Vol. 15 • No. 4 October 2015

Eileen is one of the most active neighbors I’ve met and she has many interests. Born in Rochester, NY, her dad was a defense contractor, who worked for Westinghouse. Due to the nature of his job, the family traveled around the world. She went to several schools and colleges, before graduating from Towson University. She later earned a graduate degree in management from the Johns Hopkins University and taught marketing and advertising there. She moved to our area in 1995, living in an apartment on West University Parkway. In 2009, she moved to her current house on Beech. “It’s nice living close to the park, the Rotunda and 36th Street,” she says. “I love walking through the neighborhood and meeting friends and neighbors.” Eileen the dog trainer: Prior to working with dogs, she worked in marketing and public relations and had her own firm for ten years. These days she enjoys walking and training dogs in many Baltimore communities. “It started as just walking dogs for fun,” she says, “but it evolved when I realized I really love being with dogs.” Always one to educate herself on a subject that grabs her, she started reading every dog book she could find; “The count is up to 300 books now!” she admits. She has taken a series of dog training classes and will be a certified trainer very soon. A longtime volunteer at the SPCA, she’s always willing to pitch in when there is a lost dog on the loose in the area. Eileen the artist: Eileen is a talented photographer−you have seen her photographs in this newsletter since she volunteered to provide photos a year ago. She is a self-taught artist who paints mandalas, creates mirror mobiles, and builds mosaics

in a variety of media. She has taken several workshops at AVAM. Her work was recently on display at Mud and Metal. And the Gnomes? In the neighborhood, Eileen is known for her garden gnomes. People often stop her when she’s working outside to say how much they enjoy her garden. (Continued on next page.)

Discussion Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wpca-md www.wymanparkcommunity.org

Mark your Calendars!

WPCA General Membership Meeting

TUESDAY, October 6th at 7:00 p.m. Keswick Multi-Care Center, 700 W. 40th Street

• Presentation by BNI (Fair Housing Agency)• Community awareness—Police

and Fire Department updates• Membership• Elections

OCT.6

Meet Eileen Gillan: Dogs, Art and Gnomesby Ray Iturralde

Phot

o by

Eile

en G

illan

Vol. 15 • No. 4 October 2015

(Continued from front page.) Children especially like the gnomes. “One little boy used to pick up a gnome from my front yard and give it a ride in his wagon around the block and drop it off in the back yard,” she says “Another little girl was proud she could read ‘Welcome’ on a sign one of the gnomes is holding.” Eileen married her long-time “beau” Richard Lobelson last October. A musician, he owns a video production company. Her daughter, Colleen, is a student and community activist. Having lived in Wyman Park for a few years now, she would like to see block captains for each block. “I think this would help neighborhood cohesiveness ─ neighbors checking on the elderly or helping anyone in need,” she says. Eileen believes that everyone is an artist in some way and would like to encourage art parties and events. “We would love to jam with other musicians in

the neighborhood," she says. "Richard plays guitar and I'm learning to play my djembe. I’m sure we have a lot of talent in this community; a home-grown concert in the park would be a great event.”

Discussion Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wpca-md www.wymanparkcommunity.org

More than 600 of our friends and neighbors currently subscribe to a very local email list. Two things you maybe didn’t know: one, it’s run under the auspices of the WPCA; and the other is that technically it is not a listserv, since Listserv is a registered trademark. Topics on the WPCA group are wide-ranging. They include lost and found items (pets, keys, phones), contractor recommendations, notices about WPCA meetings and the WPCA Book Club, free or almost-free stuff people want to get rid of, and items people are looking for. You will find updates from the Northern District Police, exciting developments about Hampden Elementary School, notices from our elected representatives, JHU events that can affect our community and many other topics of interest. Joining the email group could not be easier. Just go to wymanparkcommunity.org, select Communicate, and follow the simple instruction to join the group. That’s it.

You won’t be inundated with tons of emails. Some days are busier than others but the daily average comes out to be around five or six. You can always unsubscribe. What makes this email list especially worthwhile and truly valuable is how we use it to inform one another about emergency situations, the "happening right now" events like water main breaks, power outages, suspicious persons going door-to-door, and so on. This is what friends and neighbors do for one another. Although, you don’t have to be a member of the WPCA to use and benefit from our email list, you might think it’s appropriate and worthwhile given how much value you derive from it. Right now is the best time to join because the annual dues–only $10 per household─ make you a member from October 1, 2015 to Sept 30, 2016. There’s a membership coupon in this newsletter and a PayPal option at wymanparkcommunity.org.

It’s an Email List – Not a Listservby Bob Feldman

Vol. 15 • No. 4 October 2015

Discussion Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wpca-md www.wymanparkcommunity.org

Senior Health Fair: Everything Pink! October 19th, 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Keswick Multi-Care Center Auditorium Breast Cancer Month Awareness Multiple Services and Screenings Available Call AIM for details

Health Literacy Clinic October 24th, 10:30 a.m. Keswick Multi-Care Center University of Maryland Law students and counselors answer health benefits questions

CLASSES

Senior HappeningsAction in Maturity AIM

Keswick Multicare Center, 700 W. 40th St. 410-889-7915

Hampden Elementary/Middle School News

by Brendan Feehan Hampden Elementary/Middle School (HEMS) entered its 125th year on August 31st. HEMS is the neighborhood school for all of Wyman Park. Students and parents are excited about several important changes:

• Last year, HEMS piloted a Gifted Advanced Learner program in reading for grades 3-8, which expanded to mathematics for the current school year.

• A recently renovated science lab re-opened. • A new Engineering is Elementary (EIE)

program is being implemented for elementary grades. EIE uses engaging, hands-on activities to build science, math, and literacy skills and teach engineering design processes. (More information about this curriculum can be found at http://www.eie.org/)

• A robust parent volunteer program allows the school to implement daily recess for all elementary grades.

Congratulations to 1st grade teacher Mrs. Lisa Breathnach, who was awarded an Early Career Teaching Award from the Phi Delta Kappa Chapter at the Johns Hopkins School of Education. Phi Delta Kappa is a 100-year old professional association for educators.

The Wyman Park Community Association gratefully acknowledges Larry Caudill and Coldwell Banker for assistance with production of the WPCA newsletter.

•••••

We also acknowledge Action in Maturity volunteers for their help with newsletter preparation.

Line Dancing Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. AIM Office at Keswick $2 per class

Yoga Wednesdays at 10 a.m. AIM Office at Keswick $3 per class Brain Health Wednesdays 10:30 a.m. Call AIM to reserve a spot.

Quilting Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. Keswick Auditorium Free

Chair Exercise Fridays at 10:00 a.m. 3939 Social Room Free

Vol. 15 • No. 4 October 2015

Discussion Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wpca-md www.wymanparkcommunity.org

Editor: Nina Wendt

Design/Layout: Anh Thu Cunnion

WPCA Membership ~ Join Today ~

Only $10 gets your entire household membership in your community association.

All memberships valid through 9/30/16.

There are now two ways to join!1) PayPal or Credit Card: visit

www.wymanparkcommunity.org; or

2) Mail this form with your check made payable to “WPCA” to: Linda Nevaldine, Treasurer, xxx Beech Ave., Baltimore, MD 21211

Name: ___________________________________

Address: _________________________________

Phone: ___________________________________

E-mail: ___________________________________

Have you seen any monarch butterflies fluttering about the flowers in your yard, particularly if you have native species? Monarchs cannot survive without milkweed. Their caterpillars only eat milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.), and monarch butterflies need milkweed to lay their eggs. With shifting land management practices, we have lost much milkweed from the landscape, thus we don’t see many monarchs. People say they remember 20 or more years ago seeing thousands of monarchs converge on local fields. Monarchs go through four generations in a season. The fourth, which is currently taking shape is made up of “super” monarchs, since they will migrate all the way to Mexico for the winter. Just amazing! Friends of Stony Run is making a milkweed patch in upper Wyman Park in a weedy field. Milkweed and nectar plants were planted in May and since then numerous bees, moths, butterflies and two monarchs were seen on the pink flowers. Monarch caterpillars were eventually seen devouring the leaves. The plants

get established in the fall and start to grow to full height of three to four feet in spring. Additional milkweed and nectar plants will be planted soon to attract and feed the monarchs. Volunteers are needed for this project and a notice will be posted on the WPCA email group. Milkweed is a native perennial, that once established need no watering. If you are interested in helping by planting milkweed in your yard, you can get plants at Herring Run Nursery on Hillen Road (off Northern Parkway). Plant them in a sunny area of your yard. Any help to get more monarchs would be great. There is now swamp milkweed planted in Wyman Park. Once the eggs on the milkweed hatch, the caterpillars emerge. In two weeks they magically metamorphose into butterflies. Ref: http://www.monarch-butterfly.com

The Wyman Park Community Association, Inc.

Kathleen Talty, President3349 Beech Avenue, Ph: 243-1168

Directors

Brian Babcock, ’15

Jack Boyson, ’16

Rick Brummer, ’16

Rebecca Denison, ’17

Ray Iturralde, ’16

Joe Jackson, ’16

M Elaine Parker, ’15

Luke Ackerman '17

Lissa Rotundo, ’15

Donna (Jinx) Schwartz, ’15

Julie Tucker, ’17

Lura Warren, ’17

Tom McGilloway, Vice President

Emily Grant, Secretary

Linda Nevaldine, Treasurer

Eugene Meyer, Parliamentarian

Milkweed Plants for Monarchs in Wyman Park by Ray Iturralde