Westerwood News A Publication of the Westerwood Neighborhood Association (WNA), Inc. www.westerwoodneighborhood.com Winter Gathering in Westerwood Thursday, Jan. 26, 7 p.m., First Baptist Church Café January-February 2017 Calendar of Events Well, the holidays are over. Hopefully yours were peaceful, joyous and festive. Now we are entering the winter doldrums. No parties, no celebrations. But wait, have we got a deal for you! It is the Westerwood Neighborhood Association s Annual Meeting. It used to be that all we did was elect board members BORING!! But for the past two years we have combined that with an interesting and informative program. We ve heard about using native plants in our landscapes and were given the inside information about the Downtown Greenway. This year we are going to have another interesting program but also embellish the evening with some refreshments some sweet and some savory goodies as well as something good to drink. And, the program this year will be given by one of our Westerwood neighbors: Cecelia Thompson. Cecelia is the Executive Director of Action Greensboro, which, along with the Chamber of Commerce, is the city s primary economic development group. She works to attract and retain young professionals; collaborates with businesses and our universities and colleges; markets Greensboro s story and helps lead projects for downtown s enhancement. I m betting that we ll hear a lot about the progress of the Downtown Greenway now that the four city bond referendums have passed, as well as other projects that will have a direct or indirect effect on our neighborhood. So please plan to gather with other Westerwood neighbors to learn about all the great projects that are going on or planned so close to Westerwood. That s Thursday, January 26, 7 p.m., at the First Baptist Church Café. Please mark your calendars. Thanks. Westerwood Annual Meeting and Board Elections Thursday, Jan. 26, 7 p.m. First Baptist Church Café Westerwood Board Meeting Wednesday, Feb. 15, 7 p.m. Location to be determined
Election Time for WNA Board We hope you are not too tired of elections because it is the time of year to fill positions on the Westerwood Neighborhood Association board. This, as always, is a very important event for our neighborhood because it is the commitment of neighbors that makes Westerwood a safe, vibrant, exciting and special place to live and raise families. Elections will take place at the annual meeting, Thursday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. in The Café at First Baptist Church. The WNA board is composed of dedicated neighbors who organize and coordinate events and projects such as National Night Out, the chili cook-off, holiday garland and sign toppers that make our neighborhood such a great place to live. Fun in the Snow Page 2 Please consider throwing your hat in the ring for one of the four open positions on the board. E-mail Emilie Sandin, at emilieandtom@yahoo.com to let her know that you are willing to pitch in and help continue this great work for Westerwood. It is worth noting that board members have a lot of fun, enjoyment and satisfaction while serving Westerwood. Consider joining us. Emme Peace enjoys making snow angels during Greensboro s recent snowfall.
Garlanding the Bridges To whomever first thought of decorating the bridges for Christmas back in 2002, THANK YOU! And to whomever went to the trouble to buy those fluffy garlands and big red bows, WE SALUTE YOU! Nothing says, It s time for the holidays like driving over the Garland Street and Fairmont Street bridges and seeing the festive greenery and bows. This year Jack Jezorek, Michael Gleason, Sharon Faust, Sue Stinson, Stephanie Berry, Jan Lhotsky, Patrick and Caroline Rowe, Barbara Hughes, Don and Sonia Methfesef, and Emilie and Tom Sandin did the draping and fluffing. Many thanks to Margaret Godwin for making bows worthy of a Wow, to Gail Barger for keeping the old bows bright and shiny (spray-on paint!) and to Jim and Sue Stinson for storing the many bags of garlands and all the bows year after year. And mustn t forget one last thank you to the secret Santa who bought some more garlands this year and finished up the one naked span on the Fairmont Street Bridge after the worker bees went home. What a nice surprise! Page 3 Inspiration for the New Year As 2017 begins, it s a great time to make goals for the new year. Here are a few of my favorite quotes that are sure to inspire you! You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. If Plan A didn t work, the alphabet has 25 more letters! You can t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one. Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you ll land among the stars. JESSICA S CORNER Jessica Oberlies, 8th Grade, Kiser Middle School Above, Patrick and Caroline Rowe, and below, Emilie Sandin, Barbara Hughes and Jan Lhotsky help decorate the neighborhood bridges.
The Secrets of Westerwood Part Two From Preservation Greensboro Page 4 The Cedars estate was subdivided by Brown Real Estate Company in 1910 as a neighborhood that took the estate s name. Charming bungalows rose along Mendenhall, Courtland, and Hillside streets. The charming bungalow built in 1920 by contractor Reginald H. Starr at 606 Courtland represents this period. The craftsman bungalow features milk-quartz porch supports, a cut-away bay window, and exposed rafter tails and knee-braces beneath its eaves. The Battles sold their mansion in 1918 and the home was destroyed in the early 1960s to be replaced with an apartment complex at 610-614 Fairmont Street. Beginning as early as 1891, developers subdivided large tracts of land west and south of the Cedars. These initiatives included The Highlands, later rebranded as Oakland Park. Though some lots were sold at a lay pace, the largely unsold subdivisions attracted the attention of A. K. Moore, the newly hired and energetic treasurer of Guilford Insurance and Real Estate Company. Moore saw opportunity with veterans returning home from the Great War in Europe and acquired Oakland Park and The Cedars in 1919. Moore was a proficient salesman who excelled in marketing real estate. He immediately renamed the streets of the previous subdivisions through a public contest. The results were announced in the newspaper in October 1919: Nickols Avenue was changed to Crestland Avenue as suggested by Mrs. R.D. Douglas of Fisher Park; Haywood Street took the name Woodlawn Avenue as suggested by H.K. Williams of West Friendly; Wild Rose Street became Hillside Drive by suggestion of Miss Emma King of UNCG; Tamarac Avenue became Courtland Street thanks to Mrs. R.H. Newton of College Hill; and Bellemeade Street became known as Fairmont Street by submission of Miss Carrie Newton of College Hill. The entire neighborhood was rechristened Westerwood. Perhaps no greater interest has ever been aroused by the development of a residential section of Greensboro or environs than that which the people of the city are experiencing in Westerwood, a new development of the Guilford Insurance and Realty Company. A few days ago the company announced that the first home sites in Westerwood were ready for the market, and the activity that the company s office has experienced since then affords ample proof of the enthusiasm of Greensboro people over the new residential section opened to them Westerwood is easily pictured in the imagination as a bud that very soon will blossom in the richness of a full-blown American Beauty. A.K. Moore By the summer of 1920, Moore reported 23 houses have either been constructed or are now in the process of construction. These houses are readily disposed of after they have been constructed as they are sold on the long-time payment plan. In addition to the number of houses which have been constructed by the company, a large number of lots on which the purchasers are building homes have been sold. Work on infrastructure continued as well, the developer reporting that we have added the conveniences and comforts demanded for the modern city home paved streets and sidewalks, electric lights, gas, water and sewage. The following year, Moore commissioned a model home in Westerwood that he publicized as Castle Charming. He later took the stylish Prairie/ Craftsman hybrid house, located at 505 N. Mendenhall, as his own home and had it furnished by Greensboro-based furniture retailer Morrison-Neese. The stucco home features a broad front porch, a low roofline, and a convenient porte-cochere for the family s automobile. The marketing strategy worked well, and every house in Westerwood but one was sold within a year. Moore initiated a westward expansion of Westerwood that he named West Market Terrace. Next: Secrets of Westerwood, Part Three.
Page 5 The Making of Madhubala Westerwood neighbor Rahm Sethuraman has painted a mural of Indian actress Madhubala on the side of his house at 512 N. Mendenhall St. This is his story of how the mural came about. I am not really an Indian movie watcher and don t know much about it. However, by chance I read a bit about Madhubala a few years ago and then got quite curious. Then I read a lot about her, researched and saw her movies and got to know her. There is one author who wrote her biography after so many years called I Want to Live the Story of Madhubala. Madhubala was little known to the public and led a humble life in spite of being the most beautiful and popular Bollywood actress in the world. As a matter of fact, in the late 1950s, LIFE magazine ran an article about her with photos, and the title read The Most Beautiful Woman in the World and she is NOT from Beverly Hills! She was of course the most beautiful woman and actress. However, more than anything she was an inspiring soul, extremely positive and giving, who lived an exemplary life. Though she was marred by a hole in her heart from birth and had such a trying life with extreme turmoil, yet she dealt with it in a positive way. That s what really impressed me. See Mural, page 6 Tom Pickard Realtor, Broker, CRS, GRI 336-253-3606, Direct 336-464-2434, Fax
Page 6 Mural, from page 5 She died at a very young age, 36, and rose to fame in such a short time, living life with a positive outlook and humility and touching many people s hearts. She may have died with a hole in her heart, but she left holes in many people s hearts! Even to this day she is remembered more for her character and the life she led than her beauty and success alone. Metaphorically speaking, to compare Madhubala and Marilyn Monroe, who also died at age 36, Marilyn lived a life with a negative outlook. A couple of years ago, I by chance saw a mural of Madhubala in Bandra Bombay during a morning jog and got quite curious and connected with the artist. I always used to share this inspiring Madhubala story to whomever I meet and whenever there is an opportunity to talk about the positivity in life. I thought, how cool would it be to share the inspiring story of Madhubala with everyone here in the U.S. where negativity has become the word of the day! And how fantastic it would be if it was through a BIG mural of Madhubala! I feel that having Madhubala on my wall may make people curious as to who she is and possibly know more about her. In the process they may find out more about her life and how she led it in a positive way through many travails. Just as I got curious and ended up becoming her soul fan and inspired by her life, my hope is that some others may too follow a similar suit and that would be my best gift to share with humanity via Madhubala. Mumbai take a quick trip to Bandra and you can see all of Ranjit s murals on various walls, including a huge mural (156 feet by 140 feet) on a Telephone Exchange building of Dada Saheb Phalke, father of Indian talkies. So there is my story of why I am a fan of Madhubala and why there is a mural on my wall. Also, I think Westerwood is the type of neighborhood where such cutting-edge thoughts and actions can be expressed and displayed. I am happy that I live in this neighborhood and not some other conservative neighborhoods in Greensboro! By the way, the mural image of Madhubala is from a Hindi movie, Barsaat Ki Raat, (One Rainy Night), a 1960 black-and-white movie. If you ever want to watch it, you can find it on YouTube with English subtitles. However, the color imagination was of the artist, Ranjit Dahiya. Of course, another reason was to promote the Indian artist and his talent. India is gifted with some world-class brilliance such as the artist here, Ranjut Dahiya, who painted Madhubala in 6 days! If you are ever in A member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates
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Page 8 2016 WNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jack Jezorek President and Neighborhood Signs 1405 Fairmont, 336-272-6664 suejackj@bellsouth.net Pat Teal Rudy Vice President 1009 Courtland, 336-580-9966 patrudy@aprinc.com Anastasia Zink Secretary 1504 Northfield 610-348-9505 AAZINK4@gmail.com Kay Swofford Treasurer 1316 Fairmont, 336-273-1408 kays@triad.rr.com Jack Kennedy Website 1005 Courtland, 919-623-3360 jtkenne3@uncg.edu Emilie Sandin Beautification Committee 419 Crestland, 336-274-4424 emilieandtom@yahoo.com Patrick Rowe Park Renewal 211 Hillcrest 336-328-6103 famrowegso@gmail.com Jeff Nimmer Special Projects 207 Crestland, 336-430-0005 jeff@kotisprop.com Gail Barger Community Watch 1503 Fairmont, 336-202-1108 gailsbells@bellsouth.net. Barbara Burnside Social Committee 419 Woodlawn, 336-379-8050 barbaraburnside10@gmail.com Bonnie Lawrence Newsletter Editor 1002 Courtland, 336-271-4046 bonnieslawrence@triad.rr.com Marsh Prause Zoning Committee 516 Woodlawn, 336-272-3553 Mprause@allmanspry.com Yes, that snow was DEEP! Join Community Watch E-Mail List Our new Westerwood Neighborhood e-mail is now in operation. E-mails are sent through icontact, which allows us to send to a large group. Nothing has changed for you as you will continue to send your emails to Westerwoodnews@gmail.com. If you are not on the neighborhood email and wish to be added, please send your name and address to Westerwoodnews@gmail.com with subject line: Add to email list. Newsletter Wants Your Photos We know there are talented photographers in Westerwood. The proof: the large number of residents who submitted photos after January s snowstorm turned our neighborhood into a winter wonderland. We are putting them in the newsletter and on our website. Now we want to see what else you capture in photos. Nature, children, sports if it takes place in Westerwood, we want to see it. Send your photos to newsletter editor Bonnie Lawrence at bonnieslawrence@triad.rr.com and she ll use as many as she can.