WHCA July 2020 General Meeting

Please join your neighbors virtually for our July General Meeting. We will be introducing new board members and looking for a new Director of Communications and other volunteers. If you would like to suggest a topic for the agenda, please email president@woodland-heights.org.

When:

Jul 14, 2020 07:00 PM Central Time

Where:

This virtual gathering will be conducted using Zoom.
Neighbors seeking to attend must register in advance.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. 
 
Respectfully,
Alaina Hebert
President, WHCA

An Option To Protect Your Home From Being Torn Down

Are you concerned about your beloved home falling prey to a wrecking ball?  Looking for a way to protect it?  An option is to apply for Protected Landmark status.  In a nutshell, here are some of the details.
 
Buildings have to meet three of these general requirements to qualify as a protected landmark: 

• 50 years old or older*

• Example of an identifiable architectural style*

• Associated with a known architect, builder or craftsman.

• Important building to the community or scene of a significant event in the community*

• Illustrates how the neighborhood developed or last surviving example in its neighborhood*

• Associated with a family or individual prominent in the community. 

The four with asterisks are the most common qualifiers. When it says community, it can just be the neighborhood; it does not have to be the whole city.
 
The ordinance is concerned with structural changes to the house: things like replacing windows and doors, enlarging the openings. Substantial changes. You can also build additions to the house as long as they don’t dominate the historic portion. All these kinds of changes have to be submitted to the preservation office for approval before the work is begun.
 
At the owners request, Preservation Houston can produce the protected landmark nomination at no charge.  Contact Preservation Houston at  713-510-3990  for more information.

WHCA Statement Of Activity May 2020

WHCA Financial Statement
5/1/2019 to 5/31/2020

Note: Questions about WHCA finances can be directed to treasurer@woodland-heights.org

Travis Brownies Conduct Food Drive

Travis Elementary-based Brownie Girl Scout Troop 122109 did a socially-distanced food drive for the Heights Interfaith Ministries Food Pantry in May. They created flyers to distribute to their neighbors and collected donated food from porches. The girls were able to collect 16 bags full of canned and dried goods to support the neighborhood food bank. For their next community service project, they are spending the summer writing to seniors who are not able to venture out. Way to go Girl Scouts! 
- Melanie Gehman

Yet Another New Little Library at 408 Byrne

Like mushrooms after a rain, we see little libraries popping up around the neighborhood. This one, known as Byrne Books, is at 408 Byrne across from the infamous Feel The Byrne lights. I stumbled upon it while our walking the dogs last week.

Be Someone Who Keeps The Constable Patrol Program Funded!

Imagine a world in the distant future… A world where Covid is a word of the past and hardly spoken. A world in which families go on vacation but do not spend every single moment of the day together. This day will come (of course not soon enough) but when it does ... Who will watch over and protect our neighborhood? Who will come to our rescue?  Will it be the raccoons, possums, feral cats, lost parakeets or possibly squirrels? No, it will be our Constables.

Have you signed up? If you haven’t it’s not too late. Act now and for $350 you will receive an up-to-date sticker/sign. This will give our neighborhood a daytime and nighttime constable. You can also request to have your house checked while on vacation. Remember, your subscription is auto renewable now.

I am new to this position and want to hear from you with suggestions or concerns. This program will only be successful if we are all a part of it.

- Margaux Poizat, Dir of Security

Meeting on a Street Corner: the Story of Mrs Scott and Mr Pattillo

Keith Pattillo was long time resident of 308 Woodland, a home that he shared with his dog “Lucky.” I first encountered Keith and his dog while walking our two Labradors, as we often traversed Beauchamp to Woodland westbound. He was always friendly, with a smile and something nice to say.

We typically saw Keith driving around in his old pickup truck with Lucky in the passenger seat. Lucky passed away early in 2018 and Keith joined him in July of that year. His passing was noted by neighbor David Jordan and many others.

Earlier this month The Houston Chronicle published an essay by Mildred Scott, a crossing guard at Travis Elementary School. It details the evolution of her friendship with Mr. Pattillo. It’s a lovely story of hope and kindness. While I cannot republish it here, I offer it as recommended reading.

Thanks to Debbie Hall for bringing it to my attention.

- Michael Graves, Dir of Communications

New Faces on the WHCA Board of Directors

In a message a few weeks back we noted some recent changes in the WHCA board. I thought it good to introduce these new folks, who have taken up the task of helping WHCA navigate through the coming two years.

Director of Beautification: Allison Hartzell

Living in and being active in Woodland Heights for over 30 years has given me great insight into the neighborhood and Heights in general. My husband and I worked to pass the original deed restrictions back in the 1980's when we got our start in volunteering for the community.

Our three girls are native Woodland Heighters and all went to Travis. Being a long time volunteer in the local community, including past president of WHCA (2010), as well as an avid gardener, makes Beautification a good fit so I can continue to give back to the neighborhood which has brought me and my family lots of great memories.

Many of you may know my dog better than me, Chuck and I stroll the neighborhood multiple times a day though our walks are getting shorter and shorter as he hits his golden years. We will be perusing yards for Yard of the Month on our walks!  Please feel free to drop me an email if you have suggestions or want to nominate a Yard of the Month.

Director of Security: Margaux Poizat

I was born and raised in New Orleans and moved to Houston in 2001, to eventually purse my Nurse Anesthetist degree. I crossed paths with my husband who was here for an engineering internship. The Heights always drew me in because of the resemblance to my home town. So this is where we choose our home in 2007. 

Our children have attended the neighborhood schools from the time they were four years old. My daughter will be starting her last year at Travis Elementary in the fall and my son will start his second year at Hogg Middle School. 

In my spare time I like to tinker. I enjoy making jewelry, collecting/restoring antiques and playing the piano. I’m excited for this new role in our community. 

The nominating committee is continuing to seek candidates for several positions that will be filled at the Annual General Meeting in July. For details please contact Alaina Hebert at whcavolunteer@googlegroups.com

Box Turtles - What do you know about them?

It was mid-April when the Friends of Woodland Park received an email from Keith Williamson asking two questions:  1) are box turtles native to this area, and 2) are nutria actively controlled to protect the park or simply left alone. Our response to the nutria question was that there is not an abundance of nutria in this area and the natural predators keep their numbers in balance.

The inquiry about the box turtle (see Keith’s photo taken at Woodland Park) required an online search which resulted in learning that box turtles in Texas are declining in number and need to be protected.   

Do you know…

• Box turtles often live for 50 or more years.

• Box turtles may live for nearly 10 years before they mate and lay eggs.

• The number of eggs laid by female turtles is relatively few and many eggs are eaten by predators.

• Very few baby box turtles reach adulthood due to being eaten.

• Most of the box turtles sold in stores have been taken from the wild.

• About half of the box turtles taken from the wild for the pet trade do not survive due to filthy conditions and lack of food and water before being placed in a pet store.

• Turtles bought at pet stores or flea markets are probably in ill health.

So how do we protect box turtles other than not running over them with our vehicle when they are crossing the road?  If you can safely pull off the road and rescue the turtle there are several things to keep in mind.

• Pick up the turtle and move it off the road in the direction in which it was heading. (The turtle may try to cross the road again if it’s moved to the wrong side of the road.)

• Don't take the turtle to another location unless you feel it’s not safe where you found the turtle. Turtles will try to find their old "neighborhood" and need to remain in the same vicinity.

• Don't take the turtle home for a pet. If you take a female turtle home, it will be removed from reproductive potential for possibly 40 years.

• If you find a box turtle when out for a walk in the woods or a bicycle ride, take a photo to share with your friends but please leave it where you found it (if in a safe place) after you’ve taken time to marvel at Nature’s wildlife with whom we share our world.

Please enjoy the trails at Woodland Park and let us know if you have questions or wish to share photos of wildlife you’ve seen there.

Louise Moss
Friends of Woodland Park
www.friendsofwoodlandpark.org