Author: Tom Eblen

Gil Dunn is hosting a “neighborhood get-together and conversation” with Vice Mayor Steve Kay from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday (April 10) at his home, 38 Mentelle Park.  Everyone is welcome. For more information, contact Gil at: gdunn@md-update.com or (859) 608-8454.

Kay is running for re-election as an at-large member of the Urban County Council. (The at-large council member with the most votes in each general election becomes vice mayor. Kay is in his second term as vice mayor.)

Note: The Mentelle Neighborhood Association does not endorse political candidates. As a public service, the association website will post information about any political event held within the neighborhood boundaries. If you are organizing such an event, you may request a notice by emailing Tom Eblen at: tomeblen@gmail.com.

 

We had a great turnout today for the annual neighborhood Easter egg hunt and book swap. Thanks to Jessica Mohler, Bethany Baxter, Kim Naujokas, Ann Olliges, Shelby Reynolds, Ray and Jill Debolt and everyone else who helped organize the event and clean up the median for it.

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The annual Easter Egg Hunt & Book Swap for Mentelle Neighborhood residents and their families will be at 10 a.m. Saturday (March 31)  on the  Mentelle Park Median.

There will be separate egg hunts for little kids and big kids and a book swap and socializing for adults. (In case of rain that morning, watch for email updates or go to mentelle.org for rescheduling plans.)

Donations of filled plastic eggs are appreciated. Please bring them to Jessica Mohler’s front porch, 346 Memory Lane (last house on the right), by Friday evening.   If you have books to swap, either bring them with you that morning or drop them off beforehand on Tom and Becky Eblen’s porch, 52 Mentelle Park.

Also, if you have any spare time this week, please come out to the Mentelle Park Median and pick up some sticks and debris so it will be clean for our children Saturday morning.

Mentelle Neighborhood Association and Ruth Hunt Candies will host a wine and chocolate tasting for neighborhood residents from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7, at Ruth Hunt’s neighborhood store, 213 Walton Ave. Come and enjoy Ruth Hunt candy, wines from Corner Wine and socialize with your neighbors.

 

Dear Neighbors,

Approximately a year and a half ago, an entertainment venue opened on National Avenue called Cosmic Charlie’s.  Our joy of having an entertainment venue opening in the vibrant Warehouse Block of the Mentelle Neighborhood, unfortunately, has become a serious noise nuisance to the neighbors who live on Aurora Avenue.

The neighbors have been working with the police, the Alcohol Beverage Control Board, Walker Properties and the owners of Cosmic Charlie’s to find a solution to abate the bass, sound wave and vibrations that emanate from the building.  At this time, the owners of Cosmic Charlie’s and Walker Properties have not been able to find a resolution.  As such, the processes through the legal system have continued and we are at the point where this matter has reached the courts to decide the fate of Cosmic Charlie’s.

Chad Walker of Walker Properties has asked to meet with interested residents of Mentelle Neighborhood tomorrow (Thursday, March 1)  at 6 p.m.,at the old National Provision’s location at the corner of National and Walton avenues.

I hope you will be able to attend this meeting for an update of the situation from an owner of Walker Properties.

Ann Olliges

President, Mentelle Neighborhood Association

The Mentelle Park median is our entire neighborhood’s front yard, a place for playing, walking dogs and hosting annual events such as the Easter egg hunt and fall picnic. Thanks to Third District Council Member Jake Gibbs and Mayor Jim Gray’s administration, the median has new curbs on the west side. Now, it needs some repair and improvements, which will be done with a $1,500 grant from Kentucky American Water Co. to compensate for damage done during water main construction a couple of years ago.

To plan and execute this work, and to help keep the median beautiful, the MNA is forming a Median Committee, headed by Jill Debolt.  Do you like nature and plants?  Please consider serving on this new committee.  Time commitment will be minimal.  Please contact Jill (chalfont@juno.com or 859-309-2022) if you are interested in serving or have any questions.

This woman’s UK Wildcats sweater was found Nov. 29 hanging in a tree in the Mentelle Park median. Is it yours? To claim it, please contact Susan Janecek, 34 Mentelle Park, 269-4880.

 Trees Lexington! is a new non-profit organization working to increase Lexington’s urban tree canopy. One of the founders, our 3rd District Urban County Council member Jake Gibbs, is inviting everyone to the organization’s first fundraiser Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at West Sixth Brewing. The brewery is donating 6 percent of receipts that day to Trees Lexington! and that amount will be matched by Big Ass Solutions.

At the fundraiser you may:

• Cast your ballot for Lexington’s Official Tree.
• Ask an arborist questions.
• Bid on silent auction items.

The event is free, but donations are appreciated.

Among the things Trees Lexington! is working on now:

• Fruit trees for the garden at The Hope Center
• Trees for Habitat for Humanity houses
• Creating a tree canopy at the new Frederick Douglass High School

If you can’t make it Saturday, you may still make a tax-deductible donation. Send your check, made out to Trees Lexington!, to Jake Gibbs at 220 Delmar Ave., Lexington, KY 40508. Donations also can be made online at the Blue Grass Community Foundation website: www.bgcf.org.

For more information about Trees Lexington!, see its website here. 

Thanks to everyone who planned and attended today’s talk by architectural historian Janie-Rice Brother about the Mentelle Neighborhood’s building styles. The Bell House room was filled for her informative and entertaining lecture. Afterward, Brother discussed individual houses with residents who brought photographs with them.

As one of Lexington’s first suburban residential developments of the 20th century, the Mentelle Neighborhood has a wealth and variety of period architecture. Come to the Bell House, 545 Sayre Ave., this Sunday, Nov. 5, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., to learn more about it.

Janie-Rice Brother, a senior architectural historian at the University of Kentucky who lives on Aurora Avenue, will give a presentation about our neighborhood’s styles. She is a knowledgeable and entertaining speaker who writes the Gardens to Gables blog about vernacular architecture in the region. She will be happy to identify and discuss your house’s style if you bring along a photo.

Here’s a preview:

“The story of suburbanization – the spread of residential communities on the outskirts of a city  – in America is a fascinating one. The streetcar suburbs that began forming in the late 19th century formed the foundation for the post-World War II suburbs that spread like wildfire (think ranch house, ranch house, ranch house). The Mentelle Neighborhood provides a perfect snapshot of the types and styles of domestic architecture that swept across neighborhoods in Kentucky from the late 19th century to World War II as cities grew outwards. 
I’ve lived in two early 20th century suburbs in Lexington, and the breadth of historic house types in the Mentelle and Kenwick neighborhoods continues to delight me on a daily basis. 
Although the rise in homeownership was not as dramatic as would occur in the post World War II period, this neighborhood came of age at a time when scores of people were moving into single-family homes for the first time – and the new housing types and styles seemed tailor made for the occasion. The bungalow, which is the predominant type in the neighborhood, was the antithesis of the Victorian architecture that preceded it. I’ll talk about types, plans, stylistic choices (or the seeming lack thereof), and how these growing early suburbs reflected societal changes in America.”

Light refreshments will be served. See you there.