from ARLINGTON HEIGHTS CIVIC ASSOCIATION
President’s Message
Annual Election Meeting
January 17, 2006
Patrick Henry Elementary School
Pot Luck at 7:00PM
Meeting at 7:30PM
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season.
This past year has been a very good one for the Arlington Heights neighborhood. Thanks to the planning of Megan Booth, we had our first neighborhood block party in a number of years. We couldn't have hoped for a much worse weather forecast for the day, but, while a bit cold and wet, the weather turned out to be not quite as bad as predicted. Turnout was great, and we all had a wonderful time.
We put in an outstanding small parks grant application, thanks to the extensive efforts of Cathy Camp and Jay Wind, to landscape and improve the west side of Irving street along the Thomas Jefferson playing fields. We saw the completion of the Neighborhood Conservation project to add street lights along 6th Street and a portion of Garfield Street, thanks to efforts by Betty Siegel with the NCAC program. For the first year, we co-sponsored and participated in a very successful fun run with students from Patrick Henry Elementary school. We've also had some luck increasing meeting turnout with attempts to have shorter, more concise meetings.
In addition to these new things, we once again had a very successful joint yard sale with the Penrose neighborhood in the career center parking area thanks to Amy Vennett. We again co-sponsored a well-attended booth at the county fair with the Arlington County Civic Federation. We again had an excellent series of speakers at our meetings to keep us informed about issues affecting our neighborhood. I hope that all of these great things can happen again in 2006 and continue to make Arlington Heights the fantastic neighborhood that it is.
Our next meeting will be the annual election meeting on January 17 at 7:30PM. Before the meeting at 7:00PM we'll have a low key pot luck to welcome any new neighbors to the meeting and to the neighborhood. Usually this consists mostly of snacks and desserts but feel free to bring anything you'd like to share. The agenda for the meeting is extremely short; there are no scheduled guest speakers. Since this is an election meeting I want to encourage as many people as possible to come out and vote for the 2006 AHCA officers. If anyone is interested in becoming more involved and might possibly want to run for one of the offices, please get in touch with myself or Jay Wind, who is the head of the nominating committee. Our contact information is in the officer's list.
I hope to see you at our coming meeting.
Adam Croswell
President
AHCA Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
- Pot Luck
- Introductions (3 minutes)
- Review of Minutes (3 minutes)
- Treasurer's Report (5 minutes)
- Civic Federation Report (5 minutes)
- Committee Reports
- Old Business
- New Business
- Elections
- Adjournment
2005 Officers:
- President: Adam Croswell (703-553-0523) acroswel@rocketmail.com
- 1st Vice-President: Martin Chadzynski 75363.3375@compuserve.com
- 2nd Vice-President: Kimberly Sumner red4thof7@aol.com
- Secretary: Betty Siegel (703-892-1959) siegelbr@hotmail.com
- Treasurer: Bob Dannemiller (703-685-3795) rjdannem@aol.com
- Neighborhood Conservation Representatives:
- Betty Siegel (703-892-1959) siegelbr@hotmail.com
- David Reidy (703-920-2940) dreidy@ompdirect.com
- Newsletter Editor: Megan Booth (703-553-9712) jjmegan@verizon.net
- Newsletter Distribution:
- Cathy Camp cathycamp@msn.com
- Jonathan Reed jonathanreed@comcast.net
- Web site: Richard Bullington-McGuire (703-979-4380) rbulling@obscure.org
- List serve: Jay Jacob Wind (703-218-2726) jay.wind@att.net
Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Council (NCAC) representatives needed
We're currently looking for representatives to NCAC (Neighborhood Conservation Advisory Committee). The NCAC is the organization which administers and awards bond funds for neighborhood conservation projects such as sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and streetlights. The recently completed street lights installed on South 6th Street are one example of how NCAC has benefited Arlington Heights. Their mission statement is: "To enhance residential areas by providing citizen-initiated public improvements in a timely manner, based upon regularly-updated, neighborhood-developed plans." You can find a more complete description of the program on the web at:
http://www.co.arlington.va.us/Departments/CPHD/ons/CPHDOnsConservation.aspx
NCAC meetings are on the second Thursday of every month. Contact Adam Croswell (contact info listed in Officers section) if you'd be interested in representing our neighborhood in this group.
November Police Statistics
Crime continues its downward trend in the Third District and the county. Compared to last years statistics in the Third District, robbery is down 25%, burglary is down 11% and stolen cars are down 30%. These are amazing statistics for the three quarters of 2005. The number of cars being broken into remains constant from 2004, but we are still looking pretty good. However, we still have some trends that give me concern.
In the Penrose neighborhood, a pattern continues with vandalisms to cars and other property. This is occurring in the 200 - 600 blocks of S. Adams St and along the 2400 block of S. 8th and S. 6th Sts. Additionally, two weeks ago 7 cars were vandalized in the 700 block of Walter Reed Dr. The Police Department has increased visible patrols and some plain clothes officers to try and apprehend the suspects.
In Douglas Park, there also has been an increase in vandalism of property, but there is no discernable pattern of time or location. They just seem to be spread out throughout the neighborhood.
In Nauck, we have seen an increase of stolen cars. The cars are being stolen from the dealership at the corner of S. Shirlington Rd. and S. 24th Rd. The dealer sells old police cars and this is a regional trend as well as local. The cars are either stolen for parts or transportion to the District of Columbia. These vehicles are preferred by drug dealers because they have a police package that includes a larger motor and increased suspension.
In Columbia Forest, we have seen a pattern of robberies at 4990 Columbia Pike. The robberies happen inside the apartment building and the suspects flee through a door into the parking lot. We are working with the building management to increase lighting and other safety measures.
Other than the things I have mentioned, it continues to be quiet throughout the Third District. If you have any questions or concerns please let me know.
Captain Paul Larson
Third District Commander
Would your child like to be added to our RENT-A-KID resource?
Rent-a-kid is a free listing of kids in the neighborhood who are available for hire to babysit, housesit, pet care, lawn care, etc. Email Betty Siegel at siegelbr@hotmail.com for inclusion in our next newsletter.
Join AHCA for 2005
Money Talk: A Financial Course for Women
This course will provide you with information that you need to take charge of your financial future. The course includes five classes:
January 25 Financial Basics
February 1 Insurance Basics
February 8 Investing Basics
February 15 Investing for Retirement
February 22 Planning for Future Life Events
All classes will be held 7:00-9:00 p.m. in room 10 at Fairlington Community Center, 3308 S Stafford Street in Arlington. Cost: $20 (for the accompanying textbook). To register call (703) 228-6417. This is a program of Virginia Cooperative Extension.
Self Defense for Women
A women's self-defense class will be held from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 28, 2006 at the Arlington YMCA. The cost of the class is $15. Call the YMCA at 703 525-5420 to register for the class. Participants should wear sturdy, comfortable clothes. The Arlington YMCA is located at 3422 13th Street North in Arlington.
The program for the class is:
- Introduction.
- Practical aspects of personal safety. How to minimize the possibility of physical confrontation.
- Defending yourself in real-life situations. This section will give participants an opportunity to practice effective defenses against common threats.
- Open discussion of "what-if" situations. This is an opportunity to address situations not previously covered.
- Closing to include next steps, books, other classes, etc.
Join AHCA's Ever-Growing E-mail List
Write to AHCA-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and get involved with the neighborhood.
E-mail topics include construction, lost cats, advice on vendors, information about meetings, and other fun stuff! Join today!
Sign up now for Winter Activities
The Arlington Parks and Recreation schedule is out for Winter 2006. Registration is underway. Classes include exercise and recreation, arts and crafts, dance, sports, music and nature and history. A full class catalog is available by visiting:
http://www.co.arlington.va.us/Departments/ParksRecreation/scripts/classes/pdf/WinterRL2k6.pdf
American Cancer Society Relay for Life
Relay for Life is an American Cancer Society event and is the culmination of months of fund raising efforts done by numerous teams throughout a community. The 12-hour event (ex. 7 pm-7am) is traditionally held on a track, hence the "Relay" title, while tents are set up on the inner field for participants to rest in. During the event itself, we provide games, bands, contests, and many other forms of entertainment. Don't let the name fool you, as it is not actually a race, but simply team members walking/running the track in the spirit of the traditional relay. Relay for Life is not only an event that endorses community involvement, but one that supports an incredible charitable cause. And as a resident of Arlington for over 22 years, I know very well the potential that this community has to contribute.
Relay for Life will be held in mid-June, 2006. I feel that Arlington County has enormous potential to be one of the most influential Relays in the district. Although physically small, we are extremely community-minded. There is so much that we can do to aid such an incredible organization as the American Cancer Society.
If you are interested in participating in this year's Relay for Life, or have questions about the event, please e-mail me. I monitor my e-mail closely, and will most likely be able to respond in a matter of hours. It would be wonderful to have more teams form from the communities get involved. We will also be throwing our annual Kickoff event in late February. If you would be interested in attending to receive more information about the event then, please let me know and we will send you an invitation!
For more information see http://americancancersociety.org/docroot/PAR/Content/PAR_1_Relay_For_Life.asp
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Allison Marie
Relay for Life 2006 Chairwoman
marie.allison@gmail.com