News Around the Neighborhood
Letter from the President – November 2020
“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”
– John F. Kennedy
Impossibly, here we are in November with the holiday season on the horizon. The year 2020 has already delivered a lot of tumult, and it doesn’t seem to be letting up. I truly hope that, despite the challenges and uneasiness around us, that everyone is able to find some moments of calm, much to be thankful for, and many joyful celebrations over the remaining weeks of this year.
The Allegheny West Civic Council has had to adapt to the events of 2020 – conducting virtual meetings, cancelling the summer Wine and Garden Tour and the Victorian Christmas House Tour, as well as our neighborhood picnics on Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day. The business of AWCC, however, continues largely uninterrupted and I would like to stop and thank a few people who have made that possible:
- Karen Beer edits and then manages the printing and distribution of the Allegheny West Gazette every month.
- Trish Burton compiles the e-Newsletter and delivers it weekly to our inboxes, sometimes more when necessary. Trish also made sure the flower baskets on Western Ave were hung, watered, and paid for this past summer.
- Cathy Serventi, as AWCC Treasurer, makes sure our bills are paid on time and our accounts are in order.
- Sara Beck Sweeney posts pictures on the AWCC Instagram account (@alleghenywest_pgh). Also, as Sergeant-at-Arms, Sara will be Chief Judge of AWCC Elections.
Karen, Trish, Cathy and Sara join a long line of Allegheny West women who give of their precious time to get things done with no drama or fanfare. If you see them around, say thanks! (At a safe social distance of course.)
Iris and Desmond Adams also deserve a big thank you for making a positive difference in our lives. Every Wednesday since April they have hosted a Zoom Dance Party, picking a theme matched with 15 minutes of music. They sing and dance, and make us forget everything we’re worried about – anyone who has joined and danced along understands what a gift that 15 minutes is. (Their parents, Dan and Gretchen, might also deserve a thank you for pulling this off every week!)
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, and because being thankful makes us happy, we will take some time at the November 10th Membership Meeting to say thanks. Everyone is encouraged to think of something someone in the neighborhood has done that deserves a thank-you and share it with the rest of us.
Finally, (finally!) the Allegheny West Civic Council Election is on Tuesday, November 10th. An overview of the voting process and the plan to communicate voting updates is outlined in this issue of the Gazette. Please participate in the vote and join the Membership call on the 10th to hear the election results. Note, because of the election, the meeting starts at 8:00 pm instead of 7:30 pm.
Ann Gilligan
President, AWCC
AWCC Informational Meeting – November 10, 2020
Via Zoom (details)
Tuesday, November 10th at 7:45 pm
- 7:45 – Gather, Say Hello
- 8:00 – Update: City of Pittsburgh, Mayor’s Office
- 8:10 – Update: Councilman Wilson’s Office
- 8:20 – Update: Representative Wheatley’s Office
- 8:25 – Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
- 8:30 – AWCC Election Results
- 8:40 – CCAC Institutional Master Plan
- 9:00 – Light of Life Update
- 9:15 – Treasurer’s Report
- 9:20 – Thanks!
- 9:40 – Conclude
The Nominating Committee’s Slate of Officers for 2021
President: Bob Griewahn
Vice President: Carole Gomrick
Treasurer: Aaron Bryan
Corresponding Secretary: Michael Shealey
Sergeant-at-Arms: Colleen Storm
Property Committee: Fran Barbush
Friends of Allegheny West: Trish Burton
Communications Secretary: Cathy Serventi
Officers and Committees Serving a Second Term
Membership Committee: Timothy Zinn
Ways and Means Committee: John DeSantis
Housing and Planning Committee: Robin Zoufalik
Updated: Ballot Additions
Membership: Mitchell Schwartz has been nominated by Elaine Stone to run against Timothy Zinn
Ways and Means: Elaine Stone has been nominated by Mitchell Schwartz to run against John DeSantis
Housing & Planning: Jim Wallace has been nominated by Timothy Zinn to run against Robin Zoufalik
AWCC Election: Nominations Are Open
The Allegheny West Civic Council Election is on Tuesday, November 10th. After Executive Committee discussions and feedback from Membership, here are the voting guidelines:
- Assuming there ARE additional nominations made (see next bullet), AWCC Members will vote between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm on November 10, 2020 at the ballroom of the Parador Inn at 939 Western Avenue. There will be signs directing everyone to the voting location. Masks are required.
- The Nominating Committee Slate of Officers for 2020 is listed on the previous page. Any additional nominations can be made via the Google doc found in last week’s e-newsletter, as well as on from the Allegheny West website. (Scroll down on the main page.) You’ll be asked to list the name of the nominee and office nominated to, as well as confirm that the person being nominated has agreed to the nomination.. Nominations will be accepted until Sunday, November 8th at 5:00 pm.
- Sergeant-at-Arms Sara Sweeney and her two Assistant Judges of Election will collect, count, recount, and certify the election. They will also be present at the polling site to confirm eligibility and enforce social distancing.
- If there are NO nominations from the floor (i.e., no additional nominations made on the website by Sunday, November 8th at 5:00 pm), the slate listed will be accepted. An eBlast to that effect will then be posted Sunday evening alerting voters that it is unnecessary to come out and vote at the Parador on Tuesday, November 10th.
- The results will be announced at the General Membership Informational Meeting that will begin at 8:00 pm on November 10th on Zoom.
- Note that Nominating Committee Election will be postponed until February or March of 2021.
Allegheny Commons North Promenade Bench Dedication
In July 2020, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy started the first of several projects to reconstruct the historic North Promenade–the prominent walkway that runs parallel to North Avenue–within Allegheny Commons Park. The complete project scope, along with frequent construction updates, can be found online at pittsburghparks.org/ac.
As part of the reconstruction of a beloved and much-used park, the Parks Conservancy is pleased to offer the opportunity to dedicate a bench within Allegheny Commons Park . Bench dedications are a great way to honor, memorialize, or pay tribute to family, friends, an anniversary, a special moment or a group/organization. The bench dedication project is limited to the Allegheny Commons North Promenade stretching from Federal Street to and around the Northeast Fountain.
Details regarding the bench dedication project in Allegheny Commons are as follows:
- Bench dedications include a 2.5” high by 8” wide bronze plaque that will feature a custom dedication message (to be approved and produced by Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy).
- Donors will be able to approve a digital proof of the final plaque.
- It will take approximately four to six weeks after the donation has been received for the plaque installation.
- The donation to dedicate a plaque also includes three years of maintenance.
- Benches 1 – 9, located around the fountain, are available for a $3,000 donation. Benches 10 – 18, located along the Promenade, are available for a $1,500 donation.
Sabira Cole’s First Annual Film Festival
First Annual Film Festival
Sabira Cole Film Festival
Five Nights!
Starting Thursday, November 5
Every Evening Begins at 6:00 pm
The 1st annual Sabira Cole Film Festival brings Pittsburgh a curated collection of independent cinema from or about the African Diaspora. This year’s festival brings not just dynamic features and short films but also live events with filmmakers and local organizations. This festival was born from our longtime partnership with the Sembene Film Festival and honors the legacy of it’s leader, Sabira Cole”
Thursday, November 5
“Local Legacies”
Give Him Sky
There is power in place, there is power in a home. The films for Local Legacies are about how places shape the lives of the people who live there and how the people have the power to shape their environment. Learn more about Give Him Sky.
6:00 PM Leo’s Legacy
6:48 PM Pittsburgh’s Underground Railroad (Short Film)
7:13 PM Woogie (Short Film)
7:20 PM Give Him Sky
Salman Rushdie and Russell Banks Freedom to Create Keynote
Freedom to Create Keynote
with Salman Rushdie and Russell Banks
Sunday, November 1
5:00 pm
Every year we gather for a public forum celebrating freedom of expression by honoring an international writer who has overcome efforts to silence them. This year, our event featured renowned authors and founders of the Cities of Asylum movement Salman Rushdie and Russell Banks.
We are happy to now make that event accessible to everyone. The virtual presentation starts with a conversation between Rushdie and Banks about the Cities of Asylum movement and their experiences promoting free expression and combatting censorship for writers and artists around the world. This is followed by Rushdie reading from his most recent novel, Quichotte. The evening will wrap up with the world premiere of a new composition written by saxophonist Oliver Lake to a text from Rushdie’s Quichotte in honor of the occasion and performed by the Flux string quartet.
EAT Initiative Food Available
The EAT Initiative has been blessed with the opportunity to provide Produce & Protein Blessing Boxes to our community members! Are you in need of food? Each box contains 30lbs of produce, meat, and dairy. It will feed a family of 4 for one week.
Here’s how to get a box:
Please complete this form: https://forms.gle/cUTt6cjwdrKau6jz8
Email us at frontoffice@eminenthospitality.com or text (412) 499-5599 to schedule your appointment to pick up your produce Blessing Box!
Post a picture with the hashtag #blessingbox and share your favorite meal or recipe via Facebook or Instagram @eatinitiative
Food is available for pick up Wednesday – Saturday, October 29th – October 31st by appointment.
A Case Study in Preservation, Development, and City Planning
Demolition of the Largent House
Matthew Hyland
Senior Architectural Historian
TRC Companies
Tuesday, October 22
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Fee: $5
This lecture will be held via ZOOM conference. Click here to get your ticket and RSVP.
When a San Francisco developer demolished one of the few remaining examples of Richard Neutra’s domestic architecture in 2018, shock waves rumbled through the city’s preservation community. The developer’s illegal action, the demolition occurred without a permit, shook fundamental assumptions held regarding permitting, integrity, significance, and the local planning process.
Calls for punishment of the developer ranged from large fines to rebuilding the house as it was in 1935. This presentation offers this illegal demolition as a case study of historic preservation in the early twenty-first century.
About the presenter: Matthew Hyland is an architectural historian and an educator. Over the last 18 years, he has worked on a variety of historic preservation projects including large surveys and published articles on preservation in Florida, focusing on New Deal housing in Key West. He is also working on an architectural biography of U.S. President James Monroe.
Does Your Plan to Vote Include the Mattress Factory?
Big news! For the first time ever, if you are a voter in Pittsburgh Ward 25, Districts 2 and 3, you can vote at the Mattress Factory on Election Day, November 3. Polls are open from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm Anyone in line at 8:00 pm will be allowed to vote. Find more official Allegheny County Election Day info here.
If you want to encourage others to register and to cast their vote, check out our Facebook and Instagram to like and share artist-designed images from the Plan Your Vote campaign. Plan Your Vote is a 2020 visual arts initiative from Vote.org that harnesses the power of art to promote and encourage citizens to exercise their right to vote.
You may also have noticed SOS Color Code 2020, a multi-site, exterior installation of three flags created by Chicago-based artists and designers Luftwerk and Normal on view at the Main Building. The project transforms the international signal of distress into a sign of solidarity and connectedness, calling for humanity and a willingness to help one another. The flags will be on view outside of the Mattress Factory through Election Day.