Your Community Press newspaper serving Columbia Township, Columbia-Tusculum, Fairfax, Hyde Park, Madisonville, Mariemont, Mt.Lookout, Oakley, Terrace Park E-mail: easternhills@communitypress.com We d n e s d a y, D e c e m b e r 3 0 , 2 0 0 9
Volume 74 Number 47 © 2009 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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New Mt. Lookout trees OK’d Japanese lilacs chosen instead of Jack pear trees
By Lisa Wakeland
lwakeland@communitypress.com
Foster and Logan Opals
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In the next few days your Community Press carrier will be stopping by to collect $2.50 for delivery of this month’s the Eastern Hills Journal. Your carrier retains half of this amount along with any tip you give to reward good service. This month we’re featuring Foster and Logan Opals. Foster is in the fifth grade at Springer School and Center and Logan attends Sands Montessori, where he is in the second grade. Foster started his route when he was 7 and his younger brother, Logan, began by riding in the wagon while Foster delivered the papers. Two years ago Logan started delivering his own route. For information about our carrier program, call circulation manager Steve Barraco at 2487110, or e-mail sbarraco@ communitypress.com.
Japanese lilac trees will line Mount Lookout Square next year. The Mount Lookout Community Council selected these trees, instead of Jack pear trees, at last week’s meeting. Marianne Prue, of the Cincinnati Park Board’s Urban Forestry Program, said Japanese lilac The Mount has small Lookout leaves and is Community well-suited for urban condiCouncil tions. selected “It’s a great these trees, tree,” she said. “They’re not instead of messy and stay Jack pear very small.” M o u n t trees, at last Lookout is in night’s the midst of a meeting. revitalization project for the square, which will include more greenspace, trees and street lights. The project also includes extended curbs and sidewalk repairs. Andy Park, a community council member who has been active in the square revitalization project, said construction will start early next year with $900,000 of secured funding for the first phase.
About the tree
FILE PHOTO
Construction on the Mount Lookout Square revitalization project will begin early next year. The project includes new street trees, more greenspace and improved sidewalks and curbs. Park said the Mount Lookout Community Council is studying private or corporate sponsorship for pavers, plaques and benches around the square to make it more personable, though details have
yet to be worked out. During the second phase of construction, Prue said the maple trees in the parking island will be removed and replaced with similar trees.
According to the United States Forest Service, the Japanese lilac tree grows well in most of the country. It grows up to 30 feet, has a vase shape and a leaf spread of 15 feet to 18 feet. It has small berries and white flowers that bloom in summer. The tree has small leaves and is not usually affected by pests. The U.S. Forest Service said this tree is recommended for buffer strips around parking lots or for median strip plantings near roadways. It has been successful in urban areas where air pollution, poor drainage, compacted soil and drought are common.
Warm picture
Laverne Hughes doesn’t want a child to go to school shivering. Neither does her friend Helen Licht. Both are doing their part to prevent this by providing clothing they have made to the “Keep Our Kids Warm” program run by Crayons to Computers, a free store for teachers. Licht, 94, knits scarves and hats, while Hughes, 89, donates hats she has crocheted. “With every hat I produce I picture a child coming to school warm,” said Hughes. SEE STORY, A2
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PROVIDED
Dr. Mark McGovern, left, uses his interpreter, right, to talk about a patient’s symptoms during a volunteer vacation in Ecuador with the Tandana Foundation. The volunteers had makeshift clinics in everything from bedrooms to huts.
PROVIDED
Volunteers treat a patient in Quichinche, Ecuador. The volunteers treated 359 adults and children during a two-week visit.
Doctor finds what he’s looking for in Ecuador
By Lisa Wakeland lwakeland@communitypress.com
Three years ago, Dr. Mark McGovern wanted to try something new. So, he went to Ecuador. But it wasn’t a typical vacation. McGovern went to the South American country with the Tandana Foundation, a nonprofit group that organizes cross-cultural volunteer opportunities. He made his third trip in September to Ecuador’s Quichinche village, situated at the northern
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end of the Andes mountain range. McGovern, a pediatrician for Anderson Hills Pediatrics, was part of a medical team that assisted villagers. “Our job was looked at as mostly triage,” he said. “These were people who had maybe seen a doctor once or twice in their life.” Most of the cases were simple – sore throats, muscle aches and sunburns – but others were serious. McGovern said they saw an assortment of cases from breast cancer and high blood pressure to
pneumonia and parasites. The Mount Lookout resident said it took a while to adjust to practicing medicine in a developing country where lab tests and specialists aren’t readily available. “It’s a different kind of medicine all together,” he said. “We were hoping to make a difference (and) most people were very thankful for us.” According to the Tandana Foundation’s Web site, there were 359 adults and children in seven villages who received medical help during the two-week trip in September.
Outside of clinic hours, McGovern said volunteers had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the Ecuadorian culture. “The nice thing about Tandana is you’re going to take care of the patients and you’re able to enjoy the people while helping,” he said. “Every village has its own flavor. You never know what people are going to come in with and that keeps it exciting.” McGovern said he plans to make another volunteer trip in 2010.
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