Take a Book. Share a Book.

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend...
...Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx

"Take a Book. Share a Book." This is the rallying cry of the nonprofit organization Little Free Library, headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. Their goal "is to be a catalyst for building community, inspiring readers, and expanding book access through a global network of volunteer-led Little Free Library book-exchange boxes."

A stroll through our neighborhood indicates that many of our neighbors feel the same way and have built their own free library boxes to share their favorite books with others. With the start of a new school year just beginning a few weeks ago, it seemed only fitting to highlight the Little Free Libraries across our neighborhood. Their offers are for young and old alike, all sharing these neighborhood libraries for all who love reading.

For information on the Little Free Library World map visit https://littlefreelibrary.org/map/ enter your zip code and you'll be able to find LFL near you. There are also a variety of other other resources to help you build a LFL of your own, information on how to set up your library, and ways to stock it with books.

For more information on the Little Free Library organization, including how to become a Little Free Library Steward, resources to replenish your book collection, or kits to build your own library, they have resources available to support you. Visit https://littlefreelibrary.org/books/ for more information and to replenish your book collection for your readers.

WHCA - Member Meeting August 20, 2024

As is our habit, Woodland Heights Civic Association held a Member's Meeting in the library at Travis Elementary School on Tuesday, August 20th.

These meetings are your opportunity to engage with the WHCA board and committees, both to catch up on things going on in the neighborhood and provide feedback. It's your opportunity to both hear and be heard. The meeting got underway just after 6 p.m. on the hottest day of the summer to that point.

CM Mario Castillo
After an initial welcome to the 30-ish members assembled, the agenda began with Council Member Mario Castillo and Sabrina Salts, Director of Special Projects, District H. CM Castillo was invited in advance with a list of questions from neighbors.
 
The Council Member began by highlighting the District H Patrol Program. He described it as, "…a public safety initiative that is geared towards nuisance level quality of life issues. So, think illegal dumping, homeless encampments, junk motor vehicles that are abandoned, overgrown lots, aggressive panhandling, loitering, those sorts of things. These are things that people do call HPD 4, and oftentimes, they just don't get to them right away. There's obviously a limited number of officers. They're focused on high level, emergent problems. This is a program that can be utilized by anyone in District H to go to districthpatrol.com. There's a form you fill out, there's a certain criteria of nuisance problems that this program will address, and those get routed to Sabrina. Sabrina sends them to the proper HPD command".

He went on to address CenterPoint's recent flurry of tree trimming, which has caused concern among neighbors. “They have been coming through and doing some tree trimming. This is this is in their purview. There are some regulations about how much they can cut, which I think y'all have been pretty proactive about letting them know that, even putting notices on the trees themselves.”
 
He continued, "It's not necessarily CenterPoint out there doing the trimming. They're hiring a number of contractors to go out there and do that. When that happens, you can have sort of a lapse in standards. You're putting a lot of folks out there to do a job and not necessarily looking at every single tree they're cutting to see if it meets your standards. So that's where your eyes and ears play an important role. I'm happy to be a conduit between CenterPoint and the neighborhood, to ensure that what they're doing is in compliance. If there are issues, definitely send my office a photo and an address.”
 
The Q&A with Mario went on for a full 30 minutes and covered much more detail than I can get into here. The one big takeaway from the discussion is that 311 is important. The city’s 311 system is the primary way to report issues to the city. Every 311 report is issued a ticket number. City departments are held accountable for addressing their various 311 issues. You can open 311 tickets;

1. By calling 311

2. Using the Houston 311 app

3. Or via the web

If you feel the city is not responsive, you can contact the council members' team at districth@houstontx.gov. Be sure to include the 311 ticket number when contacting them.

Lights in the Heights & BASH Committees address the gathered neighbors.

Lights in the Heights

Ashely Allison and Lauren Snead followed Mario with news about planning for Lights in the Heights and the LITH Bash. Ashley announced the featured streets for LITH 2024: Byrne, Euclid, and 7 1/2th.  The festival hasn't been on this route since 2019. Memorial Hermann  Hospital in the Heights has once again returned as the presenting  sponsor.

Council  Member Carla Cisneros submitted the winning design for the event logo.  It merges the themes of Space City with the Travisaurus from the Travis  Elementary playground. A cloisonné ornament based on the logo is available in the WHCA online store. Order yours today!

Lauren announced the LITH Bash, which will be held Friday, November 15th, at Eureka Heights Brewing.  There will be good music, food, drink, and live and silent auctions,  all in support of Lights in the Heights. She expects there will be an  early bird sale for bash tickets. Remember to Save the Date—details will follow in upcoming newsletters and on social media. Proceeds from the LITH Bash will help fund LITH.

Both committees seek volunteers to assist with all aspects of the Bash and LITH. If you are interested in volunteering, email LightsInTheHeights@gmail.com. It's a great way to get in the holiday spirit while being a part of your neighborhood!

WHCA Board
Each member of the WHCA board in attendance introduced themselves and gave a brief description of their role and recent activities.

Along the way, Director of Beautification Ryan Taylor acknowledged the assistance of Pat Rutledge, Louise Moss, and Tiffany Tyler in recent projects. He further noted several planned workday events in the coming months, starting with Ley Plaza Park on Saturday, September 21st.

I closed out this summary highlighting the unexpected requirement that WHCA move all its worldly possessions out of the storage unit at I-10 and T.C. Jester. That building was damaged by Hurricane Beryl, such that all ground-floor tenants were forced to move out with rather little notice. The WHCA board opted to move to Big Tex Storage on 11th Street. The move itself was undertaken by Louise Moss, Estella Espinosa, and myself.

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Guest Speaker - Whole Home Backup Power Affordable Backup Power Presentation

At each member's meeting, we have a guest speaker on a topic broadly of interest to the neighborhood. In the past, we've had naturalists, beekeepers, and bird watchers, among many others.

On this occasion, I gave a presentation I created, June's Derecho. It describes what Stella and I have learned in recent years as we've implemented An Affordable Strategy for Whole-Home Backup Power. It's a set of notes providing guidance on how to run an entire home, including central air conditioning, for much less than the $15-20K that it typically costs to install a dedicated standby generator.

This was the third time that I've given this presentation. The first was online using Zoom. A recording of that session is available, and the slides are also available here. About a third of the assembled crowd stayed all the way to the end, which was around 7:40 p.m.

Yard of the Month - 2624 Reagan

"The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway."
- Michael Pollan, American Author, Food & Plant Expert

We, James Muhl and I, purchased their home in 1978. The three lots on Reagan and Gladys streets were the former parsonage of a neighborhood Lutheran church. In the past 46 years, the house has been raised, restored, and remodeled, and the three lots brought back together to create a garden that is a habitat for wildlife. Patricia is both a Master Gardener and a Master Naturalist. She and James have built crushed granite and brick paths that wind around flower beds, two wildscapes, a vegetable garden, and a large pond.

Historic Woodland Heights

Did you know the Woodland Heights neighborhood is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Houston? It was originally created by The William A. Wilson Realty Company, which began developing Woodland Heights in 1907 on 136 acres of land that was once part of John Austin's Mexican land grant. In 2011, the Woodland Heights neighborhood became a Historic District for three significant reasons: it illustrates Houston's development between 1907 and 1925, its association with William Wilson and other notable residents, and its architecture. According to the COH Planning and Development Department's Historic Preservation Manual for the Woodland Heights:

"Most of the buildings in Woodland Heights are one-story and two-story houses. The neighborhood also contains a few duplexes and four-plex apartment buildings. The most common type of house is a wood-framed bungalow. A bungalow is a one-story house with a low-pitched roof, wide eaves, and a large front porch. The bungalow was one of the most common house forms in Houston's suburban neighborhoods between 1905 and 1925. Some bungalows have Craftsman details."

Preservation Houston will conduct a Woodland Heights Architecture Walk on Sunday, September 15, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. As the name suggests, this is an exterior-only walking tour designed to highlight the 20th-century architectural styles in our neighborhood. If you're interested in taking the tour, be aware that advance tickets are required, as no tickets will be sold on the day of the tour. You can find more information, including ticket prices for this event, on Preservation's Houston website.

Is your home one of the historic-style homes found in our neighborhood (foursquare, cottage, or bungalow)? During this tour, you can learn more about your style of home and understand why so many residents work hard to preserve it. Hall, one of Woodland Heights residents, created and leads the WHCA Venerable Home Program (also referred to as the 100+ Club) to recognize homes over 100 years old,

"Working together, I believe we can preserve this community...Fortunately, we have lots of original homes, and we want to recognize and encourage others to preserve and care for them. That is the thought behind the WHCA historic site designation."

One hundred and thirty homes currently carry the proud designation of being members of the 100+ Club; you can see their signs proudly displayed in their homeowner's yards. To add your home to the 100 Club+ list, you must meet the following criteria 

1. A home must be at least 100 years old (to verify your home's age visit HCAD)

2. Homeowners must be current members of the WHCA (to join or renew your membership, visit the WHCA website)

Then contact Debbie Hall at debhall945@gmail.com. Is your home a candidate for the 100 Club+ list? Our neighborhood has homes built as early as 1881. Join us!