July - Southampton

NEWS
The Official Newsletter of the
Southampton Neighborhood Association
July 2008
Next Southampton Neighborhood
Association Meetings
Picnic, Picnic, Picnic!
Date:
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Time:
7:00 p.m.
Refreshments will be served
Mark your calendar for the 3rd annual Southampton Neighborhood Association picnic. Plan to join
in the fun on Sunday, July 27th, starting at noon in Willmore Park at Pavilion #4 which is the very last
pavilion in the park. Look for the SNA Banner. Hot dogs, buns, condiments, plates, utensils and napkins
are provided by the Association. Please put your cooking talents to work and bring one of your delicious
side dishes or desserts for the potluck lunch. You will be able to purchase bottled water and soda for a
small fee.
Games begin at 2:00 p.m. and there will be prizes and neighborly fun for everyone. You'll have a chance
to win gift certificates from Pueblo Solis, Louie's Pizza, Tom Bess Automotive, and possibly Cardinal's tickets. A seven-week tuition for a DramaRama Theatre Company class for kids valued at $100
will also be raffled.
Anyone interested in helping with the picnic please contact Barbara Lehmier, Social Committee chair,
at 752-4928 or [email protected].
Location:Southampton Presbyterian Church
Lower level gymnasium
4716 Macklind Avenue (at Nottingham)
SNA Officers, Board
Members & City Officials
Marie Robinson, President
752-9972 • [email protected]
Ron Coleman, Vice President & Newsletter Editor
832-3872 • [email protected]
Curtis Miller, Treasurer
480-6314 • [email protected]
Landon Shaw, Secretary
435-7760 • [email protected]
Melissa Hendriksen, Board Member
351-0949 • [email protected]
Dennis Polley, Board Member
832-6448 • [email protected]
Nicole Trueman, Block Captain Chair
605-7788 • [email protected]
Stephen Gregali, 14th Ward Alderman
(includes Macklind to Kingshighway)
622-3287 • [email protected]
Donna Baringer, 16th Ward Alderman
(includes Macklind to Hampton)
641-8377 • [email protected]
Sandy Colvin
14th Ward Neighborhood Stabilization Officer
613-3169 • [email protected]
DeAnna Murphy
16th Ward Neighborhood Stabilization Officer
589-8161 • [email protected]
Don Veile, Public Affairs Officer
St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
444-0168 • [email protected]
Join The Sna!
Your Membership Matters
Join or renew your membership to the Southampton
Neighborhood Association. Simply mail this form with
your annual dues of $10 per household.
Your current membership status can be found above
the mailing address.
New Member Membership Renewal
Name:_________________________________
Address:________________________________
____________________________________
Homeowner Renter Business/Property Owner
Phone (optional):___________________________
Email (optional):_ __________________________
Sunday, July 27th, Noon to 4 p.m.
Congratulations to Our New Executive Board
Thanks to Outgoing Officers
Members of the Southampton Neighborhood Association who were present at the last meeting cast
their votes for the officers that will serve the next two years. Congratulations to our new President,
Marie Robinson, who served as the Association's secretary last term. We also
welcome Curtis Miller as Treasurer, and
Landon Shaw, Secretary. Ron Coleman will continue as Vice-President for
a 3rd term. The Association also elected
two board members at-large, Melissa
Hendriksen and Dennis Polley, to
new positions. Marie, exercising her role
as president, has already appointed enthusiastic volunteers Nicole Trueman,
who will serve as Block Captain Chair,
and Barbara Lehmier, Chair of the Social Events and Hospitality Committee.
Both will serve on the board by virtue of
their committee chair positions.
We would be remiss not to thank pastThe newly elected Southampton Board. Front row, left to right:
president Chad Stokel and former treaMarie Robinson, president; Nicole Trueman, block captain chair;
surer Andrew Barrett for their tireless
Landon Shaw, secretary; Top row, left to right: Curtis Miller, treasurer;
work. If they had been paid even miniRon Coleman, vice-president; Dennis Polley; Barbara Lehmier,
mum wage for their hours and hours of
social events chair. Not pictured: Melissa Hendriksen.
volunteer work they would be wealthy
men. The neighborhood is indebted to
their behind-the-scenes service, and luckily they have promised their ongoing support.
The Association goals of promoting the neighborhood, disseminating information and educating and
connecting citizens to local businesses and government services, could not be accomplished without
these devoted volunteers. Your membership in the Association not only supports financially the goals of
the organization but lends much needed encouragement and validation to their work. If you have not
been a member in the past, but are thankful for the work of the Association, please consider "paying your
dues." If you cannot attend even one of the meetings, we know you will continue to reap some of the
indirect benefits of the Association's efforts.
GET THE LATEST NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS ON THE Southampton Yahoo! Group.
Register to read messages from your neighbors, ask questions, address concerns,
talk about your favorite business, connect with city services and much more!
IT’S Completely FREE so join now.
2
I can volunteer! (optional)
Photographer Editor Writer Block Captain
Landscape Social PR Special Events Board
Please make your check payable to:
“Southampton Neighborhood Association” and mail to:
Southampton Neighborhood Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 5183
St. Louis, MO 63139
Type
www.groups.yahoo.com
into your browser window.
Under the heading,
“Join a Group,” type:
Southampton Neighborhood
Click the Search Button.
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In the resulting window,
click on the link:
Southampton Neighborhood
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In the next window,
follow the instructions
and complete the
subscription form.
Community Notes
Logo Contest Winner Selected
President’s Message
Marie Robinson
Hello! Please let me introduce myself. My
name is Marie Robinson and I was elected your
new president at the May meeting. I want to first
thank the outgoing officers Chad Stockel and
Andrew Barrett for doing a spectacular job as
President and Treasurer.
I learned a lot from them
and they gave so much
to the community. I look
forward to working with
them on future projects.
Here is a little information
about myself. I have lived
in the neighborhood for
three years, am married
and have one two-year-old
Marie Robinson
son. I served as the SNA
President, Southampton
Neighborhood Association
executive secretary for the
past two years and filled
in as social chair for a while. I have always been
involved in community events and government.
Knowing that this was a great neighborhood, I
could not wait to work with all the wonderful
people. My goals as President will be to boost
membership, develop community events and increase involvement. I mainly just want to make
Southampton Neighborhood a thriving place to
live. I look forward to meeting you all and making new friends. Please feel free to send me an
email or find me at our neighborhood meetings
and let me know your good ideas for the neighborhood.
Treasurer’s Message
Curtis Miller
Hello Neighbors! As the newly elected treasurer of the neighborhood association, it’s my job to
insure that the money raised by the association
is properly accounted for and used in a wise and
prudent manor. It’s not a glamorous job, but one
that needs great attention none the less.
With the current state of the economy and
the ever present rise in the price of gas, it’s also
something more and more Americans are paying attention to these days. When times are good
and home equity loans flow freely from the banks
to your credit card payments, few people ponder
the sustainability of their lifestyle. Cut off from
a cheap source of money, all of us are starting to
reflect on how we spend our hard earned money.
Unfortunately for most of us, financial literacy
is not something we ever learned in school. It’s a
hard lesson to learn and can strike at any time for
those living paycheck to paycheck. Luckily, there
are a ton of great resources to help you get things
straightened out should you be having trouble.
Our local library is full of great material to help
you get back in control. I’ve also found a number
of blogs online to be a great help as well (check
out www.getrichslowly.org for one). However,
the best help of all I’ve found is purely open and
honest communication.
I plan on taking that same approach with my duties here as well. By continuing to keep an open
face to the association's financial status, each of
you are able to make sure the executive committee
is doing a responsible job. I also hope to continue
to provide some short articles and money saving
tips in our newsletters. So, keep an eye out!
As is evident by the refresh of this newsletter design, the Logo Contest sponsored by the SNA was
a success! Carrie Appelhans of Bancroft collected
the $200 prize. After the executive board narrowed
the field of ten entries to three, the membership
voted for the winner. Carrie was grateful to have
won and was then kind enough to refresh our
newsletter as well. Unfortunately, we cannot print
the full color design, but her original submission,
as well as all the other entries, may be viewed on
our Yahoo! Group.
Commenting on the contest, Carrie said, "I was
excited when I read that there was a logo contest. I
have always thought the logo needed to be updated
and when the opportunity presented itself, I wasn't
going to let it pass."
Carrie earned a B.A. in graphic design from University of Missouri–St. Louis and has seven years
of experience in the field, having designed various
product and company logos.
"I've been a SOHA resident for five years and I
am proud to live in the Southampton neighborhood. I was thrilled to find out that the logo I designed would be representing my neighborhood."
An interesting turn of events may be the reason
for our new logo. Carrie explains, "I actually procrastinated and missed the first deadline and in
between the first and second deadline, I was laid
off from my full time job. Needless to say, I was
devastated. Getting laid off did nothing for my self
esteem not to mention my money flow. Winning
this contest couldn't of happened at a better time
for me because it put a little cash in my pocket
and mended my self esteem. I have since landed a
job with a great company in mid-town, only a few
miles from my house."
Notwithstanding, the Association would like to
thank all of the participants who submitted some
very professional and absolutely incredible designs.
It was difficult to choose just one winner, but we're
very happy with our new look.
Two More Businesses Open Along
Macklind Avenue
The headline may the same as the last issue, but
we really do have two more businesses open along
Macklind Avenue in the last two months. The
growth has been inspiring. Please welcome to the
neighborhood Nature's Aglow 2 at Devonshire
off Macklind. Owners Jodie Bone and Cheyenne
Jacquelin offer 100% soy candles, gifts and home
decor. For now, they utilize the original Nature's
Aglow in De Soto to make their products but plan
to begin making the candles in this store around
the first of August. They hope to provide the community with great products at a great price. One
interesting thing for readers to know is that they
can recycle their candle containers by refilling
them once they are empty. (website: www.naturesaglow.com)
Gianino Realty is now open at 4917 Macklind
Avenue. According to owner Maria Gianino, who
also opened Francescas In the City last year at
Nottingham and Macklind, the goal is to be the
SoHa neighborhood real estate experts. "We want
to help buyers and sellers in the neighborhood as
well as small business owners looking to locate their
new or existing business in the area. We want to be
a walk-in office where people in the neighborhood
can stop in and find out what is for sale in the area
as well as finding out information about what a
great place the neighborhood is to live and work."
Maria has over 25 years of experience in real estate and will also be looking for 3-4 local agents in
the area who would like to work with her. She says
"I look forward to working in the neighborhood!"
(website: www.gianinorealty.com)
Southwest City Dog Park
Bigger and Better
A nearly 9,000 square foot expansion of the
Southwest City Dog Park is now complete giving
city dogs a full 1.2 acres to romp and play!
During the expansion, a portion of the park was
sectioned off as an "Alternate Use Area" to allow
small dogs, special needs, and older dogs space to
play together away from the more active dogs.
The dog park is approaching it's 3rd year of
operation, and will begin accepting applications
for memberships during August for the Sept. 2008
- Sept. 2009 dog park season. Rates will remain
the same as last year - $20 for Southampton
Neighborhood Association members, $35 for St.
Louis City residents, and $60 for County residents
for the first dog and $10 for each additional dog
(up to 3). Memberships will again be limited to
ensure the safety of all the dogs at the park - so
get your applications in early to ensure "Fido"'s
membership! For more information check out
www.swcitydogpark.org or call 567-2012.
Highly Regarded Mail Carrier
"Wally" Changes Routes
To the dismay of many, mail carrier Wally
Rutherford secured another route after delivering
to a large portion of Southampton for many years.
Although stating that it was a very difficult decision
to transfer to his new route on Jamieson, he needs
to finish his career with fewer doorsteps. Once
residents learned of his transfer which began June
6th, expressions of appreciation were shared on
our Yahoo! Group. We would like to reprint some
of them as a tribute below. Wally, we know you'll
read this!
"Wally is definitely the best mailman I have ever
had. I know he loves the Cardinals. If you have extra
tickets, I am sure he would put them to good use."
"I agree! He is awesome!"
"He is the younger guy [emphasis added for Wally]
with the radio headset and beard. There is never a
problem with him. He is the greatest."
"He's watched out for the widows and those
who live alone; has kept his eyes open for all of us.
We're trying to think of a special way to say goodbye. We know his personal interests are fishing and
running, if that helps in any way."
"Just a fun fact about Wally–his son, Jeremy Rutherford, writes about the Blues in the Post Dispatch. Wally is a huge sports fan!
"I agree he is great. I've lived here for 30 years
and he's the only one whose name I knew. I'll miss
him but I'm happy that he got what he bid for because he deserves it."
"I will miss Wally, but he assures me that we will
see him from time to time when there is any overtime on this route."
If you would like to express your appreciation,
you may write to him at Southwest Post Office,
3232 Clifton Avenue, 63139.
SNA Cookbooks Available
The first of what we hope to be an annual compilation of recipes from members will be sold for
around $1 or $2 at future Association meetings. Be
sure to pick up a copy and then save your favorite
recipes for inclusion in next year's booklet.
Muny Tickets Raffle at Next Meeting
Alderman Donna Baringer has donated two of
her August 10th Fiddler on the Roof Muny tickets to
the SNA for raffle at the July 9th meeting. Thank
you Donna! Hopefully, it will entice some of you
to come to the meeting for a chance to win.
The script follows Tevye and his family as they
grapple to balance tradition with inevitable change.
Laden with both happiness and tears, Fiddler has
earned its place as one of the glowing achievements
of musical theatre.
The tickets are Terrace A and include parking.
Good luck!
Southampton Neighborhood Association is a non-political, nonprofit, neighborhood group dedicated to improving the quality of life and promoting community spirit in Southampton Neighborhood. The Association exists solely for
the benevolent and educational benefit of the Community and in no manner for financial gain or profit. Its objectives are to advance and promote the public interest of Southampton Neighborhood. The Association shall advocate
zoning in land use that is proper and appropriate for the community and it shall oppose the action of any individual or institution which is detrimental to the community. Southampton’s boundaries are Kingshighway on the east,
Hampton on the West, Chippewa on the north and Rhodes on the south. As property owners and residents, we strongly advocate the preservation of real estate property values.
strengthening the Neighborhood
Problem Property on Your BlocK?
Here's How Neighbors Can Help
DeAnna Murphy, Neighborhood Stabilization Officer
Nuisance and the City will issue
a Public Nuisance Notice to the
property owner. A copy of the
Notice will also be posted at the
property.
Generally, once a property has
been put on Public Nuisance
Notice, a meeting with the owner and/or Management Company is held and a plan is put
in motion to abate the nuisance
behavior. Tenants/occupants of
the problem property are subject
to summonses and fines immediately for “engaging in a nuisance”
if there is further activity. Owners have 30 days from the date of
the Notice to abate the nuisance
activity at a property. If an owner
is uncooperative and the activity
continues at the property, he/she
is also subject to summonses and
fines for “failure to abate a nuisance.” Finally, a problem property is also subject to a closure
hearing in front of an administrative hearing officer and a nuisance property can be ordered
closed for up to 12 months.
On May 29th, a Community
meeting was held to discuss problem properties in the 16th ward.
Alderwoman Donna Baringer,
the 2nd District Problem Properties Officer, Michael Dempsey,
Assistant City Counselor, Rich
Sykora, City Attorney and I attended the meeting and offered
some useful insight regarding
problem properties procedures.
The Role of the Police
Officer Dempsey explained the
role of the police in addressing
problem properties and the importance of calling 911 to report
illegal activity or the non emergency number 231-1212 for
nuisance behavior in our neighborhoods. He also stressed the
importance of providing the 911
operator with the exact address
or location of the illegal activity.
Officer Dempsey distributed a
Nuisance Form that can be used
to help identify and report problem behavior.
Mr. Sykora explained the process by which a property is designated a nuisance property. Under City ordinance, if a property
has two or more police calls for
service for illegal/nuisance activity in a 12 month period, a property can be designated a Public
Vacant Properties
SOHA
SOHA
SOHA
Several other building issues
were discussed at the meeting.
For example, lately there has
been a rise in the number of recent apartment rentals within
the 16th ward. As a Housing
Conservation District, when an
apartment becomes vacant and
there has been no interior inspection in the last 12 months,
a Landlord must apply for and
have an inspection of the unit
completed before filling the vacancy.
Community
Involvement
Each presenter at the meeting
made a point of stressing the importance of community involvement with regard to reporting
nuisance and suspicious behavior. If you would like copies of
any of the handouts distributed
at the meeting, please call or
email me with your address and I
will mail them to you. My office
number is 589-8161. My email is
[email protected].
I hope everyone understands
a little more about the nuisance
process and how to deal with
problem properties in our neighborhood. Remember, you don't
have to move to live in a better
neighborhood.
Price & condition have always & will
always determine the number of days
a property remains on the market.
Properties SELL FAST because they
had good marketing & were priced
& conditioned properly. I can
help you achieve the same great
results, CALL ME TODAY, I have 15
years experience in getting homes
SOLD!
St. Louis Developer’s Wife
Chooses Names for a
Subdivision and Four Streets in
Southampton
The wife of St. Louis real estate developer
Samuel Thomas Rathell was instrumental in giving birth to the names of a subdivision and four
streets in the Southampton (SoHa) area of St.
Louis.
Lindenwood Avenue and Place
When developer Rathell platted the land in
1888, he asked his wife Oleatha to name the
streets. The name she chose for the Subdivision was Lindenwood. The streets were called
Lindenwood Avenue and Place. She named this
street and the subdivision for her classmates
at her alma mater, Lindenwood College at St.
Charles, Missouri.
Lindenwood College was founded in 1827 by
George and Mary Easton Sibley. It is the secondoldest higher-education institution west of the
Mississippi River. The Sibleys started the Linden
Wood School for Girls, as Mary Sibley already
had been running a school in St. Charles. Linden
Wood is named such for the large amount of linden trees that grew there.
Marquette Avenue
Marquette Avenue also was named by the wife
of the developer, to honor Marquette Elementary School, which the Rathell children attended.
The school’s name honors Father Jacques Marquette, the 17th-century French missionary who
explored the Mississippi Valley.
Mardel Avenue
Mrs. Rathell coined the name Mardel Avenue
by rearranging the letters in the name Delmar,
the boulevard on which the Rathells then resided. Delmar itself is a coined name combining the
first three letters of Delaware and Maryland. It
was named for the home states of the owners of
two abutting tracts of land along the street.
And finally in the late 1880s, Mrs. Rathell
chose to honor herself. Oleatha Avenue is her
namesake.
Despite the many reports that
continue to make the news headlines,
the truth is that the Real Estate Market
in St Louis is still good! In particular
the city is still selling strong! Though
prices are not rising like they had in
the past, they are staying relatively
steady.
More good news. There are currently
65 homes that are under contract
waiting to close, the same number
as last year at this time. We may have
had a slow start this year but we are
gaining ground again & in my opinion
it is still a good market!
Article by Carol Keller, Milentz Avenue
Oleatha Avenue
How is the Real Estate
Market?...Good!
The following information from the
MLS shows that since January 1 there
have been 186 single family homes
sold with a median sales price of
$157,625. This figure includes all
sizes, conditions & prices. For the
same period in 2007, there were
192 single family homes sold, with
a median price range of $168,200.
Again, this median price ranges from
the high $400,000 to the low $55,000.
Not much of a change.
Street name snapshot
Curious about another street? Pick up a copy of The
Streets of St. Louis, a History of St. Louis Street
Names by William B. and Marcella C. Magnan.
5508 SUTHERLAND
SALE PENDING
Sandi
Sandi
Taschler
Taschler
We Noticed...
Kingshighway Resurfaced
Your Southampton
Real Estate
DIFFERENCE
“Specialist”
Kingshighway was recently resurfaced in preparation for the shutdown of the next section of Interstate 64/40, sometime early next year. This section
will be from I-170 to Kingshighway. MoDOT and
5716
MURDOCH
the City expect
traffic
to increase on Kingshighway
as a result, hence
thePENDING
resurfacing.
SALE
457-6777
Construction Activity
The
Between For Sale
&
348-4434
“SOLD”
457- 6777
#457-6777
It appears that O'Reilly Auto Parts is building
a new store on Kingshighway next to Sonic and
Home Depot. We're looking forward to that area
looking a lot nicer, as it has needed some attention
for several years.
5711 SUTHERLAND
SALE PENDING
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In This Issue...
n Neighborhood
n New
nLogo
n New
Postmaster: Dated material. Please deliver PROMPTLY
Picnic • July 27
Southampton Board Takes Office
Contest Winner Selected
Businesses and Community Updates
nProblem
Properties Procedures