The Mentelle Neighborhood Association will have its annual membership meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, at the Warehouse Block offices, 250 Walton Ave., suite 150 at the back of the building.
This meeting is your opportunity to learn more about what is happening in our neighborhood and offer your ideas for improvements and social events for the upcoming year.
Association members also will elect officers. Ann Olliges, who has had six successful years as president of the MNA, has decided to retire from the board. Vice President Jamie Lucke and board member Will Jones also are stepping down because of work responsibilities. The board’s nominating committee has submitted the slate of candidates below following an open solicitation to members. Other candidates may be written in on the ballot or nominated from the floor. Association members who are unable to attend the meeting may download an absentee ballot here, fill it out, scan it and email it to secretary Tom Eblen by noon on Oct. 26.
Here is the 2022 slate of candidates and a little information about them. (* denotes currently serving on the board.):
President:
Tom Eblen * has been involved in the MNA since he and his wife, Becky, moved to Mentelle Park in 2012. He has been the board secretary for seven years. Tom developed and maintains the MNA website. He works part-time for the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning after a 40-year career in journalism. Tom and Becky have two grown daughters, in Lexington and Philadelphia, and two young grandchildren who live in Kenwick.
Vice President:
Shelby Reynolds * has been a member of the MNA board for seven years. He has lived on Aurora Avenue for 35 years. He is an owner of Morningside Woodcrafters on National Avenue and looking forward to continuing to serve the neighborhood and its outreach.
Secretary:
Esther Hurlburt * has lived in our neighborhood for nearly 40 years. She lives on Given Avenue and has many years of experience in working as an officer of the current MNA board as well as serving as an officer when it was the Eastside Neighborhood Association. Esther is proud of our neighborhood and wants to ensure that we remain a friendly and safe place for all types of people to live.
Treasurer:
Beth Hellebusch * is a Lexington native who spent her formative years in the Fairway and Kenwick neighborhoods. She and her partner, Dean Langdon, moved to Franklin Avenue in 2017. Beth is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who works for Healthfirst Bluegrass in the LTMS Healthy Kids Clinic. She serves as the treasurer on the board of the Kentucky Society for Clinical Social Work.
Directors:
Bill Fortune is a retired law professor at the University of Kentucky, where he taught from 1969 until 2012 and took three leaves of absence to work as a public defender in Kentucky and Los Angeles. He and his wife, Beverly, have lived on Bullock Place since 1997. He is the author of several books, including Call me Mac, a biography of the late U.S. District Judge Mac Swinford.
Katie Mueller lives with her husband, Chet White, two cats, an in-and-out college student son, and two part-time step-sons. Originally from eastern Kentucky, she has lived on Aurora Avenue since October 2021. Big on community building, neighborhood camaraderie and a “room for everyone at the table” vibe. Spent six years on the South Frankfort Neighborhood Association board.
Laura Beth O’Bryan * is a Lexington native who moved back to the Bluegrass three years ago with her husband Brendan after several years in Chicago. They have two young kids —Gabe (4.5) and Lily (1.5) — and two dogs who take many walks around the neighborhood. Laura Beth is in marketing and communications for RTI International, and Brendan is a civil engineer at Stantec. They love this neighborhood and its community, history, open-mindedness and walkability. They live on Aurora Avenue.
Stephanie Poole is a lifelong Lexingtonian who has lived on Mentelle Park since 2014, when she married her husband, Dave Keilar. She worked for the Henry Clay Memorial Foundation at Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate for about 12 years as the business manager and before that at Ace magazine. “There is something so special about Mentelle Park; the homes are certainly beautiful, but it’s the people that live here that have made it my favorite of all neighborhoods,” she said.
Barb Wagner * has lived on Mentelle Park for 8 years and joined the MNA board in 2021. She works with Edelen Renewables, a green energy business in downtown Lexington. She is on the Warehouse District Advisory Board.