Celebrate “The Art of Volunteering”

HHA Volunteer and Community Improvement Awards Dinner, Sunday, February 28, 5:00-8:00 PM

The Annual HHA Volunteer Appreciation and Community Improvement Awards Dinner will start things off this year at 5:00 PM with a cocktail hour on the first floor of the Heights Fire Station, Yale and 12th Street. The theme and attire this year are “The Art of Volunteering” with “smArtfully Casual“ attire.

At 6:00 PM, the dining experience will be presented artistically, and the table and venue décor will be by Design and Inspiration and Grogan Building Supply.

The evening will continue with the recognition of past and present volunteers, including prestigious awards for the 2009 Citizen of the Year, Corporate Citizen of the Year, and Marcella Perry Award. Results will also be announced for Community Improvement Awards, consisting of Residential Renovation, Commercial Renovation, Residential New Construction, and Commercial New Construction.

(Sorry, sold out!) Tickets at $20 per person or $175 for a reserved table of 8 were available through our website. Seating is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, so please act fast!

We look forward to seeing YOU - the heART of the Heights - there!

Brave New Event Chairs 2010

by Kelly Simmons, VP Sponsorship & Fundraising

We would like to announce and thank this year’s all-star line-up of event chairs. For anyone who has chaired, volunteered, or attended these events, you know that these individuals sacrifice a huge amount of time, energy, and expertise to make them fun for all of us and successful for the Houston Heights Association.

Volunteer Appreciation and Community Improvement Awards Dinner, February 28:

Dinner Chair Trudy Nelson, CIA Chair Diane Easley.

Houston Heights Home & Garden Tour and Candlelight Dinner & Auction, April 9, 10, and 11:

Event Co-Chairs Linda Eyles and Danae Stephenson, Dinner Co-Chairs Donna Bennett and Kristi Synek, Auction Co-Chairs Pamela Kunkemoeller and Kit Davis.

Houston Heights Fun Run, June 5:

Chair Andrea Sharp.

Houston Heights Bicycle Rally and Scavenger Hunt, October 3:

Chair Paul Carr.

Houston Heights Holiday Home Tour, December 3 and 4:

Chair Elizabeth Poirrier.

Holiday Home Tour Patron Party, December 2:

Co-Chairs Trudy Nelson and Marianne Sulser.

Our hats off to these Brave New Event Chairs!

These events take hundreds of volunteers to produce. They are well organized, fun, and a great way to get involved and meet members of the community. If you would like to volunteer for one or more of the above events, please send us an email at volunteer@houstonheights.org or leave a message at 713-861-4002.

Spring Home & Garden Tour

Mark your calendars for the 2010 Spring Home & Garden Tour! The tour will take place the second weekend in April on Saturday, April 10, and Sunday, April 11, from noon until 6:00 PM. Each home on the tour is unique and wonderful, and there is something to please everyone - old and new, small and large, family style and formal. It is a delightful group of houses that will surely inspire!

Advance tickets are $17, and tickets purchased on the days of the tour will be $20.00. For more information please call 713-861-4002 and select option 3 then option 1 or click here.

Candlelight Dinner and Auction

The Candlelight Dinner and Auction will be held Friday, April 9. Begin your evening with a private tour of six wonderful homes from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. At 7 o’clock, be at Master Car Care at 2305 Yale Street for an exciting party in an amazing new venue! There are a number of surprises awaiting you and lots of ways to have fun and support the Houston Heights Association. Come ready to bid in the live and silent auctions. You won’t want to miss it. Plan to buy tickets now or gather a group of friends and buy a table - this will be a sell-out event!

Table price is $1,000; individual seats are $100. Call 713-861-4002 and select option 3 then option 2 to reserve your spot.

Volunteers Needed For Home Tour

We still need volunteers to help with the Spring Home and Garden Tour. If you are interested in serving on a committee, working as a docent in a home, or finding out about other volunteer opportunities, please contact holalolo2@yahoo.com or janet.buchheit@centerpointenergy.com for more information. It’s a great way to spend time with your neighbors and get involved!

Classroom Grants Awarded

The Houston Heights Association, through its Education Committee, supports excellence in schools and provides resources directly to teachers. The Classroom and School Grant Program funds teacher-designed learning experiences to increase and enhance student learning. Individual schools may also apply for a grant that impacts their total curriculum and/or environment.

This year’s grant recipients were recognized at the January 11 HHA General Meeting. Checks were sent directly to the schools. The grant recipients, amounts, and project titles are listed below.

Field Elementary

Jose Ibarra and Sue Tate, $970.66, Trip to Cockrell Butterfly Center.

Harvard Elementary

Amanda Makin, $1,000.00, One School One Book

Helms CLC

Eva Felder, $750.00, Minds without Boundaries, Building the Future One Block at a Time. Lindy Meador, $750.00, Digital Pictures with Science. Leslie Hancock and Gerardo Chapa, $816.00, Music Equipment and Instruction at Helms. Carla Corona, Pat Silva-Flores and James Newman (Fourth Grade Team), $1,000.00, 4th Grade State Capitol Tour.

Reagan High School

Byronica Pickney, $738.00, Blood Pressure Simulator. Katy Kessler $740.75, Vale la Pena. Anthony Day and Joel Cook, $1,000.00, Web Gallery.

Travis Elementary

Christine Cole and Second & Third Grade Teams, $359.92, Robotics for All. Sarah Gonzales, $750.00, Home Science Kits. Stephanie Friedman and Lauren Allen, $1,000.00, Reader’s Theater Wireless Microphones.

Restoration/Historical Committee

The next Houston Heights Association Restoration/Historical Committee meeting will be held at 1317 Arlington on Thursday, February 4, from 7:30 to 9:30 PM. Note that this meeting is on the first Thursday instead of the third Thursday; this is a permanent change in the committee’s schedule.

What do you do with a 1950’s gameroom/laundromat/washateria building across the street from Reagan High School to make it into a nostalgic home and artist studio for an engineer husband and an artist of national and world renown? Do you want to see what the Home and Garden TV Channel (HGTV) found so interesting when they filmed a property transformation in Houston Heights? Did you miss going on the Houston Heights Home Tour to visit this home in 1988? If these thoughts pique your interest to see a multi-year renovation from a one-story commercial building to a 1950’s modern “Santa Fe funky box retro style two-story home,” then this meeting is for you.

Meeting attendees will see first-hand the results of tearing up asbestos flooring then raising floors 6 inches to eliminate flooding and excavating a giant hackberry tree filled yard from tropical rain damage. Also punching holes thru asphalt to plant plants, drilling holes in concrete ceilings and walls to hang art works, using stucco in a Victorian neighborhood, and battling ferocious termites all were some of the challenges in this work of love. Then hear how nervous the couple were when they moved from a country club suburban home to a washateria building in a questionable neighborhood in the 1980’s and how the captivating building with beauty and character unlike any other, demanded preservation.

This meeting will highlight a most unusual example of a one-of-a-kind home in the Houston Heights. Overall, meeting attendees will see what beauty and character can be maintained in the Heights historic neighborhood using modern construction techniques. Also, for those wanting to talk with a couple who recall their neighborhood and school memories, this will be a most enjoyable evening activity.

The Houston Heights Restoration/Historical Committee meetings are open to the public bimonthly to learn about history and restoration in keeping with an appreciation of the historic nature of the Houston Heights. Membership in the Houston Heights Association is encouraged, but not mandatory to attend these events.

Please let Dean Swanson know if you have a restoration project, historical structure under restoration, or historical information or photos pertaining to the Heights to share at future meetings. Dean can be contacted at swansonad@sbcglobal.net or 713-880-2832.

Calendar of Events for February-March 2010

HHA headquarters: The Fire Station is on the corner of Yale and 12th Streets.

Community Calendar

Events planned by other community organizations.

Every Wednesday and Saturday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Historic Houston’s salvage warehouse is open. Call 713-522-0542 or visit their web site www.historichouston.org.

Every Monday, 7:30 to 10:00 PM, Houston International Folk Dancers introductory lessons at Oddfellows Hall, 115 E. 14th.

Through April 15, Neighborhood Tax Centers provide Houston area residents and families earning less than $50,000 with free, fast, and accurate tax preparation by IRS-certified volunteer tax preparers. Convenient day, evening, and weekend hours at 21 locations throughout the Greater Houston area. Call 2-1-1 or visit web site www.neighborhood-centers.org/tax for more information.

January 28 through February 6, Opera in the Heights presents Giuseppe Verdi’s Un Ballo In Maschera at Lambert Hall, 1703 Heights Blvd. “Ballo in Maschera - love and politics - they cannot mix. Despite good intentions, this ill-fated combination can only spell a bad ending.” Visit www.operaintheheights.org for more information.

February 19 through March 6, UpStage Theatre presents Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys at Lambert Hall, 1703 Heights Blvd. Visit www.upstagetheatre.org for more information.

March 26 through April 10, Opera in the Heights presents Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme at Lambert Hall, 1703 Heights Blvd. “Who doesn’t love opera’s most famous lovers? Mimi and Rodolfo, the most popular work ever… at the end, Puccini doesn’t leave a dry eye in the house.“ Visit www.operaintheheights.org for more information.

Future History

April 9-11, Spring Home Tour

June 5, Heights Fun Run

October 3, Bicycle Rally

December 3-4, Holiday Home Tour

February 27, 2011, Awards Dinner

At The Fire Station

Events at the Historic Houston Heights Fire Station, 12th and Yale

Every second Monday, 5:00 to 7:00 PM, and every fourth Monday, 8:00 AM to noon, the City Council District H Satellite Office is open.