Music Box 5422 Harford Road,

Hamiltone Music 3015 Hamilton Avenue, Mutt Mart 2904 Hamilton Avenue, Hamilton Bakery,

5414 Harford Road. Restaurants will be OPEN - Clementine 5402 Harford Road, Los Amigos,

5506 Harford Road, Hamilton Tavern, 5517 Harford Road, Big Bad Wolf 5713 Harford Road,

Herb & Soul 5529 Harford Road.

LAURAVILLE: Red Canoe 4337 Harford Road, The Gift Cellar 4337b Harford Road, Charmed

Life Gallery, 4505 Harford Road. Lauraville restaurants will be open, too: Koco's Pub 4301

Harford, and Maggie's Farm, 4341 Harford.

Please visit these businesses and bring a happy crowd with you!

Hamilton Gallery: Please join us for the James Singewald's Exhibition – Baltimore, Block by Block, work in progress… Artist Reception Friday May 8th, 5-9 pm April 30 – May 31, 2015 Hamilton Gallery, 5502 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21214

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Hamilton Gallery (cont) James Singewald – Baltimore, Block by Block, work in progress… April 30 – May 31, 2015 Artist Reception Friday, May 8, 5-9pm soft opening reception: Friday, May 1, 5–8 pm Due to the current City of Baltimore curfew the gallery will close at 8pm on Friday, May 1st. The gallery welcomes all guests and neighbors to join us in enjoying our neighborhood and our city. For six years James Singewald has been living and working in Baltimore, and studying the city’s history. James investigates why so many parts of Baltimore City are in the poor condition we see today. He is also exploring how it can be improved. His graduate work focused on the failed urban renewal project in East Baltimore known as Old Town Mall, formerly Gay Street, and now a desolate two block pedestrian mall just east of downtown. He photographed each of the buildings on the mall, essentially creating a historical document of what is left of the neighborhood after decades of decline. James researched Old Town’s history, what happened to it, and what was being planned for its future. He also spoke with life-long residents and business owners to get a sense of what people remember about the mall and what they hope to see happen there. James combined all of the research and photography in to a self-published book entitled, Old Town, East Baltimore. For the past four years James have been working on a project titled Baltimore: A History, Block by Block, which is a larger version of the Old Town project. There are ten main streets in Baltimore that James is photographing: Howard Street, Eutaw Street, Baltimore Street, Lexington Street, Fayette Street, East Monument Street, Pennsylvania Avenue, Greenmount Avenue, North Avenue, and Broadway. Using a 4×5 view camera and fujichrome velvia slide film, James photographs these streets, building by building, block by block. He finds that a combination of good light and the saturated color of the slide film create a glimpse of what these mostly dilapidated buildings once were and could be. James’ photography is meant to leave you not only with a sense of the condition of our city, but also a feeling of urgency to see that these streets are improved and preserved and that the rich history behind the architecture and the community is not lost, but rather embraced. http://www.jsingewald.com/ http://bmoreblockbyblock.tumblr.com/ Also exhibiting this month Hamilton Gallery artist members: Jude Asher, Marilyn Clutter, Ron Cohn, Salvadore Delvisco, Marcus Dagold, Alice Dvoskin, Amy Klainer, Karen Klinedinst, Charles Mens, Bob Paulding, Lynn Poshepny, Angela Raincatcher, Theresa Reuter, Cara Sue Richard, Peter Smith, Valerie Smith, Grace Sweeney, Bridget Z. Sullivan, Richard Sullivan, Maxine Taylor, Alex Vanicky, Kristine Willett, & Richard Gordon Zyne. Hamilton Gallery 5502 Harford Road Baltimore, 21214 Gallery Hours Thurs & Fri* 5-9pm, Sat 1-9pm. NEW SUNDAY HOURS 11am-3pm. Stop by before or after having brunch at Clementine, Maggie’s Farm, or Red Canoe! *Friday May 1st the gallery will be open at 5 pm and close at 8pm due to the City of Baltimore curfew.

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Gift Celler & Red Canoe (4337 Harford Road)

Mutt Mart (2904 Hamilton Ave) Make our happy hour YAPPY and please bring your dogs! Special treats available for your 4-legged friends. http://muttmartbaltimore.com/

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Styrofoam / Polystyrene Recycling

If you want to recycle Styrofoam but cannot make it to the sanitation yard, Waltherson member Louise Harmony has offered to drop it off. Please get in touch with Robert Walshe at a meeting or by e-mailing us at [email protected] if you are interested. You can also leave a message for us on Facebook or tweet us @WalthersonAssoc. Note: CHECK THE BOTTOM OF THE CONTAINER FOR A NUMBER 6. Only number 6 items are accepted. No peanuts or packing material.

Upcoming Traffic/Roadwork Projects DOT updates:

The reconfiguration of Frankford intersections at Hamilton Ave & Corse Ave have been postponed due to funding issues. They anticipate installation in Summer of 2015.

Early 2016

Harford Road Herring Run Bridge Reconstruction begins o Harford Road will be closed at Herring Run for two years during reconstruction

NECOP – Northeast Citizens on Patrol In Northeast Baltimore we have a district wide Citizens on Patrol program called NECOP. The reasoning behind the COP program is that regular neighborhood patrols can make criminals feel uncomfortable and drive them out of our neighborhood. Participants meet at the Northeast Police station at 1900 Argonne Drive near Morgan State and get a walkie talkie to keep them in contact with the Police and then proceed to patrol their neighborhoods in their cars. Patrols normally go out each Thursday and Friday from about 7:30 - 10:30. For anyone interested in the Citizens on Patrol program, please contact Rob at [email protected].

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Proud Member of:

WIA Volunteers

Officers:

President 1st Vice President

2nd Vice President

Secretary Treasurer Parliamentarian Sergeant at Arms

At-Large Member

Helene Quinn

Frank Williams

Ronisha Moore

Rob Walshe

Sue Kessel Lisa Hom Francis Beane

Vacant

Standing Committees and Representatives:

Housing Traffic Schools & Child Advocacy

Harford Road CRP Rep.

Garden Sign & Projects

Digital Outreach &

Communications

Police Liaison / NECOP

Chairman

Robert Walshe, Sue Kessel, Helene Quinn, Frank Williams

Terrye Muratore

Vacant Main: Sue Kessel Alt: Rob Walshe

Ron Derr Robert Walshe Vacant