CAPITOL HEIGHTS CIVIC ASSOCIATION REGULAR MEETING
October 14, 2008
The Capitol Heights Civic Association held its regular meeting on October 14, 2008 at the Capitol Heights United Methodist Church. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p. m. by Cynthia McCollister, President.
The minutes of the last meeting were not available.
The treasurer’s report was presented and is attached to these minutes.
Reports from Committees
Watch Dog
2042 St. Charles Avenue – A stop order was issued on a vinyl fence that was already installed and has been in place for several years. During their September meeting the ARB agreed to allow the fence to remain in place.
Communication
After discussion, a motion was made regarding the future of our newsletter. The following motion was seconded and approved:
A four page quarterly newsletter will be published and mailed to paid members of the association and city/county dignitaries. Additional copies will be made available to new members at meetings. CHCA will continue to take advantage of the free copying offered through BONDS.
The deadline for submitting articles for the November issue of our newsletter is October 25th.
Parks and Green Space
Randall Culp announced Yard of the Month:
• Ernest and Elizabeth Lyons home at 2237 St. Charles Avenue
• Jay and Barbara Wilkinson’s home at 38 N. Florida Street.
Randall Culp, Karren Pell, Kathie Blackmon and any other interest persons are to install shrubs on the Winona Avenue side of our shed. Randall will share plans with the church prior to planting. This is expected to be accomplished before Thanksgiving. When approval for the shed installation was granted, CHCA was asked to provide a “vegetative screen from street”.
Cynthia announced to the membership there is a possibility our parks will be enhanced when future Eagle Scouts take on the projects. Cindy Keeping was contacted by a client of hers to see if the neighborhood would be interested and of course she said yes! Cindy Keeping and Cynthia McCollister have met with the young man and he will speak to CHCA at our December meeting regarding his plans. He has been asked to discuss what he plans to do with the city.
Membership
Cynthia mailed dues reminders to last year’s members that have not paid for the 2008-09 term.
Christmas Tour Saturday, December 13th
Toni Wood-Meyer has volunteered to be chairperson for this year’s Capitol Heights by Candlelight tour. The following persons have volunteered as chairperson for sub-committees of the tour: Cookie Chair will be Gloria Moore, Traffic & Safety Chair will be Paul Rawlinson, Set up & Tear Down Chair will be Jewell Pitts, and the CHCA Store Manager will be Kathie Blackmon.
Chairs for the following sub-committees are still needed: House Helpers Chair, Marketing Chair, and Ticket Sales (before & during tour).
Christmas Lighting / Chair: Sam Adams (5 Minutes)
Sam Adams has volunteered to be chairperson for this year’s annual tree lighting. Since the Christmas Parade has officially been set for Friday, December 5 we would like to have our lights up and running by then. Given this, the Christmas Tree Lighting will be held Thursday, December 4th at 6:30 p.m. This will give folks time to get home from work and is not too late for kids to come out. We will need folks to make cookies and also need apple cider.
Christmas Parade (2 minutes)
We are still in need of a chairperson for this activity.
Centennial Homecoming Celebration / Co-Chairs: C Keeping, C Thornhill, C McCollister
Those of you that took pictures on the day of the Centennial…please share them! The three C’s are creating a scrapbook of the day and need all the photos we can get! Hopefully, at Capitol Heights’ Bi-Centennial Celebration this scrapbook will be on display for all our future neighbors to see & enjoy!
By all reports the Centennial Celebration was a success! Many returning residents of Capitol Heights expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to return to their former home place and celebrate the day. The best example of this expression is when one of our guests came to Cynthia and asked if she could hug her! “I am so happy you did this. It is such a wonderful time and so great to see all of my friends from so long ago. All of this day has been a trip down memory lane for me.” In addition, one of our resident realtors was contacted by a visitor to our Centennial and they intend to move their family into Capitol Heights as soon as a suitable home becomes available!
Each of these are examples of exactly what we had hoped would happen. We hoped by revisiting the community, people would realize it is still the wonderful place where they grew up. We hoped newcomers to the area would also realize how great this area is to live. And this is what happened for us! A grand success!
Food Drive for Montgomery Food Bank
Membership agreed to hold a Food Drive in conjunction with November’s Pot Luck Dinner. Members will bring either a non-perishable food item or a financial donation for Montgomery Food Bank. Cindy Keeping agreed to prepare the turkey for our Pot Luck Dinner. Attendees are asked to bring a covered dish/dessert and an appropriate serving utensil. We will also start earlier than a regular meeting – 6:30 PM.
Nominations for Secretary
Since our Secretary resigned, the floor was opened for nominations and none were made.
New Business
Linda Wool has announced the Capitol Heights Neighborhood Plan will be held on Monday, October 20th at 6PM at Capitol Heights Baptist Church. The plan is ready for final comments and questions as the city prepares to take the Plan to the Planning Commission for adoption. Linda has prepared flyers announcing the event and Cynthia committed the membership to delivering them by hand to the neighborhood.
Karren Pell announced she and Carol King have a contract to write a book on the Five Historic Neighborhoods of Montgomery.
A motion to adjourn was adopted. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:45 PM.
Cynthia McCollister, President