December 2004

Items that missed the printed issue:

Neighborhood Job postings are now available online for our merchant members.
Click here for the latest job postings.

Dorchester Trolley Tour Tree Lighting, November 27th. 4:30 @ Ryan Playground
Click here for the flyer and all trolley stops.

CSHCA Beautification Wreath Sale November 27th at Ryan Playground.
Click here to see the flyer.


Click here for CSHCA Beautification Committee Updates


Little House Happenings - December

The Little House Teen Ski Trips 2005
This program is co-ed for ages 11 - 18. Dates: Jan 28, 22 + 24, Feb 19 and Mar 5th. To register contact John at LH (617-282-2180) Tuesday - Friday noon to 9:30 PM.
The Little House Tiny Tots Program
for ages 2.9 to 5 years. Hours are 9 AM to 2 PM, Monday through Friday. Cost is $330 per month. On-going registration. For more info call Karen.


Edward Everett School Fundraiser
Donate your used cell phones and ink jet printer cartridges and 100% of the proceeds will help the school. How's this? A company called EcoPhones will contribute funds for recycling these items on an ongoing basis. The drop-off time, at the main office, is anytime during school hours, Monday through Friday 7 AM to 5:30 PM. For more information call Linda Howland at 617-635-8778.


Columbia Savin Hill Tree Lighting
The Columbia Savin Hill Civic Members listed below all pitched in and helped put together the Ryan Playground tree lighting ceremony on November 27th.

Ed Geary Jr. - Dorchester Holiday Celebration Committee Member
Gretchen Carney - Dorchester Celebration Committee Member

Ed and Gretchen represented the Columbia Savin Hill Civic Association at the Dorchester Holiday Celebrations Committee meetings. This allowed the Savin Hill Neighborhood to receive our tree that was placed at the Ryan Playground.

Paul Nutting, Anne Riley, Joe Chaisson, Carol Chaisson, and Bob Donovan

Paul, Anne, Joe, Carol, and Bob helped stuff the goody bags for the children that were handed out at the tree lighting ceremony. Thank you to Ann Nee for letting us use the Little House for stuffing the bags. Thanks to the local merchants that donated items for the bags. A special thank you to the City of Boston for arranging and setting up the tree for our lighting.

This was truly a group effort and I want to thank everyone that helped make this such a huge success for Savin Hill. The event was still in the planning stages at this writing so sorry if I missed any personal thank you's at the time of printing. I'll have an updated list at the general civic meeting in December.
Happy Holidays,
~Ed Geary Jr.


Support Our Local Businesses who Support the CSHCA!

Below is a list of the Columbia Savin Hill Civic Association's Merchant Members. The folks who run these businesses support us and have invested in our community. Please extend the same support to them by shopping in their stores, eating in their restaurants, and seeking their services.
A Hohmann Oil Co. Inc. 1146 Dorchester Avenue
Anna's Bakery, Inc. 1035 Dorchester Avenue
At Home Real Estate Group 109 Savin Hill Avenue
Avenue Auto Wholesales, Inc.  1121 Dorchester Avenue
The Banshee Pub 934 Dorchester Avenue
Bayside Exposition Center 200 Mt. Vernon Street
Best Liquors 1088 Dorchester Avenue
The Boston Globe 135 Morrissey Blvd.
C.F. Donovan's Restaurant 120 Savin Hill Avenue
Coleen’s Flower Shop 912 Dorchester Avenue
Corcoran Jennison Mgmt 150 Mt. Vernon Street
Creative Wrappings 22 Carson Street  
Dorchester Avenue Auto Repair  887 Dorchester Avenue
Dorchester Tire Service, Inc. 1160 Dorchester Avenue
Dorchester Market 951 Dorchester Avenue
Gately Insurance Co. 983A Dorchester Avenue
The Harp & Bard Restaurant 1099 Dorchester Avenue
Lee Myles Transmission 1110 Dorchester Avenue
Lee's Store & Bakery 982 Dorchester Avenue
McKenna’s Café 113 Savin Hill Avenue
Murphy Funeral Home 1020 Dorchester Avenue
Nash’s Pub 1154 Dorchester Avenue
NEALCO Environmental Svcs. 5 Caspian Way
Old Towne Real Estate 651 Gallivan Blvd.
P. Gioioso & Sons Construction 50 Sprague Street, Hyde Park (BWS project)
Pat Jay’s Pharmacy 940 Dorchester Avenue
Restaurante Laura 688 Columbia Road
Savin Hill Variety 110 Savin Hill Avenue
Shanti Restaurant 1111 Dorchester Avenue
SPIRE Printing 65 Bay Street
Sports Lab 1152 Dorchester Avenue
Venice Pizza 39 Savin Hill Avenue
Victorian Realty 1859 Dorchester Avenue
Vina Realty/MSC Travel 988 Dorchester Avenue

Merchant Memberships are $25.00 a year. Please note that this is a non-voting membership. If interested in becoming a Merchant Member please print out and complete the membership form at the bottom of this online newsletter and forward with your check in the amount of $25.00 made payable to the Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association. We will list all Merchant Members each month in our newsletter. Funds will be used towards neighborhood improvement projects/activities.


Meeting Agenda Updates
For meeting agenda updates after the publication of the newsletter, be sure to visit our website at: http://www.columbiasavinhillcivic.org and click on the Association & Executive Board Meeting link.


E-Elert
E-Lert is an email alert system that comes out 2-3 times a week to the Columbia-Savin Hill neighborhood. This listing shows you what E-Lert subscribers get by email, usually within a few days of the incident occurring. When we look at the crimes in the neighborhood this way, you can begin to see trends, such as a rash of vandalism hitting our neighborhood. E-Lert tries to identify these trends. To subscribe to E-Lert, drop an email to E-Lert@hspnetwork.org along with your name and address. Your email address will not be shared with anyone else. Click here for a PDF of the incidents for October 18 - November 18.
~Bill Walczak


CSHCA Meeting - Childcare Offering
At our general meetings we offer free childcare for our membership and guests. Please bring along any personal items that your child may need during the course of the evening. It is advised that you arrive on the early side to give your child some time to adjust and settle in. Our childcare attendant for this year is Sylvi Naci.


2004 Christmas Trolley Tour & Tree Lighting
Friday, December 3rd @ 7:30 PM, Adams Village. (corner of Adams and Gallivan) Join the Mayor in the holiday festivities. Call Molly Dunford, Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services, for more info: 617-635-4819.


Reporting a Crime
Captain T. Lee of BPD District C-11
In response to your question on when a police report should be requested, this question actually comes up a lot, since people assume every police call results in a full written police report. This is actually not the case and I'll briefly attempt to explain. A police officer responding to a 911 call for a crime that has been committed will always complete a police report in cases of any arrest, any felony, domestic violence, assault or misdemeanor with property damage. (robbery, house broken into, car vandalized etc.). For calls of a disturbance or minor parking/traffic issue, a gang on a corner or loud music etc., the police officer does not ordinarily complete a full written report (otherwise all of their time would be consumed by reports.) There is a computerized response record and the officer enters a response code into his cruiser's computer which shows that he responded and handled the call. There are some situations in which the caller wants a police report for a call in which the officer does not normally complete one, for example, a dispute among neighbors or landlord/tenant dispute. In these cases, an officer completes a full police report if the caller requests that a police report be made. (If these situations result in a citizen going to court for any type of complaint, the courts all require a full police report before they will issue a complaint.) There are many reasons why a citizen would like a full police report instead of just a computerized dispatch record, and the citizen can always ask the officer to complete one. If the citizen believes that any type of court action may result, s/he should ask for a report to be completed since the court will require it. I hope this makes this a little clearer, if there are any questions, please call the community service office at 617-343-4524. We'd be glad to assist.


Yard Waste Collections
The City of Boston will continue collection of seasonal yard waste on the following Saturdays: 12/4 and 12/11. Please place your yard waste curbside by 7 AM on either of these dates. Large paper bags or open barrels only. No Plastic bags or household trash!


Dorchester Recycling Coalition
To receive your FREE blue recycling bin or for more information about how to recycle call (617) 635-4959.


Newsletter Submissions
Do you have you something that you'd like to share in "The Neighbors"? We welcome all appropriate submissions. Letters to the Editor, write-ups about a neighborhood event, local announcements, committee reports...etc. Please keep your written text on the short side, several paragraphs in length, and single spaced. We reserve the right to edit all submissions for clarity and or due to space constraints. Call (617) 282-1277 or email janderson@uusc.org

Our deadline for the next newsletter is tentatively December 13th.


Appreciations
Many Thanks to SPIRE and UMass for their copying and mailing assistance!!!


Membership and Voting
Remember your annual dues must be paid for a minimum of thirty days prior to our general meetings in order to be a voting member in good standing.



CSHCA Membership Renewal/Application for Membership
Please keep current with your annual membership dues if you wish to remain a voting member in good standing and continue to receive a copy of the newsletter, "The Neighbors". NOTE: Check address label for your membership expiration date. It would be greatly appreciated if your memberships were renewed early.

CSHCA Annual Memberships are only $5 per person ($25 Merchant Sponsor - non-voting member) Checks can be made payable to: CSHCA

Simply print out the form below and give with payment to our Treasurer, Nora McDonnell at our next meeting or mail to:

CSHCA Membership
c/o Ms. Nora McDonnell, CSHCA Treas.
7 Buttonwood Court
Dorchester, MA 02125

Individual membership(s) ____
Merchant Sponsor _____


Name(s): ____________________________________________

Street: _____________________________ Apt: __________

City/Town: ___________________________ State: _____

Postal Code: ____________

Phone: ______________________________

Email: ______________________________

Merchant Sponsor Name: _____________________________

CSHCA Merchant Members Reminder:
We offer space on our website and in our newsletter for your current job postings. Note: greater detail/text can be listed on the web. If desiring to list in our monthly newsletter please keep your listings on the brief side due to space constraints. In both cases please provide a contact name, phone # and email address if applicable.

CSHCA Contacts:
Newsletter: John Anderson janderson@uusc.org
Web site: Ed Geary Jr. webmaster@columbiasavinhillcivic.org


The Little House Food Pantry
At our monthly meetings the CSHCA collects non-perishable food, toiletries and household cleaning items to donate to The Little House Food Pantry. We place a collection basket at the sign in desk. Thanks so much !!!





© 2004 Columbia Savin Hill Civic Association