ECA 3-06

Hello fellow Elizabethans, This issue marks the beginning of my stewardship of the newsletter. As Hardin Minor mentioned in his last note, like many of you, I am new to the community. I am anxious to find out more about its past, be involved it its present and I very much share your concerns for the future.

The one thing I think we can all agree on is that we live in Elizabeth because we have chosen to live here.

Elizabeth appealed to me because it was a walkable neighborhood with a commercial and residential mix and a proximity to uptown. Its tree-shaded sidewalks are lined with an eccentric mix of historic and new architecture and it has as its centerpiece a wonderful city park. What I have discovered since settling in are friendly neighbors and a number of people who really care about

their community and are willing to work toward sustaining its quality of life. I invite you all to be part of this process. Join the ECA, attend the monthly meetings, participate in the events. Write and let us know your concerns and what you feel is important for the newsletter and the ECA as a whole to address. Share your stories, histories, anecdotes.

Elizabeth is a very special place.

Join with me in celebrating its uniqueness.

Nancy Albert noalbert@carolina.rr.com

ECA BOARD 2006 deadline for winter 2006 newsletter: Friday November 17th see page 16 for details Elizabeth online: http://elizabethcommunity.com name

address

work tel.

e-mail (home or work)

Peter Tart

1517 E. 8th St., 28204

372-4147 petart@carolina.rr.com

committee ECA prez / zoning committee

Melanie 2309 Vail Ave., 28204 335-0909 msizemore@realindex.com Sizemore

ECA secretary

Jean Galloway 2101 E. 5th St., 28204

377-3936 jgalloway@firsttrustnc.com

ECA treasurer

Linda Nash

1921 E. 9th St., 28204

342-5293 nashfamily1@bellsouth.net

social committee / block captain

Terry Lett

2107 Greenway Ave., 28204 377 0052 terrylett@bellsouth.net

social committee

Russell Crandall 2338 Greenway Ave., 28204 894-2283 rucrandall@davidson.edu

traffic committee / block captain

Babak Emadi

725 Clement Ave., 28204

zoning, trees, community development

Tony Miller

1515 Sunnyside Ave., 28204 377-8500 tonymiller@millerarchitecture.com

zoning committee

Roxie Towns

1512 E. 8th St., 28204

342-1000 janeroxi@bellsouth.net

zoning + beautification committees

Kris Solow

2109 E. 5th St., 28204

806-4456 ksolow@carolina.rr.com

beautification committee

Ruffin Pearce

2121 Greenway Ave., 28204 331-4989 rpearce@wcsr.com

334-1648 babak@urbana-architecture.com

Dianna 2222 Greenway Ave., 28204 236-4286 dianna.desaulniers@wachovia.com Desaulniers

the people pages

zoning committee membership committee

Cankerworm infestation: what you can do now that the spring horror show has passed

by Kris Solow Remember those awful, horrible weeks in April? The cankerworms wouldn’t go away, they just kept coming and coming. Their cobwebs were all over the place. People used umbrellas but it didn’t seem to help. When you got in from a walk, if you were brave enough to go outside, you had worms in your hair, your clothes and your shoes! A black blanket of worms was crawling up the side of your house. You’d feel something on the back of your neck or leg and discover another worm.

And the trees... Our beautiful canopy defoliated and weakened during a drought, which stressed them even more.

It looked like January in April.

Trees were stripped bare and had to push out a second flush of leaves. Many old oaks didn’t have the energy. Some people around town actually cut trees down thinking they were dead, or because they didn’t want to deal with the cankerworm issue anymore. The trees suffered, and are still suffering.

In response to the infestation of cankerworms this spring, the following is an excerpt from an article written by Don McSween, Engineering and Property Management, with the City of Charlotte, Landscape Management Division, April 21, 2006:

“The cankerworms are now in the ground in a resting stage.

At this stage, spraying or banding is ineffective. The next opportunity for prevention is to band trees to capture the females climbing the trees in late November.

Banding your trees is a must.

Banding each tree twice is by far more effective. As those who banded last year will tell you, the bands became infested so much that the moths actually walked right over the dead ones and on up the trees! You can also swirl the Tanglefoot sticky substance around once it’s infested, or scrape off the infested substance and replace with a fresh slather of Tanglefoot. For a double protective barrier, try banding with the clear wrap, instead of black tar paper, that has the sticky substance on the underside and putting a coat of Tanglefoot on top of the clear wrap as well.

Be sure to band early. MidOctober, not November, is a good time to aim for. The moth lays her eggs right there at the buds and they know exactly when those tender little leaves are ready to sprout and eat.

You will not harm the tree by banding early. There’s going to be an enormous demand on suppliers to stock the products for banding this fall.

Band all your hardwood trees.

This past spring, the worms also ate azalea leaves, dogwood leaves, and red

oaks, most ornamental shrubs, and even young holly leaves!

They don’t like the hard glossy leaves, just the tender young ones. Spraying ground bushes and small trees with BT (bacillus thuringiensis) is extremely effective. When the worm eats the leaves, its digestive system is paralyzed and it dies. This bacterium is a pathogen to leaf-eating worms, yet safe to use around children, pets, and fish. You can get a tree service to apply it or you can do it yourself. Buy a sprayer that will not only spray ground plants, but will shoot a spray up to 25 feet to get smaller tree canopies. What’s good about spraying is that if your neighbor doesn’t, any worms that get blown over to your yard will die within 24 hours.

One last thing: if your neighbor needs help banding, please step up to the plate. This is a much bigger problem than your own back yard. And call the City to ask them (or beg them!) to do an aerial spraying next spring.

Call Don McSween. Call the City Council, too. The City Manager also has a big say in to-spray-or-not-to-spray. Let them hear from you. If they don’t hear from you, they think there’s no problem.

the people pages

Where have the poems gone?

by Nancy Albert

to be. We’d made a lot of good friends, and I really valued having such a close Many readers have asked about community (both emotionally Kevin Keck, the Poet Tree man and geographically). But alas, Patrice became pregnant. featured in the Spring, 2004 issue. When I first moved here And while it’s been a joyful thing, it meant moving, I was delighted and amused to find someone was pasting poems on trees and utility poles They were real food for thought during my morning walks. Like many of you I have also wondered why there were no recent poems.

I was able to contact Kevin, a published author and teacher, through his website: http://thekeck.typepad. com. This is his reply.

Thanks for getting in touch. It’s nice to know that people actually wonder what happened to the poems. The short answer is: I moved. The long answer is: I moved to Elizabeth in July especially since she’s having 2003. I was living by myself twins (they’re due in a little in a two bedroom apartment less than a month). We would at 601 Clement then. In have liked to have stayed in November 2005 I married a Elizabeth, but as I make half my woman who had a son from income from writing and the a previous marriage. They’d other half from teaching, there been living with me for a was just no way I could afford few months already, and we anything in the neighborhood were very cozy with our cats. that would accommodate It was somewhat cramped, a family of five (plus our many, but the neighborhood was many cats). So we’ve moved exactly where we wanted out to the country, up by Lake

the people pages

Norman, in the small town of Denver where I grew up. Our situation allows me to write without having to worry about keeping a roof over our heads.

Hopefully, though, we’ll return to Elizabeth before it’s overrun with new development; I’m finally with a good literary agency and they’re shopping my second book around right now. If all goes well I’ll have enough capital to propel us back into the ‘hood–it’s killing me that I can’t walk to the Common Market, or Jackalope’s, or even Starbucks.

I have one last poetry exhibition planned for Elizabeth, a little thing I never got around to doing that I was working out the details for just the other day.

It probably won’t manifest until early October, but when it does it’ll be hard to miss. Best, Kevin We wish Kevin and his family the best and I personally look forward with great anticipation to his October surprise.

Independence Park

by Nancy Albert Independence Park, in the heart of our neighborhood, is the oldest public park in Charlotte. This well-used urban oasis is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. It is a place I love to walk through and over time I became curious about its

Early in my exploration of the park I noticed two historic markers. The first is next to the reflecting pool. If you look closely at the cascading waterfall you will see a bronze plaque.

This is the

Lillian Arhelger Memorial, dedicated to the memory of Lillian Arhelger, a young woman who lost her life saving a young child in the Carolina Mountains. In June of 1931, a troop of Girl Scouts from Myers Park Presbyterian Church traveled to Glen Bernie Falls in

Blowing Rock, N.C. One of the counselors was a 21-year old Texan who has just completed a year as a physical education teacher at Charlotte’s Central High School. As the girls were climbing along the path to the top of the falls, one of the children slipped and fell. Lillian jumped into the swirling water in an attempt to save the child They both fell sixty feet downward into the pool at the base of the falls. The child survived, but Lillian suffered a fractured scull. She was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Lenoir. She died the next day,

photos by Nancy Albert

history and exactly why it looks the way it does.

With the help of Dr. Tom Hanchett at the Levine Museum of the New South, the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Historical Commission and the good ladies at the Public Library’s Carolina Reading Room, this is what I discovered.

The site chosen for the park was owned by the Charlotte Water Works; a reservoir lake in what was then a rural area. The lake was drained, leaving a valley bisected by an earthen bridge that became Hawthorne Lane.

This explains why it is necessary to walk down steps into the park. John Nolen, one of the premiere landscape architects of the nineteenth century, and who later went on to design Myers Park, was hired. His designs sought to preserve and enhance the existing features of the lake valley. Oak, poplar and maple trees were planted, meandering paths lined with granite walls and benches were laid out. Near Sugar Creek a large open air amphitheater was constructed. A playground, tennis courts and baseball fields were added later. In 1931 the Charlotte Garden Club created the Sunnyside Rose Garden. Though recognized as one of the most beautiful spots in the city, most of it was destroyed during the 1950’s and 60’s by the construction of Independence Boulevard.

A tiny portion of the Garden is still visible on Sunnyside Avenue east of Independence.

never having regained consciousness.

The students at Central High School were shocked when the people pages

the people pages

in the First World War. The Charlotte marker may have designated the portion of the road running through this area. It has also been suggested that “Wildcat” may refer to the Central High School Wildcats.

So next time you are walking through Independence Park, take a look around, try to envision the lost lake and rose gardens, contemplate the Arhelger waterfall and speculate on the mystery of the Wildcat Highway.

the area known as Elizabeth in the City of Charlotte, North Carolina.” HENF maintains the same by-laws today and has recently reactivated and expanded its Board of Directors to include: Elizabeth Bevan (President), Terry Smith (Treasurer), Babak Emadi, Ken Lambla, Linda Nash, Andrew Nesbitt, and Scott Wooley.

Three meetings have been held to reorganize to conduct business as a non-profit corporation and identify ways to reconnect with the Elizabeth Historic Elizabeth Community Association Neighborhood (ECA) Board, elected officials, Foundation (HENF) government employees and

by Ken Lambla interested members of the neighborhood. The goal is to We’re back! For many new residents of the neighborhood, establish a new set of priorities for neighborhood action. the Historic Elizabeth The history of HENF is Neighborhood Foundation significant to many public will probably elicit a “What?” and private actions taken in For many long-term residents Elizabeth over the past 25 hearing of the reactivation of years. HENF raised matching HENF will be quite a relief, funds to contract the since it is the non-profit organization through which so Elizabeth Urban Design and many important neighborhood Transportation Study in 1984, which led to the adoption of projects have been directed.

In the early 1980’s the Historic the Elizabeth Small Area Plan in 1985 by the CharlotteElizabeth Neighborhood Mecklenburg Planning Foundation, Inc. was incorporated under the laws of Commission and City Council.

North Carolina as a non-profit This plan was the foundation for HENF to raise funds to corporation and in November pursue zoning changes in 1986 1984 recognized by the IRS to align land use with the goals as a 501c3 organization “for of the Small Area Plan. These the purpose of improving, three initiatives, funded in part preserving and restoring sites through contributions to the and buildings of historical HENF, helped provide longor archeological interest and related activities in and around term development direction and residential stability for the

photo by Nancy Albert

word arrived that Lillian was dead and began a campaign to raise money to erect a memorial to their fallen teacher. One thousand dollars was raised in less than three weeks.

Landscape architect Helen Hodge was hired to design the memorial. She wanted to capture the mood of the Glen Bernie Falls by using natural stone throughout and by making rushing water the major theme. The water cascades down into the reflecting pool which now forms the centerpiece for the recently landscaped reading garden, a beautiful contemplative space.

I found very little information about the other marker, which stands on the corner of Hawthorne Lane and Seventh Street, at the top of the steps leading into the park.

It is a granite slab with the inscription: Wildcat Highway Erected in Loving Memory of those who served in the World War–War Mothers of North Carolina.

This monument turned out to be a real mystery. One possibility is that it may have been part of the “Gold Star Mothers” highway project.

A cross-state highway, NC 10, designed to run from Morehead City to Tennessee, was proposed but never fully built. An identical granite marker stands in Raleigh where it designates the “Old Hickory Highway.” This marker was erected in 1922 in memory of soldiers who served and died

past 20 years. As it cannot be said too often, HENF provided the non-profit organizational structure to promote the most fundamental strength to the neighborhood’s revitalization – a strong residential quality.

In the early 1990’s, HENF was again deeply involved in several critical projects. With the proposed realignment of Independence Blvd., the neighborhood was concerned about how to minimize structural loss and encroachment of traffic on residential streets. HENF led the effort to receive a shortterm designation as a Local Historic District (reversed

by City Council after a procedural appeal), and a successful designation as a National Historic District.

This designation permitted HENF to proceed with negotiations over the design, placement, and details of the Independence Blvd. project, and the saving of several single- and multi-family homes through moving to new sites.

HENF acted in both policy and fiduciary capacities to promote residential coherence, reduce environmental impact, and adhere to neighborhood goals.

As a neighborhood-based, non-profit corporation, HENF is now being revived to connect ECA actions with policy-makers and funding.

With major development proposals being designed for Elizabeth Avenue, Seventh/

Pecan/Caswell, Seventh Avenue (below Laurel Ave.), Hawthorne/Sunnyside, and Historic Stanleyville, it is the goal of HENF to help design these projects in concert with other organizations and to help fund the appropriate studies.

By the end of 2006, HENF hopes to establish a new set of priorities for neighborhood action developed in collaboration with the ECA Board.

HENF traditionally incorporates residents, businesses, institutions and city/county agencies, so you should hear from us soon. For more information, to provide input to the Board’s 2006 goal setting, or to express interest in becoming a member of the HENF Board, call Elizabeth Bevan at 704.334.3684 .

Charlotte Garden Clubs

by Jean Parker Have you noticed the white house at 1820 E. 7th Street with the colorful cottage garden in the front yard? This is the home of The Charlotte Council of Garden Clubs, Inc. They have been on our Home Tour the past number of years and will be again this October, so if you haven’t been there, plan to go this year. They always hold their annual flower show at the house during the time of the Home Tour, so go by and get inspired!

The Charlotte Council is a group of 26 local garden clubs and plant societies the people pages

that are all affiliated with the Garden Club of North Carolina and the National Garden Clubs. By banding together as a Council they are able to provide their lovely house in our neighborhood as a meeting place for both Council and individual club activities and they also have it available to rent for small parties, receptions or family gatherings. Monthly meetings, open to the public, are held there on the 4th Wednesday of each month and always feature a speaker on gardening related topics. The Council offers annual scholarships at CPCC; works with the local

architects are RPA Design of Charlotte, and RTKL Associates, Inc. of Chicago.

At the hospital main entrance off of Vail, a new plaza and CMC Mercy garden area will be built as an

by Curtis Copenhayer amenity for the neighborhood.

Carolinas Health Care New paving, landscaping and System (CHS) has proposed lighting will create an entry a substantial redevelopment court that faces the new lobby program for the CMC-Mercy and drop-off. The existing west campus to respond to increased wing of the hospital and the market demand for specialty Nursing School along Vail will health care services. A be demolished in the summerprimary goal is to improve the fall of 2006 as part of these community’s access to health campus-wide improvements. care services while maintaining the architectural quality of the CHS welcomes comments from campus and the neighborhood. its neighbors regarding this plan.

The project will include a new Elizabeth home tours four-story addition at the west by Terry Lett FREE end of the existing hospital that 2 young trees: 7’ Bradford Pear, Anyone want a free ticket?

9’ Pink Flowering Cherry. You dig & will house a new state-of-thehaul with my help. ha704 383 8837 art surgery suite and offices for The Elizabeth 2006 Homes medical specialists.

Tour is scheduled for Saturday Girl Scout Council to help The addition will be designed to Oct 14th 10am-5pm and with their gardening badges; fit in with the existing campus, Sunday Oct 15th 1pm-5pm. they have regular monthly If you would be willing to using the same brick as CMCvisits to area nursing homes volunteer your time by working Mercy and nestling partially and host workshops and plant below grade. The existing main two shifts of two hours each and bulb sales. They speak to entry of the hospital off of Vail then we will gladly thank you other groups on gardening with a free ticket to see the will be dramatically improved topics, they sponsor three homes and businesses on Tour. with a new three-story lobby junior garden clubs and their and canopy.

I personally have had the members work with both pleasure of visiting each unique public and private agencies to The existing parking deck and charming home and I encourage civic beautification will be expanded to house an predict that this fall’s lineup additional 400 cars on three and environmental will draw many people to our levels below grade and on conservation. neighborhood. Tickets are the surface; a new 290-car The Council is a diverse group underground parking deck $15.00 in advance and will go – some members work outside will be built at the corner of on sale at La-Tea-Da’s and The the home, some do not; some Royal Gardens two weeks prior Vail and Caswell. Both decks are young mothers, some are to the Tour. will have brick walls and grandmothers; some are “in the landscaping where they are The days of the Tour tickets dirt” gardeners, some are flower visible from the street. Project will be on sale from 10amarrangers, but all are nature

the people pages

lovers that enjoy each others company and always welcome new garden clubs/organizations to join their group.

4pm Saturday and 1pm-4pm Sunday at The Charlotte Council of Gardens, 1820 E 7th Street. Tickets will be $20.00 the days of the Tour.

Thank-you’s go to the following Elizabeth residents and businesses that are opening their doors for this annual event: Homes

Maya and Will Packard 2400 E. Fifth Street Jenny and Scott Stevens 2312 Greenway Avenue Cheryl Brinkerhoff 404 Laurel Avenue AndrĂŠ and Sam Ramsey 430 Clement Avenue Holly and Bryan Adams 538 Lamar Avenue Kirk Cochran and Gene Kennedy 542 Lamar Avenue Patricia Snow 625 Oakland Avenue Businesses

Dwellings Realty 1816 E. 7th Street The Garden Council 1820 E. 7th Street Neighbors, if you would like to volunteer in one of the homes (for a two hour shift or more) please contact me, Terry Lett, no later than September 24, 2006 at 704.377.0052 or by email terrylett@bellsouth.net.

Block Captain Wanted

by Linda Nash Is there anyone interested

in becoming a block captain for the Sunnyside Avenue area? This person would need to deliver neighborhood newsletters and/or flyers six or seven times a year. It is a voluntary position but you would have the gratitude of everyone in the association.

Please contact Linda if you are interested: nashfamily1@ bellsouth.net.

Hawthorne Lane United Methodist Church: BBQ, Bazaar and Breast Cancer Benefit

by Carolyn Horton BBQ and Bazaar

Hawthorne Lane United Methodist Church (corner of Hawthorne Lane and 8th Street) is celebrating 43 years of its annual BBQ and Bazaar on Thursday, November 2nd.

The BBQ is a tradition at the church where the members come together to not only have fellowship, but to raise money for various local and global missions. Proceeds in the past have been used for Habitat for Humanity projects, feeding and giving shelter to the homeless of Charlotte through the Room In the Inn program, Crop Walk, Christmas gifts to needy children and families through the Salvation Army, and sending help and supplies to people suffering from natural disasters around the world.

Hawthorne Lane would like to extend a special invitation to

the residents of the Elizabeth Community to come and experience the best BBQ in Charlotte along with craft and homemade items offered at the Bazaar. Tickets for the BBQ are $8.00 and include either an All You Can Eat Buffet in the Evans Hall Fellowship Area or take out curb service on the 8th Street side for heaping plates or sandwiches. Please plan to join us for a wonderful meal and Bazaar! Additional information is available at www.HLUMC.org/ Breast Cancer Benefit

The choir at Hawthorne Lane United Methodist Church will be presenting a musical evening called Sing for the Cure which is a 10 composercommissioned piece written specifically to aid the national Susan G. Komen Foundation.

The work is a musical collaboration for chorus, orchestra and narrator.

Music Director Brenda Soltys said the piece is being performed in honor of the many persons diagnosed in their congregation and in this community over the past several years.

October 5, 2006 at 7pm 501 Hawthorne Lane (corner of 8th Street and Hawthorne) Charlotte, NC 28204 704-332-8131 www.hlumc.org Admission is free, offering will be accepted. the people pages

Garden Club photo by Nancy Albert

complete body & mind relaxation is only a mile away. okay, maybe 3 miles.

P L A Z A M I DWO O D M A S S AG E

$60 - 1 hour

$80 - 1 hour and a half

package offer of 4 massages - $200 gift certificates available

pippa purcell | 1208 the plaza | 704.607.1286 licensed massage & bodywork therapist - nc #2602 by appointment only visa & mastercard accepted

10

the business section

the business section

11

12

the business section

the business section

13

14

the business section

the business section

15