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| The Newsletter of the High Street Hill Association | June 2006 |
A neighborhood tradition! PONY RIDES (from 4:30-5:30 only) Exhibit of Pill Hill Art (see below) |
Come to the HSHA Annual Picnic on the Green (Philbrick Square, top of Upland Road) Sunday, Father's Day, June 18 4 PM Bring family, friends, a dish to share and something to put on the grill Soft drinks and grills will be provided |
The High Street Hill Association is very pleased to announce that it has received a donation of $1000 from the Board of the Olmsted Park Condominiums for planting materials in Olmsted Park. The HSHA subcommittee, the Friends of Leverett Pond, has agreed to oversee the use of these funds and to ensure that the donation will be used for plants only, with labor to be provided by neighborhood volunteers. As with the $500 that the HSHA itself donated last month, this money will be matched by the Town.
We would like to thank the Board of the Olmsted Park Condominiums and Ronald Brown of R. Brown and Company, manager of the Olmsted Park Condominiums for their generous gift. We also thank Hugh Mattison, HSHA board member Rosemary Mahoney and Parks & Open Space Director Erin Chute Gallentine for working out the details to make this neighborhood/Town partnership possible. Hugh has offered to organize a neighborhood planting day this fall. If you would like to volunteer please email Hugh at hmattison@aol.com
Some of you may have seen artist Virginia Jacobs painting scenes around the neighborhood since last fall. A very old friend of Dennis and Betsy DeWitt, she is staying with them at their 94 Upland Road home. She majored in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and worked for many years as a graphic designer for Philadelphia architects and museums, while her quilted fabric constructions were exhibited internationally. She started oil painting 10 years ago at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Anyone who would like to see Pill Hill through a painter's eyes is welcome to visit the DeWitt's front porch gallery-for-a-day on Upland Green during the picnic. (More images of paintings can be viewed here.)
We are please to report that we have received $1515 from 72 families since sending out our request for annual dues last month. A special thanks to the following who gave an extra donation to support the HSHA and its activities:
Those who attended the HSHA Annual Meeting on April 24 confirmed the election of one new member to the HSHA Executive Board and said farewell to two outgoing members. Fran McElheny, who served as secretary for many years, and Lucy Aptekar, who organized many HSHA events, are stepping down. We thank them both for their very significant contributions to our neighborhood. We will especially miss Fran's tongue-in-cheek annual Secretary's Report.
We welcome Luis Moreno of 36 Allerton Street as our newest board member and congratulations to Rosemary Mahoney who became our new Vice President.
If you haven't had a chance to see the wonderful restoration of the Babbling Brook it's time for a stroll in the park. Over the last few months this portion of the Muddy River that runs from Ward's Pond to Willow Pond in Olmsted Park has been completely revitalized. In accordance with the Emerald Necklace Masterplan and fitting with Frederick Law Olmsted's original design, the brook channel bed was improved and hundreds of plants and shrubs were installed. This project represents the last piece of the Brookline portion of the Olmsted Park restoration.
We'd like to thank those HSHA neighbors who contributed so much hard work over many years at the local, state and even national level to see that the park was properly restored.
The history of the rescue of Olmsted Park is a fascinating story that needs to be told. Over the next few months the HSHA will work to post photos from our archive and bring a narrative of those events to our website.
On May 8 the Brookline Transportation Board met to discuss improvement of a pedestrian crossing on Pond Avenue at the Brook House. Since the HSHA had been lobbying hard to get the Town to address a long list of concerns about pedestrian safety and vehicle speed on Pond Avenue, we were surprised to find that just one crossing was the subject of the T-Board discussion. The HSHA board showed up as group and expressed its concerns. After our comments the T-Board agreed to review safety issues for the whole Pond Avenue corridor.
The continued vitality of the now restored Olmsted Park depends on a strong connection to the neighborhood. We look forward to working with the Town to make sure that link isn't broken.
Congratulations to reelected Town Meeting Members:
and new TMM, Randolph Meiklejohn.
And a big congratulations to Pill Hill's Betsy DeWitt, our new Selectman.
After 16 years as Principal of Lincoln School, Barbara Shea is stepping down. On behalf of those neighborhood families that were fortunate to know her and benefit from her leadership, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks.
The Highlight is printed several times a year and is distributed on foot or by bicycle by HSHA Board members and their usually willing family members. If you have a comment or contribution contact the editor, Rob Daves, at 617-566-7334 or robdaves@rcn.com.