westerwood news a publication of the westerwood...
TRANSCRIPT
Westerwood
News A Publication of the Westerwood
Neighborhood Association (WNA), Inc.
www.WesterwoodNeighborhood.com
January-February 2012
Calendar
of Events
Meeting of Westerwood
Board
Wednesday, March 21,
7 p.m.
Home of Bonnie Lawrence
1002 Courtland St.
Easter Egg Hunt
Saturday, March 31,
11 a.m.
Lake Daniel Park
playground
Meeting of Westerwood
Board
Wednesday, April 18,
7 p.m.
Stream Clean
Saturday, April 21, 9 a.m.
Lake Daniel Park
Playground
Clean-up supplies provided
Meeting of Westerwood
Board
Wednesday, May 16,
7 p.m.
Meeting of Westerwood
Board
Wednesday, June 20,
7 p.m.
Marianne Gingher (left) and Debbie Seabrooke operate the puppets during a presenta-
tion of Jabberbox Puppet Theater.
Our neighborhood has produced yet another venue of creativity. We have visual artists. We have musicians. Now we have puppet theater! Debbie Seabrooke, wife of Charlie Headington, has lived on Mendenhall for 18 years. She teaches at UNCG’s English Department. She and her friend of many years Marianne Gingher, a professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature in Chapel Hill, have forged their creative skill together to write, produce and perform a puppet show. The two apparently act to heighten each other’s creative leanings. Debbie came up with the idea after the two had begun impersonating two elderly women they had seen at an airport in Zambia. The women stood out as naïve and kind of lost. Debbie wrote a play about two women stumbling along in Africa. A friend suggested that she try performing the play with puppets. Marianne immediately sup-ported it, having no idea what was involved.
Neighbor Creates Puppet Theater
See Puppets, page two
Page 2
ad
Peace Corps. After the “African Queens” run, the two collabo-rated on a new puppet play, “Little Town, Big Stars.” The play combines elements of political satire and domestic comedy. Debbie explains the use of pup-pets this way: “If there is some-thing that can only be done with puppets, you use puppets. We’ve learned that it’s more about the gestures than the words.” The play was run last fall to much suc-cess. Jabberbox’s third season will run this May and June. A brand new play is being re-hearsed right now. What impresses me is how far these two women stretch themselves, jumping into new tests of their creativity and tal-ents, some of which they didn’t know they had until this venture. They had a vision, and they acted on it. I regret missing the first two sessions, but am determined not to miss the new season. Good
The next step was to write the play into a puppet show script. Once the script was com-plete, they started designing and building the puppets. That was fun, an oppor-tunity to be really creative. They started developing their charac-ters, and the puppets started to come alive. This was so different from their writing projects. In addition to the puppets, sets had to be created. Then came practic-ing and developing the move-ments and voices. It all came to-gether with their first play, “African Queens.” The name of their company, Jabberbox Thea-ter, seemed appropriate because it’s performed in a box, and pup-pets jabber. The first plays were per-formed in homes as the duo used these to test their production with friends. They had little ex-perience at performing, so the hesitation was understandable.
But their con-cerns were unfounded; word quickly spread. “African Queens” was performed 12 times in May
and June of 2010 in Greensboro, Chapel Hill, and Wilmington. They have since performed at Mack & Mack on South Elm Street during Greensboro’s 17 Days Arts Festi-val. Debbie and Marianne also serve homemade desserts at intermission. Of the proceeds, 20 per-cent goes toward a school in Zambia, where Marianne’s son once worked while with the
Puppets, continued from page one
Marianne Gingher (left) and Debbie Seabrooke at one of their
performances.
luck on the next play. I will write my next article about Jabberbox Puppet Theater by experiencing it first-hand. Find the performance schedule for 2012 on their web-site, www.jabberboxpuppet theater.com. You can also visit Jabberbox Puppet Theater on Facebook. They are performing June 1 and 2 at The Garage in Winston-Salem. Shows are for adults only. — Bill Menius
Page 3
Jennifer Paa MPT, LMBT
Licensed Physical Therapist
Licensed Massage and Bodywork
Therapist
NC #3140
336-392-5030
Bluebirds usually start nest-ing in mid-March. And so the Audu-bon Society is once again asking for volunteers to monitor the 12 boxes along the greenway in Lake Daniel Park. This involves simply checking each box once a week and recording the contents: a new nest, eggs, baby birds, and so on. This is great fun for young and not-so-young, and gets you out into the park for a leisurely stroll. We will need volunteers from March to the end of July, for one-week or two-week stints. If you have not done this before, we’ll show you how, but it’s really simple and fun. Give it a try. Please contact Barbara Hughes at 272-1048 or [email protected] to sign up.
Bluebird Boxes Need
Your Monitoring Help
A basketful of fun. That’s what Westerwood neighbor Kim Maynard has when he mounts his motorcycle and gives his cockapoos a “treat.” “They love it,” says the versatile To-Do Lists fel-low. “They attract a lot of pretty girls. Sometimes they come up beside us and blow their horns. It scares the fool out of me.” The brother and sis-ter pets, Vinnie (the male) and Lottie (female), are named for Vinita Charlotte Maynard, Kim’s late mom. “They were born on her birth-day in Randleman,” says Kim. “Eleven years ago come Oct. 11.” Kim, who got his first motorcycle at age 15, attached the metal bucket behind the driver’s seat. He says his dogs are “too smart” to try to get out. If you don’t catch the trio on a two-wheeler, you may see them cruising in Kim’s little red Corvette with the bucket that converts to the pas-senger seat. And away they go! But never at highway speeds. — Doris Dale Paysour
Kim, Vinnie, and Lottie go for a ride on
Kim’s motorcycle.
Cockapoos Love the Open Road
Page 4
Need someone you can
trust to work on your
home, yard, or car? Call
To-Do Lists Kim Maynard
A trusted neighbor for 15 years.
40 years’ experience in home
repairs & renovations.
Experienced auto mechanic.
Free Estimates Projects by the job, not the
hour.
Courteous, Complete, & Clean
“Thank you for your
support in ’11. Let
me know if I can
help you in ’12.”
Phone: 336-681-4394
Book Club Selections a Mixed Bag
The book club choice for January was “So Much for That,” a novel by Lionel Shriver. Like some of our previous choices, this book received mixed reviews. The book concerns a man who watches his retirement funds dwindle away because of his wife’s expensive cancer treat-ments. One member enjoyed the suspense of wondering what would happen when the funds ran out. But nearly all members thought the book was depressing, the characters were unsympa-thetic, and that one plot twist in particular was outrageous and unbelievable. The book was overly exaggerated, overly dra-matic, and negative, one member said. And the ending was shallow and a bit sleazy, said another. All of us thought one character’s po-litical screeds were too dominant in the book. However, on a posi-tive note, one member thought the friendship between the two main male characters was believ-able and strong. And another thought its message that treating a disease at all costs was impact-ful. With this book’s cast of miserable characters, we all won-dered if the author was miserable, too!
Our February selection was a classic, “The Good Earth,” by Pearl Buck. We were unanimous in our appre-ciation of this novel, which concerns a Chinese farmer and his family in what we think was about 1900. Here are some members’ comments: “I loved it. I kept mar-veling at the totally different time and place and the fact that human behavior doesn’t change.” “It was smooth read-ing. The events were shocking, but not the writing.” “It’s deceptively simple writing. The character develop-ment was sensational.” “Pearl Buck is brilliant in handling human behavior.” We were struck by how difficult life was for women at the time — “repressed woman Asian fiction,” one member called the book. And we appreciated the main char-acter’s connection to his land, which never waned. Next up: “Hot, Flat, and Crowded,” by Thomas L. Friedman. — Bonnie Lawrence
If you love to read and talk about books, maybe the Westerwood Book Club is the place for you. The club meets the second Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. (come earlier to chat and snack!) at members’ homes. If you’re interested in joining, con-tact Ashley Wigglesworth at 314-9857 or Ashley.wigglesworth@ gmail.com. We read a variety of books and also occasionally view films of the books we’ve read.
Want to Join a Book Club?
Patrick Kirkman
Heating & Air Conditioning
Service - Install - Repair
336-669-1658
Page 5
BEACH HOUSE
FOR RENT
Carolina Beach, $600 per week.
Older home, but well-loved.
3 bedrooms, 1 bath, fully equipped
kitchen, large screened-in porch.
Directly across the street from a
beach access.
Call or e-mail Gail for availability
and photos.
274-7821
APARTMENT FOR RENT
700 sq. ft. in Hillside Drive home. Private entrance, private patio overlooking garden, large living
room, bedroom, walk-in closet or small office, kitchenette,
bathroom. $575 a month, which includes
rent and all utilities. Call Suzanne at 314-7878 for
additional information.
Before there was the Westerwood News, there was the Weekly
Bugle! Check out this issue (the first) from 1936.
Page 6
Www.hungryhowies.com
Friendly Avenue 1608 W. Friendly
333-9393
Adams Farm 5710 High Point Rd.
333-3340
Adams Farm 5710 High Point Rd.
333-3340
The annual Westerwood Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Saturday, March 31, at 11 a.m. Everyone is invited, so if you have friends or family with children, please feel free to let them know about the festivities. If you would like to volunteer to help with the event, stuff Easter eggs, or take pictures
for the Westerwood News, please call or e-mail Laura Mensch, [email protected] or 209-1575. We are asking for candy donations, so if you have time please pick up a bag of individu-ally wrapped candy and drop it
off at 1509 Fairmont St. This is a great event for the children of our neighborhood and community. We hope to see you there!
Easter Egg Hunt a Treat
for Neighborhood Kids
We proudly invite you to visit the new Westerwood Neighbor-hood Association website, www. westerwoodneighborhood.com, re-designed and maintained by one of our neighborhood talents. In addition to this newslet-ter, the website will have recent news, events information, links to different services and places around Westerwood, photos, and much more. You will also be able to download a copy of the most recent newsletter. This new website may be a way to stay informed about what is happening in the neighborhood, so make sure to check frequently for any updates.
Check Out Redesigned
Westerwood Website
Deep Roots Market’s plans to relocate to a new, 6,300-square-foot building downtown on North Eugene Street are moving along. They have raised nearly $400,000 in loans from more than 100 owners, and the City of Greensboro approved a $100,00 loan to the devel-oper of the site. Deep Roots is working with the devel-oper to get the site and building plans finalized and ap-proved by the city. No date for ground breaking has been set yet.
What’s Happening With Deep Roots
Page 7
A representative of the county spoke to the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress in Janu-ary about the new property tax valuation. There are just a few aspects that a property owner should be aware of. First, this is a regu-larly scheduled property assessment. The revaluation, based on market value, is done every 8 years (state law). This year is the next revaluation. The county does all the properties, including the munici-palities within the county. For a more de-tailed description of how market value is deter-mined, go to http://countyweb.co.guilford.nc.us/downloads/Tax/Docs/2012_Guilford_County_ Re-valuation_Brochure.pdf. The purpose of assessments is to more fairly tax residents on the latest value of their real property. But it is more significant than past as-sessments because of the extreme volatility in residential property values since the last assess-ment. Generally, property values are lower than the last valuation, although the change in value varies across the city. The appraisal of properties, which should be complete sometime this spring, will involve much less footwork than in the past. Aerial photos will assist in the appraisals, and the process is more computerized, with the properties in a data-base that can be easily accessed, updated, and compared with other properties. So you may never see a city employee or agent, as you might have in the past. This is going to have zero effect on the to-tal amount of the property tax revenue citywide. The tax rate will be adjusted to reach this total amount. Therefore, some homeowners will pay less, and some will pay more. And since our neighborhood held its values far better than most neighborhoods, our property taxes generally will go up. If you think your new tax is unreasonable, before you appeal, take these steps. Ask your neighbors what their new valuation is. And you don’t even need to ask them; you can go to the
county website and look up your neighbors’ re-valuations. How cool is that! Usually that will con-vince you that you have not been singled out, but if you still think the assessment is unfair, you can
complete an Informal Appeals form. Take note that as a result of your appeal, your tax may go down, stay the same, or GO UP. Lastly, there is a way to reduce your property taxes. The Homestead Exclusion, if you qualify, could reduce your tax by 50 per-
cent. But you must be over age 65 and your house-hold income cannot be more than $27,100. Visit www.co.guilford.nc.us to inquire fur-ther. — Bill Menius
What to Know About Property Revaluation
2012 WNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jeff Nimmer
President 207 Crestland, 430-0005
Jack Jezorek
Vice-president and Neighborhood Signs 1405 Fairmont, 272-6664
Emilie Sandin
Secretary and Beautification Committee 419 Crestland, 274-4424
Kay Swofford
Treasurer 1316 Fairmont, 273-1408
Bill Menius
Park Renewal 1510 Northfield, 370-9803
Gail Barger
Community Watch 1503 Fairmont, 274-7821
Barbara Burnside
Social Committee 419 Woodlawn, 379-8050
Bonnie Lawrence
Newsletter Editor 1002 Courtland, 271-4046
Marsh Prause
Zoning Committee 516 Woodlawn, 272-3553
Carlos Morales
Website 340-3027
Page 8
Westerwood Community Watch E-Mail List
Our neighborhood has an extensive e-mail system that sets Westerwood apart from other neighborhoods. Our timely crime alerts have made our neighborhood safer and the fast exchange of information has resulted in arrests. Neighbors are informed of neighborhood events and many lost pets have been reunited with their owners as a direct result of the e-mails. If you are not on this e-mail list serve and want to be included, send an e-mail to [email protected] with subject line: Add to E-Mail List.
On January 26, 2012, elections to fill the three open positions on the Westerwood Neighborhood Association Board were held at First Baptist Chapel. Neighbors must be satisfied with the way the board is looking out for neighborhood interests because there were no nominations of people not currently serving on the board. Barbara Burnside, Gail Barger, and Emilie Sandin were elected unanimously and will join Jack Jezorek, Jeff Nimmer, Kay Swofford, and Bill Menius as the elected officers for 2012. During a follow-up meeting of elected officers, Jeff Nimmer was elected president, Jack Jezorek was elected vice president, Kay Swofford was elected treasurer, and Emilie Sandin was elected secretary. WNA Committees were also considered. Community Watch, Park Renewal, and Neighborhood Signs committees were re-tained in addition to those mandated by the by-laws as permanent committees: Newsletter, So-cial, Website, Beautification, and Zoning. All these committees need neighbors to join to make our neighborhood the best it can be. Please share your talents! Look at the 2012 WNA Board of Directors section at left and contact the member listed for the committee you are inter-ested in.
Share Your Talents By
Joining a Committee
Have an Idea for an Article?
You can contribute to you neighborhood newsletter! If you have a story idea, or if you’d like to write an article yourself, submit it to newsletter editor Bonnie Lawrence at [email protected]. Or perhaps you’re a good photographer who likes to take photos around the neighborhood. We can use those, too! Neighbors like to see the talented folks in Westerwood share their creations, and what better way to do that than in the Westerwood News? Folks of all ages are in-vited to submit their ideas and/or original works today!