CHAMPIONS! B1
Summit Country Day players celebrate their 5-2 win over Laurel in the state soccer championship, Nov. 12. JAY LAPRETE/FOR THE COMMUNITY PRESS
Collection time In the next few days your Community Press carrier will be stopping by to collect $2.50 for delivery of this month’s Eastern Hills Journal. Your carrier retains half of this amount along with any Lynch tip you give to reward good service. This month we’re featuring Claire Lynch, a fifth-grader at Mariemont Elementary School. Lynch loves to play soccer and enjoys horses and crafts. For information about our carrier program, call circulation manager Steve Barraco at 2487110, or email him at sbarraco@communitypress.com.
Perfect harmony
MADISONVILLE — An upcoming event will bring together area churches in music and song. The annual Madisonville Song Fest will start 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, at the Korean-Madisonville United Methodist Church, 6130 Madison Road. Madisonville churches from a variety of denominations will participate in the program which includes choral performances, spiritual dancing and congregational singing. “Each church will have its own musicians,” said Prencis Wilson, who is coordinating the event along with Nancy Hanseman, Eunshin Khang and Zachery Riggins. Full story, A2
EASTERN HILLS
JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2011
Your Community Press newspaper serving Columbia Township, Columbia-Tusculum, Fairfax, Hyde Park, Madisonville, Mariemont, Mt. Lookout, Oakley, Terrace Park 50¢ BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Parking lot concerns Hyde Park council By Forrest Sellers fsellers@communitypress.com
HYDE PARK — A gravel pile next to Hyde Park Station has raised the ire of Hyde Park Neighborhood Council. More specifically, the possibility of using the gravel to pave an expanded parking lot has council worried about the proposed Wasson Way bike trail. “From our perspective a parking lot there cuts in half the proposed Wasson Way trail and (will) likely cause its demise,” said Hyde Park Neighborhood Council member Carl Uebelacker. The proposed Wasson Way project involves converting 6.5 miles of railroad track into a recreational hiking and biking trail which would extend from the Little Miami Bike Trail in Newtown through the communities of Hyde Park, Oakley, Mariemont and several others. A portion of this track is located near Hyde Park Station retail shopping center at Wasson and Edwards roads. Kim Pennington, a property manager for Hyde Park Station,
said a lease had been signed with Norfolk Southern, which owns the track. Work had begun on expanding the parking lot, but has since been stopped. Andress “We would not have started a project if we didn’t have clearance,” she said. Pennington said Cincinnati had halted the project. “(We’re) not sure why they are stalling us,” she said. Uebelacker said the parking lot would extend onto the city’s public right of way and that use of this public right of way was denied during a recent Cincinnati Planning Commission meeting. Stephen Briggs, a senior city planner with the Cincinnati Planning and Building Department, said information on the issue was not available. Jay Andress, a spokesman for the Wasson Way project, said he and others associated with the project spoke out against the parking lot expansion at the plan-
Paving work for an expanded parking lot at Hyde Park Station has some Hyde Park Neighborhood Councilmembers fearing the potential impact on a proposed Wasson Way bike trail. FORREST SELLERS ning commission meeting earlier this month. “We are very concerned about similar projects like this happening,” he said. “We think it’s important to move ahead quickly with our (bike trail) project.” Andress said the Cincinnati Planning Commission is now more aware of the bike trail pro-
ject, and he hopes to have further discussions with Norfolk Southern. The Hyde Park Neighborhood Council approved sending a letter to city representatives objecting to any parking lot construction at the Wasson Road location.
Volunteers looking out for feline friends By Forrest Sellers fsellers@communitypress.com
MADISONVILLE — Cats at an area shelter have a friend in local volunteers. The Ohio Alleycat Resource and Spay/Neuter Clinic, located at 5619 Orlando Place in Madisonville, has 140 volunteers from throughout the Tristate who assist with the care and feeding of the cats at the facility. “We literally could not run the place without the volunteers,”
Santa’s coming
OAKLEY — The Oakley Recreation Center will once again celebrate a Breakfast with Santa 9-11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, at Kilgour School, 1339 Herschel Ave. Full story, A4
Mt. Lookout resident and volunteer Eva Maack spends time with Cassie and Louise at the Ohio Alleycat Resource and Spay/Neuter Clinic in Madisonville. FORREST SELLERS/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
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Vol. 31 No. 43 © 2011 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Hyde Park resident and volunteer Dave Sageser bonds with Maggie Jo and Lola at the Ohio Alleycat Resource and Spay/Neuter Clinic. Sageser provides a foster home for cats at the shelter. FORREST SELLERS/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
said Hyde Park resident Liz Johnson, who is executive director of the shelter, which houses more than 100 adoptable cats. Hyde Park resident Dave Sageser, who serves as president of the Ohio Alleycat Board, said he became involved with the shelter after he learned about it from a coworker at Procter and Gamble. “As a cat lover, I couldn’t resist,” he said. Sageser’s work extends beyond the clinic itself. He also provides foster care for newborn kittens to get them acclimated before they are brought to the shelter. Mt. Lookout resident Kathy Schwartz, who is also on the board, likewise became involved
because she is a cat lover. “It was important for me to find a no-kill shelter,” she said. Mt. Lookout resident Eva Maack has been involved helping at cat shelters for more than a decade. She initially volunteered at an O’Bryonville shelter with her son. “For me, it’s like you get so much love back from helping (the cats),” she said. “They blossom, and you see their true nature.” Hyde Park resident Barbara Kiefer started volunteering at the shelter three years ago and has since formed a bond with one of its feline tenants named Crash. “What I enjoy the most is communicating with them and watching them develop these personalities,” she said.
DEC 2-4 & 10-11
AT THE TAFT THEATRE
Volunteers are always welcome at the shelter which serves as a resource center for people wanting to aid feral cats and as a spay and neuter clinic and rescue center. To volunteer, call 871-7297 or visit the website at www.ohioalleycat.org. During the month of December spaying and rabies shots for cats will be offered free of charge to residents in the 45227 ZIP code. Appointments are required and can be arranged by calling 871-0185. As part of an adoption push during the holidays, the shelter will be open from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Christmas.
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