*Memberships and Constable Patrol Dues are being processed for June and are not represented in the revenue. The Total for the year includes dues paid January through March
Questions about WHCA finances can be directed to treasurer@woodland-heights.org.
This 4th of July, join us and your neighbors at the Norhill Esplanade from 9am to 12 noon. Kids are encouraged to bring their decorated ride for the holiday parade! The fun will include the parade, snow cones, games and a bouncy house.
A family neighborhood event open to all, this 4th of July event is sponsored by the Woodland Heights Civic Association.
There is a lot to love about the yards horseshoeing our Norhill Esplanade: a jasmine arch, rose garden, two plank swings, flower-lined walkways, a Little Free Library, and little pops of color in yard chairs, yard art, and embedded in paths.
But the anchor to all that you find here is at 1102 Euclid. Artist Elena Cusi-Wortham moved here in 1992, building her unique home that is also her workshop and an expressive space for her craft, social passions, and gathering place. Her banca jardin is a lively community bench that draws children in to discover a handmade mosaic of nature's influences, which plays out all around the tile pieces.
Throughout her L-shaped yard you will find plantings that are both practical and simply pretty: persimmon, fig, tangerine, and a bay leaf bush are useful. For shade and flowers: magnolia and ash trees, orchid tree, African daisies, Mexican olive, palo verde, and bottlebrush. A raised bed forms an inversion of the arc in the bench, and has been a vegetable patch in the past, now home to milkweed, lantana, chives and more.
Elena's yard is a place of rich discovery for our neighborhood, but she has also shared her talents all over Houston, including four elementary school Spark Park and a Cotswold Project on Prairie St. downtown. She is currently working with the Community House on Avenue F and 72nd where she helps neighborhood children create their own tile mosaics, and discover art in nature.
Effective July 9th, 2018 those that have not renewed their membership will be asked to relinquish their sign in order to ensure we are able to provide paying members a sign with a current sticker.
Summertime is upon us and active members of the program can rest assured while away on vacation that our local Constable is checking on your home. This is just one of many benefits of the Constable Patrol Program.
This is your last chance to renew before your outdated sign is collected! If you’re not yet a member and would like to join, there is still time!
Subscribe today!
https://www.woodland-heights.org/constable/
Questions?
Contact Cody McGregor, WHCA VP-Security
security@woodland-heights.org
My friend Elyssa’s photo of the recipe after she made it. Used with permission. - Jay.
In the 1980’s, I found a quick and easy (and terrific) food processor recipe for a carrot cake baked in a standard bread loaf pan. I lost the recipe. It was only years later (thanks Ebay) that I tracked down the out-of-print magazine and recovered the recipe. It is my default carrot cake recipe these days and I know you will enjoy it.
For more of my writings on food, check out my blog: www.houstonfoodexplorers.com. Bye the way, if you aren’t currently a member of the WHCA, please feel free to contact me about how and why you should join.
Jay Francis
Woodland Heights’ Own Culinary Historian
and WHCA VP of Membership
Ingredients:
Grease and flour an 8 ½ × 4 ½ × 2 ½ inch loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Shred the carrots or zucchini with the fine shredding disc of a food processor and remove (1 ½ tightly packed cups). Process the eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla with the metal blade for 2 seconds. Do not over-process.
Evenly sprinkle the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon over the mixture; process until smooth about 5 seconds. Sprinkle the mixture with the pecans and add the shredded carrots and process until the pecans and carrots are evenly distributed, 4 seconds.
Turn into the prepared pan and bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes. Loosen the edges and turn out onto a wire rack. Cool completely.
If using the cream cheese frosting, cover top and sides of the cake with it. Garnish with extra pecan halves making crosswise rows fairly close together so that each slice has a row of pecans.
If using the rum sauce, leave the cake unfrosted and pass the sauce with it, and, if you like, a bowl of whipped cream. Makes 1 carrot cake.
Process together all the ingredients with the metal blade of a food processor until smooth.
In a medium saucepan constantly stir over low heat until boiling the sugar, corn syrup, cream and butter, about 9 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the rum and vanilla. The sauce may be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Serve the sauce hot or cold. Makes about 2 cups.
While summer is not officially upon us, school is out and the kids are looking for things to do. It's warm enough that we've already encountered a couple of lemonade stands. I confess that I'm drawn to a lemonade stand like a moth-to-a-flame. I'm always happy to part with a few dollars in return for lemony refreshment, and the hope that I've helped some young entrepreneur in-the-making.
The trouble is that it's not easy to know when a new lemonade stand pops-up. They can be unpredictable. They can turn-up, run a while, then disappear quickly. Many folks don't even know that they were there. I'd like to help in this regard.
If you're planning a lemonade stand, let us know. Send an email to communications@woodland-heights.org with the time and location. We'll quickly post it to the various WHCA channels, including our Facebook page, mailing list and Twitter account.
Hopefully we can drive traffic to all the neighborhood lemonade stands. That way the kids have a great time, and see good return on their effort.
As for the rest of you...be watching those channels for your opportunity to help our bright, young business folks get a good start. Think of it as a kind of citrus-powered Y-Combinator.
- Michael Graves
WHCA VP-Communications
On June 8th it was announced that Critical Mass Houston would be relocating the meeting place for their major monthly bike ride to Stude Park. This was announced in a video posted to their Facebook page. We shared the video to the WHCA Facebook page to inform neighbors of this fact.
As you might expect, this announcement caused a great deal of discussion in various forums. There were numerous threads on Nextdoor, with many people sharing their past experience of the ride. The were many voices both for and against this change. Some legitimate concerns were raised by both the organizers and those concerned about the impact of the event on the neighborhood.
All of that is preface as earlier today Hector Garcia, one of the organizers of CM, left the following comment on the WHCA Facebook page:
"UPDATE: Hello Woodland Heights. Wanted to update you all and let you know that Critical Mass WILL NOT be meeting at Studewood park.
We had a great meeting this morning with HPD, a couple of key officials and council woman Karla Cisneros, who detailed a lot of logistical issues with using Studewood as a meeting location. We now have a couple of great alternative meeting spots for the once a month ride in the works and you can all breathe a little easier now. :)
I do want to thank the few residents who stepped up to offer assistance and anyone else who showed patience and understanding. We'll see you the next time we pass through the heights. Again, you're all invited to come join the ride on the Last Friday of the Month. We'll post the new meeting spot as soon as we confirm."
A big thank you to everyone who came together to help Critical Mass find a new meeting place that would meet their needs, while minimizing the impact on the neighborhood.
Our neighborhood woodworker is at it again! Paul Carr designed, built, and donated this Little Free Library for our community to enjoy, and Norhill Esplanade-adjacent resident Norma Martinez welcomed it to her yard. While this is Paul's first library, his handiwork can also be found at the Woodland Park trolley, Field Elementary truck, Donovan Park train, and more.
These boxes have been popping up around our community and serve as hubs for us to give and take books. More information can be found at Little Free Library.
Many thanks to Paul for his talents and generosity and Norma for welcoming our new library. Share away!
The first thing you'll notice is the lovingly restored Craftsman home of Karen Merriam and Thomas Bevilacqua, who has lived here for about 30 years. But take a closer look at the thoughtful landscaping and you'll see what makes it extra special. The yard has weathered flooding from storms so they've taken a survivalist approach, now thriving with variety: flowering with gardenias, drift roses, loropetalum, dianthus, vincas, day lilies, and liriope; oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary, and satsuma tree for flavor; crepe myrtles for shade; and Asian jasmine for ground cover. This tidy no-grass and low-fuss yard was arranged by local design architect Pam August, and installed a few years ago by Bella Terra's Humberto Bolanos.
Honorable mentions received from neighbors this month go to 601 Woodland and 528 Bayland. Thanks for sending nominations! If you see a lovely yard you would like to nominate, please email the address to beautification@woodland-heights.org. Thank you!
