ECA 2-15

Coming home

by Nancy Albert As I write I’m just hours back from an amazing and exhausting trip to Peru. The country’s scenic beauty is justly famous and my visit to Machu Picchu was as rewarding as I imagined it would be. The ancient site is literally breathtaking. But it’s not the incredible scenery that sticks most in my mind: rather it’s the chasm between wealth and poverty I saw and what this short trip revealed about the lives of present-day Peruvians.

I traveled with a somewhat privileged, if well-intentioned, group of Americans. We stayed in decent hotels and had as our guide Rogger, a Peruvian of mestizo descent, well-educated, especially about his country’s history.

We’re all more or less aware of conditions in less developed parts of the world, but seeing things firsthand always comes as a shock. Our bus ride from the airport revealed that Lima is a city with vast areas of poverty.

Favelas, or squatter villages, climb up its hillsides. In fact, all the cities we drove through were bleak and dusty. A common practice is to build the first level of a house and move in, leaving upper levels partially built, with clusters of rebar thrusting skyward. Apparently the taxes are lower on unfinished buildings and no laws prohibit families from living in them until they’ve saved enough to 2

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BULLETIN

BOARD

The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.

– Maya Angelou

Elizabeth Community Association Board meetings Meetings are held at 6:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at the Studio K Gallery on 7th Street. All are welcome to attend. The meeting dates for summer are June 4, July 2 and August 6.

Hope to see you there!

Save the date The ECA Home Tour will take place on October 3 and 4.

We still need volunteers.

Please contact Jenna Opiela: Jenna.opiela@gmail.com

There’s no place like home

by Nancy O. Albert Whether we’ve traveled near and far or just explored the depths of our own backyards, one thing we can agree on is that there’s no place like home. Thank you, neighbors, for making Elizabeth such a nice place to call home!

The theme of the fall issue will be Creativity III. We’ll celebrate art and the artists in Elizabeth as the new public art project and mural are completed and many exciting things appear on the horizon.

Please submit your articles for the fall issue no later than August 15th by writing to me at noalbert@carolina.rr.com. photo: Steve Montgomery and the bees

ECA Officers Eric Davis President 704 776 3013 Greenway Avenue ericadavis0123@yahoo.com

cover, back cover and bulletin board photos: Nancy O. Albert / capsule photo courtest Steve Montgomery

Jenna Opiela Vice President and Home Tour Chair 614-746-9506 Greenway Avenue jennaopiela@gmail.com Diana Watson Secretary 704 996 9776 Kenmore Avenue dianawatson3@gmail.com Paul Shipley Treasurer 704 651 5897 Kenmore Avenue Paul.Shipley@community1.com

Officer Robert Sprague Neighborhood CMPD Liaison rsprague@cmpd.org Robert Zabel Elizabeth 8K Road Race Chair 917 873 8028 Pecan Avenue nycrcz@yahoo.com

ECA Board Members Nancy O. Albert Newsletter Editor Art Committee Co-Chair 704 779 0932 Elizabeth Village noalbert@carolina.rr.com Jim Belvin Zoning & Real Estate Committee 704 334 2611 Lamar Avenue j.belvin@bluewaterdb.com Beth Haenni Past President 704 562 5152 Greenway Avenue beth.haenni@gmail.com

ECA Special Projects John Elliott Newsletter Editorial/Business Assistant 336-693-9090 Hawthorne Lane jtaylorelliott@gmail.com Susan Green Newsletter Editorial Assistant/ Proofreader 704-806-0568 E. 5th Street Susangreen8@gmail.com Jeff Jackson Crime Czar jnjacks@gmail.com Janet Karner Membership Clement Avenue janetk@caro.net Ken Magas Website 704 877 7151 E. 5th Street ken@kenmagas.com

Kristan Magas Park & Recreation Liaison 704 488 0051 E. 5th Street kdm2201@gmail.com Suzanne Henry Social Chair N. Dotger SuzkHenry@gmail.com Tom Smith ECA Business Liaison/Ad Czar 630 886 2039 Kenmore Avenue tom.smith@fedex.com Ric Solow Beautification & Trees Co-Chair 704 906 1967 E. 5th Street ric@solowdesigngroup.com

deadline fall 2015:

August 15th editorial content:

noalbert@carolina.rr.com advertising:

tom.smith@fedex.com ------------------------------------full page ad

size: 6.53” x 7.53” (1306 x 1506 pixels) half page ad

size: 6.53” x 3.715” (1306 x 743 pixels) quarter page ad

size: 3.205” x 3.715” (641 x 743 pixels) biz card ad

size: 3.205” x 1.8065” (641 x 361 pixels) classified ad

1 column wide, 4 lines deep with 1 line bold, 3 regular specs: full size b&w jpeg or pdf, 200 dpi, NO WORD DOCS! Ad placement is at the designer’s discretion.

Kris Solow Art Committee Co-Chair 704 806 4456 E. 5th Street ksolow@carolina.rr.com

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add another level. Traffic is haphazard, the roads are poor, and tiny tuk-tuk taxies zoom in and out.

Rural poverty is more picturesque but imagining the world of those living it is sobering. In the high altiplano near Puno we saw women in the traditional layers of full skirts digging potatoes in fields, washing clothes in roadside streams, herding sheep and llamas, and grain was being harvested by machete. We stayed in a hotel villa in the Urubamba Valley with welllandscaped grounds and charming cottages. Just outside the gates women washed clothes in plastic pans. Skinny dogs and chickens ran about. We visited a school for indigenous children miles down a dirt road.

Some of our group brought school supplies for the children, others of us made donations to the school. The cheerful young teacher, poorly paid like most workers, often buys supplies out of her meager salary.

It was in Urubamba that I experienced the most eyeopening aspect of the trip.

Rogger became increasingly worried about a threatened national labor strike. One of the tactics of the strikers is to block roads to shut down the transportation system and bring attention to their plight. As tourism is one of Peru’s main industries, blocking tourist buses is a particularly effective way to get attention.

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had built fires and were cooking their midday meals. Children, given the day off from school, darted about.

quite open and willing to talk about social issues, he explained they were porters coming off the 4 day Inka Trail trek picking up their belongings and running The next morning we rose at to catch a waiting bus to their 4:30 to get past the barricades before they were manned. home villages. Their work is Skillful bus driving and the similar to that of the Everest guides manually clearing the sherpas: they typically carry biggest obstacles allowed us to loads of 40-60 pounds and are get back to Cusco where striking poorly paid for the work. teachers paraded with banners around the historic city center. And so we climbed up the terraced levels of the ancient Similar tactics allowed us to city and looked down at the get to the Machu Picchu train station the next day. As we lined stunning survivor of a lost up for the Vista Dome I noticed civilization. And safely back in Elizabeth I’m left with a whole slim dark men running down the street carrying heavy packs. jumble of impressions about the lives of those who came after.

When I asked Rogger, who was

photo p4: Diane S. Chase /p5: Nancy O. Albert

The strike was called on our second day there and we were essentially stranded. Excursions were cancelled but Rogger had an alternative plan. The bus would take us as far into town as it could and then we would all get out and walk the mile or so to a restaurant where lunch was to be served. So we trouped out and walked past the barricades: enormous boulders rolled into the road, partially burned tree trunks, old bicycles – anything they could get their hands on.

The strikers and their families, children, dogs and cows lined the roadway, quite friendly to us as we walked by face to face with no bus windows separating our world from theirs. Some

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There’s no place like home (but Cuba’s a great place to visit!)

by Larrie Sweet

Our tour group (19 ladies and 4 men) left Miami via charter flight for our one hundred and twenty mile trip to Havana.

Members of the group were Earlier this year in January, experienced world travelers Larrie and Andrea Sweet, owners and shared their travel stories during our time on the tour bus. of The Royal Gardens, took an eight-day trip to Havana, Cuba Havana was a beautiful city and Varadero Beach Resort at one time but it’s a little under the direction of Road rough around the edges right Scholar Adventures in Lifelong now. There’s a program to revitalize some of the prominent Learning.

structures in Havana but they can only do so much with the funds available.

The theme of our visit to “The Pearl of the Antilles” was “The Cuban Evolution in the Arts and Free Enterprise”. We stayed at the Hotel National de Cuba, the headquarters for Hollywood stars in the 50’s. Our room on the second floor had a brass plate identifying it as lodging for Gary Cooper when he came for winter’s fun and frolic.

Havana Museum of Fine Arts photo: panoramio / car photo courtesy Larrie Sweet

The “short and sweet” of our trip is that the food and the people

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we met were wonderful! Our tour of the Havana Museum of Fine Arts offered us a chance to experience artistic statements on Cuban politics, culture and society. The government had confiscated many of the artistic works from private collections more than fifty years ago.

photo of Frances and cat courtesy Frances D’Amato, detail from our spring issue cover

In our “People to People Connection” we experienced the dancing skills of Danza Combinatoria and Art Studios.

This group of some twenty dancers presented their contemporary dance styles with great enthusiasm.

hour drive up the north coast of Cuba. The roads to Varadero were well-maintained and free of trash. In fact the whole country was very clean and free of highway and street debris. As an “all inclusive” beach resort it resembled any resort from Florida to Venezuela. The hotel we stayed at was crowded with Europeans and Canadians: who could turn down a $375 round-trip flight from Ottawa to Havana? The water was a beautiful blue, bikinis ruled and the rum was delicious.

Abigail and I enjoyed sitting in the front patio, she on a cushioned chair, me at the Although we couldn’t buy table drinking afternoon tea. commercial items, we could When Abigail died at 21, my Several of our lunches were buy rum, cigars, music CD’s and nephew brought me a Persian, served on visits to paladares artwork. Right now the economy Elizabeth, who took over Abigail’s (privately owned restaurants). is a “cash” economy. We paid territory as we gradually found a Excellent seafood, pork and harmonious way to live together. chicken dishes were served with cash for our tourist items with A favorite memory is of her beans, rice, plantains and other Cuban money converted at playing with a chipmunk. local crops grown the “organic” the hotels. But the times they are a changin’. The day we left way, probably because they Today my cat is Jesselle, an Cuba for the US we heard that haven’t any fertilizers.

Egyptian Mau who was a gift American Express credit cards from Dr. Davis at Monroe Animal Another of our contacts was a were being accepted at tourist Hospital. Animals available for Havana Senior Center run by spots in Cuba. There goes the adoption are featured online. the Roman Catholic Church. neighborhood!

Dr. Davis will spay and neuter Women were in a majority and Come by the shop and we’ll all adopted pets who also have many had children who had be happy to show you our cell been examined and treated as left Cuba for the US or Central phone photos and share our conditions may require.

American countries. It was fun to share our cell phone pictures experiences.

Jesselle reigns over her with them communicating in territory indoors and out, with Loving My Home a mixture of poor Spanish and a routine that mirrors my own.

English. Before we left they sang by Frances D’Amato Early mornings she comes in “Guantanamera” (translates My home, cat and garden have from her rounds, has had her to “she from Guantanamo”) given me much pleasure since breakfast, and sits at my feet in to us and we Americans sang I moved to Elizabeth in the the office. When I get a second “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” mid-90’s. My first cat, Abigail, cup of coffee, she stares at the Baseball is “the” sport in Cuba. soon claimed our alleys with a red milk container until I share.

Our last Day in Cuba was spent clean sweep of small rodents she Cats prefer shallow dishes that their whiskers don’t touch. at Varadero Beach, about a two- brought me.

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While I shower, Jesselle heads for her second exploration of the day, then returns to observe while I apply cosmetics. She dances around the bed as I make it and follows room to room as I ready myself for a morning outing.

When I reach for the keys, Jesselle, ready again, runs ahead, then circles back for my touch.

She watches as I drive away and is waiting to walk me home when I return.

As I fix lunch, she awaits her serving. She stretches for a small kiss before her meal. As we nap, she rests on a little cat quilt at the foot of my bed. When I awaken with her at my left side, I pet her and look into her big yellow eyes.

I make a cup of tea before I leave to tutor at Sylvan Learning Center. Jesselle trails me and then waits again for my return.

Now it’s time for dinner and a little TV. She’s already in her cat bed. I get another kiss and pet her soft fur. As soon as I settle down to read in my bed, she jumps up to her quilt.

We enjoy the quiet of the late evening until it’s time for lights out. Another day is done.

Tomorrow begins with a walk through our garden. I enjoy cut flowers in the house. My Flame Azalea is deciduous, so the yellow flowers appear before the leaves. The iris is in bloom. For me the garden and my cat make every day joyful.­ 8

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When Home is Hard to Find

by Dennis Foust When home is hard to find, how do you locate a safe place? When you’re pushed to the periphery of society, when you’re abused or when you’re displaced due to war, how do you find trustworthy people who will welcome you as a guest, not merely as a temporary intruder?

Hospitality House within our walls and became safe space for young children through secure preschool care and a community basketball league.

Every Friday night during cold weather months we provide meals, conversations, lodging and shower facilities for twelve homeless men. We’re home for Charlotte Family Housing. For 25 years we’ve been the home for CROP Walk, the largest annual global hunger walk in the world, and for the office of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. We’re home for Baptist Peace Fellowship of

photos: Nancy O. Albert

Home is more than shelter.

Home is space where your heart can rest without fear. In Elizabeth, 300 Hawthorne Lane

has offered home to thousands of persons since 1922. At St. John’s Baptist Church, home has been offered to Latvian refugees during World War II, Cuban immigrants in the 1950s, Laotian and Vietnamese refugees in the 1960s and 1970s, abused women in the 1980s and 1990s, Lost Boys from South Sudan in the 2000s, and homeless families in the 2010s. When Charlotte became a boom city with thousands of immigrants settling here, we founded International House, offering legal aid and English as a second language. We founded

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One of the many benefits of living in our beautiful neighborhood is its “walkability”. Unlike many suburban neighborhoods, we’re blessed with a mature tree canopy that shades the neighborhood sidewalks on even the hottest of summer days. Even the architecture of our homes – wide roof soffits providing mid-day shade over windows and wide front porches which, before air conditioning, provided a place to escape the heat of the home – creates an North America, a collaborative service organizations, ordination environment that encourages global peace-building effort of women and efforts welcoming interaction with neighbors who coordinating Baptists in Canada, LGBTQ members into church might otherwise not be seen. the USA, Mexico, Cuba and leadership.

Many of us know of the Puerto Rico. We’re home for St. John’s has always embraced sidewalk that runs between Voices of the Carolinas, offering the Baptist principles of the 2000 block of 7th St., excellent multi-racial children’s congregational autonomy and Greenway and 5th St, as a choirs for metro Charlotte. religious freedom of conscience convenient cut through in Members of St. John’s for all. With increasing religious the neighborhood, but many established Myers Park Baptist pluralism, St. John’s is investing residents are not aware of the Church and Park Road Baptist in creating a home for interfaith history of this neighborhood to express in other areas of understanding that is less feature. Sometimes referred Charlotte the St. John’s vision of judgmental and more inclusive. to as the “Secret Sidewalk” or freedom. St. John’s was pushed Hundreds of thoughtful people the “Trolley Path”, the sidewalk out of the Southern Baptist have found ways here to be has historical significance to Convention in the 1960s for creative in community service Charlotte and Elizabeth as one sponsoring racial integration. and broad-minded spirituality. of the last remaining vestiges St. John’s pastor Dr. Claude U. Finally, many people who have of the original streetcars and Broach was the only Baptist been de-churched elsewhere the streetcar neighborhoods invited to Vatican II, a result have found St. John’s to be a like Elizabeth that sprang up in of friendship between him and healthy home and safe space the early part of this century.

Catholic priests at Belmont for their actively faithful lives as Officially, it’s known as the Abbey, and soon after that servants of God. Even for people “Trolley Walk” and in the mid 1980’s was designated as a we founded the Ecumenical of religious faith commitment, Institute. The congregation has home can be hard to find – but Mecklenburg County Historic initiated numerous community not at St. John’s Baptist Church. landmark.

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photo: Nancy O. Albert

Elizabeth trolley walk history

by Mark Herrmann

The growth of the neighborhood and trolley

The need to sell interior neighborhood lots

The construction of a walkway, such as the Trolley Walk, at the terminus of the streetcar line was designed to make interior lots more valuable than they ordinarily would have been.

By designing a public pathway, the developers sought to make Fifth Street lots, aimed

squarely at the middle class, who not be otherwise able to afford the more prestigious lots along Seventh Street where the trolleys ran. Indeed, in a 1923 advertising pamphlet for Rosemont, Fifth Street lots sold for $1500.00 while Seventh Street property was valued at $2500.00 per lot, which underscores the role of the streetcar in determining land values.

Who actually owns the trolley walk?

The short answer? The eight adjacent property owners.

The Trolley Walk appears to have been a unique feature of

photo: Kris Solow

Our neighborhood was originally developed incrementally, in five stages.

The electric trolley network, which began service in March 1891, was expanded over the next 25 years, and by 1903 reached Elizabeth College.

Much like today’s growth along key transportation corridors served by light rail and the soon to be running new trolley, with the original extension of streetcar lines along Elizabeth Avenue, Hawthorne Lane, and Seventh Street, the growth of Elizabeth quickly followed as reliable and frequent streetcar

service provided easy access to the commercial and business centers downtown. The Trolley Walk was built in the Rosemont subdivision, the final phase of construction in Elizabeth, and the area farthest from the downtown business district.

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Had the developer originally created the Trolley Walk as open space or a public area (like a traffic circle, open space or park) instead of an easement across private property, or worked with the city as the neighborhood was designed to deed the ownership to the city, the city would have assumed the associated maintenance and liability.

easement renews annually and can be revoked at any time, with the majority approval of the eight property owners.

Improvements continue

Recently, the original low voltage lighting and decorative light posts were removed and replaced with discreet commercial grade lighting that will blend in with the landscape and is vandal-proof. Other discussions are in place to redesign the ironwork on the brick columns at the 7th St. and 5th St. sides.

Historical landmark and the original architectural design

The brick pillars, the stamped concrete at each end of the Trolley Walk, the original low voltage lighting and iron work on the bricks pillars were not part of the original Trolley Walk design. The entire sidewalk was re-graded and repaved in the mid 1980’s thanks to the hard work of the ECA, Several years ago, in an effort to which obtained a state grant for these improvements. The better define the maintenance original sidewalk of the 5th St. requirements and liability protection for the eight property side didn’t ease down to the grade level to allow for easy owners, a new easement was access for bikes and pedestrian created that provided the traffic. Rather, it was level with necessary protections for the the lots on the odd numbered impacted residents. The new 12

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side of 5th St. and contained brick steps that connected to the 5th St. sidewalk below. By designating the Trolley Walk as a Mecklenburg County Historical Landmark, local residents were able to obtain state funding for these much needed improvements.

Over the years there have been occasional issues that the eight residents have vocalized to the ECA including vandalism, trash and pet waste along this sidewalk. For this reason, and the fact that we’re walking over private property, we all should be mindful of this privilege and treat the neighborhood improvement as if it resided on our own property. Please remove any pet waste and don’t litter as you use the space.

The Trolley Walk remains one of the few vestiges of the streetcar system that defined the nature of early twentieth century suburban development in Charlotte. This spring, as the new streetcar begins running on Elizabeth Avenue and eventually over to Central Avenue and

phto detail: Kris Solow

the initial neighborhood plan (ca. 1913), and the developer intended the Trolley Walk to be a publicly owned right-ofway. However, the city never accepted ownership. Ironically, this is likely due to a mistake in how the Trolley Walk was originally created. Unlike the sidewalks in front of our homes which are owned and maintained by the city, the Trolley Walk is not city-owned property, but is owned by the eight private property owners between 7th and 5th Streets.

These owners have granted an easement for the public to traverse their property, for benefit of the entire neighborhood. Each of the eight residents property lines extends to the middle of the actual sidewalk, not to the edge as one might think.

beyond, remember how fortunate we are to live in such a great, walkable neighborhood.

The Trolley Walk and the old streetcar waiting stations, like those that can still be seen at 4th St., Hawthorne Lane and along Queens, are pleasant reminders of a bygone era.

Is Elizabeth eclectic or historic? Or both?

by Kris Solow

photo: Kate Vasseur

Elizabeth is an inner city neighborhood designed with Craftsman style homes with an Asian influence, built to scale depending on street width and lot size. Clement, for example, can accommodate much larger homes than, say, Greenway or Kenmore. There is also a certain charm and character to the bungalows that make up the Elizabeth we all love.

Without historic preservation, however, it is within a property owners rights to build outside the historic character of Elizabeth. A property owner has the right to take down all the trees on their property, build a huge house out of scale with surrounding homes, or build a house very different from the historic style of the neighborhood. They can build a tree house, log cabin, or heaven forbid, set up a a double wide trailer. A property owner has the right to do all these things, like it or not.

But is it the right thing to do?

Are we eclectic or historic or both? Can we be both? Will the historic characteristics that define Elizabeth give way to younger, less defined, more modern and eclectic visions? Will Elizabeth become

like the once historic Cherry neighborhood where land was bought and nondescript homes built? Will the desire to embrace the eclectic overshadow the defined beauty of historic Elizabeth? You’ve heard it said that in Charlotte, the mindset is to tear down rather than restore a building, and that Charlotte has lost her soul. Are we losing Elizabeth, one soulful house at a time?

Let’s be mindful of where we live and of the relationships we form, starting with our neighbors. Let’s be careful when we build and renovate to make sure we hold dear the charms of this historic and eclectic neighborhood. After all, isn’t that what called us here to begin with?

Local artists and neighbors rally for fundraiser

by Kris Solow and Nancy Albert If you didn’t get to go to the “Now is Fireworks” art fundraiser that was held at Studio K on Friday, April 24th, you missed out on one of Elizabeth’s most inspiring and well attended events. Kate Vasseur, owner of Studio K, graciously opened the doors to her art gallery so that Nancy Albert and Kris Solow, cochairs of the ECA Art Committee, could organize a fundraising art exhibition. Some of Elizabeth’s most talented artists, including Amy Bagwell, Byron Baldwin, Graham Carew, Miriam Durkin, Stephanie Chesson, John Eft, Rebecca Jones, Matthew Myers, THE PEOPLE PAGES

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Terry Shipley, Karen Thoune, Kate Vasseur, Christina Welsh and Amy Wycoff offered work for sale to help raise money to put a mural out on the side of Studio K. The mural is being done in collaboration with the public art initiative that our neighborhood was awarded by the ASC and the City of Charlotte, which puts 1% of their money aside for public art in neighborhoods that don’t have public art. The public initiative doesn’t show the poem, “Now is Fireworks”

by Amy Bagwell, in its entirety because no public space could be found on which to put it.

We approached Kate about painting it on the side of the gallery’s building. She loved the idea but first funds had to be raised. A collaborative project was launched to raise the needed $3,000.

With the help of John Albert, Terry Shipley and Kate Vasseur, we sold nearly $1,700 worth of raffle tickets in advance and at the event. Raffled items were all donated and included massages, wine, gift certificates to local businesses, landscape and coaching consultations. But the big prize was Graham Carew’s “Hawk in Flight,” a stunning 30” x 36”acrylic painting valued at $1,200 and which will be part of the mural. It was won by Jon Adams, whose wife had told him: “Don’t come home without the bird.”

In a recent note, artist Amy Bagwell wrote: “Please share with the neighborhood that we’re awaiting city approval of our final design documents and expect it any day, but certainly this month. We’re aiming therefore for summer fabrication and August/ September installation of all elements, including the wall poem at Studio K, for which we have sufficient funding thanks to the art sale and raffle! We aim to create the biggest impact and most interest by installing

A great help toward reaching our goal came when Peter, Kate, and Peyson Vasseur, along with Peter’s partner Craig made a $500.00 contribution by purchasing the dedication; a wall plaque honoring their donation will be affixed to the mural wall.

everything within a series of consecutive days/couple of weeks.”

Art is indeed coming to Elizabeth!

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photo p14 left: Nancy O. Albert / right: Kate Vasseur / photo this page: Carolyn DeMeritt, Deborah, 1992

Upcoming events at The Light Factory

by Laurie Schorr There’s still space available in The Light Factory’s summer camps for students in grades 6-12. We offer camps in digital photography, video, animation and b&w darkroom photography. Visit www. lightfactory.org/education/ summer-camps/ or call 704-333-9755.

On June 6th and 7th, join The Light Factory’s Annuale winner Diana Bloomfield to learn the creative possibilities of the beautiful gum bichromate print-making process. In this intense two-day (weekend) workshop, we’ll learn about this 19th century photographic printing process and how to make multi-layered tri-color gum prints, utilizing color separation negatives. No prior experience is required.

The Members’ Show opening reception is June 19th.

All Light Factory members may enter one work. The work has to be matted, framed and must be received by June 10th.

There will be a first, second and third place winner announced.

The Light Factory 1817 Central Avenue Charlotte, NC 28205 THE PEOPLE PAGES

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How can Elizabeth protect honeybees?

by Sara Birtalan This year, Steve Montgomery and Paige McThenia offered a free jar of their honeybee’s honey to anyone willing to forgo renewal of a mosquito control contract. Half a dozen Elizabeth households have already accepted the offer. Will you join them?

Avoid applying pesticides that indiscriminately kill pollinating insects.

Avoid herbicides that remove food sources such as clover.

Combination pest care and fertilizer treatments like Bayer 2-1 Systemic Rose and Flower Care contain imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide that is highly toxic to honeybees.

Provide food for pollinators by incorporating flowering trees (tulip poplar, maple, holly) and plants (clover, sunflowers, coneflowers, goldenrod, aster, and many more) into landscaping.

If you find a bee swarm, contact Steve at 704-506-5899 or stevemontgomery@me.com, and he will gladly capture and remove it. Witnessing a honeybee swarm capture provides high entertainment 16

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photo: Nancy O. Albert

Don’t buy plants that have been treated with systemic insecticides. Many nurserygrown treated plants can harm honeybees when the insecticide is incorporated into the flower.

value as a terrific learning opportunity for kids.

Ask your local hardware stores and garden centers to provide alternatives to neonicotinoid pesticides like Roundup products, commonly called neonics.

Learn more at www.xerces.org/ pollinator-conservation.

The most effective and completely non-toxic approach to mosquito control is to remove standing water where mosquitoes could breed. At least once each week empty water from flower pots, pet food and water dishes, birdbaths,

tarps, buckets, toys, etc.

Standing water can be in hardto-see places, including under bushes, under homes, or in clogged gutters. Over-watered and/or dense landscaping and unmowed lawns are also mosquito breeding grounds.

Get creative! Add mosquitorepelling plants such as citrosa, American beautyberry, lemon thyme, rosemary, lemon balm, mint, basil or garlic to your landscaping. Use your porch fan to blow moquitoes away from people. Talk to your

photo courtesy Steve Montgomery

Avoid pesticide-treated crops, and choose organically grown food such as meat and dairy products from animals that ate organically grown feed. Honeybee populations have been decimated by

exposure to the neonicotinoid pesticides that are applied to conventionally grown fruits and vegetables, especially corn and soybeans.

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neighbors about sharing the cost of a mechanical mosquito trap which, although expensive, is effective for large areas.

effective, although they may need to be applied more often.

Apply mosquito treatments around dusk, after bees have returned to their hive for the night and when the mosquitoes are active. Mosquitoes are NOT usually active during the hours

photos: Nancy O. Albert

If you do choose to chemically treat for mosquitoes, ask your pest company what and how specific chemicals are applied.

Some companies may reassure customers that chemicals such as chrysanthemum-derived pyrethrins are pet- and humanfriendly, but they’re particularly toxic to honeybees. Less toxic essential oil treatments such as Essentria can be just as

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businesses usually spray!

For more info: www.beyondpesticides.org/ mosquito/index.php.

Pesticides and pollinators

by Kay Minor Recently, our neighborhood has been abuzz with people talking about honeybees and mosquitoes! These conversations were sparked by a spring e-mail written by local beekeepers Steve Montgomery and Paige McThenia. Read on to learn about the toxic effects of common pesticides, how to naturally reduce the mosquito population, and how to make yards safer for honeybees and other pollinators.

Motivated by memories of his beekeeping grandfather in Missouri and his late wife’s severe allergies, Steve started keeping honeybees at his home at the corner of Bay and Clement over fifteen years ago to provide his family with local honey. He was one of the area’s first urban beekeepers. Since honeybees visit an average of 50 to 100 flowers each time they leave the hive, his bees pollinate tens of thousands of blooms in Elizabeth every day during the growing season, which might explain why he’s seen the health of the flowering plants on his street improve over the years.

Paige, her husband Jon Adams, and teenage daughter Finley

began keeping honeybees five years ago after taking the Mecklenburg County Beekeepers Association annual spring beekeeping class. They have a half dozen hives at their home on Bay Street. Finley and her neighborhood friends Mia and Mina have set up a company called “Bay Street Bees” that tends a hive or two and sells the honey for a selected charity each year. This year’s proceeds will go to the Humane Society of Charlotte.

They will advertise honey sales later this summer. Paige and Jon, on the other hand, have given most of their honey away to friends and neighbors.

Urban honeybees have a rich variety of flowering plants to feed on close to home and don’t need to fly up to five miles to forage as rural honeybees do.

However, this makes urban honeybees more vulnerable to nearby concentrated applications of pesticides such as mosquito treatments. Steve’s honeybees have been dying off at a dramatically increased rate in recent years and he puts considerable effort and time into replenishing hives.

Like in Elizabeth, native and managed honeybee populations have declined due to habitat loss, disease and intense pressure from toxic chemicals.

Worldwide, butterflies and other pollinators are also in danger. So please, help save the bees!

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number one foodie, summed it up best on January 20th, 2006: “ …..the kind of restaurant people like me pray they’ll stumble upon”.

The landscape surrounding JCK circa 1977 included the Diamond, The Penguin , Ho-Toy run by Johnny Tom (now DISH) and the Plaza Pool Room where the back parking lot is now.

Next door was Harley Davidson and then Phil’s Dinette. Further down Centra was Little Italy, also run by an Uncle John.

John & Margret Margiotis took a chance in 1977 on the abandoned storefront that became the “Southern Homestyle Cooking” choice for breakfast and lunch.

Young Jimmy would surreptitiously visit the Plaza Pool Room where regulars would drop in a dime for him to play pinball until someone 20

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would shout “Hey Jimmy! Here’s comes your Pop!” at which point Jimmy would scoot back to the restaurant, hopefully avoiding his Dad. As Jimmy tells it, Elvis once played pool in the PPR with the leader of the Catalinas.

We hereby unofficially proclaim John’s Country Kitchen a Treasure Memory Landmark that marks a place over time as iconic in our cultural community. We regulars and sometimers need to become stewards of this memory.

Perhaps there should be a restaurant marker for any eating establishment that serves over 25 years. JCK has made it 38 years before a tripling of rent pushed it beyond profitability. Nobody but a few are happy with the transition.

Helen Schwab, Charlotte’s

Jimmy estimates over 2 million eggs have cracked their shells open on that griddle that dates to 1963. It’s a classic they don’t make anymore. Jimmy plans to keep it for his personal Hall of Fame. Maybe one day it’ll go in a Charlotte Hall of History Fame.

His Mom Margret is Queen of the Sweet Tea Sweetie and Grand Mistress of the cash register. Oh, she’s also been first tier of the cook team for 38 years. Baklava!!

Jimmy’s real boss is his wife Maria and his sidekick is that good looking kid growing up: Yanni, their oldest son.

Jimmy (my Bruthaaaaa from another Mother) is the Undisputed King of Hot Cakes, Grilled Biscuits, Livermush and our personal favorite, the Tim

photo: Kris Solow

Farewell to John’s Country Kitchen (JCK)1977-2015

by Hardin Minor

Just as we couldn’t imagine this area without the Diamond, B&N or Common Market to name a few, it’ll be hard to let go of “John’s”. It was tough to watch the debacle our beloved Penguin became. But a restaurant at the convergence of Plaza Midwood, Elizabeth, Chantilly and Belmont neighborhoods that welcomes everyone equally where hunger was banished at a reasonable price will be sorely missed.

Biscuit, a breakfast sandwich consisting of whole wheat bread, one scrambled egg, one slice each tomato, American cheese and Virginia ham with a daub of mayo, salt and pepper.

What makes the individual parts yield to the collective sandwich is that it’s all assembled simultaneously from the griddle. It arrives with a crisp golden brown outer crunch and a melting medley core for your tastebuds. Sublime yummy!

There’s an understated artistry in the way Jimmy releases the egg from its shell onto the griddle just as surely and softly as the hen laid it in her nest. If you watch him in action with four orders backed up, you can see he’s got multiple time clocks calibrating with an uncanny eye-hand coordination as to its placement on the big, perfectly heated smooth steel surface. It’s some solid state cooking.

photo: Hardin Minor

Worry not that Jimmy will retire his skills! They’ve stayed ahead of this transition by opening up The Rusty Onion at 6654 Carmel Road. It’ll be harder for JCK patrons to get to, especially those of us who could easily walk to John’s.

The last day they’ll be open for business is Saturday May 30th, which will most likely be after this edition drops on your doorstep. A spontaneous farewell is planned for that morning.

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whose ancestral roots are in the Karpenisi Mountains of Greece, JCK’s has been the labor of a lifetime but one of joy, as the welcome and farewell to each customer attests. If Jimmy didn’t know you when you first came in his doors, he knew you by the time you went back through them. From the blue & white collars to the people of all races, cultures and ages, WE THANK YOU Jimmy and Margret (and Poppa John) for feeding us and sharing your family with us all these many years. We’ll miss you and wish you well. Maybe we’ll establish a JCK shuttle that’ll bring us old-timers over a couple times a week to the Rusty Onion.

2015 Elizabeth 8K Road Race recap

by Rob Zabel The 29th annual Elizabeth 8K, Charlotte’s longest running road race, took place Saturday,

March 21st under ideal conditions of sunny skies and cool temperatures. But it wasn’t just the weather that made this year’s race a unique and memorable experience, it was also everything leading up to it as well as the activities and entertainment that took place during and after the race.

In recognition of the contributions this race has made over the years to Elizabeth and the city of Charlotte, as well as our long commitment and contribution to protecting and replenishing our tree canopies, Mayor Daniel Clodfelter proclaimed March 21, 2015 “Elizabeth 8K Road Race Day” in Charlotte. The Mayor was on hand at the start of the race to read the official proclamation and also served as the official starter of the race (along with the Big E). Wells Fargo’s Duke Energy Center also recognized our race that

day by illuminating its Uptown building in our signature colors of orange and green. And Martin Schreiner from Opera Carolina, our new neighbors on Elizabeth Avenue, provided a moving rendition of the national anthem.

Our very own Big E once again entertained the crowd like none other, and our young friends and musicians from School of Rock displayed (and amplified) their musical talents for all to be heard and enjoyed. Neighbors lined the course cheering on the runners, and it would be remiss not to give a special shout out to our neighbors on Greenway who hosted their biggest and best mimosa party ever, not only because they do this as a fundraiser for Time Out Youth, but because they’re also the largest, loudest and most supportive crowd for our runners.

795 runners registered: that’s a 50% increase over last year and 33% over our goal of 600. In an era of an ever increasing number of road races that take place each year all competing for the same population of runners, this is a great accomplishment and a wonderful endorsement of our neighborhood, our sponsors and our race.

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photo: Ken Magas

All this set the stage for what, by all accounts, would be our biggest and most successful race to date.

But not only was this our largest turnout, it also proved to be the fastest and most competitive year for the top three overall finishers in both the women’s and men’s divisions.

Congratulations to Alice Rogers and Alexander Townsend, our overall female and male winners, as well as to Suzanne Hoffman and Gordon Reid, our overall female and male Masters winners.

A complete listing of results is available on our website at www.Elizabeth8k.com.

photo: Jenni Jackson

Festivities continued after runners completed the race as they congregated at our finish-line expo to mingle with fellow neighbors and runners, visit with our sponsors, and nourish themselves with food and fluids. This was followed by the always anticipated and entertaining “Liz Kid’s Fun Run,” where we had a chance to witness the next generation of runners sprint down the street and through the finish line. Many then migrated over to Hawthorne’s for the awards ceremony and a much desired and well deserved cold beer.

The Elizabeth 8K Road Race is one of the ECA’s largest fundraising events, this year generating over $14,700 in profits, 15% more than last year and an incredible 47% more than our goal of $10,000.

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the replenishment of our tree canopy, and through our support of TreesCharlotte, a public/private collaborative dedicated to achieving 50% tree canopy coverage in Charlotte by 2050, we also support the replenishment of tree canopies in our surrounding neighborhoods and throughout Charlotte.

The success of this race could not have been achieved without the dedication and support of the following:

Sponsors Presenting: Harris Teeter, Hawthorne’s NY Pizza & Bar, Novant Health Platinum: Charlotte Bridge Home, Hawthorne Lane United Methodist Church, Jones Dry Cleaning, Open Door Studios, Savvy + Co Real Estate, Which Wich, Winiker Law Firms, PLLC, Gold: Law Office of Annemarie

Pantazis, Ameriprise Financial Catalyst Financial Group, Iron Butterfly Pilates, Leroy Fox, Ken

Magas Design, Sunflour Baking Company Silver: TR Lawing Realty, Inc Partners: Carolina Snapshot, Charlotte Running Company, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Grubb Properties, Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation, Queen City Timing Services, School of Rock, Smoothie King, CMPD, TreesCharlotte, US National Whitewater Center Volunteers: The 50+ participants who helped on race day were amazing.

ECA Members: Eric Davis (ECA President), Ken Magas (graphics design), Paul Shipley (ECA Treasurer), Nancy Albert and Tom Smith (newsletter articles and ads), Ric Solow (Beautification and Trees), Sarah Bradley (ECA Facebook and newsgroup communications).

Race Committee: Marshall

Lindsay, Kyle Ray, Brian Rubins, Rick Winiker.

Seasonal and southern progressive dinner

by Suzanne Henry The progressive dinner is generally regarded as a favorite event for our Elizabeth neighborhood, and this year’s party did not disappoint!

On Saturday, May 2nd, approximately 126 neighbors joined together to enjoy appetizers, dinner and dessert, 26

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photos p24-26: Nancy O. Albert

I thank you all!

hosted at homes throughout the neighborhood. The theme was Seasonal, Southern and Farm Fresh and menu items reflected this theme. Weather was perfect for attendees to stroll from one host home to the next.

This party relies on the involvement of so many from our community – many thanks to all 14 hosts, and especially to Ric & Kris Solow for hosting appetizers and to Beth & Scott Haenni for hosting desserts that were provided by Sunflour Bakery. The ECA is also grateful to the social committee members involved in planning.

Here’s to another great event!

Lost a pet?

Found a pet? Here’s what to do!

by Kristen Johnson and Matthew Clark The Elizabeth community loves our pets! From toy breeds to Great Danes, Siamese to Calicos, and every exotic animal in between (rabbit, bird, or reptile, anyone?), we embrace responsible pet ownership.

Unfortunately, though, many of our beloved pets can be Houdinis – escaping under or over fences, sneaking out the front door….heck, sometimes it seems they even apparat a la Harry Potter! The emotional impact of realizing your pet is missing can cause even the most logical of us to forget the basics.

Finding a lost pet can have just as much of an impact – we want to keep them safe, but often our homes and/or lifestyles cannot accommodate even a shortterm furry guest.

Never fear – based on our long-term volunteer efforts with multiple animal rescue and foster groups, we’ve compiled a quick primer of what to do if you have found or lost a pet.

Got questions, or want to get involved yourself (fostering is incredibly rewarding)? We’re always happy to pour you a glass of wine and chat.

If you’ve FOUND a pet:

If the pet is not wearing identification and contact info, take the pet to the nearest vet or to Animal Control to be scanned for a microchip. There should be no cost for this quick procedure.

Within 24 hours (as required by county law), report the pet to CMPD Animal Care & Control (as well as Animal Control at nearby counties); this is often the first place an owner will go when looking for a lost pet. If you opt to relinquish the animal to AC while they search for its owner you have the option of being notified at the end of the hold period – they will not euthanize the animal without contacting you. We are very fortunate to have such compassionate and caring professionals at our county’s facility – you need not worry, as they will work with

you step by step. For more information and to file a found pet report, use this link: http:// charmeck.org/city/charlotte/ CMPD/organization/Support/ AnimalControl/LostPets/Pages/ FoundPets.aspx Do not assume an emaciated or injured pet has abusive owners and shouldn’t be reunited with them – a pet that has been on his/her own for even a few hours can experience trauma, and if lost for a few days, show signs of starvation.

Share wildly on Social Media!

Share photo, gender, where and when the animal was found, and how to contact you. You can also share in the Lost & Found Pets of NC Facebook group (note they have requirements for how to submit, please follow these). Craigslist also offers a lost and found pets category, as well as a general pets section.

PLEASE hold some identifying information back or require proof of ownership in some form. Unfortunately there are people that prey on “free” pets.

Be sure any images or posts you are linking to are set to public view!

Go old school because it also still works...fliers. Post fliers in our neighborhood and those nearby, at local businesses that will allow it, etc. Don’t forget your own yard! Place a large sign so it won’t be missed by those out driving. Also share found information with nearby vets and pet daycares.

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Update any of the above businesses or social media sites when you have found the owner, surrendered the pet to Animal Control or a rescue group, or decided to adopt the pet yourself (after a reasonable effort to find the owners).

If you’ve LOST a pet…

Call 311 to file a lost pet report, and then physically go to CMPD Animal Care & Control at 8315 Byrum Drive, Charlotte, NC, 28217, to check their kennels.

They have a kiosk in their lobby that will also let you search animals they have in restricted areas. From their website: “Please DO NOT email the shelter asking about your lost pet. Due to space restrictions, Animal Care & Control holds animals for three days only and cannot guarantee that a staff member will be able to read and respond to your email within this 72-hour timeframe.”

If your pet is microchipped, contact the microchip company and let them know that your pet is lost. Make sure all personal information (address, phone numbers, etc.) is up-to-date at the same time. They will alert veterinarian offices and other animal agencies near your home.

Check local newspapers in the 28

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classified ads section, local bulletin boards and community shops, and national lost/found pet websites. Three local lost/ found sites to share your lost pet’s information and look for found pets are Facebook’s Lost & Found Dogs - North Carolina, Facebook’s the Lost and Found Pets-Charlotte group page, and Craigslist.

Use social media with abandon!

Make a Facebook page devoted to “Help us find Fido,” and network through your contacts for sharing. You can also organize search parties through Facebook.

Post information wherever you can – hang flyers, post in local shops, put a sign in your yard, even consider creative options like using shoe polish to write the info on your car windows.

Download the free PiP app, available for iPhone and Android. More info at www.petrecognition.com Consider an ad in the Charlotte Observer. Some people still read daily.

We’re lucky to have Epic, a search dog trained to find dogs, in the Charlotte area.

His page is: facebook.com/ epicanimalrecovery Check all sites daily! If your pet hasn’t been found, repost or update as required. Update any of the above businesses or social media sites when you have found your pet!

photo: Kris Solow

If the dog looks well groomed, share info with dog spas as well.

Again, hold some identifying information back – color of collar, unusual markings, etc.

Dog poop 101

by Kris Solow Congratulations, you’re a happy dog owner and take your dog out for walks in our lovely neighborhood for it to do its business. Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Unfortunately, there are a number of inconsiderate dog owners (notice your dog is not the inconsiderate one here) who either do not pick up their dog’s poop at all, bag it and leave it wherever it conveniently drops, bag it and drop it in someone else’s trash can which will smell it up, or, and this is a new one folks, tie the bag to a tree branch in front of someone’s house! Come on people, you have more class than that! How about being a responsible dog owner and when you take your dog for a walk, take a poop bag(s) with you, and when your dog takes a poop, pick it up and TAKE THE BAG HOME WITH YOU. It’s YOUR DOG and YOUR DOG’S POOP. Be a good neighbor.

Bike safety tips

by CMPD There are so many great reasons to ride your bike: It offers fun, freedom and exercise, and it’s good for the environment. Here are a few tips to help you be as safe as possible while you’re doing it.

Wear a helmet!

We have a simple saying: “Use your head, wear a helmet.” It is the single most effective safety

device available to reduce head injury and death from bicycle crashes.

Find the right helmet fit

Make sure your child has the right size helmet and wears it every time when riding, skating or scooting. Your children’s helmet should meet the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s standards. When it’s time to buy a new helmet, let your children pick out their own: they’ll be more likely to wear them for every ride.

Make sure the helmet fits and your child knows how to put it on correctly. A helmet should sit on top of the head in a level position, and should not rock forward, backward or side to side. The helmet straps must always be buckled, but not too tightly.

Almost ready to ride

Take your child along with you when purchasing him/her a bike. This will ensure a proper bike fit. Select one that is the right size for the child, not one he or she will grow into. When children are sitting on the seat of the bicycle, their feet should be able to touch the ground.

wheel spokes. Dress young kids appropriately for a safe ride.

North Carolina traffic laws require bicyclists to:

Ride on the right in the same direction as other traffic.

Obey ALL traffic signs and signals.

Use hand signals to communicate intended movements to vehicle, and clearly audible signals to any pedestrians who may be affected by the bicyclist’s movements.

Yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, and it is the bicyclist’s responsibility to avoid a collision with a pedestrian Equip their bicycles with a front lamp visible from 300 feet and a rear reflector that is visible from a distance of 200 feet when riding at night.

All bicycle operators under 16 years of age must wear a bicycle helmet on public roads, public paths and public rights-of-way. ­­ child passengers under 40 All pounds or 40 inches must be seated and secured in a child seat or a bicycle trailer.

Before they head out for a ride, make sure the reflectors are secure, brakes work properly, gears shift smoothly, and tires are tightly secured and properly inflated.

8. Bicycling on Interstate or fully controlled limited access highways, such as beltlines, is prohibited by policy, unless otherwise specified by action of the Board of Transportation.

Long or loose clothing can get caught in bike chains or

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