News Around the Neighborhood
Lunch and Learn – Potluck Style
Wanted: Train Conductors!
For the annual Allegheny West Christmas Tour, December 11th & 12th, volunteers are needed to staff the Toy Train Museum at Holmes Hall. No prior experience is required, information and a walk-thru familiarization is provided the week before the Christmas Tours, and volunteer shifts can be any length of time. It’s a fun way to be involved in the Tour Weekend, and you even get to wear striped Engineer caps and run the trains! Contact Cecile Canales or John DeSantis at (412) 231-8400 or pgh.home@verizon.net.
Tour Mailing – A Thank You!
Submitted by Trish Burton and committee
I just wanted to thank the thirty-three (!) friends and neighbors who showed up on November 2d to put address labels on the 8000 mailers that we send to potential tour visitors. It was a record number of helpers and we finished in record time: 1 ¼ hours, despite stopping to eatHalloween candy and laugh with friends. Thanks to all!
Neighborhood Cleanup
Submitted by Michael Shealey
There will be no neighborhood cleanup in November. Cleanups will resume in March. Thanks to all who have come out and helped this year. Also, thank you to all the helpers who spend some of their time working to keep the neighborhood tidy.
Free Tickets for Northsiders: The Crucible
Presented by Prime Stage Theatre
November 1st and 8th at 2:30 pm
The Salem witch trials of 1692 are brought to life on the New Hazlett stage. Arthur Miller’s haunting classic will sweep you up in this passionate story of truth, lies, and light. Will integrity survive?
You’re Invited
Thanks to the generous support of the Buhl Foundation, Northside residents and workers are invited to attend this performance for free. A limited number of tickets are available online, so reserve your seat today.
[ebor_button style=”wisteria” url=”https://www.eventbrite.com/e/northside-the-crucible-tickets-19230658417″] November 1 at 2:30 pm [/ebor_button] [ebor_button style=”wisteria” url=”https://www.eventbrite.com/e/northside-the-crucible-tickets-19230667444″] November 8 at 2:30 pm [/ebor_button]
Free Tickets for Northsiders: The Evening
Presented by The Warhol and the New Hazlett Theater
October 23 | 8PM
The Warhol and the New Hazlett Theater present Richard Maxwell’s The Evening. Asi, Cosmo, and Beatrice each embody a different attitude toward life: you fight, you accept, or you run away. Each of these people — played with a hypnotic emotional transparency — seriously considers all of these options as they travel through a landscape inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy.
You’re Invited
Thanks to the generous support of the Buhl Foundation, Northside residents and workers are invited to attend this performance for free. A limited number of tickets are available online, so reserve your seat today.
[ebor_button style=”midnight” url=”https://www.eventbrite.com/e/northside-the-evening-tickets-19001269308″] October 23 at 8:00 pm [/ebor_button]
Free Tickets for Northsiders: Chachacha
Part of the Community Supported Art Performance Series
October 15 | 8PM
Chachacha are songs of freedom and redemption, originally sung by freedom fighters to express the oppression of the colonial system in 1960s Zambia. Mathew Tembo infuses the traditional songs with pop sensibilities, creating a unique African style featuring the kalimba and silimba, traditional Zambian instruments.
Mathew’s band, the Afro Routes, includes Gordon Nunn, Hugh Watkins, Ben Barson, Nathan Frink and Colter Harper. They premiere Chachacha on October 15th as part of the New Hazlett Theater CSA Performance Series.
You’re Invited
Thanks to the generous support of the Buhl Foundation, Northside residents and workers are invited to attend this performance for free. A limited number of tickets are available online, so reserve your seat today.
[ebor_button style=”nephritis” url=”https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chachacha-tickets-19020241053″] September 15 at 8:00 pm [/ebor_button]
Letter from the President – October 2015
So, once again, I’m expecting people to start pretending that they didn’t see me and walking quickly down the street when I wave at them at the Modern. It’s that time year again…
The Nominating Committee is on the prowl for next year’s Board members.
Ha. I bet you were expecting me to say something about the Christmas tour, because, yes, it’s that time again, too. I’m not the one you have to run from for the House tour. I know that Doug (Guides), Cecile (Trains), and Brandon (Greeters) are armed with their links to the volunteer spreadsheets. If you have your heart set on a specific time or task, you can send a quick note to tours@alleghenywest.org and we’ll get you hooked up with the right person. Also keep an eye out for Trish (Ways & Means Chair) who has long checklists of tasks and endless details that she really could use a hand with. (Seriously, be nice to Trish, this time in the Tour planning is crazy making. I hear she likes lemon flavored things.) Speaking of…does anyone have a truck we could borrow?
OK, back to Nominating Committee. Joking aside, a lot of time and thought by the Nominating Committee goes into matching people’s skills, interests, and available time to the various Board positions. We need a mix of new folks for their valuable fresh perspectives and people who have served previously so that we can maintain institutional memory (because, honestly you only go back and read previous years’ minutes when you really, really have to…). These positions have important responsibilities attached to them, that can potentially affect the quality of life of everyone in the neighborhood so we’re not just looking for a warm body. If you think that any of the Board positions sound interesting, I encourage you to talk with me, or even better, the chair of the committee you’re interested in. One of the main jobs of every Board member is recruiting their replacement, so I’m sure they’d be happy to chat. At this point we’re already planning for the 2017 Board, so you have plenty of time, to sample some of the different positions but helping out on various projects. OK, maybe folks are totally justified avoiding me at parties.
Quick Buhl grant update: We had an awesome turnout for the first session during the last membership
meeting (and I got my hands on one of the giant maps.) Martha has submitted the grant application and
we’re waiting for feedback. If you’re interested in reading the application including a summary of the ideas discussed, let me know and I’ll send it to you. As soon as the tour stuff calms down, I’m going to ask Nick, our webmaster, to help me get some of the various materials up on the website, accessible for anyone who is interested.
Catherine Serventi
President, AWCC
Above & Beyond
If you’d like to recognize a neighbor who went above-and-beyond for you or the neighborhood this month please send a note to president@alleghenywest.org, or give Cathy a call at (412) 418-2027 and we’ll make sure they’re recognized in the Gazette.
Lots of folks to thank this month, so in no particular order, and inevitably incomplete – I KNOW I’m forgetting someone…
Gloria – for driving all over town so that the two of us and a Notary could be in the same room at the same time. Kevin – for doing the paperwork to close off Beech Avenue on Halloween so it’s safe for the munchkins. Michael – for negotiating with a ton of people so that the movie folks could make the Stables building “look awesome”. Ethan – (from Showclix) who helped set up the Tour ticket sales so that people can tell how many tickets are available for each time. Fran – who magically got PWSA to stop billing us for a waterline that is apparently in the middle of Allegheny Commons (I can’t tell you how impressed by this I am – we even have a credit.) Gloria – (again!) for lugging all the picnic stuff downstairs and reorganizing the office basement and backroom. Mary – for making amazing warm cinnamon bread for the monthly clean-up (I’m not sure I want any more people showing up for the clean-up – BEST SNACKS EVER – and I got to take some home. Yeah – that was a joke – come to the clean ups. The next one is 10/31 so we can clean stuff up for the Trick-or-Treaters). Anne and Jon, and our long suffering insurance inspector – for making sure our AWCC/AWDC properties are inspected and therefore insured. John and Bob – for walking me through the apparently endless and endlessly conflicting zoning codes. And for all the folks who stepped up and pitched in setting up and breaking down the summer picnics. I really need to keep better notes…I KNOW I’m forgetting lots of folks and it’s driving me crazy.
The 2016 AWCC Executive Committee
2016 AWCC Executive Committee as proposed by the nominating committee. Nominating Committee is elected November 2014, immediately following the Board election.
President: Cathy Serventi
Vice President: Timothy Zinn
Secretary: Trish Burton
Treasurer: Bob Griewahn
Ways & Means: Carrie Doyle
Membership: Scott Mosser
Housing & Planning: Gloria Rayman
Communications:
Property: Ann Gilligan
Friends of Allegheny West/Public Space: Michael Shealey
Sgt. at Arms: John DeSantis
Nominations will be open at the October meeting.