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Notes from the Prez by Eric Davis

Spring has (finally) sprung here in Elizabeth and summer is just around the corner. Just as Mother Nature blesses us with her annual season of rebirth and renewal, the Elizabeth Community Association is also preparing for renewal as we look forward to our annual new year in September.

It’s amazing to consider the scope and scale of the ECA’s involvement to our neighborhood. The ECA sponsors over 30 events each year. These events have something for everyone:

• Holiday party, progressive dinner and Neighbors Night Out social events

• Independence Park work days and Elizabeth Recycles to care for our environment

• Home and Garden Tour to relish in the architecture and history of Elizabeth

• Trunk or Treat and easter egg hunt for the children

• Holiday toy drives and reading to residents at Golden Living Center to give back to our community

• Elizabeth 8K Road Race to stay in shape

• Annual and monthly ECA meetings to stay connected to our neighborhood

The cumulative effect of these ECA events is a significant part of what makes Elizabeth a magical place to live. Unlike magic, the fuel for the ECA is not fairy dust, it’s the time and energy of Elizabeth volunteers. At this time, the ECA has a number of committee leadership opportunities opening up in the fall. These committees keep our neighborhood vibrant, and we need you to join in the fun.

There are available opportunities that fit all interests, skills and time commitments. There are experienced ECA members to lead, mentor and transition in new volunteers. I also encourage our veteran ECA board members that have taken a (well deserved) sabbatical to share your skills, insights and expertise with the rest of us!

This is a great opportunity to meet your neighbors, give back to Elizabeth and most importantly, have FUN. The list of open positions is included below. You can either reply via email at ElizabethCommunityAssociation@ gmail.com or check-off your interest areas below and send via snail-mail to:

Eric Davis 2200 Greenway Ave Charlotte NC 2824

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Would you like to be part of our newsletter team? We need block captains to deliver newsletters to homes and businesses along 7th Street and Elizabeth Avenue. We’re also looking for an Assistant Business Liaison. If interested, please contact Tom Smith at [email protected] or Gregg Lockhart at [email protected].

Vice President: helps with ECA operations, attends monthly meetings and occasional government meetings, oversees certain ECA committees, may matriculate to President if so desired and elected.

Treasurer: keeps ECA books and provides monthly report, manages reimbursements, deals with the bank, helps set annual budget.

Social Committee/Children’s Social Committee: oversees each major ECA event and recruits volunteers to staff events, gets to meet almost everyone in the neighborhood!

Zoning and Real Estate: reviews all zoning matters, including rezoning requests and petitions, deals with proposed new developments.

Legal: provides simple legal expertise and oversight for occasional real estate related matters (e.g., easements, alleys, trolley path, etc.)

Membership: recruits & encourages ECA involvement and membership, manages annual membership campaign.

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ECA Officers

Eric DavisPresident704 776 3013Greenway Avenue [email protected]

(vacant)Vice President

Diana WatsonSecretary704 996 9776Kenmore Avenue [email protected]

Paul ShipleyTreasurer704 651 5897Kenmore Avenue [email protected]

ECA Special Projects

Bryan RifeMembership980 228 19212616 E. 5th Street [email protected]

Ken MagasWebsite704 877 7151E. 5th Street [email protected]

Robert ZabelElizabeth 8K Road Race Chair917 873 8028Pecan Avenue [email protected]

ECA Board Members

Nancy O. AlbertEditor/Newsletter Beautification/Art Chair704 779 0932Elizabeth Village [email protected]

Elle AllenSocial Chair/Children’s Events704 502 9101Greenway Avenue [email protected]

Sarah BradleyCommunications/Social Media704 491 3760Laurel Avenue [email protected]

Beth HaenniPast President704 562 5152Greenway Avenue [email protected]

Kristan MagasPark & Recreation Liaison704 488 0051E. 5th Street [email protected]

Tom SmithECA Business Liaison/Ad Czar630 886 2039Kenmore Avenue [email protected]

Ric SolowBeautification/Trees704 334 2986E. 5th Street [email protected]

Jen TowellSocial Co-Chair704 258 0983Clarice Avenue [email protected]

deadline fall 2014:

August 15theditorial content: [email protected]

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Editor’s note by Nancy O. Albert

Hello fellow residents of our great neighborhood. In this issue of the newsletter we’re revisiting the theme of “Creativity” with which we inaugurated the concept of themed issues. The response was tremendous and we had so many articles submitted we could barely fit them in. Since then our neighborhood continues to be a hotbed of creative endeavors. Elizabeth will soon be graced with a City/ASC funded public art project and within the year trolley stations will appear along Elizabeth Avenue, adorned with glass collages by New Orleans artist Nancy O’Neil. The Violin Shoppe has opened a new gallery devoted to music-themed art. One of our most distinguished

residents, author Harry Golden was honored with an historic marker; new statues are going up along the Greenway, new exhibitions open, murals are painted, music is being made. So join me once again in celebrating our vibrant and creative community.

Transit art coming to Elizabeth Avenue by Nancy O. Albert*

Reminiscent of days gone by, the CityLYNX Gold Line project will revive streetcar transportation in Charlotte, and the public art in each shelter will honor memories specific to the Queen City. Project artist Nancy O’Neil delved into archives, libraries, and personal collections to uncover treasures of the City’s bygone days.

Images she chose will be encapsulated in glass in the

windscreens of each passenger shelter like a permanent city-wide family album to share with generations to come. O’Neil took inspiration from the areas directly adjacent to each of the six streetcar stops so that when standing in each shelter, the rider can both experience the location in the present while considering the area’s past.

The Gold Line will begin at the Charlotte Transportation Center, travel by Time Warner Cable Arena and the Government District, through Central Piedmont Community College on Elizabeth Avenue, and end in front of Novant Health on Hawthorne Lane.

Artist bio

Nancy O’Neil is a glass artist living and working in New Orleans, Louisiana. She constantly experiments with


glass techniques that involve blown glass, collage, cast glass blocks, stained glass, and more, though her true passion is capturing the study of place and the passage of time. O’Neil has been working in the public art sector since the 1980s, a field she enjoys because of the opportunity to create on a larger scale and for a broader audience. O’Neil earned a B.A. in Studio Art from Sarah Lawrence College.

Last year, Nancy O’Neil visited Charlotte and met residents of the Elizabeth neighborhood during the research phase of her project. Some of the shelters reflect the history of the Elizabeth neighborhood, one of which focuses on Independence Park. In this shelter the artist reveals the origin of the city’s oldest public park, designed by landscape architect John Nolen in 1905.

According to Kati Stegall, Program Administrator, Art-In-Transit for CATS, they are currently moving into the fabrication phase for the art. CATS is planning an education and outreach initiative with the Levine Museum of the New South, who have offered their balcony gallery as an exhibition space for the artist’s work and some of the historic source materials. The exhibition will be on display from August 30th of this year through March 30th, 2015.

More information on this

project will be coming later in the summer.

*Sections excerpted from the CATS website.

Hawthorne and 5th Street stop: outbound windscreen key to images shown on page 4

Two places near the intersection of the Hawthorne and 5th Street inspired the design for this stop: Independence Park and Novant Health. In the outbound shelter, the artist reveals the origin of the city’s oldest public park, designed by landscape architect John Nolen in 1905. The park has several prominent features including a rose garden, a memorial gazebo, a nd a baseball stadium built as a part of President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. The park is still maintained today and actively utilized by neighborhood residents.

1. The shelter is populated with letters from landscape architect John Nolen to his wife during his trip to Charlotte to plan Independence Park in June of 1905. Excerpts read: “Charlotte is no longer a city of the imagination...” “Mr. Tompkins (owner of machine shop and factory) who has given me some information and a rough plan of the park and is to drive me this afternoon to the park itself.” “Roosevelt is to speak in the square in the autumn.

The Parks people are very kind to me.” “Charlotte grows on me and the people too. It is a bustling little place full of life and growing rapidly.” Courtesy of the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.

2. Official map of Charlotte, from the office of the City Engineer in 1935. The artist has accentuated Independence Park in green. Courtesy of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

3. Topographic map of Charlotte and surrounding area, circa 1942. Courtesy of the North Carolina State University Archives.

4. Elizabeth Community Organization Independence Park clean-up. The Elizabeth Community is one of the most historic neighborhoods in Charlotte. It officially became a part of the city in 1907 and was serviced by the original streetcar line that ran from McDowell Street to Hawthorne Avenue, much like the CityLYNX Gold Line. Photo courtesy of Ken Magas, Elizabeth Neighborhood Association.

5. Historic postcard of Sunnyside Rose Garden in Independence Park. Originally planted in 1931 by the Charlotte Garden Club, the garden once contained 59 varieties of roses and 4,700 bushes. Image courtesy of the special collections of J. Murrey co

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Atkins Library University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Mary Boyer Collection.

6. Originally constructed in 1905, this small stadium in a natural depression in Independence Park was enhanced as a Works Progress Administration project in the 1930s. Photo courtesy of Robert Brandon III.

7. Photo of Independence Park in winter. Charlotte rarely experiences winter precipitation, and this photo by a neighborhood resident captures the magic and beauty of this city under a blanket of snow. Courtesy of Nancy Albert, Elizabeth Neighborhood Association.

8. Portrait of John Nolen, who designed Independence Park in the summer of 1905 as his first commission upon graduation from Harvard University. He also went on to design the Myers Park neighborhood in Charlotte as well as a campus expansion plan for UNC Chapel Hill in 1918, a city plan for Asheville, NC in 1920, and a Western NC regional plan in connection with the Blue Ridge Parkway. Subsequently he became one of the most sought after city planners nationwide, developing plans for cities such as Madison, WI and Sacramento, CA. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

9. Man cleaning the reflecting pool of the Arhelger Memorial

in Independence Park. Lillian Arhelger was a teacher at Central High School who died tragically rescuing a young student from drowning in 1931. Courtesy of Nancy Albert, Elizabeth Neighborhood Association.

10. Barred owls roost in the Independence Park and Elizabeth neighborhood tree canopy. Neighborhood residents have worked with ornithologists to learn about the wildlife in Elizabeth. Photo by Dennis Donohue.

11. Historic postcard with trolley at Elizabeth College. When Charles B. King set up this small Lutheran College in 1897, he acquired a substantial amount of funding from his father-in-law, Gerard Snowden Watts. In gratitude, King named the college after Watts’ wife and his mother-in-law, Elizabeth. The Elizabeth name was later adopted for the surrounding community. The college operated until 1915. Courtesy of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

12. Photo of athletic field and Charlotte skyline from the Elizabeth neighborhood. Courtesy of Ken Magas, Elizabeth Neighborhood Association.

13. Staten Mansion, built in 1914. This historic home is an example of the stately real estate built by prominent Charlotte Citizens in Elizabeth in the early 20th Century.

Now it’s home to International House, a non-profit organization for international citizens. Photo courtesy of International House.

14. Dancers at Juneteenth Festival at Independence Park. The annual festival is held in Independence Park to celebrate the end of slavery in the United States. Photo courtesy of the Charlotte Observer.

Public art coming to Elizabeth from the Arts & Science Council of Charlotte-Mecklenburg

Amy Bagwell and Sharon Dowell have been selected as the public artists for the Elizabeth’s future public art project. The artwork is part of the Neighborhoods in Creative pARTnership initiative.

A city reservoir once sat where Independence Park is now located in Charlotte’s Elizabeth neighborhood. The old water tower, visible from the Seventh Street and Pecan Avenue intersection, still provides water for the close-knit community. “That fascinates me, the idea of a place coming out from under the water,” said artist Amy Bagwell, who toured Elizabeth in April with fellow artist Sharon Dowell and a few of the neighborhood’s leaders.

Bagwell and Dowell have been paired with Elizabeth as part of the Neighborhoods in Creative pARTnership initiative launched in October by the


City of Charlotte, the Public Art Commission and the Arts & Science Council. Through the initiative, intended to bring more neighborhood-based public art to the city, five Charlotte neighborhoods will receive new public art, with projects expected to be completed by October 2015. In Elizabeth, Bagwell and Dowell have already started meeting with representatives from the ECA to conceive a public art concept representative of the neighborhood’s identity.

“We all like and want and embrace beauty,” said Bagwell,

who also teaches English at Central Piedmont Community College. “Public art can simply bring beauty or enhance beauty and give us a place around which to gather and talk and get to know one another.”

Both Bagwell and Dowell have plenty of experience creating such spots in the city. Dowell created a mural printed on vinyl that is on the side of the City of Charlotte’s Belmont Regional Center and painted the Buddy Bear sculpture that will be placed in front of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Main branch in uptown in the coming weeks. She recently

completed a mural in Concord and is the artist for a public art project for the future CATS transit light rail station in NoDa.

“I think that in our society especially, we don’t have everyday art incorporated into our lives,” Dowell said. “One of my goals is to improve that, whether it’s walking day to day on your way to work or to the football game or whatever.”

Bagwell, meanwhile, is the co-founder of Wall Poems of Charlotte, the uptown murals that bring poetry to the people. Because Elizabeth wants the art to incorporate multiple sites to ph

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pull people through the area, the neighborhood project lends itself to being poem-centered. “I love the idea that they want it to be something that people discover,” she said. “It could be in a nook or something – it’s not necessarily going to be a big, shiny whatever. That’s exciting.”

More than 20 neighborhood groups within Charlotte city limits applied for public art projects through the Neighborhoods in Creative pARTnership initiative. The total funding of $118,000 designated for neighborhood-based public art projects was divided equally between the five selected neighborhoods. Priority was given to groups representing areas without city-funded public art.

The selected neighborhoods and the regional artists with whom they’ve been paired are:

Elizabeth – Amy Bagwell and Sharon Dowell

Grove Park – Dana Gingras

Reid Park – Laurel Holtzapple, Shaun Cassidy and Lauren Doran

Sedgefield – Paula Smith

Shamrock Drive Corridor – Carrie Gault, Rosalia Torres-Weiner and Tina Alberni

Representatives from the selected neighborhoods worked with the Public Art Commission to select artists to create concepts for the public art


projects in their communities. All five neighborhood public art projects are expected to be completed by October 2015.

The Violin Shoppe opens a fine art gallery by David McGuirt

The Violin Shoppe opened a fine art gallery in the store’s main hall at 2112 East 7th Street. The Art of The Violin Shoppe opened with an exhibition of musically themed and some musically inspired work by ten regional and national artists working in varied media. Sculpture, framed pieces, originals and limited run prints are available for purchase.

Shop owners David McGuirt and Glen Alexander envisioned utilizing the main hall of the nearly hundred-year-old home to display fine art as a gift to the community and for the enjoyment of clients who come to the shop for stringed instrument purchases,

restorations and music lessons. It wasn’t until fiddle student Amelia Osborne shared her art portfolio one day and mentioned that she ran a gallery in Richmond, Virginia before moving to Charlotte, that the vision began to become reality.

Osborne says of the artists she’s selected for the initial exhibition: “Each has established a unique way to express how they see the world using a diverse array of media from pencil, fresh paint and digital technology, to sculptural pieces utilizing elements from nature. The exhibition will also feature unique creations from once-retired musical instruments. Each piece has a musically inspired feel. This creative collaboration of The Violin Shoppe and the fine art community is simply a natural fit to the Charlotte area. And this first exhibition aims to bring a little something to everyone just as the music world has to offer.”

For more information please contact gallery coordinator Amelia Osborne: [email protected].

The Elizabeth neighborhood meets our artist team by Nancy O. Albert

On May 15 the ECA hosted a neighborhood gathering at Studio K as a way of introducing the public art project that’s coming to our neighborhood. Open to all residents and interested persons, the informal meeting in the lovely gallery space featured a visual presentation by artists Amy Bagwell and Sharon Dowell. Also present were members of the Arts and Science Council, including Nicole Bartlett, Vice President, Public Art, who gave a brief history of the project, discussed guidelines for the placement of the art and answered questions. The two artists spoke about their ideas for the art, which is conceived as having multiple locations linked conceptually and asked for input from the audience. A spirited and insightful dialog followed. While concepts for the pieces are still evolving, Amy Bagwell, who has been involved with poetry-themed projects, expressed the desire to include the work of a neighborhood poet or author.

As plans progress, future meetings will be held; it is the artists and the ASC’s

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desire that the process be collaborative. The next meeting will likely be held in mid-June at Studio K and the public will again be invited. Please check the ECA website for updates.

If you know of a poet or who was born, lived or worked in Elizabeth, please let us know, either by sending your idea to Amy directly [email protected] or to me [email protected].

CPCC’s Ross Galleries to feature works by abstract artists Andi Steele and Kyle Worthy by Grace Cote

Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) will host works by abstract artists Andi Steele and Kyle Worthy from May 15 through August 7 in its Ross Galleries.

Andi Steele, an assistant professor of sculpture at UNC Wilmington, creates site-

specific installations involving brightly colored monofilament wire that she strings across spaces. She designed her piece “Burst” around the front window of Ross Gallery I, an area usually used to frame and showcase art hanging in the gallery. When visitors look through the window, they will see little: a few lines and a little color. The whole of the work cannot be experienced without going into, and interacting with, the altered space. Steele


encourages guests to walk in, look up, sit down, move through, look around and find their place.

Kyle Worthy

While Steele abstracts physical space, Kyle Worthy abstracts memories tied to place in his photographs. In “Anyone’s Ghost,” Worthy presents a series of landscape photographs that are both highly specific and nonspecific at the same time. Blurred images taken from a variety of locations are manipulated, toyed with and blended. He then infuses them with anonymity so they become relevant to all viewers, sparking remnants of our own distant memories tied to place.

When: May 15 – August 7, 2014 from 10 am – 2 pm Monday – Thursday

Where: Andi Steele: Ross Gallery I, CPCC Central Campus

Kyle Worthy: Ross Gallery II, CPCC Central Campus

Contac: For more information please contact Grace Cote at

704.330.6211 or at [email protected].

CPCC Pease Gallery to feature works by painter Kirsten Tradowsky by Grace Cote

Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) will host works by painter Kirsten Tradowsky March 17 through July 3 in its Pease Gallery.

The San Francisco artist takes inspiration from the past, specifically the objects that represent a person’s history and placement in life. She paints objects she finds in the “for sale” section of

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Craigslist, capturing the quality of the seller’s photographic presentation in all its awkwardness, overexposure and strange angles. Using loose brushstrokes, she sympathetically renders these unwanted items in both rich and faded hues, delicately revealing the imperfections of time. Her artwork seeks to bring quality and validation to these objects and to painting itself.

Tradowsky received a BFA from The Cleveland Institute

of Art and an MFA from the California College of the Arts. She has exhibited nationally and has been featured in Wallpaper Magazine, New American Paintings Magazine, and popular art blogs Design* Sponge and The Jealous Curator. This is her first exhibition in the Southeast.

March 17 – July 3, 2014 10 am – 2 pm, Monday – Thursday

Pease Gallery, CPCC Central Campus

Contact: For more information, please contact Grace Cote at 704.330.6211 or at [email protected].

Harry Golden history marker by Nancy O. Albert with information provided by Tom Hanchett

On Sunday May 4, the NC Department of Cultural Resources held a ceremony to unveil a NC highway history marker commemorating one of


the Elizabeth neighborhood’s most distinguished residents. Harry Golden was a nationally renowned author, publisher of the Carolina Israelite newspaper, and a Civil Rights activist. His initial home and office were on Elizabeth Avenue, then later in life he moved to the green house on the corner of 8th and Hawthorne. The marker stands on 7th Street directly across from Hawthorne’s Pizza. The event was co-sponsored by the Levine Museum of the New South, and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. Tom Hanchett, Historian at the museum, Tom Cole and Sam Shapiro, from the public library, and former Charlotte Observer editorial page chief Jack Claiborne, who knew Harry, spoke at the ceremony. According to one attendee, as Tom Hanchett spoke, the black cover over the monument blew down in a great, sudden wind. “I can’t be the only one who imagined Harry Golden himself having a hand in it somehow.”

Harry Lewis Golden was born Herschel Goldhirsch in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1902. In 1905, the Goldhirsch family emigrated to the Lower East Side of New York City. Golden graduated from East Side Evening High School around 1920. He enrolled at the City College of New York, but left two years later without a degree. Between 1921 and 1929, he worked various jobs ph

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in New York and became a stockbroker. Golden married Genevieve Gallagher in 1926. In 1929, Golden’s brokerage firm declared bankruptcy and he was convicted for mail fraud and sentenced to 5 years in the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta. Following his parole in 1933, Golden wrote for various newspapers and moved to Charlotte in 1941 where he worked for the Charlotte Labor Journal and the Charlotte Observer, speaking out against racial segregation and Jim Crow laws. In 1942, he commissioned the Charlotte News to print the first issue of the Carolina Israelite, which had an initial circulation of 800. The following year he formed Southland Publishing Company to publish the Israelite. From 1942 to 1968, Golden used The Israelite as a forum, not just for his political views, such as his satirical “The Vertical Negro Plan”, which involved removing the chairs from any to-be-integrated building, since Southern

Whites didn’t mind standing with Blacks, only sitting with them; but also observations and reminiscences of his boyhood in New York’s Lower East Side. Golden first met poet Carl Sandburg in 1948 and maintained a lifelong friendship with him. In 1950, Golden wrote and published his first book, Jews in American History, with Martin Rywell. An accidental fire destroyed his offices in 1958 (a marker now stands at the site, near the CPCC student parking garage) That year he also released his first best seller, Only in America. In 1960, Golden toured West Germany to study the status of Jews in that country. He also traveled to Israel in 1961 to cover the Eichmann trial for Life magazine. Declining health forced Golden to cease publication of the Israelite in 1968. President Richard M. Nixon pardoned him in 1974. Golden died in Charlotte on October 2, 1981.

Save the date: Home and Garden Tour scheduled for October 11 and 12 by Suzanne Henry

Mark your calendars for the 2014 Home and Garden Tour, scheduled for October 11 and 12. The tour promises to be a great weekend, showcasing five Elizabeth homes, two residential gardens, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church and the Charlotte Council of Garden Clubs. Whether you enjoy traditional, modern, eclectic or historical residences, this year’s tour features some amazing homes and has something to interest us all.

Volunteers and sponsors are integral to the success of the Home and Garden Tour each year. If you have an interest in staffing a tour home or enlisting area businesses for sponsorship, please contact one of the tour chairs listed opposite. To review volunteer opportunities and sign up,


please visit the Home and Garden Tour page under the Volunteer tab at www.elizabethcommunity.com/volunteer/home-tour. *

Tour chairs: Jason Boone, [email protected]; Colleen Plott, [email protected]

Volunteer chair: Michael DePalma, [email protected]

Sponsorship chair: Victoria Gabbard, [email protected]

We wish to thank those who are graciously sharing their homes and gardens with us this fall:

Holly and Bryan Adams 538 Lamar Avenue

Charlotte Council of Garden Clubs 1820 E. 7th Street

Eric & Michelle Dagenhart 2134 Greenway Avenue

Greg Godley 701 Clement Avenue

Rodney Hines 708 Oakland Avenue

Meghan Scannell 400 Clarice Avenue #145

Elaine Scott 2400 Kenmore Avenue

St. Martin’s Episcopal Church 1510 E. 7th Street

Diana and Reid Watson 2404 Kenmore Avenue

Tour hours:

October 11, 11am-5pm

October 12, 1pm-5pm

Tickets: $15, $12 in advance

*Sign up for two volunteer shifts and receive one free tour ticket.

Bee populations in decline by Kay Minor

We’ve got bees. Honey bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees buzz with abandon at our house on 8th St. Less shade here means more sun there, creating more flowers

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everywhere; a new reality here since losing two colossal trees. And who doesn’t like the sweet byproduct of all the honeybee’s animated activity? Pollinators are essential for agricultural production, and in general, most people have heard that our bee populations are in serious decline. One culprit could be sitting on a shelf in your storage area- Neonicotinoids. The most used class of pesticides on earth, and sold at Lowe’s and Home Depot by chemical giant Bayer.

This year in the US, ninety four million acres of corn will be planted with neonicotinoid laden seeds. Studies indicate exposure to neonics cause significant disruption in the bee’s homing abilities (they are not being able to return to hive), low growth rates, and reduced queen production by 85%. Not to mention colony collapse, the worst case scenario. All the latest information concerning this issue is online. Google it, make your own assessment. It’s a shame at best, a disaster at worst, that these products continue to be sold as safe, with no warnings on labels in regard to bees. I will be asking my local home improvement store to consider alternative products. Better yet, discontinue all sales of neonicotinoids until proven safe for our pollinators. Because it’s the right thing to do. ph

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Stand up for trees by Kris Solow

If you love our trees, here’s your chance to stand up for them. There’s a proposal, 2013-TQz-22 [v.5] (03/31), before the N.C. legislature that would strip Charlotte, or any local municipality in North Carolina, of its ability to enforce its tree ordinance that has historically preserved and protected trees during development. If passed by the House and Senate, it would go through the governor’s office to become law.

As an example of how our tree ordinance works, when the Venue apartments on E. 7th and Bascom were under construction, several stately oaks on the property were protected, and after the apartments were built, new sizable hardwoods were required to be planted. If this proposal were to pass, no local municipality could enforce its tree ordinance, and a developer could strip the land, build, and never replant if he chose to do so.

Please contact your state representatives, senators and the governor and ask them to vote against this bill. Let them know of the importance of tree ordinances in North Carolina, and how much we value and protect our trees.

Trees are apolitcal and only lean left or right depending on the wind.

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2014 Elizabeth 8K Road Race recap by Robert Zabel

The threat of thundershowers the week preceding the race may have discouraged some last minute runners from coming out this year, but it didn’t keep away the nearly 430 runners who participated in the 28th annual Elizabeth 8K Road Race, which took place on Saturday, March 29th. The rain held off and the overcast skies actually provided perfect race conditions, contributing

to some of the fastest times we’ve seen in recent years. Congratulations to not only Katelyn Misaveg and Bert Rodriguez who were our overall female and male winners, but to all of the participants who completed the race as well as to all the sponsors, partners, volunteers, and spectators, who, through their support, made this a very successful and enjoyable event.

The morning began well before sunrise when the Race Committee arrived at the Hawthorne Recreation Center

in Independence Park, along with our partner from Queen City Timing, to start preparing the course and setting up the starting and finish lines. Our amazing team of volunteers arrived shortly thereafter, and at 6:45 am registration and packet-pickup began. Elvis was there welcoming runners as they arrived with his witty one-liners which kept everyone relaxed and smiling.

Shortly before 8:00 am, the runners began gathering at the starting line and after a short announcement of race ph

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logistics, the 430 runners broke out in an impromptu serenade of Happy Birthday to our one and only Elvis, who happened to be celebrating his birthday that day. At 8:00 am, Elvis announced the start of the race and the runners were off. At 8:05 am, the participants for the 1.5M run/walk, which included a dozen or so young children, all lined up at the starting line and were sent off.

The young and talented musicians from Charlotte School of Rock were set up early at Hawthorne’s and jamming as the runners rounded the second corner at 7th and Hawthorne. They continued playing and providing phenomenal music that was heard across Independence Park and enjoyed by all for the next couple of hours.

On the course, runners enjoyed the beautiful tree-lined streets and historic homes that our race is so well known for. As one participant said, “the course was like eye candy for an architectural buff like me.” Equally impressive was the phenomenal support provided by all the volunteers and neighbors that were out, many of whom were ringing cowbells, partying and cheering for the runners. According to one runner, “I loved it so much because people were out with cowbells and music cheering and that just made it so fun!!” We’d like

to give a special shoutout to the neighbors on Greenway who host an annual mimosa party on the morning of our race to raise funds for Time Out Youth. This huge and highly energetic crowd provided great encouragement to our runners, several of whom approached me after the race and said how much they enjoyed running past that party.

Shortly after 8:26 am and continuing through 9:15, all our runners crossed the finish line and after a couple minutes catching their breath, enjoyed mingling with fellow neighbors and runners, visiting with our sponsors, and re-nourishing themselves with food and fluids. One satisfied runner wrote, “Plenty of munchies and refreshments and give-aways and vendors post-race.”

At 9:15 we held the Liz Kids’ Fun Run, which is a great opportunity for the little ones in the neighborhood to participate in the day’s festivities. Elvis summed it up best when he said, “The Liz Kids’ Fun Run was worth the price of admission.” Kudos to all the kids as well as to the parents who brought their kids out.

At 9:20, the party moved to Hawthorne’s, who graciously supplied beer and pizza for our runners, and at 9:30 Elvis started the awards ceremony. In addition to customized Elizabeth 8K

medals that were awarded to the top 3 overall, masters and age group winners for women and men, this year we also gave gift certificates from Harris Teeter, Hawthorne’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods to the top 3 overall female and male winners as well as to the overall female and male masters winners. According to one of our medalists, “Elvis doing the awards was awesome. He singlehandedly made the event for me. Still laughing about his one-liners.” Shortly before 10, the rain began to fall, but with beer still flowing, no one seemed to mind. As a couple runners so accurately said, “Hawthorne Pizza is an awesome host. Beer and pizza is great,” and “Beer and Pizza, it doesn’t get any better than that!”

The Elizabeth 8K Road Race is one of the ECA’s largest fundraising events, and this year the Race generated over $12,000 in profits, a portion of which is used to support the replenishing

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of our tree canopy and the beautification of the common areas of our neighborhood as well TreesCharlotte, a public/private collaborative dedicated to achieving 50% tree canopy coverage in Charlotte by 2050.

The success of this race could not have been achieved without the dedication and support of the following:

Sponsors: Harris Teeter, Hawthorne’s NY Pizza & Bar, Novant Health, Hawthorne Lane United Methodist Church, Jackalope Jacks / Peculiar Rabbit, Jones Dry Cleaning, McClure CPA, P.A., Winiker Law Firms, PLLC, Ameriprise Financial, Catalyst Financial Group, The Davey Tree Expert Company, Helios BodyCare Chiropractic Center, Iron Butterfly Pilates, Ken Magas Design, Law Office of Annemarie Pantazis, Leroy Fox, McKnight Law Firm, PLLC, Parker Poe, TR Lawing Realty, Inc.. We thank you and encourage all those in our community to show our collective appreciation and gratitude by supporting them with your business.

Partners: Carolina Snapshot, Charlotte Running Company, Great Harvest Bread Co., Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation, Queen City Timing Services, School of Rock, Smoothie King, CMPD, CFD, TreesCharlotte.

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Volunteers: too many to list, but the 50+ participants who helped on race day were amazing.

ECA Board: Paul Shipley (finances), Beth Haeni (ECA table), Diana (and Reid) Watson and Jen Towell (volunteers), Nancy Albert (newsletter articles and ads), Sarah Bradley (ECA Facebook and newsgroup communications).

Race Committee: Amanda Beacham, Michelle Dagenhart, Meredith Freeman, Marshall Lindsay, Brian Rubins, Margaret Tugwell, Rick Winiker. I would like to personally give a special thanks to Amanda Beacham who will be stepping down as a committee member this year. She was a tremendous leader of the Elizabeth 8K for many years and has been an invaluable resource to me and the entire committee over the last two years.

ECA Board: Paul Shipley (finances), Beth Haeni (ECA table), Diana (and Reid) Watson and Jen Towell (volunteers), Nancy Albert (newsletter articles and ads), Sarah Bradley (ECA Facebook and newsgroup communications).

We wish you continued running success and are already looking forward to next year’s event.

Creativity by Frances D’Amato

Creativity is a word and also a concept that in some circles is highly prized. As Americans, we are known for our creative people. In North Carolina, we all are proud of the Wright Brothers, who turned ordinary bicycle engines and wings into planes. Their persistence after many failed attempts finally ushered in a new way of travel and indeed a revolutionary industry.

Most Americans are awed by the accomplishments of Steve Jobs and Apple. Steve’s genius created objects we didn’t even know we needed till he created them and now, we would be hard pressed to think of our lives without an iPad or iPhone.

Presently at Discovery Place, a creative curator helps us see the world of Vincent Van Gogh, a man who in some ways was a disappointment to his strict fundamentalist dad, but whose visions of the world changed our ways of seeing. Van Gogh’s work inspired other artists to paint in a way that changed the art world forever.

All three of these men had qualities that are characteristic of the creative person and are sometimes thought to be opposite of each other. Van Gogh was a quiet recluse while also an avid tavern frequenter. He moved

on a continuum from being an introvert to a wild extrovert. He was proud of his work, yet humble and said so many times to his brother that he never sold a painting while alive. When we look at Starry Night we see his imagination and fantasy in the glowing stars while the image is rooted in a sense of the reality of a night sky.

Steve Jobs demonstrated a combination of playfulness and discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility. He was tireless in his pursuit of a dream always striving for simplicity and perfection. Steve experienced the world in novel and original ways. His perceptions were fresh, his judgments insightful both allowed him to make important discoveries that today we couldn’t live with out.

Scientists have been studying the creative process for generations; in 1926 Graham Wallas thought there were five steps in the process:

Preparation, a focusing on a problem

Incubation, an internalization of the problem

Intimation, feeling that a solution was possible

Illumination, the solution in the form of an idea bursts into preconscious processing.

Verification, the idea is elaborated, applied and tested.

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Recent researchers have combined Intimation and Illumination so we now have a four-step process. I can verify that the four steps seem to work for me when I write or create a painting. J. P. Gilford in 1950 added the notion that to encourage creative thinking we need to focus more on divergent rather than convergent thinking. The brainstorming sessions that most of us experience in business meetings are a result of that.

In teaching, we often suggest that learners use convergent thinking to aim for a single solution to a problem or one right answer. I feel that a toleration of many ideas and solutions might serve our students better.

In any case you may want to put your own skills at being creative to the test. Your problem may be deciding on plants for your garden. Think about the many considerations: when will each bloom, how high will each grow, will the colors be complimentary or provide contrast. Spend time with many ideas for the solution, rest and see what pops up in your minds eye and then test it out.

Let me know if there are other ways you’d like to test your creativity.

Bike safety tips by CharMeck Police

There are so many great reasons to ride your bike: It offers fun, freedom and exercise, and it’s good for the environment. Here are a few tips so that you’ll be as safe as possible while you’re doing it.

Wear a helmet! We have a simple saying: “Use your head, wear a helmet.” It is the single most effective safety device available to reduce head injury and death from bicycle crashes.

Find the right helmet fit Make sure your child has the right size helmet and wears it every time when riding, skating or scooting. Your children’s helmet should meet the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s standards. When it’s time to purchase a new helmet, let your children pick out their own; they’ll be more likely to wear them for every ride.

• Make sure the helmet fits and your child knows how to put it on correctly. A helmet should sit on top of the head in a level position, and not rock forward, backward or side to side. The helmet straps must always be buckled, but not too tightly.

• EYES check: Position the helmet on your head. Look up and you should see the bottom rim of the helmet. The rim should be one to two finger-widths above the eyebrows.

• EARS check: Make sure the straps of the helmet form a “V” under your ears when buckled. The strap should be snug but comfortable.

• MOUTH check: Open your mouth as wide as you can. Do you feel the helmet hug your head? If not, tighten those straps and make sure the buckle is flat against your skin.

Almost ready to ride

• Take your child along with you when purchasing him/her a bike. This will ensure a proper bike fit. Select one that’s the right size for the child, not one he or she will grow into.

• When children are sitting on the seat of the bicycle, their feet should be able to touch the ground.

• Before they head out for a ride, make sure the reflectors are secure, brakes work properly, gears shift smoothly, and tires are tightly secured and properly inflated.

• Long or loose clothing can get caught in bike chains or wheel spokes. Dress young kids appropriately to ensure a safe ride.

Parents: keep an eye out

• Actively supervise children until you’re comfortable that they are responsible to ride on their own.

• Every child is different, but developmentally, it can be


hard for kids to judge speed and distance of cars until age 10, so limit riding to sidewalks (although be careful for vehicles in driveways), parks or bike paths until age 10. No matter where you ride, teach your child to stay alert and watch for cars and trucks.

• Children should be able to demonstrate riding competence and knowledge of the rules of the road before cycling with traffic.

Model and teach good behavior

• You’d be surprised how much kids learn from watching you, so it’s extra important for parents to model proper behavior. Wear a helmet, even if you didn’t when you were a kid.

• Teach your kids to make eye contact with drivers. Bikers should make sure drivers are paying attention and are going to stop before they cross the street.

• Tell your kids to ride on the right side of the road, with traffic, not against it. Stay as far to the right as possible. Use appropriate hand signals and respect traffic signals, stopping at all stop signs and stoplights.

• Stop and look left, right and left again before entering a street or crossing an intersection. Look back and yield to traffic coming from behind before turning left.

North Carolina traffic laws require bicyclists to:

1. Ride on the right in the same direction as other traffic.

2. Obey ALL traffic signs and signals.

3. Use hand signals to communicate intended movements to vehicle, and clearly audible signals to any pedestrians who may be affected by the bicyclist’s movements.

4. Yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, and it is the bicyclist’s responsibility to avoid a collision with a pedestrian

5. Equip their bicycles with a front lamp visible from 300 feet and a rear reflector that’s visible from a distance of 200 feet when riding at night.

6. All bicycle operators under 16 years of age must wear a bicycle helmet on public roads, public paths and public rights-of-way.

7. All child passengers under 40 pounds or 40 inches must be seated and secured in a child seat or a bicycle trailer.

8. Bicycling on Interstate or fully controlled limited access highways, such as beltlines, is prohibited by policy, unless otherwise specified by action of the Board of Transportation.

For more information, please visit safekids.org.

Church news by HLUMC

Learn how you can be involved in our church-wide partnership with Freedom School Partners.

Missions in Service: oportunities open to all

Hawthorne Lane, First, Kilgo, and St. Luke’s United Methodist churches invite you to join us for a combined Vacation Bible School at Hawthorne Lane: Monday July 7 through Friday July 11 from 5:30-8:00pm – dinner served. Three year olds thru 5th graders welcome.

Everyone is invited to the Friday evening picnic and celebration.

Annual music camp for rising 1st – 8th grades: Monday July 14 thru Friday July 18th from 9am to 3pm.

Music camp performance and dinner Friday July 18th: 6pm

Check the church banner or website for time & dates for special events: www.hlumc.org 704-332-8131.

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yard art by Terry Shipleyphoto: Nancy O. Albert


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Think sideways by Little Shiva

Ok, since we have a little extra space in this newsletter, I’m gonna pull something out of my hat on the subject of creativity. First of all, let’s get the “only artists are creative” cliché out of the way, ‘cos that’s nonsense. Everyone’s born creative, and everyone has the potential to be creative on a regular basis. What happens is that the oppressive weight of tradition, peer pressure, social structures and convention can grind the creativity right out of anyone. It’s not easy to not give a damn.

I happen to have a special talent for not giving a damn, though, so let me tell you how that’s helped me. I didn’t actually realize it was special or a talent until after living in Charlotte for a few years: I’d been a sort of strange and reclusive child, with plenty going on in my own head to keep me happily occupied. My family travelled a lot due to my dad’s Navy career, and getting in the habit of going to unfamiliar places kept me flexible, curious and creative.

How, exactly? Well, for one thing, creativity has a lot to do with juxtaposition, I think. Especially when the juxtaposition is a little jarring: that’s where you get a glimpse of the unexpected. A lot of times it’s small, subtle even, and that’s the essence of what

I call “thinking sideways”. Trying something new, getting out of a rut and pushing into the uncomfortable are all slightly destabilizing, and that’s where it’s at – creativity happens in the weird zone.

So what’s the part about not giving a damn? Aaah... well, if you’re sort of antisocial, like me, it’s easy. Other people’s opinions don’t affect you much to begin with, so that’s one huge burden off your back. I’ve actually had to work on that all my life, because not having the “oh, I really DO care what you think” gene is a devastating flaw if your livelihood involves people in any way. But for the creative process it’s good to not care what other people think, and you can train yourself to improve that skill. The secret is confidence.

When I moved to Charlotte after 17 years in NYC it was like coming to home turf. Weird, because although I was born in Chapel Hill and my Danish grandparents had lived in Derita since the 1950’s, I grew up as a globetrotting Navy brat and didn’t call any one place home. But Charlotte felt like “roots”, so I ran with it. Looking back, those seven years in Charlotte were my most outrageous so far, and I’m really glad I got a chance to experience being creative in such a flamboyant way. I wear that experience like a jewelled cloak now that I live in Charleroi, Belgium, where

the weight of tradition, peer pressure, social structures and convention is pretty damn heavy.

Thinking sideways worked for me once again: since I wasn’t exactly on home turf when I moved to Belgium in 2007, I decided to change the way I was presenting myself. The juxtaposition of flamboyant inner me with the toned-down-to-try-and-appear-normal version I created provided endless amusement for me, and I also learned something new. Being flamboyant can attract but also repel (as I learned in Charlotte), but when you pull in and present as neutral, you create the space for others to unfold in front of you... fascinating!

And what does all that have to do with creativity? A lot, actually. For one, “lifesplicing” is a trick anyone can practice. Try it yourself: you don’t even have to go far to do it. Go take a walk in a neighborhood you never go to, for example. Do this more than once, to try and get a feel for the strange new place. You can do it anywhere, you don’t have to go far. Be attentive to the new things you see, smell, hear. Say hello to people you wouldn’t normally talk to. Interact a little with this new environment. But keep it to yourself, let it brew. No need to go all bla-bla-bla about your new experience: in fact, letting it brew for awhile


may be the most important part, because that’s how it seeps into your unconscious. That’s just one example, but I think you get my drift.

Creativity isn’t an end result, it’s a phenomenon and a process. Try new things. Little things. Train yourself to get out of your comfort zone, explore and be attuned. Then one day when you least expect it, there’ll be this little “click” inside your brain – a shift. It’s subtle, but if you pay attention you’ll learn to recognize it. That’s thinking sideways... that’s creativity. Go for it!

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Safety tips for runners and walkers by CharMeck Police

The weather is getting warm and it’s time to get out and get some exercise. Here are a few tips so that you’ll be as safe as possible while you’re doing it.

• Don’t wear headphones! Car horns, cyclists or footsteps of someone behind you all fade away while wearing headsets. Stay focused.

• Try to jog, walk or run with a companion.

• Try to avoid going out for a run after dark.

• Try to avoid running in unpopulated, unfamiliar, poorly lit areas, and stay away from heavily wooded trails or any other secluded areas especially if you’re by yourself.

• Be visible: wear light colored clothing with reflectors or lighting.

• Vary your route and pattern.

Defense against dogs

Many times walkers, joggers, or runners encounter what appears to be an unfriendly dog. The following tips are encouraged with such encounters:

• Know where the dog is, look at its direction but don’t aggressively stare.

• If the dog gets close to you, allow it to sniff you and stand completely still.

• In a low, calm voice say: “No – go home!”

• Stay still until the dog leaves.

• Back slowly away until it’s out of sight.

Defense against threats

• Stay alert and attentive to your surroundings.

• Carry a whistle, walking stick, or pepper spray when you jog/walk/run.

• Do not stop to give directions or answer questions to strangers.

• Always trust your intuition.

• If followed, go to the nearest residence, open business, or group of people.

• And always call the police if something happens or looks suspicious.

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