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| The Newsletter of the High Street Hill Association | February 2010 |
Welcome Spring as the High Street Hill Association
and the Brookline Music School present
|
1:30 PM Sunday, March 7 Brookline Music School 25 Kennard Road Bring Family and Friends Admission is Free |
Featuring Karine Bagdasarian, Piano Brookline Music School Faculty Member With Special Guests from the BMS and Our Neighborhood Anna Mikaelian, Piano Recent graduate of the NEC and BU Anna Sneiderman, Piano BMS and BHS Student Eliana von Krusenstiern, Violin Student BHS |
Every day we are bombarded with TV and newspaper ads for maintenance-free vinyl replacement windows that promise fantastic energy savings so it's no wonder some might be tempted pick up that phone especially during a harsh winter storm or after opening a fuel bill. But are those of us who live in the Pill Hill Local Historic District really at a disadvantage with our old wooden windows?
Come hear from experts the 10 reasons why maintaining your historic windows is both greener and better than replacing them. Learn first hand how to tighten your windows and how to maximize your energy saving dollars to conserve fuel.
On the morning of Saturday, April 10, the HSHA will host a neighborhood Window Restoration Seminar featuring Alison Hardy from Topsfield, MA, aka "The Window Woman" and founding member of the New England Window Restoration Alliance. A representative from the Boston Builders Resource Cooperative, which supplies hard-to-find window repair supplies, and a Brookline Preservation Commission staff member will also be on hand to answer your questions as you learn how to replace ropes, restore sashes and weatherstrip at a fraction of the cost of replacements.
Registration is required. Free to HSHA members, others: $10. To register please contact Rob Daves at 617-566-7334 or email robdaves@rcn.com.
You never know what you'll find buried on the HSHA website. San Francisco children's author Lisa Brown found the amazing collection of historical research and photos about the Old Burial Ground compiled by our webmaster and cemetery historian Tom Elwertowski.
It turns out that Lisa, in collaboration with the writer Adele Griffin, would like to use the images and information she found on the site to support an upcoming website/blog relating to their latest book called Picture the Dead which will be published this spring. The book is for young adults and is a historical fiction ghost story that takes place in Brookline during the Civil War. The images from the site would be used to educate readers about the various primary sources and reference materials that were used in the research of the book.
Lisa said in a recent email, "Since we set our novel in the Brookline of the 1860s, it would be wonderful to show our teenage readers some features of Brookline that were in existence in the middle of the 19th century." For instance, the protagonist, seventeen-year-old Jennie Lovell, attends the Putterham School and so the authors plan to post a photo of the school from 1895 with a short description and a link to Brookline Historical Society site. Jennie is also haunted by the recent death of her twin brother and that is where the Burial Ground comes in. Through email Lisa has been working with Tom and Friends of the Old Burial Ground supporter Frances Shedd Fisher to find real 19th century gravestones, inscriptions and people that will offer connections for her story.
Lisa Brown is the illustrator and/or author of nine books and draws the Three Panel Book Review cartoon for the book section of the San Francisco Chronicle. She lives in San Francisco with her son and her husband, who is rumored to be Lemony Snicket. The HSHA has, of course, offered to host a book talk if Lisa will come to visit.
Each spring the HSHA nominating committee looks for a few committed people to replenish its board. Interested in lending a hand? Contact Rob Daves at 617-566-7334 or Blake Cady at 617-566-1629.
When longtime DPW Commissioner Tom DeMaio retired recently the HSHA sent a letter to the TAB thanking him for his service. In return we received a nice handwritten note from Tom that said "It has been a pleasure to work the members of the HSHA. Thank you for being a part of my success story." And in an effort to keep the channels of communication open we met last week with the new commissioner, Andy Pappastergion, and spoke of traffic studies, street lights and support for Olmsted Park.
Speaking of traffic studies remember the string of accidents at the corner of High and Allerton Streets? With the help of some lobbying neighbors they led to a new stop sign and the promise of a safety improvement traffic study. Todd Kirrane, the Town's Transportation Administrator, now tell us that the Transportation Division has just finished collecting traffic data for the study which includes on High Street, Allerton Street, and Pond Avenue and is assembling a draft plan for presentation to the neighborhood at a community meeting in April. Stay tuned.
Corliss Engle, a longtime Edgehill Road neighbor who passed away last November,
was a dedicated activist for our parks and a distinguished horticulturist. Before she died,
she expressed an interest in having a scholarship established in her name.
Because Corliss was a director of the Garden Club of America
and received the GCA Achievement Medal in 2005, the Chestnut Hill Garden Club has established
such a scholarship fund to honor her. Contributions (100% tax deductible) in Corliss Engle's memory
may be made to:
"GCA Corliss Knapp Engle Scholarship Fund"
Garden Club of America
14 East 60th Street
New York, New York 10022
Attention: Carolyn Himmelhoch
The HSHA Annual Meeting and Potluck Supper will be held at 6 PM, Monday, April 26 at the Latvian Lutheran Church. We expect to have a very interesting speaker.
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.