Fall 2007
Dear Neighbors,
Welcome to the fall 2005 VEA newsletter. Thanks to all who sent in some news. Everybody enjoys news but not enough people leap at the opportunity to share…if your news isn’t here it’s because you didn’t send it to your block captain or directly to the editor at victoriaestates@gmail.com
Apologies from your dear, long-serving editor: it is just about one full year since the last News Views & Voices. Folks were not forthcoming with news last winter and spring…but this edition will go on record as the biggest, most informative ever and if you read through to the end, you will see that it is also a showcase of talent and neighborliness! Enjoy!
V.E. ASSOCIATION
Victoria Estates News, Views & Voices comes directly to your mailbox whenever it is printed…historically, every quarter but latterly, a bit less frequently. If anyone would like the e-version or a large-print version, please let me know by email at victoriaestates@gmail.com or call Jennifer at 404-275-5579.
(Ed. Note: my house is for sale…will somebody please take over the newsletter soon? Maybe I can offer an attractive package: You buy my house I’ll give you the editorship of the newsletter!)
NEEDED!
LEADERSHIP FOR VICTORIA ESTATES NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION!!
We are looking for a couple of good folks who would be interested in serving as President, Vice-President, and Secretary of our neighborhood association. The current officers -- David Littlefield, David Black, and Kim DeGrove - have served for a good number of years, and it's time for new blood, new energy, new ideas, new traditions. (The good news is that Treasurer Dan Leeser, who's doing a fabulous job, is happy to continue in the position, and the Mason Mill Neighborhood Association is very interested in continuing to work with us on local development issues, communicating with our government representatives, and planning picnics!).
David (404-248-0043 davidlitt55@yahoo.com) and Kim (404-636-0408 kdegrove@yahoo.com) would be delighted to speak with anyone who's interested.
The V.E. Entrance Sign… we have our name!!
Some time ago, not long after our entrance sign was vandalized, Bette Walton got the brick-work done and Jill Cooper went to great lengths to get replacement letters. It was more complex that it seemed. Jean Ellis, with some help from husband Ed, took over the project and after much finagling she managed to get two very attractive plaques custom-made for us! Bravo! It looks great and we are no longer nameless!
The V.E. Annual Fall Picnic
The joint Mason Mills-Victoria Estates neighborhood picnic - Sunday, October 14. Gorgeous weather, lots of great food, many young children! Jeff Rader came to answer questions from the attendees and Ann Hudson did all the grilling. There were relatively few people from Victoria Estates, however...let's see if we can come together to support future events as a great way to get to know our neighbors on both sides of Houston Mill Road!
Neighborhood Email List
If you would like to be on a distribution list for neighborhood crime alerts and occasional news items, please send your e-mail address to Marian Gordin at mkgordin@comcast.net. If you want more information, you can call Marian at her new home number 404-633-8497.
VEA DUES
Thanks to everyone who has paid their VEA dues this year. The VEA treasury covers landscaping, maintenance and water for the Mason Mill Island, various party supplies, the newsletter, directory and our new brick entrance sign at Mason Mill. If you haven't paid yet, please send you dues to Dan Leeser, our treasurer. If you need another statement and/or invoice, you can send Dan an email at Danleeser@aol.com or give him a call at 404-321-0075.
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
Remember to touch base occasionally with your Block Captain.
Judith Martens Evans of Rainier Falls reported an attempted break-in at her home. Fortunately our doors were all securely fastened and nothing was taken. Some parts to someone's piggy bank were left in the driveway, so she thinks that the same burglars may have also broken into someone else’s house as well.
Jim and Barbara Hund report that their house was burglarized last month. Little damage was done and few items of value were stolen. It was a mid-morning, broad- daylight event.
Please be on the look out for any suspicious persons and activity. Don’t hesitate to call 911 to report oddities!
NEIGHBORS NEWS
Belated happy 90th birthday to John Steinhaus! 29 Steinhaus family members celebrated John’s big day last February.
New Babies:
Barry and Jennifer Tipping of Rainier Falls have a new addition to their family. Little Margot Jacqueline arrived on January 8th much to the delight of big sister, Molly.
In Sympathy:
Trammell Eugene Vickery, age 74, of Atlanta, died February 9, 2007 at
Emory University Hospital after a prolonged illness. Deepest sympathy to Mae and her family.
Sympathy is extended to Diane Hunter of Mason Mill Road, and her family following the death of her mother, Ann Davis last December.
Herb Birch, formerly of Victoria Falls, passed away last fall after a lengthy illness.
Welcome VE Newcomers:
(Ed note: hmmmmm, I seem to think there are lots of newcomers to VE lately and I don’t seem to have all the information….c’mon folks!)
To all our new, neighbors, both settled and short-term: Welcome! Please let your block captain know who you are or at least connect to your neighborhood via email at victoriaestates@gmail.com so we can announce you in the next newsletter, give you a copy of the directory and put you in the next one.
Castle Falls Drive new neighbor, Craig Manning, recently joined the CDC staff as a health communicator in the Special Pathogens Branch at CDC. He comes to Atlanta following a lengthy assignment with the World Health Organization in Switzerland.
New neighbors at 1543 Mason Mill Road are Michael and Meredith Klank.
Jan Love and Peter Sederberg are delighted to have moved into the neighborhood at 873 Castle Falls. Jan has been serving as Dean of the Candler School of Theology at Emory since January 1, while Peter started September 1 as the Assistant to the Provost for Undergraduate Initiatives, also at Emory. They have a married son, Per, who lives in Princeton and a daughter, Rachel, currently studying in Florence. They also have a large orange “chab” (half chow, half lab dog), whom you may have seen being walked in the neighborhood.
Julie Chesin and her husband, Ken Couch, recently moved into 1560 Rainier Falls. Ken and Julie came from 3 miles to their new home in Victoria Estates! They had been living in Druid Hills and just decided that they wanted a little less home and yard to take care of. Ken has been retired for several years and Julie just retired in February. They have 2 dogs, Ralph and Millie, and are frequently out walking with them in the neighborhood.
Laura and David Bogart moved into the Herndons’ home on Liawen Court this
past Spring. They are very happy to be in the neighborhood and they are finding that everyone is very friendly. David and Laura appreciate the effort of neighbor/real estate agent, Garry Wilmot especially for his perseverance in remaining their real-estate agent for a long time while they searched for a home. (They are happy to recommend Garry)
Get Well Wishes:
Betty “Mimi” Jackson of Castle Falls is recovering from a bad fall that left her with serious injuries to her teeth and jaw. She was hospitalized for several days at Emory and is now home.
Memorable Vacations:
Ellen and Peter Rea Jones of Liawen Court spent last fall semester at Oxford, England.
Dotty Powers and Erl Dordal have had some fine vacations in the past year. Last fall they went to Elmhurst College and Dotty received an Award of Merit from her alma mater. Elmhurst College had been the designated college for the offspring of some of the missionaries in India. Dotty was born in India and graduated high school there. Dotty and Erl also visited India, China and Scandinavia. After living part time in Chicago and part time in Atlanta, Dotty and Erl have now become full-time Atlantans.
Allison Ramsay, Jennifer Brooks and Anne Workman all went to Galveston, Texas last May to join in the festivities for former neighbor Maryellen LeDuc’s 60th birthday. True to form, it was a major event complete with a motor coach tour of Galveston hosted by a docent from the history center, a picnic on the building site of the LeDuc’s soon-to-be-built house, parties each night and a princess birthday cake for Mel. In keeping with the Texan theme, Paul Littrell let Jennifer borrow his vintage, hand-made cowboy boots to wear to the Saturday night dinner-dance event.
Former neighbors Patty Griffin and Jane Cronin are on their way to Tanzania to join neighbor Terry Repak who has been living with her family in Dar es Salaam for the past two years. The three will spend time in Dar, visit the Serengeti and climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
Marilyn and Ray Miller, who divide time between homes in Maryland and Victoria Estates, were in Atlanta for two weeks recently. Then they attended a week-long event in Beijing, the International Conference on Network Protocols, an effort that Ray helped start 15 years ago. They also visited the Great Wall on this, their second, trip to China.
The Stolley-Littlefields spent the summer scattered to the four winds: Karen and Kathleen spent the month of July in Spain where Karen was directing an Emory program and Kathleen was studying Spanish at the University of Salamanca. Mary Krendel accompanied them, and she and Kathleen were able to meet up with former neighbor Julia Janssen, who was traveling through Europe with another friend, in Barcelona. Mary went on to Amsterdam with Julia before rejoining Karen and Kathleen for a trip to the Costa Brava and the flight home to Atlanta at the end of July. David and Elizabeth spent 4th of July in Lake Tahoe with David's cousin -- missed the forest fires, fortunately! Elizabeth later headed to Camp Juliette Low in northwest Georgia while David returned to Peru with his brothers and cousins for yet another Andean trek.
IN AND AROUND V.E.
Attention all neighbors: please remember to keep your sidewalks clear of debris, plants and other things that inconvenience walkers and strollers. Please prune those limbs, trim those vines, sweep up the nuts…you get the picture! And, doggies, please be sure your people stoop and scoop!
A Very Sad SAAB Story: submitted by Elizabeth Littlefield
It was a cloudy Friday afternoon. Nobody would play gotcha with me so
I played it by myself. "Only a few more hours until Avatar!" I
thought happily. Ooops! My basket ball had started to roll down our
steep driveway towards the creek. "Noooo!!!" I chased the cruddy
basket ball down the driveway but I was too lazy and it was to fast. It
skipped into the creek. I leaned over the side of the driveway to see
how far it had gone, but instead I found quite a surprise. The Saab,
my dad’s most prized possession, was face first in the creek. I ran
upstairs to my mom and dad and asked "Daddy, why is the Saab parked in
the ravine????"
My dad’s face turned white. He abruptly got up and walked down to
the creek. "@#$*" he murmured and got closer to see the damage.
My mom and I giggled but stopped when my dad said "You guys go to
the Partins’ I am going to stay here for a while"
Laughing under our breaths my mom and I walked onto the street then
said "Poor dad!"
The following Sunday my dad found a tow truck to haul the broken
down Saab out of the ravine. A whole crowd of neighbors huddled around
the ravine to wait for the great Saab towing ceremony. The tow truck
man attached the rusty chain to the bottom of my dad’s prized possession
and started pulling. All of us watched in awe as the Saab started
moving up the hill. The car started to roll in the wrong direction.
"Hey could you get in the car and turn the car facing uphill?" the tow
truck man mumbled.
"Sure..." my dad hopped in the car and started to turn the wheel.
Cookie our black lab hopped in the car hoping to get a ride.
After my dad finished turning the wheel he got out but Cookie didn’t
follow him. "COOKIE!" we all wooed, but Cookie just looked at us like
our voices were not compelling.
"just keep on towing with Cookie in the car" my dad nodded
to the tow truck man.
The car started moving with Cookie in it and finally got to
the top of the hill. My dad strolled over and opened the door to the
Saab, and Cookie burst out of it. "Oh Cookie!' I ran over and patted
her on the head.
The Saab was now resting on our driveway. All of the
neighbors crowded around the Saab to examine the damages. "Ooooooo" we
all murmured.
The Saab was totalled.
Clyde Partin is our Victoria Estates Official Archivist. If you have old photos and documents that pertain to the history of Victoria Estates, please share these with him. Over time, he will compile interesting stories and anecdotes to pass on to future generations. 404-636-0408
As part of his high school community service commitment, neighbor Austen Pacini of 958 Castle Falls is raising funds to support St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital by collecting sponsorship for running in the half marathon in Memphis. Austen has been training at Stone Mountain and he appreciates encouragement from friends, family and neighbors. A 13.1 mile run is very demanding! If you would like to support Austen’s effort please drop off a check made out to St. Jude’s in his mailbox or call him at 404-320-1203 or contact him at runaustenrun@yahoo.com. He needs to submit all donations by the end of October.
David Littlefield’s parents - David and Jean Littlefield - send warm greetings to their Victoria Estates friends from their home in Middlebury, VT. Their health and spirits are good! Long-terms plans are still up in the air, but we are keeping our fingers crossed they'll become 'snowbirds' and return to Atlanta at some point. In the meantime, they have wonderful memories of their time here and are very grateful for the many kindnesses showered on them by their Victoria Estates 'neighbors.'
Neighbor Valerie Maloof of Castle Falls is looking to connect with young families in VE. In the past year, she has met some, but she figures there are even more. She would like to arrange get-togethers and play-dates with the littlest ones of the neighborhood. If you have young children and/or have recently moved into the neighborhood, please contact Valerie Maloof at vmmaloof@comcast.net or404-638-6815. The young families have planned play-dates and are occasionally trying to have a moms' night out.
PS. Congratulations to Valerie – she is expecting baby #4 in February!
Will Partin submitted the following: “I would like to thank everyone who attended my spaghetti dinner. Through the support of the neighborhood, I was able to raise enough money to fund my Eagle Scout project, which I successfully completed. Thanks again to everyone who helped me achieve my goal.”
After more than three years of research, writing and editing, neighbor Bob
Powell has published his second book about his highly-decorated WWII fighter group, this one titled, “Bluenoser Tales.” His group flew the beautiful bluenosed P-51 Mustangs.
Bob says this book is a riveting collection of first-person stores written in the skies over Europe by the pilots and airmen of the 352nd Fighter Group. It contains some 80 stories and 400 wartime photos he collected to illustrate this 384 page hardcover edition. The 352nd destroyed 776 German aircraft in combat, had 29 aces including the top P-51 ace and the sixth and seventh ranked USAF aces of all our wars.
The stories include one about the Pattillo brothers from Decatur who were members of the first Air Force ‘Thunderbird” team, famous for its aerobatic exploits at air shows all over the world and a few about our neighbor, who flew 87 combat missions over Europe including multiple missions on D-Day over Normandy.
Bob, better known by his military buddies as “Punchy,” says this book, like his first, is a tribute to the men with whom he flew and particularly those who never came back. It is a series of great combat stories laced with humor and pathos that puts you in the cockpit of the top fighter plane of WWII in actions against the vaunted German Luftwaffe.
Any aviation or history buffs who are interested in obtaining a copy should
contact Bob at 404-636-3747.
Bob and his wife, Betty, have just returned from the huge “Gathering of Mustangs and Legends” in Columbus, Ohio where more than 100 WWII Mustangs gathered with veteran pilots and current warbird pilots. Bob was one of those pilots honored as a “P-51 Legend.”
Congratulations, Bob!
In the past, neighbor Marianne Gardner has produced two audio driving tours featuring historic times in Atlanta: “The Battle of Atlanta at Peachtree Creek” and “Margaret Mitchell’s Atlanta”. Her newest one is “Saint Simon’s Island”. These entertaining audio guides come with a map and a CD and they take the carload of interested people through time and through the streets as Marianne’s narrators add descriptions and details. Available at the Atlanta History Center, Amazon.com and www.southerndrivingtours.com
College Up-Date
Kathleen Littlefield is thoroughly enjoying being a freshman at NYU, where she's studying theater at the Tisch School of the Arts. Karen, David and Elizabeth visited her over the Columbus Day weekend - got a great tour of NYU, Central Park, Ground Zero, the subway...and took in a couple of shows.
Allison Ramsay is a junior at Emory studying English with a view to a career as a high school level English teacher. She is an active member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority and lives on campus in the SDT house.
Paul Ramsay is an enthusiastic freshman at Emory. He lives on campus in the new Turman dorm. He recently declared a physics major and will continue his studies in various sciences and music.
Carl Krendel returned to Atlanta from Hawaii last fall. He is now settled at Georgia Southern University. One of his volunteer commitments is working in the raptor care center where ailing and injured birds of prey are treated.
Mary Krendel is a freshman at University of Redlands in California – this is two hours drive from Los Angeles and forty miles from the Lake Arrowhead fires. Mary misses horseback riding but is enjoying plenty of outdoor activities, climbing, hiking and camping.
Neighbor Karen Stolley was featured last winter in The Emory Report. Excerpts of that article by Kim Urquhart are below and the complete feature can be accessed at www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT.
Through her work as chair of Emory’s Spanish and Portuguese Department, trustee of her alma mater, Middlebury College, and a crusader for public education, Karen Stolley links engaged scholarship with community engagement.
“I think what brings me to work every day is the possibility to make intellectual and human connections,” she says. “To take what I know and to combine it with what other people know exponentially expands how Spanish, Spanish American and Latino culture resonate for all of us.”
The ability to speak Spanish is “an important skill, and at the same time it’s much more than a skill,” Karen says. “Undergraduate students take Spanish not because they’re trying to fulfill a requirement, and not only because they’re going into health sciences or into the legal profession where Spanish is becoming increasingly important, but because they are interested in issues of cross-cultural communication.”
Karen is clearly a very dynamic and capable teacher. She was recently listed as a “favorite professor” in Atlanta Magazine’s Georgia College Guide. Her upper-level graduate courses and graduate seminars reflect her research interests: colonial Spanish American literature and culture; 18th-century studies; and early modern transatlantic studies.
Languages come naturally to Stolley, who is also proficient in French, Portuguese and Italian. Her interest in Spanish was sparked as an exchange student in Argentina during the year between high school and college. “I think I would have always been an academic,” she muses, but said her “incredible experience” in Latin America led her to pursue study in Spanish.
She continued her travels in college — where she met her husband, David Littlefield, a fellow Spanish major — and spent her junior year abroad in both Paris and Madrid. Upon graduation, she spent a year in Bogota, Colombia, on a Fulbright fellowship.
Her own experience has made her “a big supporter” of immersion and study abroad programs, whether they are for high school students, college students or faculty, she says.
Karen is a very devoted faculty member at Emory University, an invaluable resource and an inspiration to scholars and learners of all ages.
Garden Clubs:
The Victoria Estates Garden Club meets for coffee and a program the second Monday every month from September through May. The president is Ellen Jones. There are membership openings. Please call Ellen for more information 404-633-8048
The Wildflower Garden Club meets for lunch and a program the fourth Thursday every month, with a few exceptions. If you would like more information about this group, please call Bette Walton 404-325-2628
PLANTS AND DROUGHT
We are certainly well aware now that the drought in north Georgia is very serious. Here is a tip from the DeKalb Master Gardener office:
--Mulching is the best way to conserve moisture in the soil around trees, shrubs, and other plants. Spread 2-4" of pine straw, bark, wood chips, or even just fallen leaves around all plant material in your yard to keep what moisture there is in the soil from evaporating as quickly. One caution, however: pull the mulch several inches away from tree trunks and the woody stems of shrubs to avoid rot.
Marian Gordon on Rainier Falls has had a beautiful gray Eastern Screech Owl in her "original" (first of three) owl house. She, or he, likes to perch in the hole early in the evening, seemingly "studying" the surroundings. The squirrels were in and out of the boxes all winter, and early spring, Marian put some wood chips and leaf mould in this box because the door was ajar and the windy weather had blown it clean. She secured the door, and was rewarded with a resident. Baby owlets ensued, grew up and flew off to their new lives in faraway places.
DEKALB RECYCLING OPPORTUNITIES:
Several neighbors have asked that the newsletter encourage recycling. There are many compelling and worthwhile reasons to opt in to recycling. Below is one of the articles.
Neighbor Deborah Lipstadt submitted the following:
I have been participating in the DeKalb County recycling program for over a
year. It is easy. It is convenient. And it is a gift to ourselves and to
future generations. For an investment of $30 the county will deliver to
your home a blue plastic bin and 100 large light blue plastic bags. The bin
is for all kinds of paper [no need to separate whites from colored or
newspapers from phonebooks] and the bag is for most types of plastics
containers [#s 1-7], aluminum cans, glass containers, and steel/tin
containers. The bin is on wheels and comes with a convenient handle. It can
easily be moved to the front of your house on pickup days [Wednesday].
The pickup trucks from the county come through our neighborhood every
Wednesday. Imagine if, instead of a few homes, they could stop at virtually
every home and pickup recycled materials. You can arrange to participate in
the program and receive the bin and bags [they will be dropped off at your
home] by calling 404-294-2900 or emailing santitation@co.dekalb.ga.us.
Please participate. It means a reduced need for landfill, a cutback on the
operation of incinerators, saving of natural resources which would be used
to create these items from scratch, a healthier environment, and a feeling
of satisfaction that you are dong something to help preserve the health of
our planet for coming generations.
Some interesting factoids:
Household trash accounts for approximately 56% of all types of waste that
goes to DeKalb County's landfill.
According to the EPA, U.S. residents and businesses produced 236 million
tons of trash in 2003 [that's 4.5 lbs a person].
Aluminum cans recycled today can be back on the store shelf in the form of a
new can in 60 days.
2007 Fall Electronics Recycling Day: Decatur High School Parking Lot
Saturday, October 27 • 9 a.m.-1 p.m
Don't throw away your old home PC or printer! Recycle it! This semi-annual recycling event has been hugely successful at diverting electronic equipment from landfills, where they may contaminate soil and water. Batteries, Styrofoam and mercury will also be accepted for recycling at this event.
Electronics dropped off on October 27 will be sorted then either shredded and recycled or tested for potential donation or sale. Items may also be disassembled into raw materials and sent to recyclers.
Electronic Equipment for Recycling:
Desktop computers, telephones, mini-towers, telephony equipment, laptop computers, adding machines, monitors, calculators, servers, typewriters, workstations, label makers, keyboards, copiers, mice, fax machines, joystick game controllers, answering machines, printers, printer cartridges, digital cameras, zip drives, batteries, speakers, PDAs, pagers, VCRs, hubs, DVD players, routers, cable converter boxes, scanners, remote controls, digital projectors, stereo equipment UPS units, radios, main frames, portable CD players, component parts, portable game players, cables, GPS receivers, 3-in-1 devices, printer/copier/fax machines.
For additional information about this event, contact Chris Carroll at 404.388.0023.
Victoria Estates loves our POETS:
The Medicare Donut Hole
By Clyde Partin
Used to be
A donut hole
Knew its place.
Its provenance was weak
Just pastry from the local bakery
Where something had been made
Into nothing
And what could be less
Than the nothingness
Of a donut hole.
But along came Medicare Plan D
And patients began to see
That more coverage
Could be less coverage
And the nothingness
Of the donut hole
Somehow
Became even less.
APOLOGY
By Clyde Partin
If the allure
of alliteration
does not
actually
appeal
to you
I
apologize.
THINKING
By Clyde Partin
Those thinkers
who think
about thinking
think we should
do more
thinking
about what
we are doing.
I think
they are
write.