WALTHERSON IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION

P.O. BOX 3622

BALTIMORE, MD 21214

www.waltherson.org

mailbox@waltherson.org

Tweet: @WalthersonAssoc

Twitter: Facebook:

WALTHERSON IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION MONTHLY MEETING

When: March 6th, 2013 @ 7:45 PM

Where: Harbel 5807 Harford Rd

Get Involved Join WIA today! With membership your vote is counted and your voice heard in the community. Receive your monthly WIA newsletter to stay on top of what is happening in your neighborhood. Please complete the form below and send with your payment to: Waltherson Improvement Association P.O. Box 3622 Baltimore, MD 21214

March 2013

Bottles Cans and Paper Every Tuesday! Trash every Thursday! Bulk Trash (Call 311 to schedule)

Waltherson Membership/Renewal Form:

Name: __________________________________ Address: ________________________________ City, State: ______________________________ ZIP: ____________________________________ Phone: _________________________________

E-Mail: _________________________________

Please Specify: □ Renewal □New

Newsletter: □ E-mail □ Paper Mailing*

_____ Individual/Family/Business $12 _____ Senior $10

*Paper mailings are for our elderly and disabled members; please choose this option only if needed.

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Next Meeting: Our next meeting will be held at Harbel @ 5807 Harford Rd at 7:45 PM on March 6th.

President’s Letter

Hello all,

We are working on restructuring our association to promote a greater level of

involvement and awareness in our community. On the following page you will find an article

detailing a block captain program we expect to roll out later in the year. We hope that this

program will enable all of us to unite and truly speak with one voice to drastically increase our

ability to get things accomplished here in Waltherson and promote the sense of community on

our streets. I encourage you to consider participating in the program and if you are curious or

have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Thanks

Ronnie Lesperance

IN AND AROUND WALTHERSON

Note about Styrofoam Recycling

If you want to recycle Styrofoam but cannot make it to the sanitation yard, Waltherson member

Louise Harmony has offered to drop it off. Please get in touch with Robert Walshe at a meeting

or by e-mailing us at mailbox@waltherson.org if you are interested. Please be patient, we will

reply to e-mail towards the end of the month. You can also leave a message for us on Facebook

or tweet us @WalthersonAssoc.

Note: CHECK THE BOTTOM OF THE STYROFOAM CONTAINER FOR A NUMBER

6. Only number 6 items are accepted. No peanuts or packing material.

NECOP – Northeast Citizens on Patrol In Northeast Baltimore we have a district wide Citizens on Patrol program called NECOP. The reasoning behind the COP program is that regular neighborhood patrols can make criminals feel uncomfortable and drive them out of our neighborhood. Participants meet at the Northeast Police station at 1900 Argonne Drive near Morgan State and get a walkie talkie to keep them in contact with the Police and then proceed patrol their neighborhoods in their cars. Patrols normally go out each Thursday, Friday, and alternating Saturdays from about 7:30 - 10:30. For anyone interested in the Citizens on Patrol program, please contact Rob at Robert.walshe@gmail.com.

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Upcoming Neighborhood Events:

March

6th – Waltherson Community Meeting

8th

- First Friday Art Crawl: Art openings at Hamilton Gallery, 5502 Harford; Studio 55,

5529 Harford; Charmed Life Studio, 4505 Harford; Hamilton Arts Collective,

9th

– 9-11 AM & 12-3 PM – Wockenfuss Candies Annual Factory Tour 6831 Harford Rd

9th

– 12:30 PM Baltimore City Bicycle Master Plan Meeeting – Harbel, 5807 Harford Rd.

11th

– 6-8 PM – 45th

District Night in Annapolis,

o Casper R Taylor Building, 6 Bladen Street Rooms 170 & 180

April

2nd

– 6 PM - Herring Run Sewershed Improvements Meeting – Harford Senior Center

4920 Harford Rd

o To RSVP, please call 410-396-8966 or email publicworks@baltimorecity.gov by

03/25/2013.

3rd – Waltherson Community Meeting

5th

- First Friday Art Crawl: Art openings at Hamilton Gallery, 5502 Harford; Studio 55,

5529 Harford; Charmed Life Studio, 4505 Harford; Hamilton Arts Collective,

*Please check with businesses for details of their events

Block Captain Proposal Invitation

Beginning in Spring/Summer 2013, we are introducing an exciting new addition to the

Waltherson landscape, a network of block captains who can provide our community with an

immediately available resource that fosters close links between our residents, community

association, and city services. Given the size of our neighborhood, it can be easy for households

to feel disconnected from their community organization and each other. Block captains can help

all residents feel that they have the voice they deserve in their community organization while

making a huge difference in the quality of life for everyone in Waltherson.

The primary function of block captains is to coordinate front-line assistance for our

residents by connecting them with members of the Waltherson Improvement Association’s

Board of Directors, relevant city-service agencies, or by handling the matter directly themselves.

Over time, it is expected that block captains will come to be regarded by their immediate

neighbors as an invaluable resource. Simultaneously, the performance of these functions will

help to strengthen the bonds of the broader neighborhood community by linking these block

captains with each other through the community association and its board. Ultimately, a more

tightly knit fabric of voluntarism and mutual support will enhance the character of our

neighborhood and the quality of life for its residents. No one can understand or address issues

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better than those who are immediately affected by them. Block captains will be the responsible

agents who live closer to the conditions that they will deal with than anyone else. They will truly

be the building blocks of Waltherson.

Block captains, in particular, will help to strengthen the community in two broad ways.

First, they will help to identify and remedy problems before those problems become

unmanageable. Block captains will obviously not be expected to put themselves in harm’s way

or anything of that sort, but they can offer their immediate neighbors the valuable resource of

information—specifically information about who to contact to get things done that need to be

done. Second, block captains will help the community to coordinate activities such as block

parties, delivering newsletters, and welcoming new neighbors. Indeed, one virtue that we see as

resulting from the creation of our new block captain program is that it will help us to organize

the kinds of community activities that we all wish would happen but that have been too difficult

to coordinate in the past. Moving forward, we fully expect that we’ll be able to offer the kinds of

programs and events that everyone in the community has been hoping to see.

Block captains, in short, are emerging as the backbone of our community. Once

everyone has become aware of this program, the presence of block captains will help the

residents of Waltherson feel more closely connected with their neighborhood and with the

Waltherson Improvement Association. Each block captain will be the main point of contact for a

given geographical area, and together all the block captains will cover the entire Waltherson

community. No one will be left out; all will be included.

Block captains will be helped every step of the way. Each individual be provided with

his or her own information packet that will include telephone numbers of relevant city offices,

contact information for members of the Waltherson Board of Directors, the contact information

of other block captains, and other useful pieces of information. They will have the chance to file

monthly reports with the block captain coordinator, which will help to get things done. They

will become part of a larger community of like-minded volunteers who are eager to build a

healthy community for their children, neighbors, and themselves. They are the future.

Are you willing to help us create a new and better Waltherson, and by extension, a new

and improved Baltimore? We have it in our power to make our city the place we want for

ourselves and our children. If you would like to learn more about how to become a block

captain, please contact Paul T. McCartney, at pmccartney@towson.edu. We can make it happen

together, but we need your help. Please consider volunteering as a block captain.

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Please visit our sponsors:

*Please note, ads between pages on web version are not run by Waltherson*

Proud Member of:

WIA Volunteers Officers:

President 1st

Vice President

2nd

Vice President

Secretary Treasurer Parliamentarian Sergent at Arms

At-Large Member

Ron Lesperance

Helene Quinn

Frank Williams

Tavon Braxton

Francis Beane

Paul McCartney Sue Kessel Lisa Hom

Standing Committees and Representatives:

CRP Rep. Garden Sign & Projects

Membership NECOP Chairman

Main: Sue Kessel Alt: Rob Walshe

Ron Derr Tavon Braxton

Robert Walshe