Beloit Heritage Days – New beginning for commission

Beloit Historic District Neighborhood Walk

The Beloit Landmarks Commission sponsored several events this year for the Beloit Heritage Days just passed. For a first effort it went very well. We look forward to expanding on this effort for next year.

There was a good turn out for each of the three speaker presentations and the comments from those who attended were very encouraging. Representatives from the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Office spoke on

• - Old House Renovation 101
• - Identifying Popular Housing Styles
• - How To Research The History Of Your Home

Additionally they hosted their first historic district neighborhood walk in years. It was very well attended. Learnings will be gathered from this first effort, the guided tour will be refined and later made available for other community occasions. This first year took attendees through the College Park Historic District. Next year the Bluff Street Historic District will be added.

3rd Annual Pumpkins For The Park

Carved Pumpkin Sale

A Benefit For The Historic Horace White Park!

Saturday Oct 24th. 5:30 pm at the park

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Now in it’s 3rd year the neighbors on Church Street have been hosting this popular event to support Horace White Park.

• - Sale begins at 5:30
  
• - All pumpkins are $5 and reserved on a first-come, first-served basis
• – Pumpkins to remain on display until 7:00 pm at which time you can take your pumpkin home.
  

The best pumpkins go fast so don’t be late.  

(If you’d like to keep the cool little electric light inside… $6/pumpkin w/ light)

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Sponsored by: Bushel & Peck’s Local Market

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Photos curtesy of Old Onliner.

Last Year:

Next NPA Gathering Mon. 9/28 – Historic Beloit Photo Essay

Rob Baller’s Historic Beloit Photo Essay

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Come out and join us for our next Beloit NPA gathering. We think you’ll enjoy it.

If you’ve not seen Rob Baller’s amazing slide presentation of historic Beloit you’ve really missed something. It’s a little difficult to describe. You just have to witness it.

What he’s done is gathered numerous historic Beloit photos. He then researched determine from  what exact location the various photos were taken from and then took contemporary photos from the same vantage point. Through various computer aided graphics techniques he’s been able to morph the old photo into the contemporary one. Its really amazing to watch the transformation.

Beyond being thoroughly entertaining it’s both informative and educational as to how our city has evolved over time and what some of the influences were for these changes. It’s sure to evoke a lot of conversation.

• - Date:  Monday Sept. 28th
  
• - Time:  7:00 p.m.
  
• - Location:  Vision Beloit Center – Conference Room (500 Public Ave.)

Need Wooden Storm Window Help?

Wooden Storm Windows

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The seasonal chore of taking down wooden storm windows and swapping them with the screens in the Spring then reversing the process in the Fall was part of a discussion the other day.

Though these “old fashion” storms perform better and hold up longer then contemporary double-hung replacements perhaps you’d rather not deal with them any more.

An option to discarding your homes original and functional storms and buying new, lesser quality and not inexpensive storms is getting someone else to take care of this chore for you. We’re fortunate to have a campus right next door. One quick email elicited several students within hours willing to unburden you of this task.

If interested in having someone else do this for you let me know.

rick(at)BeloitNPA(dot)org

Pleasant St Coffee House Closed

Some of us who frequented Pleasant St Coffee House…

came the day after it’s closing to have our own private goodbye.  Here’s what we left behind.  We hope others will feel free to add their own touch.  Our goal is to have as many people show their support for having a coffee shop nearby.

And another fine old house sold.

Well yeah, it needs a lot of work but it’s an interesting old house that still retains a lot of it’s original dignity and character. It’s never been gutted. It’s never been duplex-ed. You can tell it was a fine home when built. It has real potential and it seems the new owner is up to the task.

We’ve met the new neighbor and welcomed them to the neighborhood. Ironic as they’ve been in town longer then we. If you’ve driven by you’ll see they’ve already done a lot to improve the curb appeal of this home. It’s a benefit for themeselves of course but it’s also a welcomed improvement for the entire block also.

Yet one more previously neglected old house gets a new owner, renewed appreciation and renewed investment. It benefits all of us. Further testiment to the positive direction the neighborhood is taking.

Another Downtown Beloit Facade Facelift

Work has begun on yet another downtown Beloit facade. Have you seen it?

It’s exciting to see the ongoing renovation of downtown Beloit. The Zilley building circa 1912 is just the latest in a series.

The Downtown Beloit Association (DBA) offers design assistance, as well as facade and sign grant programs to encourage successful, historically sensitive design. (italics ours)

From the DBA “News on the Street” – fall 2008

Does anybody know anything about the history of the Zilley building or who the Zilley’s were? Curious.

For more information on these grant programs, please contact Kathleen Braatz – kathleen (at) downtownbeloit (dot) com

Neighbors Who Care – Meeting since 2002

Just wanted to help raise some awareness about a city-wide association of pro-active Beloit residents called “Neighbors Who Care”. They have been meeting since 2002 and focus on learning how to deal with neighborhood situations and providing support and encouragement for Beloit residents. Their meetings are open to the public.

They meet on the 4th Tuesdays of the month at 6:30 p.m. over at the Neighborhood Housing Services Building (520 West Grand).

Joseph and Kathy Vickerman head up the group. Just last month was the first time Ana-n-I were able to catch up with them. They’re a very knowledgeable,  plugged in and active group of folks. It was very informative and time very well spent. I would encourage you to mark your calendar and stop by next month Sept. 22nd. We’ve added their meetings to the BNPA calendar here.

National Neighbors Night Out – A big hit!

The National Neighbor’s Night Out at Horace White Park was a big hit! Looked like we had ~40 folks show up over the couse of the afternoon with neighbors from Church, Chapin, Park, Bushnell, Emerson, Sherwood and Pleasant Streets showing up. Especially nice was that there were several new neighbors we’d not had a chance to meet before.

City reps stopped by as well including city manager Larry Arft, city councilman Charles Haynes and Sheila De Forest, several PD officers along with a fire truck and firemen (big hit for the kids). Lots of great conversations and connections made.

The kids seemed to be enjoying themselves in spite of nothing plugged in or with buttons. A big tree. A big rope, bean bags, watermelon and each other. Seemed to do the trick.

The rest of the pics on the BNPA Flickr page.

We’ll have to do this again next year. Hope you’ll be able to join us.

BMHS Jazz Band – Appreciation Reception

Folks know we’re big fans of the BMHS Jazz Band.

The Beloit Memorial High School Jazz Band cordially invites you to a reception showing our appreciation for the generous donations we received in support of our recent participation in the Essentially Ellington Festival and Competition at the Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Appreciation Reception

Beloit Public Library Meeting Room

Monday, August 17, 2009

7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Cake and Punch will be served.

Preview our New York DVD, featuring photos and video of our experience in New York City.

Mark your calendar. Hope to see you there.

Added to the NPA events calendar.

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