2010 Holiday Home Tour

“Holiday Greetings! From the Houston Heights”

by Elizabeth Poirrier, Chair, 2010 Holiday Home Tour

Planning your holiday festivities yet? Houston Heights is the fabulous and festive destination of the season! National Geographic Traveler recently said that Houston Heights “flourishes as a destination for foodies, architecture buffs, and creative types (the neighborhood is said to be home to the highest concentration of professional artists in the state),” and the Heights Holiday Home Tour is a great way to experience all the Heights has to offer! This festive annual event consists of six unique homes decked out for the Holidays, three historic and three of newer construction, that you won’t want to miss! So be sure to include time to attend the 2010 Heights Holiday Home Tour on Friday, December 3, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM and Saturday, December 4, from 3:00 to 9:00 PM!

Logistics

There are shuttles available both Friday and Saturday of the Tour, with the main pick up at the Heights Fire Station located on the corner of 12th Street and Yale. The shuttles are included in the ticket price. If you do choose to drive, three home are in close proximity to one another, so just park your car and enjoy the walk (and hopefully crisp festive weather) between them! The shuttle map is included on our special supplement page, so you can start planning now!

Tickets

This year tickets are available at The Artful Corner, Bliss on 19th, Buchanan’s Native Plants, Heights Antiques on Yale, Phil’s Texas Barbecue, and Waldo’s Coffee House. Tickets are $20 in advance for all 6 houses or $25 on the days of the tour. $5 per house tickets can also be purchased the days of the tour. Bundles of 10 tickets will be available online for $175 here.

With several Heights holiday events going on that weekend, be sure to make the Heights and the Home Tour a part of your Holiday plans! Plan to have lunch or dinner, take a stroll down 19th Street, and last but certainly not least, tour six magically decorated homes!

For more the descriptions and pictures of the homes on tour and a map, see our special supplement page.

2010 Holiday Tour Patron Party

Join your friends and neighbors Thursday, December 2 from 7:00 to 10:00 PM for the Heights’ newest Holiday celebration: The Holiday Home Tour Patron Party. Our “Patrons” will enjoy a no-lines, no-fuss, private Thursday evening preview of all the homes on the Holiday Home Tour, each decked out in holiday splendor. The preview is followed by an exclusive Patron Party at one of the Heights’ most prestigious addresses: the Baldwin-Gonzalez home at 205 Bayland Street. Featured in many local and regional publications, the incomparable, 100+ year-old renovated home has never been open to the pubic for the holidays. Amazing food will be provided by local restaurants, including Ibiza, Pizzatola’s, Rainbow Lodge, and Tony Mandola’s. Each guest will receive a fabulous gift from Jubilee in the Heights.

Limited sponsorships are available, so become a Patron today! For more information or to buy your tickets, see www.houstonheights.org. Tickets are $100 per individual, and space is limited to 150, so BUY YOUR TICKETS ONLINE NOW!

Patron Levels:

Jingle Bells: $100 - 1 ticket to Patron Party, 1 ticket to Holiday Home Tour, and a patron gift from Jubilee.

Sleigh Bells: $260 - 2 tickets to Patron Party, 4 tickets to the Holiday Home Tour, 2 patron gifts from Jubilee and an additional special gift!

Silver Bells: $520 - 4 tickets to Patron Party, 8 tickets to the Holiday Home Tour, 4 patron party gifts from Jubilee, an additional special gift, and special recognition at the Patron Party.

Donovan Park Re-Opening Celebration

December 4 - Kids, Clowns, Puppies - Even Santa Will Be There!

To Johnny and little Susie it probably seems like a very long time since the gates were locked at Donovan Park and men started hammering and sawing on their favorite playground. No doubt it seems like an eternity to their parents, who have had to find someplace else for them to play.

Well, the wait will soon be over, and the playground will be safer, more fun, and nearly new again! Thanks to a generous gift from the Donovan and Saunders family and a contribution from the Houston Heights Association, Donovan Park playground is being revitalized and improved.

The play structures are being rebuilt with low maintenance, non-splintering Trex. Swings, tables, benches, and a new water fountain are being added. New lighting has been installed, new mulch is on the way, and everything has a fresh coat of paint!

Mark your calendars for Saturday, December 4, 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at Donovan Park. At 10:00 AM, there will be a ribbon cutting and re-dedication ceremony. Then the gates will be thrown open for a fun-filled celebration including activities, treats, music, and even a visit from Santa! Your child can have a picture taken with the jolly old elf, and for those who really want puppies for Christmas, Shaggy Dog Rescue will also be there with some sweet pals that need homes!

We’ll have a table to sign up memberships in HHA and in the Constable Patrol Program. For anyone who helps support the park with a donation, we also have a special offer from Evin Thayer Photography: with a $50.00 donation, Evin Thayer will send a gift certificate for a studio photo session; withy a $100.00 donation, you will also get a free 5x7 photograph from your session. Thank you, Evin!

Don’t miss out on the fun! Make a play date for December 4, 10:00 AM at Donovan Park. Come see what our neighborhood kids are getting for Christmas!

Bicycle Rally Wrap-Up

The 2010 Heights Bicycle Rally was blessed with the best weather of its five-year history. The event raised $3,600.00 for the HHA Boulevard Beautification Fund.

Two hundred and thirty riders took advantage of the cool sunny day and completed the 20-mile rally course. HHA board member Donna Bennett and Greg Kolanowski created a very challenging scavenger hunt with 56 mystery sites for riders to find by deciphering rhyming clues.

One person took 1st Place in the scavenger hunt by solving 52 of the 56 clues. But the surprise of the day was that 11 riders shared 2nd Place by finding 51 of the mystery sites.

Eight of the 12 riders who found 51 or 52 of the mystery sites received great prizes or gift certificates. (You had to be present at 4:00 PM to win.) All the children (12 or under) who finished the rally received prizes.

Over 50 participants received prizes and gift certificates as door prizes that were made possible by the following area merchants and individuals: David Weekley Homes, Smart ID (Gail Sabanosh), Berryhill’s Baja Grill, Hickory Hollow, Onion Creek, Phil’s Texas Barbecue, Wal-Mart, Heights Hospital for Animals, Anytime Fitness, Beth Bittson - Artist (House Sketch), Barnes & Noble, Shade Restaurant, Chatter’s Restaurant, I Cycle Bike Shop, West End Bicycles, Blue Line Bicycle Lab, Urban Bicycle Gallery, and Houston Bicycle Company.

These HHA volunteers are responsible for the success of the Bicycle Rally: Paul & Mary Carr, Ken & Ann Culotta, Jim & Donna Bennett, Lauriel Hindman, Greg Kolanowski, David Cassidy, Lanna Von Baden, and Mark Williamson.

[Special thanks to Paul Carr for organizing the original Bicycle Rally and all four sequels. Paul is now looking for somebody to take over starting next year. —Editor]

Education Committee News

The Fall Semester Seems to be Flying By!

The HHA Education Committee is very busy with many exciting activities in support of our schools in the Heights area. If you are an educator, community member, or PTA/PTO parent who wants to be involved but hasn’t attended one of our monthly meetings, please join us on Monday, November 22 at 6:30 PM at the Fire Station. We will be discussing home schooling in the Heights.

Our Annual Principals’ Welcome Back to School reception, which provides an opportunity for the committee to recognize all Heights principals, administrators, and PTA/PTO leaders for their dedication and hard work, was held on September 30 with great response. Many thanks to The Artful Corner and Margarete Sanchez-Ripps for providing a wonderful venue for us!

The HHA Classroom Grant Program application deadline is November 26. Visit the Education Committee web page for rules and more information on the grant program. See the Search Institute website for more information about the 40 developmental assets.

All Heights area writers and storytellers ages Middle School to Adult! Here’s your opportunity to tell your favorite holiday story to children and win a nice cash prize for your effort! All you have to do is write a holiday-themed story and submit it for a chance to win cash and the opportunity to read your story to children at the Heights Library.

• The story (which may be fiction or nonfiction) can be no longer than four double-spaced pages and must be submitted for judging by December 1.

• The first prize winner will receive $75 from the HHA Education Committee and will read his/her story at a special event at the Heights Library on December 18. Second and third place prizes will also be awarded.

• Submit your entries to stephanie@babbhouston.com. Remember, the deadline is December 1, so start writing your story now!

Join In The Fun!

The 2011 Houston Heights Candlelight Dinner’s Auction Committee (to be held on Friday, April 1 - no foolin’) is about to kick off, and we are looking for fun, organized, and adventurous individuals to become members of the committee. This is a great way to get involved, meet other terrific volunteers, and be a part of all of the excitement going on in the neighborhood. Chaired this year by Janet Buchheit, Kit Davis, and Beth Martin (aka “These Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”), this group works AND plays hard to get ready for the HHA’s biggest fundraiser of the year.

They need your help! To be a part of this committee, please contact them at auction@houstonheights.org. They look forward to hearing from you.

Going Up!

Workers installing the first component of the new chair lift at the Fire Station on October 5. The remaining components should be installed by the time you read this.

Historic Preservation Ordinance Amendments Passed

Houston City Council passed amendments to the Historic Preservation Ordinance (HPO) on October 13 by a 12-3 vote. A number of amendments were proposed at the October 6 and October 13 meetings, and some were adopted. The final version of the HPO as passed was not available at press time. [It was posted between press time and web publication time; see below.]

At the same meeting, City Council also passed a separate ordinance providing for the transition process from the old ordinance to the new ordinance. The transition ordinance established a 30-day period during which property owners in an existing historic district may request reconsideration of their district. That period started on October 18 when the forms to file for reconsideration were posted and ends at 5:00 PM on Wednesday, November 17.

If the owners of 10% or more of the tracts in a given district ask for their district to be reconsidered, the City will mail to all property owners in the district an announcement of a public meeting and cards to be mailed back indicating support for or opposition to that district. Ultimately, City Council will use the information on the returned cards to decide whether to affirm, modify, or abolish that district.

Pending district Houston Heights South, which had almost completed its adoption process and lacked only City Council approval, will be treated similarly to the existing districts. Two other pending districts in Woodland Heights and Glenbrook Valley had completed the application process but had not yet been before Houston Archaeological and Historical Commission; they will be handled under different rules.

Please see the City of Houston Planning and Development Department site here for a summary of the changes and transition process, the full text of the transition ordinance passed and the ordinance as amended, and the application, petition, and model spreadsheet for filing for reconsideration.

Contrasting views on the new ordinance and the transition process should be available on the following web sites:

www.preservehouston.org/

www.responsiblehistoricpreservation.org/

The Houston Heights Association is remaining neutral on the new ordinance and the transition process.

Calendar of Events for November-December 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 to Saturday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Historic Houston’s salvage warehouse is open. See www.historichouston.org.

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

October 30, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Rotary Club of Houston Heights and Heights Library are holding their annual Book Sale. This year it moves across the street to Heights Funeral Home, 1317 Heights Blvd. For information call Gary Meyer at 713-680-0583 or Heights Library at 832-393-1810.

October 30, 4:00 to 9:00 PM, Brooke Smith Heights Art Coalition presents “Day of the Dead in the Heights” in Montie Beach Park, 915 Northwood Street. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/dayofthedeadintheheights.

November 6, 10:00 AM, Garden Oaks American Legion Post 560 presents a free showing of the first half of the Spielberg/Hanks HBO movie The Pacific at the Post, 3720 Alba Road. There will be a display of weapons used during that conflict, and veterans who fought in the various campaigns depicted in the movie will be attending. A showing of the second half will be scheduled later. For more information, contact Jim Acker jacker1@sbcglobal.net.

November 6, 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM, Out of the Darkness Community Walk at Stude Park (1030 Stude) to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. For more information, visit www.outofthedarkness.org or email afsp.houston@gmail.com.

November 6, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church will host an Autumn Shopping Bazaar at the church, 1819 Heights Boulevard. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.saintandrewsepiscopal.org.

November 13, 9:00 AM to noon, Garden Oaks American Legion Post 560 (3720 Alba Road) hosts volunteer attorneys providing free legal advice to any veteran or spouse of a deceased veteran in Harris County. Eligible veterans may be assigned a pro bon attorney for further legal representation. For more information, contact Jim Acker jacker1@sbcglobal.net.

November 13, all day during and after the legal clinic, Sons of the American Legion hosts a chili cook-off at Garden Oaks American Legion Post 560 (3720 Alba Road). A taster's cup is $3. For more information, contact Jim Acker jacker1@sbcglobal.net.

November 13, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Houston Arts & Media and Story Sloan’s Gallery present the Houston History Book Fair & Symposium at Heights Church of Christ, 1548 Heights Boulevard. A different author will speak about their book every half hour, plus a panel discussion at midday on researching and publishing a book on area history. Visit www.houstonartsandmedia.org/book%20fair.html for more information.

December 11, Woodland Heights Civic Association presents their 24th annual Lights in the Heights street festival. This year’s route includes Bayland, Highland, and Omar. For more information, visit www.woodland-heights.org/lightsintheheights.htm.

Future History

Future History

[All dates are in 2011.]

February 27, Awards Dinner

April 1-3, Spring Home Tour

June 4, Heights Fun Run

October 2, Bicycle Rally

December 2-3, Holiday Home Tour

December 5-7, Holiday Basket Preparation and Delivery

At The Fire Station

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

The second Monday, 5:00 to 7:00 PM, and the last Monday of the month, 8:00 AM to noon, the City Council District H Satellite Office is open at the east (office) door.

Heavy Trash Notes

November is a “Tree Waste Only” month; December is a “Junk Waste” month. See www.houstontx.gov/solidwaste/treewaste.html for dates in your area and more information.