January 2000 Newsletter

January Meeting
Date: Thursday,
Jan. 13th 1999
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Vickery Towers at Belmont and Greenville

We will introduce the new board of Vickery Place for the year 2000 and also submit the proposal for a committee to be formed for the review and possible changes of the Vickery Place bylaws.

Pet Padres

Begin the year by taking some time to update your pet’s vaccinations to prevent disease and personal heartache.

How does Your Garden Grow?
Properly cared for garden hand tools save time, work better and last longer. Care starts with proper handling. Use tools on jobs they were made to do. For example, use pruners on small branches. For branches too big for the pruners, move up to loppers to do the job. Do not use a trowel as a pry on rocks or equipment, or as a hammer. Always clean earth from tools when you finish using them. It doesn’t take long for moisture to mar or soil corrode a shiny surface. Keep a putty knife to clean shovels and trowels. Apply a thin film of oil on metal parts at the end of the day. You can do this with an oily rag or by plunging the tools into a bucket of oily sand. For over-winter storage, apply an oily film or rust inhibitor. These are available at hardware stores and do a good job of preventing rust on tools. Store tools in a dry place indoors in some orderly way so you can find them readily to work on garden chores.

Household Hint
If you can’t finish a latex paint job, store the paintbrush or roller for several days by slipping it inside a plastic bag, pushing the air out, and tying the end shut. The paint won’t dry out.

Bulky Trash / Ramas Grandes
Week Of January 10th

Goodwin Park Proposal Unveiled At Dec. Meeting
December’s monthly VPNA meeting at Vickery Towers was highlighted by the unveiling of a proposal for a park to be constructed on City land at the intersection of Goodwin Ave. and Central Expressway. At the invitation of the VPNA Board of Directors, students from the University of Texas at Arlington School of Landscape Architecture have prepared a design for two triangular lots owned by the City. The lots have been neglected during the construction of Central Expressway. The drawings presented by the UTA group showed large plantings of trees to buffer the noise of Central from the neighborhood, while enhancing the beauty of the street. Included in the design is a marker with “Vickery Place” in bold letters. City Council representative Mary Poss of District 9, who supported the Traffic Plan of 1996 that provided for the planting of trees along Central, reviewed the proposal at the meeting. It is hoped that the Council will expand on that Plan to incorporate the landscaped park proposal. New VPNA Officers and Board of Directors for 2000 were elected at the meeting. The nominating committee’s slate of candidates was elected with overwhelming support. Congratulations to the new Board:

President: Beth Timpson-Clark
Vice President: Leah Holly
Treasurer: Daron Tapscott
Secretary: Morris Smart
At Large: Steve Evans, Tim Oliver, Dan Allen, Sheila Huffman, Eric Pillet

Special Thank You
Three current members of the VPNA Board are “retiring”. Beth Bradley, Todd Spraggins and Hillary Hoover. Beth Bradley has served as a board member since , including serving as President in 1996. As an attorney, her advise and recommendations are always thoughtful and positive. Beth is going to continue to assist when we need her advice. Todd Spraggins has served the board for two years as Treasurer. Todd has brought his enthusiasm and determination to VPNA, and is still involved; but has decided to spend some time “finishing” his house.

In addition, Sara Spraggins, the editor of the Newsletter for the past two years will be changing roles. Sara, with a one year old son, will assist the new editor Matt Simons and will continue to be in charge of our website. The entire neighborhood has benefited from the incredible job that she has done on what can be considered the best neighborhood newsletter in Dallas.

Also leaving the board is Hilary Hoover. Hilary has been a guiding spirit of VPNA for many of us, having served on the board since 1992, including twice as President. She is largely responsible for making the VPNA National Night Out Party one of the largest and most enjoyable within Dallas. She will continue to work on NNO, special events and the planned preservation overlay for the neighborhood. Her presence always added enthusiasm and joy to those that worked with her.

To all these retirees, you have the most sincere and appreciative thanks of your friends and VPNA.

(But remember, we still know where you live.)

Central Expressway Almost Complete
Even though the official Grand Opening Parade of Central Expressway has been held, Work still remains on several bridges in our area. TXDOT made the decision some months ago to focus their efforts on completion of the main traffic lanes by the turn of the century, and postpone work on the bridges. Now work has begun again on the Knox Henderson Bridge and adjacent streets. Bridges are scheduled to be completed from north to south. The opening of the Knox Henderson interchange will mean dedicated right-turn lanes and two left-turn lanes onto the service roads. This should help the flow of traffic on Henderson and Knox. Completion of pavestone pedestrian walkways on the bridge will open up better walking access to the Knox St. retail area and the Katy Trail in the not too distant future. In the spring, landscaping will bring the project to completion.

Volunteers Needed For Belmont Tree Planting
VPNA will mark the millennium with a planting of trees along Belmont from Greenville to Henderson. Over sixty large trees will be furnished by the City of Dallas and planted by local volunteers. All of the trees will be planted on a Saturday in January or February. The exact date will be determined when the trees become available from the City’s tree farms. WE NEED YOUR HELP! Dozens of volunteers will be needed to make this neighborhood beautification project a reality. Sign up at the VPNA meeting at Vickery Towers on January 13th and get all the details. Come to the meeting, and bring your neighbor!

Name That Date!
Why is Wednesday called “Wednesday”? In ancient Europe, certain people believed in many different gods. The most powerful of these was known as Woden. It is said that Woden wanted so much to be wise that he traveled every where looking for knowledge. Two Blackbirds that acted as spies usually sat on Woden’s shoulders. But at night, the birds would fly down to earth. In the morning, they would return to Woden and tell him everything they had seen during the night. That’s how Woden always new everything that happened on earth. In honor of Woden, they named a day of the week after him. It was named Wodnesdaeg. In English, it became Wednesday. So as you stroll the streets of Vickery Place in the evenings, be on the lookout for the two blackbirds and watch what you say! They may be taking your news back to Woden!

Letter From the President

Vickery Place is a neighborhood known for its unique single family homes, duplexes, apartments, and its vast variety of local shops and restaurant In addition who could miss the wonderful old trees that canopy the neighborhood and streets lined by sidewalks used by runners, walkers, bikers and strollers.

The convenient location has many of the Vickery Place residents utilizing the recently completed Central Expressway as well as the Dart bus and light rail system. Vickery Place Neighborhood Association has accomplished so many positive changes for the neighborhood over the years and will continue to do so through the new millennium.

During the year 2000 there will be new projects formulating and existing ones needing to be maintained to what is already expected of the Vickery Place

Neighborhood Association. The following will be on this year’s agenda:

National Night Out
Our annual neighborhood party which focuses on the safety and security of neighbors watching out for one another. It is an event for all ages and is a great place to meet the people that make up this neighborhood.

Tree Planting and Beautification
Vickery Place has many large old trees which give us not only something nice to look at but can also be utilized for shading our homes decreasing in energy consumption and our summer electric bill. They can also help in the value, when selling a home. The large trees bring warmth to our neighborhood and set us apart from newer home developments popping up that lack big old trees. Vickery Place Association has managed to add 358 trees with more to be planted on Belmont during the first few months of year 2000. Another project in the works are the gateway parks at Goodwin and Central, two triangular tracks of land that are city property which will be developed much like the park at McCommas and Central.

Home Tour
The 1999 Vickery Place fall home tour turned out to be a great success. With a turn out close to 300, it gave us a foundation and help set standards that we will carry on as a annual fall event.

Zoning and Preservation Overlay
As Vickery Place becomes public knowledge we draw in contractors, potential home owners, and many patrons of the local businesses. This can stir up issues concerning zoning, parking and historic preservation. Zoning and parking issues are handled on a case by case basis, however, the association will be formulating the beginnings of a preservation overlay. This will be designed to keep the scale and quality of existing homes to apply to those being renovated or newly built.

Vickery Place Association Bylaws
The associations founders developed the infrastructure for which Vickery Place bases its mission. These bylaws were developed many years ago and now require a update to meets the demands of today. In order to make changes for this year a committee will be formed. The proposal for a bylaws review committee to review and make possible changes will be a issue broached during the January 2000 meeting.

The ideas, decisions and actions of Vickery Place require many volunteered hours by the active board members but what is needed most is the input and involvement of the other people who live in Vickery Place. As a resident you can get involved simply by coming to one of our neighborhood meetings posted every month in the newsletter. Visit our web site (http://www.vpna.org) for information about Vickery Place or contact our voice mail (214-967-5134) with any questions or concerns you might have about the neighborhood.

“The sky’s the Limit” for the new millennium and we hope that you become apart of it at Vickery place.

Elizabeth Timpson-Clark, President

Kid’s Corner
Chuckle: How do you know when the moon is going broke?

Hold up to mirror for answer: RETRAUQ TSAL STI OT NWOD S’IT NEHW