2006 Preservation Series

The 2006 Preservation Series is Here!

Memphis Heritage is pleased to announce the Preservation Series class for 2006: Great Neighborhoods 3 - All Around the Town. Now in its seventh year, the annual Preservation Series continues to highlight the history and evolution of the diverse and important neighborhoods that still make their mark on our City. Architectural styles, city planning, community evolution and great stories about this year's selected neighborhoods guarantee to entertain, enlighten and inspire. The schedule for the 2006 Series is listed below. All sessions run from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

March 6
Victorian Village: Memphis' Silk Stocking Suburb

Presented by Kate Dixon, Former Manager of Historic Properties, Memphis Museum System

March 14
Annesdale Snowden: Italianate Villa to Arts and Crafts Bungalow

Presented by Linda Lipinski, 30-year neighborhood resident and Associate Professor of English, Southwest Tennessee Community College

March 21
The Little Flower, the God of Abraham, and the Confederate General: 3 Historic Churches in VECA

Presented by Judith Johnson, Architectural Historian, J. Johnson & Associates.

March 28
The Parkways: Framing our Midtown Neighborhoods

Presented by Michael Sicuro, Historic Preservation Analyst, City of Memphis Housing & Community Development and Cathy Marcinko, Local Preservationist & Grant Writer

The sessions on Annesdale Snowden and VECA will be timely for this year, as the VECA neighborhood hosts its Home Tour in April and the Annesdale Snowden neighborhood celebrates its 100-year anniversary, including a Centennial Home Tour on May 21.

Interest in the Series has grown so much that we are moving it to a different location. Instead of at the Junior League, which served us well for the last two classes, the 2006 class will be held at Trinity Methodist Church, in their educational building located at 1738 Galloway (at the North East corner of N.Evergreen and Galloway. The 447 N. Evergreen address is the actual Church address).

We hope that this change will allow us to provide the best experience possible and bring more people into the fold of historic preservation in our community. We hear a lot about the people moving out of Memphis and the new subdivisions being built, but we hear far less about the people who choose to stay and about the livable neighborhoods that have been here all along.

Let's show our support for our City's great neighborhoods and the people that work to keep them that way. The church has ample parking and plenty of seats, so don't hesitate to register yourself and a group of friends.

The registration fee is $60. Checks should be made payable to Memphis Heritage and mailed to: 509 South Main Street, Memphis, TN 38103-4456.

Please include a telephone number or email address if you want your registration confirmed. For questions or additional information, call 901-529-9828 or visit the Memphis Heritage website or email
jwest@memphisheritage.org

Billboard Ordinance Vote

from Evergreener Bill Bullock

City Council is scheduled to vote on Tuesday, Feb. 7 on amendments to the local sign ordinance. Council will choose one of two options regarding the allowability of new billboards. Evergreen has given written support to the more restrictive option that limits new billboards in areas along interstate highways. This is in keeping with the direction Council set in 1999. A legal dispute between two billboard companies has raised and potentially clouded this issue, with the other option allowing new billboards on streets such as Union and Poplar.

While Councilwoman Chumney, Evergreens's district representative, and several other Council members will be supporting the more restrictive language, the vote is not guaranteed. If this issue is of importance to you, let all Council members know with your phone call, e-mail or your appearance at the meeting on the 7th at City Hall.

While scheduled to start at 3:30, you will likely not miss this issue even if you can't get there until 4 p.m. or later. Contact information can be found here.

January 24, 2006 Minutes

Tucker Jefferson Neighborhood Association
Minutes of meeting, January 24, 2006

Co-President Sara Goff called the meeting to order.

The minutes from the previous meeting were approved and the treasurer gave his report.

Austin Lowry, liaison for Park Friends, reported that Park Friends will be continuing the fall hayride as an annual event and are planning another family event for the spring. He also announced that he would be moving out of the neighborhood, which will leave a vacancy on the TJNA Board for an at-large member.

Sandra Mathias from the Emergency Management Agency gave a very interesting presentation on emergency preparedness. She explained that we all should be prepared to manage on our own for at least 3 days during an emergency and listed the items that we should have available for use during that period. Fortunately, these items are probably already in our homes, they just need to be assembled into an emergency kit. She reminded us that we also have to plan supplies for any pets that we might have. She handed out some additional information and said that the Emergency Management Agency offers classes for anyone who might be interested, and can be contacted at 901-458-1515 or www.mscema.org.

The meeting then divided up into groups to brainstorm for ideas that might benefit the neighborhood.

The neighborhood cleanup group identified the persistent problem along Jefferson as one area to focus our cleanup effort. It was also suggested that the neighbors that go walking in the neighborhood might take a trash bag along, and pick up trash along their way. Another idea was to suggest that people pick up the trash that is on their block.

The membership group had many suggestions, including, encouraging business membership, letting businesses put ads or coupons in the newsletter, working on getting renters to join the group, putting an application for membership back onto the meeting flyer, meeting more frequently, having door prizes, and having more social events.

The code enforcement group suggested having a nice notice or pleasant flyer, which could be left at the door of persons who are violating the city code. It should be something nice, which would inform them of the city rules. It was also suggested that we would need to get a copy of the code from the city.

The social group listed a number of social events that the neighborhood might plan, including, a pre-holiday yard sale, a meet-the-candidates forum during election years, a spring pot-luck, a door decorating contest at one of the holidays, offering help to the elderly or infirm in putting up some holiday lights, and doing the Neighborhood Night Out which we have been doing.

Some of the ideas raised during the earlier board meeting included, a progressive porch party, a neighborhood walk/run, a neighborhood parade, and an organized running/walking group. A final idea was to organize a walk around the neighborhood that would focus on the historic nature of the neighborhood.

Sign-up sheets were passed around allowing people to sign up for any committee they were interested in.

Co-President Gail Karr announced that the Northwest Passage had opened at the Zoo. She also said that she had gotten all the information about Neighborhood Watch from the Police Department and needed someone to take charge of this effort. Donna Heidelberger offered to do this for the group.

There was a request for items for the newsletter, and a short comment on the Heart of the Arts District project. It was decided that the dues would be collected during the month of July each year.

It was decided that we should meet every other month beginning in April.

The next meeting will be on the 4th Tuesday of April, April 25, and the speaker will be Suzy Askew, who will speak to us about garden restoration and heirloom plants.

The meeting was adjourned.