News Around the Neighborhood
Old Allegheny Victorian Christmas House Tour
- Flyers are going into the mail. A big thanks to Trish Burton for coordinating the effort…once again, it went off like clockwork. Thanks also to Greg Coll for designing and managing the printing. The flyers are lovely.
A big thank you from Carol and Trish to all who helped put address labels on the 8008 (!) postcards that we’ll be sending to advertise the tour. A special thanks to Quentin Lane and Charlie and Eli Sweeney for giving up homework time to help us set a new record! We have extra postcards available should anyone want to distribute to coworkers and friends, or to post on community bulletin boards. - Next up, putting the swags together. We’ll be meeting at Cathy and Gene’s house on December 2nd at 9:00 am Please come and help. The swags help make the entire neighborhood look so special for the tour guests. In addition to putting them together, we’ll be looking for volunteers to help hang the swags.
- We’re still on the hunt for the final house. Please consider joining the tour this year. Contact Carol ASAP at carolgomrick@gmail.com.
- If you haven’t signed up to volunteer yet, please reach out to Doug Sprague at doug.osrg@gmail.com
- There are so many people who continue to help behind the scenes to make the tour successful every year. Thank you for your efforts and support!
Support Allegheny West Businesses on Small Business Saturday
Remember to come out and support your local Allegheny West businesses on Small Business Saturday. This year, it will be Saturday, November 25th. To learn more and see a video featuring Northside Businesses, visit Northside Shop Small at bit.ly/northsideshopsmall.
AWCC Executive Board for 2018
Below are the names for the 2018 AWCC Executive Board slate.
Staying on for 2018
Executives
President: John DeSantis
Vice President: Ann Gilligan
Treasurer: Dan Adam
Secretary: Michael Shealey
Committee Chairs
Housing and Planning: Tim Zinn
Way & Means: Carol Gomrick
Property: Elaine Stone
Friends of Allegheny West: Trish Burton
Sergeant of Arms: Fran Barbush
Nominees for Open Positions
Membership: Greg Coll
Communications: Diane Caruso
Volunteers Needed at the Parklet Pull-out
Submitted by Trish Burton & Diane Caruso
This Sunday, November 12th, we’ll be hosting a “Parklet Pull-out” to remove annuals. Please meet at the corner of Western Avenue & Brighton Road at 12:00 pm (noon). We’d really appreciate if volunteers could come and help out for at least a half hour.
Thank you!
Update: Allegheny Commons Master Action Plan
Hello!
In order to reach a wider audience to help inform the Master Action Plan process, the community meeting on November 15th is being rescheduled after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Please help us spread the word! Know of individuals, groups or organizations who should be involved in this process? Please pass this message along, or let us know by emailing me at (etobin@pittsburghparks.org).
As a reminder, this process is focused on BIG ideas. A final presentation of the MAP will take place in January. As funds are raised to carry out specific recommendations, the Parks Conservancy will engage the community in the design process for each project.
Thank you for your continued support!
Erin Tobin
Community Outreach Coordinator
PHLF: Film Screening – Priced Out
Location: Landmarks Preservation Resource Center, 744 Rebecca Avenue
Date: Thursday, November 9th
Time: 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Contact: marylu@phlf.org or (412) 471-5808 ext. 527
Given the ongoing discussion about Pittsburgh’s real estate and access to quality affordable housing particularly in some of our city’s East End neighborhoods, join us for a timely film screening of Priced Out, a documentary that takes a personal look at how skyrocketing housing prices are displacing Portland’s black community and reshaping the entire city. What is happening in Portland may well have lessons for us in Pittsburgh. A short question-and-answer session will follow the screening.
About the Film
This documentary was written and produced by Cornelius Swart.
All events are free to PHLF members. Non-members: $10 RSVPs are appreciated: marylu@phlf.org or (412) 471-5808 ext. 527
Check out http://phlf.org/events/ for more PHLF tours and events.
Jamie Bennett, E.D. of Artplace America to Speak @ Alphabet City
Jamie Bennett
Executive Director
of Artplace America
Monday, November 20th
3:30 – 4:00 Reception
4:00 – 5:00 Talk with Q & A
5:00 – 5:30 Reception + Informal Discussion
How can the arts help create equitable, healthy, and sustainable futures?
Creative placemaking is about getting artists and designers, community culture groups, arts research groups, cultural affairs offices and arts organizations out of their silos and into the neighborhoods and regions around them. It has evolved significantly over the past decade. In practice, concept and research there is a diverse and growing body of experience. What began as a small program in 2009 at the National Endowment of the Arts has become a central way of connecting creativity, function, and public life.
This is a chance to hear about lessons learned and the state of the art in creative placemaking from its leading expert and advocate, Jamie Bennett.
[ebor_button style=”pomegranate” url=”https://cityofasylumpittsburgh.secure.force.com/ticket/#sections_a0F5A00000HtRGzUAN”] Reserve Your Free Tickets [/ebor_button]
Did you know that there is a restaurant in City of Asylum @ Alphabet City? During these events, Alphabet City will be set up so that you can have dinner during the event (or simply order drinks).
[ebor_button style=”concrete” url=”https://www.opentable.com/r/casellula-pittsburgh”] Reserve a Table for Your Visit [/ebor_button]
When making your reservation,
please add that you wish to see the film under special notes.
Tomorrow Night 11/4: Gary Fincke
Please join City Books as we welcome Gary Fincke on Saturday, November 4th at 7:00 pm as he reads from his new short story collection The Out-Of-Sorts. A book signing will follow and the event is free.
Gary is the author of seven short story collections, including A Room of Rain; The Proper Words for Sin; Sorry I Worried You, a winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction; and The Killer’s Dog, an Elixir Press Fiction Prize winner. His stories have appeared in such magazines as the Missouri Review, Kenyon Review, Black Warrior Review, and CrazyHorse.
“There’s no glamour in Gary Fincke’s world, just tough times and hard work. From early on his people know how uncertain life can be—how easy it is to lose hope, and how, sometimes, to get by, we bury what we can’t face.”
– Stewart O’Nan, author of Snow Angels and Last Night at the Lobster
The new and selected stories in this collection, written over a period of thirty years, are firmly entrenched in the culture and people of rust belt cities and rural Appalachia.
These stories are often set against large, significant events like the Cold War, Vietnam, and the Kent State shootings, but are always uniquely local: A mother fends off the police by brandishing copperhead snakes; a woman cares for the dog of an alleged double murderer; a husband who has lost his job works at trying to save his wife from a debilitating phobia.
PHLF: Practical Ways to Care for Your Historic Building(s)
Join us at the Landmarks Preservation Resource Center for our ongoing programs on house restoration, architecture, history and other aspects of historic preservation, community development and urban planning.
Location: Margaret Bell Miller Middle School
126 East Lincoln Street, Waynesburg, PA 15370
Date: Saturday, November 4th
Time: 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Contact: marylu@phlf.org or (412) 471-5808 ext. 527
Free (including a boxed lunch if advance reservations are made)
Greene County Heritage Workshop: Practical Ways to Care for Your Historic Building(s)
“This workshop will look beyond limited public funding to explore how a community’s historic character fits into 21st-century economic development strategies,” said Bill Callahan, Western PA Community Preservation Coordinator of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. “It will outline best-practice approaches to preserve, promote, and invest in historic community character,” he added.
Mary Beth Pastorius, a trustee of PHLF and a native of Greene County, has been instrumental in planning the workshop. “PHLF is sharing its expertise in ‘Renewing Communities and Building Pride’ with rural areas outside Allegheny County that have many historic assets but little experience in how to preserve,” she said.
Click here for an agenda of speakers and topics. Although the workshop is intended for Greene County residents, anyone interested in preserving historic buildings is invited to attend.
More than 65 members and foundations contributed to PHLF’s 50th Anniversary Fund between 2014 and 2017. One of the goals of that fundraising effort was to help PHLF provide technical assistance to main streets and historic neighborhoods throughout the Pittsburgh region, with a particular emphasis on outlying counties where no local preservation organizations exist to assist concerned citizens.
RSVPs required ASAP: marylu@phlf.org or (412) 471-5808 ext. 527
Check out http://phlf.org/events/ for more PHLF tours and events.
A Concert Featuring The Great American Songbook
Tania Grubbs
Friday, November 10th
8:00 pm
Tania Grubbs is a jazz vocalist who brings a fresh approach to the great American song book. Her extensive repertoire ranges from Cole Porter to Carol King, featuring an eclectic mix of standards, musical theater and contemporary jazz arrangements.
Singing as long as she can remember, Tania has been a featured vocalist with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, the Voices of the Boca Pops Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Civic Light Opera, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust “Jazzlive” series and The Pittsburgh Jazz Society. Her concert also features Mark Lucas (guitar) and Clifford Barnes (piano/electric bass).
Along with a few new takes on old classics, you can also enjoy dinner or a drink from Casellula at the concert.
[ebor_button style=”pomegranate” url=”https://cityofasylumpittsburgh.secure.force.com/ticket/#sections_a0F5A00000Ht4RTUAZ”] Reserve Your Free Tickets [/ebor_button]
Did you know that there is a restaurant in City of Asylum @ Alphabet City? During these events, Alphabet City will be set up so that you can have dinner during the event (or simply order drinks).
[ebor_button style=”concrete” url=”https://www.opentable.com/r/casellula-pittsburgh”] Reserve a Table for Your Visit [/ebor_button]
When making your reservation,
please add that you wish to see the film under special notes.