Volume 54, Issue No. 11
A Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. Publication
November 2015
‘I Just Wanted To Play Golf’ At 85, Longtime Women’s Club Leader and Champ AlRuth Toney Never Tires of the Game
By Elizabeth J. Wheeler Special to the GPHN
AlRuth Toney recalls what happened when, back in the 1950s, she asked the men in the all-male golf league if she could join. “They told me to form my own league,” said Toney. So she did. “We played on Tuesdays after work at Lowry Air Force Base Golf Course. We had about a dozen ladies. It was great fun!” AlRuth Toney was named after her two aunts – Alberta and her Auntie Ruth. Now 85, she has lived in the Park Hill area for about 60 years. The women’s golf champ has been a leader in the City Park Ladies Golf Association (CPWGA) since 1953. For 42 years, she worked in the Air Force Accounting and Finance Center, before retiring as an accountant. She, along with a racially diverse group of government employees, played at Denver’s other military golf course, Fitzsimons. The group of women would not have been able to play at most golf courses. In fact, in Denver in that era, blacks were restricted where they could live and go and
In early October about 80 Park Hill residents spent two hours in the meeting room of the Blessed Sacrament Church on Montview Boulevard. They were there to listen
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Banner Year For Home Tour & Street Fair
Page 12
Spilling The Beans On Local Businesses
Page 10
Inside This Issue
Page 4
November 2015
GPHN Editor
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Protected Area Would Include 32-Block Area of Park Hill
to a presentation by the staff of the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission regarding the steps involved in designating an area of Park Hill as a Denver Landmark Historic District. The meeting was hosted by a group of
By Cara DeGette
Park Hill residents who have formed the Historic Park Hill Committee (HPHC). These neighbors have initiated an exploration of what is involved in protecting the historic character of Park Hill. A flyer had been distributed by the HPHC to the 32-block area, whose residents will decide if the Historic Designation makes sense to them, inviting them to the meeting to learn the who, what, why, when and how of the process. Following a slide presentation there was an hour or so of questions about the process and how the guidelines operate. Next a three-member panel comprised of a resident each of the 7th Avenue and Curtis Park Historic Districts and a builder with extensive experience working in historic districts told the audience about how the guidelines worked in their neighborhoods. There followed another 30-minute question and answer period. The people who are initiating this effort form a very unofficial Historic Park Hill Committee, with about 15 members. The members had felt and heard from other Park Hillians concerns over some of the new developments in the neighborhood. Large new homes popping up in the neighborhood – or worse, right next door – altering their skylines and privacy. Others, crammed into their lots, look out of place in style, size
Effort Underway To Create Historic Landmark District
By Neil Funsch
New GPHC Chair Tracey MacDermott Details Plans & Goals
Longtime Greater Park Hill Community advocate Tracey MacDermott was installed as the new Chair of the Greater Park Hill Community, Inc. during its annual October community meeting. MacDermott’s day job is Clinical Trials Manager for the department of surgery at the CU School of Medicine. In this interview, she detailed her priorities and goals for the coming year leading Denver’s oldest and one of its most active registered neighborhood organizations. Greater Park Hill News: What inspired you to take the leadership position as Board Chair? Tracey MacDermott: Many years ago I was asked to serve as treasurer for the neighborhood association. I reluctantly agreed to do this. [My wife] Heather and I had just gone through a re-zoning for our part of Park Hill and I wasn’t sure I had the capacity to do anymore for our neighborhood. Over the years I have seen great changes within the organization due to the hard work of previous chairs and so I owe it to them and our neighborhood to continue the work they have done. GPHN: Describe your leadership style. MacDermott: To lead by example. I hope that folks within our community will take on various leadership roles. You do not have to chair this organization in order to be a leader. Leadership can come through heading up a project or serving the community, as Pam Washington has done with our Food Pantry. We have many leaders within our organization and neighborhood. My hope is that we can continue to work together to continue to improve this wonderful neighborhood. GPHN: What is your favorite thing about Park Hill? MacDermott: The many individuals who are not afraid to speak up. Park Hill has been presented with many challenges and every time someone from this neighborhood has been a voice and a set of working hands to
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The business block along 23rd Avenue at Dahlia would be included in the proposed Landmark Historic District. Photo by Cara DeGette
On The Agenda: Flooding, Colfax, Food Insecurity
Meet the Leaders of Greater Park Hill Community
Next GPHC Meeting Thursday, Nov. 5 at 6:30 p.m. 2823 Fairfax St., Denver
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