Now and then neighbors tell me that they actually look forward to reading our little neighborhood-centric publication every other month. In fact, several years ago one loyal newsletter reader was forced to move just outside the Beaumont-Wilshire boundaries into assisted living, and he contacted me to ask if there was any way delivery could be made to his new residence, and I’ve been obliging ever since. That’s admittedly an unusual case, but nonetheless gratifying for our extended family of newsletter volunteers—from the cadre doing the reporting, composing, designing, editing, and coordinating distribution to the 60-plus band of neighbors walking routes to deliver over 2,500 hard copies to B-W homes and businesses.
My use of the term “hard copies” is intentional, because we also feature an online color version on the BWNA website (www.bwna.us), posted by BWNA’s volunteer webmaster Mario Caoile, who once served as newsletter co-editor with his wife Helen Koba. Another former co-editor husband-and-wife duo are the Charltons, Diane and Baer, owners of Americana Frame, a newsletter advertiser. Diane continues to contribute articles from time to time, one of which appeared in the May-June issue in promotion of pet adoption, and it’s in connection with that article that I owe her an apology. Shortly after the issue came out, Diane gently broke the news to me that, of all things, I had misspelled her last name, inserting an extra “e” in the middle—an embarrassing oversight on my part and a baffling miss for our team as well. Contritely then, and as a favor to Diane, I alert you to the “Quality Items Garage Sale” held on July 14 at the Charlton’s home (4336 NE 40th Avenue), 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.—a summer family tradition revived.
Another example of reader feedback keeping me honest came from B-W resident Nancy Mogielnicki, whose husband Peter has led the effort to secure funding for a Wilshire Park NatureSpace project. In last issue’s front-page story about the launching of Friends of Wilshire Park, there was a factual error in my reporting regarding a submitted grant proposal. The request was not for $17,000 as reported, but $10,000 max— $17,000 is a fund-raising goal for the project, not the grant maximum. That said, the happy news is that Peter’s hard work paid off with a near-maximum award of $9,125, which you can read about in this issue’s article by Friends of Wilshire Park’s Tiffney Townsend on page 6. By the way, it was just a year ago that Peter Mogielnicki first publicly floated the idea of a Wilshire Park NatureSpace project in a deft Letter to the Board editorial for our newsletter. Check it out in the newsletter archives (http://www.bwna.us/newsletter/2017/Jul-Aug17.pdf)
The BWNA website home page also doubles as the BWNA blog, providing a handy medium for posting neighborhood-related articles and announcements that cannot be included in the newsletter due to lack of space or in-between-issue timing constraints. Nextdoor our blog is not, but it does serve as a ready forum for expanded neighborhood news coverage at no added financial cost to BWNA. So please do browse the blog from time to time, and feel free to e-mail me items for posting. Finally, welcome aboard to State Farm’s Gustavo Soares, our newest B-W advertiser!