Author: El Momma

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BLOCK PARTY- Tuesday, May 10, 6-8pm Middle Block of Norfolk (1827 and 1831 Norfolk)

Please join your neighbors and the Richwood Place Civic Association for a Block Party and Membership Drive

May 10, 2011

6-8pm

Middle Block of Norfolk, between Hazard and Woodhead

at 1827 Norfolk

Come out. Meet your neighbors. Join the Civic Association if you haven’t paid your current dues. And, enjoy a good time!

Please plan to bring a side dish to share- something sweet or something salty and something to drink to share as well (wine or beer). RPCA will provide burgers, hotdogs, drinks, cups, napkins and utensils.

2011 Annual Dues are a minumum donation of $25. You will be able to pay your dues online at  www.richwoodplace.org very soon! And/or, you can pay them at the party. We hope to see you there!

 

 

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ERVAN CHEW PARK RIBBON CUTTING to CELEBRATE PARK UPGRADES

In Conjunction with Opening Day 2011 of Neartown Little League, there will be a “Ribbon Cutting” Ceremony at ERVAN CHEW PARK in honor of the recent improvements to the park.

When: Saturday, March 26, 2011 / 9:15 a.m.
Where: Ervan Chew Park

Program Participants (in order of appearance):
Master of Ceremonies – Mr. Joe Turner, Director, Houston Parks and Recreation Department
The Honorable Wanda Adams, Council Member District D, City of Houston
The Honorable Sue Lovell, Council Member At-Large 2, City of Houston
Rebekah Maddux El-Hakam, President, Richwood Place Civic Association

What: 15 minute ceremony to celebrate the improvements at Ervan Chew Park

Thanks to one of our residents and active members of the Neartown Little League, we were notified of this event this week and are happy to report that our neighborhood will be included in this celebration. We hope you can join us on Saturday.

Please also note that the Richwood Place Civic Association Board is working diligently to make further improvements to the park and we have received approval from the Parks Board to make some aesthetic improvements. We will be presenting these to the general membership for discussion and vote at the next general meeting.

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Meeting with and Improvements Planned for 1901 Richmond

As we are all aware, the apartments at 1901 Richmond have been a problem in our neighborhood for quite some time. The apartments formerly known as Skylane and most recently Houston Medical Apartments have been the home and cause of much criminal activity in and around our neighborhood. We’ve spent much time talking about this apartment complex and what we can do as a neighborhood to improve the quality of life in the surrounding area and clean up 1901 Richmond.

Thanks, in part to a post on this website and to a new owner interested in improving this property, representatives of our neighborhood met with the new owner this week. His name is Cody. He is going to be at the property daily updating the units and working to get the entire property rented out. If you would like to walk the property, you can call him directly at 713-992-3997 to schedule a time. He is interested in suggestions for upgrades (either cosmetic or functional.) And, he is very interested in ideas from the neighborhood to help improve the property and improve the effect its residents have on our neighborhood.

We are going to work diligently with the new owner to make a positive difference and we welcome your input and suggestions. Daniel, our Vice President, will also be sending a follow up email to those of you on our yahoo distribution list.

You can visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RICHWOOD_PLACE/ to be added to the email distribution list.

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Longtime Richwood Place resident, Ralph Mills

Former neighbor Ralph Mills died on Friday at the VA Hospital. Ralph and his wife Louise lived at 1850 Norfolk and most recently had been residing in a assisted living facility in Pasadena. Ralph was the unofficial “Mayor” of Richwood Place, always a security watchman walking the neighborhood replacing trash containers, tossing the newpaper closer to the front doors and many other unknown acts of kindness. He and Louise have been sorely missed. An obituary will appear in tomorrow’s Sunday Houston Chronicle. Arrangements are with Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home with visitation tomorrow from 4 -6 in the afternoon and the service will be Monday morning at South Main Baptist Church.

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Letter to Neighbors from Rebekah El-Hakam

Dear Neighbors,

I hope you all are having a wonderful start to 2011. We held our first RPCA meeting of the year last night at Zoe’s Kitchen. We have many new Board members as well as Committee Members and Chairs who will be serving our neighborhood this year. Please see the minutes for more details. Thank you to Jennifer Baker for posting them to www.richwoodplace.org

I’d like to start by saying a special thank you to Laura Mullen and Larry Wood for their years of service to Richwood Place. We appreciate the many hours you have volunteered and served on the Board of RPCA. Thank you.

I’d also like to introduce myself for those of you who do not know me. My husband, Moustapha and I have lived in our house on Lexington for six years. We have four children; Bakri- age 5 1/2, Maddux- age 4, Trinity- age 2 and Leeland- 6 months. We have a very busy and full house! We have been active members of the civic association for 6 years. I’ve served as Vice President and most recently as Chair of the Deed Restrictions Committee. This is my first opportunity to serve as president. I am a full time mom who also works as a contemporary worship leader at my home church, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian in West University Place. I enjoy singing, songwriting, cooking and baking, blogging, yoga and travel. I feel very blessed to belong to this neighborhood and will endeavor to be a positive voice for Richwood Place. I promise to work diligently to address issues. Please call me or email me with any suggestions, concerns or ideas. I am looking forward to a great year.

During the meeting, we discussed our biggest concern as a neighborhood- crime and illegal activity. We believe that many of the problems we are facing are directly connected to the apartment complex- Houston Medical Apartments at 1901 Richmond. We are focused on this property and what we can do to clean this area up. The Security/Safety Committee has placed this as a high priority and it is their first action item of the year.

Please put the following number in your cell phone: 713-884-3131. This is HPD’s non-emergency line. Call them whenever you see any suspicious activity and report it. We will receive more police presence if we have more calls coming in. If it is an emergency, please dial 9-1-1.

I’d also like to ask you to call our District D Councilmember, Wanda Adams. Her office number is 832-393-3001. We are asking for her help and for the City of Houston’s help in dealing with the safety issues we are experiencing from the residents and guests of the 1901 Richmond Property.

Happy New Year!

Sincerely,
Rebekah
President, Richwood Place Civic Association, 2011
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Rebekah Maddux El-Hakam
281-804-2157 cell