Support LITH - Auction Items Needed!

The Lights in the Heights Bash is not just a fun-filled evening, it's a crucial part of our fundraising efforts. The proceeds from the event help cover expenses such as city permits, street closures, police presence and security, porta-potties, and other necessary items to hold the event.

Your participation and support at the Bash are vital to the success of the event. We invite you to mark your calendars for this annual event and buy your tickets when they go on sale online. Early Bird ticket sales will begin at the WHCA Store on October 1 ($75) for one week only, and regular pricing will apply after that.

LITH is a community-driven initiative that relies on your support. The proceeds from the LITH Bash help cover essential expenses such as city permits, street closures, police presence and security, porta-potties, and other necessary items to make the event a success. Your support is vital to the continuation of this beloved community tradition.

As part of the Bash, there will be an Auction to raise additional money to cover costs associated with LITH. The LITH Committee is seeking your help securing auction items for the Bash. If you are a business or individual with connections and resources, a history of charitable giving, and a love for LITH, your help could make a significant difference and play a crucial role in the event's success!

Auction items like gift baskets, tickets to sporting or entertainment events, date night experiences, etc., are always welcome! If you love giving parties for kids or adults, you could offer to host a party as a donation. Let the LITH Committee know what you'd like to give to support LITH. Your donation and support will be recognized in multiple ways throughout the LITH season, and depending on the level of giving, your name could be featured on banners and signage for the event, the WHCA newsletter, social media posts, and more.

Ready to support LITH and donate an auction item? It's simple. Just email us at bash@woodland-heights.org. We appreciate and thank you for your support in advance for your donation, and continued support of the WHCA and Lights in the Heights!

2024 LITH - Join The Fun

Lights in the Heights - Brief History
It all began on December 12, 1987, when the first Lights in the Heights event was held. The streets of Woodland Heights were adorned with 'luminarias', transforming the neighborhood into a magical 'Winter Wonderland '. Residents were invited to join in by adding luminarias to their streets, driveways, and porches, creating a mesmerizing display of light. The event also featured holiday entertainment and refreshments on the Norhill Esplanade, marking the start of a cherished tradition.

According to the WHCA 1989 November December newsletter, that first event drew 20,000 people to the Woodland Heights neighborhood to see the luminarias lighting up the participating streets and homes. The name we have all come to know the event by, "Lights in the Heights," appears to have been added in 1989, a testament to our community's enduring spirit and commitment to creating memorable experiences.

2024 LITH Schedule
This year, on December 14, our neighborhood will hold its 37th Annual Lights in the Heights. This year's featured streets will be Byrne, Euclid, and 7 1/2th Streets. They will be closed to vehicular traffic and become vibrant hubs of community activity. Neighbors and visitors alike are invited to stroll through the illuminated streets and enjoy the vibrant displays and holiday cheer.

Click to see larger image

2024 LITH Event Schedule

• Friday, November 15 - LITH® Bash
  Early Bird Ticket Sales Begin Oct 1st
  Eureka Heights Brewing - 941 W 18th St, Houston, TX 77008

• Week of December 8 - 12 House Decorating Competition
  Featured streets and nominated homes are eligible to compete

• Friday, December 13 - Friday Night Lights - Norhill Esplanade
  Neighborhood-only event

• Saturday, December 14 - Lights in the Heights®
  Featured streets - Byrne, Euclid, and 7 1/2th Streets

What LITH Committee and Volunteers Do
Lights in the Heights is more than just one night of festivities. There is the annual Ornament/Logo contest, coordination with the City Special Events Office to close certain streets and redirect traffic down adjacent streets for safety, judging homes to award prizes for everything from the Most Wattage to the best holiday-themed, planning and setting up Friday night lights (this event is for residents only), and the big finale of the public Saturday event Lights in the Heights.

Volunteers and neighbors like you donate their time to do all the planning and hard work for this event. Planning for the event begins in the summer and continues up to and after the event itself. The LITH Committee is always looking for neighbors who would like to assist in making sure all the details that go into making this event a success; your involvement is crucial to the success of Lights in the Heights.

Did I mention another item the LITH Committee is responsible for? That would be fundraising to cover the cost of putting on LITH. The annual ornament contest provides the logo for the ornaments, t-shirts, and other merchandise sold through the WHCA store, but additional fundraising is where the Lights in the Heights Bash comes into play.

Hats Off to Beautification Committee!

We Appreciate WHCA Volunteers!
A BIG THANK YOU to all the our dedicated Beautification Volunteers! Your willingness to give your time and service to do pick up trash, pull weeds, and just keep our Woodland Heights greenspaces looking beautiful is much appreciated! We'd like to recognize each and every one of you and  give you some well-deserved credit where it's due!.

Most of the WHCA Beautification Volunteers have been donating their time and hard work maintaining Woodland Heights garden spaces, esplanades, and greenspaces for a number of years. They would all love to have some extra hands to grab a shovel and pitch in to help. They've got the experience and knowledge to pass on about gardening and invite you to join them on one of the many volunteer workdays scheduled throughout the year. Here's some of the work they've been doing this past month.

WHCA Beautification Committee Volunteers at September 21st Ley Park Plaza Clean up

Ley Plaza Park Volunteer Clean Up!
This past Saturday, September 21, the new Director of Beautification, Ryan Taylor, working with veteran volunteers Pat Rutledge and Louise Moss and a new crew of volunteers tackled the Ley Plaza Park ravine and the Butterfly Garden. They cleared a mountain of trash that had been piling up on the north side of the park covering the drainage system that is part of the flood mitigation system. Just like the street storm sewers located throughout the neighborhood they work to divert water runoff away from your homes.

WHCA Volunteers clear debris from Ley Plaza Park Ravine

Parks and Greenspaces Role In a Community
Parks and greenspaces, like Ley Plaza Park, and Woodland Park are more than just greenspaces to relax and play in when the weather is fine. During storms and floods they retain water to keep it from flooding your homes. That is why volunteer work like that provided by the WHCA Beautification Committee is so important. They work to keep our neighborhood parks and greenspaces free of litter and debris so we can enjoy them - and this also helps the water flow away from homes when the weather threatens.

Beautification Ongoing Projects Report
Most of the WHCA Beautification Volunteers have been donating their time and hard work maintaining Woodland Heights garden spaces, esplanades, and greenspaces for a number of years. They would all love to have some extra hands to grab a shovel and pitch in to help. We invite you to join for one of the many volunteer workdays scheduled throughout the year. In the meantime, here's some of the work they've been doing this past month.

Watson Esplanade - Thank you to Pat Schaper and Louise Moss pulled weeds and pruned the rose and blue mist bushes for spending 7 hours! Additional work accomplished included:

• Checking the sprinkler system for correct operation and checking the lighting on esplanade signage 

• Volunteers are also on a weekly schedule to keep the Gulf Muhly grass watered and healthy   

Norhill Esplanade - The dead pine tree in the middle of the esplanade has been marked for removal by Houston Parks & Recreation Department's (HPARD) Urban Forestry section. Thank you to Parks!

Ley Plaza Park - Thank you to Pat Rutledge! for working with CenterPoint who has agreed to clear the power lines that run inside the park.

• HPARD's Urban Forestry will be removing 3 – dead/diseased trees in the next coming weeks and will be scheduliing the removal of underbrush around the perimeter of the park in the Fall

Next Volunteer Opportunity!
Your next opportunity to volunteer to clean up greenspaces is on Saturday, September 28, 2024. The Houston Parks and Recreation Department will be holding a Park Recovery and Restoration Event at Woodland Park. Volunteers are encouraged to participate! See flyer below for more information!

National Night Out - October 1st

"Won't you be my neighbor?"  Neighborhoods mean many different things to a lot of different people…ranging from a place denoted by boundary lines to a group of homes that are close to each other with people who may or may not know each other. The Woodland Heights, a neighborhood with a rich history dating back to 1907, like Houston has evolved over the years. With many neighbors working from home or choosing to live in the Woodland Heights for the schools and amenities offered by living inside the loop there are neighbors who may not have a moment to take advantage of their front porches or chat across their fences to meet their neighbors.

Today, we're inviting you to come out and meet some of your neighbors, friends, and future friends on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, for the WHCA National Night Out from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm on the Norhill Esplanade.

Thanks to Joann Lammons with Sotheby's Realty, a fellow Woodland Heights resident and realtor, for generously sponsoring Dippin' Dots as a sweet treat for the kids! When asked why she contributes to the WHCA National Night Out event, Joann responded,

"I am proud to be a member of the Woodland Heights Community. It brings me back to my roots of uptown New Orleans with like architectural styles, legendary live oaks, walk-ability and wonderful neighbors. I love to support NNO as it honors our brave law enforcers and offers joint community programs for safety awareness. Not to mention a fun excuse for gathering our community!"

Parents be sure to come early to National Night Out as Dippin' Dots are available while supplies last.

In addition, the It's a Wrap food truck will be on site with its popular wraps ready for purchase. Guli Essa. The owner of It's a Wrap began her food truck career in 2011 when the retail store she was managing decided to close and gave her two days' notice. Instead of wondering what her next step would be, Guli followed her dream of owning her own business. Since then, she's been rolling out healthy food varieties that reflect what she likes to eat. The name of the truck is a nod to her LA roots and the movie business where "when you finish a movie, you say, 'it's a wrap." She's also carried the theme a little further by naming all her wraps after movies or something related to movies.

So, bring your lawn chairs, get your kids a Dippin' Dot, buy a wrap from It's a Wrap food truck, and enjoy a fun-filled night out with your neighbors while celebrating National Night Out.

What is National Night Out?
National Night Out was the brainchild of Matt A. Peskin from Philadelphia, but its success is a testament to the power of community. In 1970, Mr. Peskin was a volunteer working with the Lower Merion Community Watch program in cooperation with the Lower Merion Police Department. He patrolled his neighborhood, assisted in patrol dispatch, and ran the program's newsletter. In search of new content for the newsletter, he went to surrounding neighborhoods for assistance and noticed the need for a shared platform to connect citizens interested in safer neighborhoods. This was the seed for the next step in the development of the program that would become National Night Out.

In 1970, he established the National Association of Town Watch to provide community watch groups with information, resources, and assets to stay informed, interested, involved, and motivated within the community. Then, three years later, in 1984, the NATW organization held the first National Night Out with the simple goal of increasing participation in local crime prevention efforts by uniting entire communities for a single night. That first night, 2.5 million neighbors across 400 communities in 23 states participated. Today, communities celebrate National Night Out events on either the first Tuesday in August or the first Tuesday in October to take into account the difference in weather temperatures across the entire country. We opt for the first Tuesday in October here in Houston due to our weather temps!

What is the goal?
At the National Night Out program's core is the goal of connecting neighbors, promoting community, and raising awareness about police-community partnerships. For us, it's a chance to strengthen the bonds within our Woodland Heights neighborhood and show our support for local law enforcement by uniting our community on this one night in the hopes of uniting it for the future.

Keep Woodland Heights Beautiful! Volunteer Opportunities

According to Keep Houston Beautiful's 2020 Litter Study, released in 2021, we have some cleaning up to do! While the study indicates significant improvements over the years, it also averages out that there are still 50 billion pieces of litter on the ground or about 152 pieces of litter for every American. But here's the inspiring part-one of the driving forces behind this tidying up is VOLUNTEERS! People just like you who have rolled up their sleeves, put on their gloves, reached for a trash bag and pitched in to be a part of the solution. Your efforts have made a significant impact, and we're proud of what we've achieved together.

In our Woodland Heights neighborhood, we can all help by looking at our greenspaces and parks and engaging in ongoing cleanup activities sponsored by the Woodland Heights Civic Association's Beautification Committee and the Friends of Woodland Park. Both organizations are working tirelessly to minimize the impact littering makes in our greenspaces and parks, and your participation is crucial in this ongoing effort.

The Woodland Heights Civic Association is working hard to care for the Watson and Norhill Esplanades, Ley Plaza Park, and its Butterfly Garden, the North Houston Avenue Esplanade (near Main Street and Houston Avenue). The Friends of Woodland Park concentrate on keeping one of Houston's oldest parks clean, with numerous volunteer work days and events.

Mark your calendars for the next WHCA Beautification Work Day, scheduled for Saturday, September 21st, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.The focus will be Ley Plaza Park (corner of White Oak and Gladys Streets). This is a great opportunity to join your neighbors in making a visible difference in our community.

The Friends of Woodland Park also have events focused on the environment and our feathered friends who live there from September 20th to the 22nd. September 20th celebrates World National Cleanup Day, the 21st features a Fall Bird Survey, and September 22nd is a cleanup at Woodland Park.

Both groups are always looking for people - individuals, groups, businesses, corporations, clubs, etc. - interested in devoting a few hours to volunteering for a good cause. There's a role for everyone, and your contribution, no matter how big or small, is valued. Upcoming neighborhood events and cleanup dates for both organizations can be found on the Woodland Heights Civic Association and Friends of Woodland Park Event Calendars on their respective websites.