Due to the holidays in November and December, the next meeting is January 29th 2009. Now is the time to consider running for a position in the Civic Club. The positions of president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and asst. secretary will be up for election in January. Please let us know if you are interested in volunteering.
If you can not read this newsletter in HTML then go to our website at http://sunsetheightshouston.org and look in the Newsletter section.
If you would like to contribute news or stories for the newsletter, please send a note to
. Feel free to forward this newsletter to your neighbors.
Lights in the Heights
The annual Lights in the Heights is December 13th. If you never been to LIH, expect to see musicians, decorations, a parade with Santa, and plenty of people out walking. Streets in Woodland Heights get shut down for car traffic between 6 pm and 10 pm. Most of the houses are decorated and there are bands and music playing from the porches.
Free recycle drop off location: Center Street recycling.
Free hazardous recycle drop off location: Westpark recycle center. Hazardous material includes old computer equipment, Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs, and batteries.
Peppermint Lounge
East Sunset Heights has talked with 2 individuals (James Mufitt in Enforcement and Jennifer who works with Wendy in Licensing) at TABC regarding Peppermint Lounge. They have also heard some conflicting information from other sources.
1. Posting of Signs. Both said that a sign posting is required if the business has been closed for more than two years. Since the Peppermint Lounge's last license expired on 12/15/2006, they are still within the 2 year deadline...just barely. They are required to send out letters to homeowners with 300 feet, which they have done. Other sources say that they are required to post a sign stating that they are applying for a license.
2. Parking Issue. They have asked both TABC individuals about the limitation of parking spaces, and were told that was a City of Houston issue and would not impact the beer/wine license application approval process.
3. Protest. They said they people should complete protest forms (per the TABC website link in earlier post) as soon as possible. The clock is ticking on the liquor application approval process. Hopefully East Sunset Heights will get the police call list that they requested from Tanya at Adrian's office. Sharon Stephens spoke with Tanya recently regarding this. There may be enough evidence in the call list that TABC will join the protest.
To assist East Sunset Heights contact:
Crime
Crime stats have been published for September.
We have our 20 volunteers for the Citizen Patrol. (But it's not too late to join.) A big thank you to all the volunteers. HPD has given us a December training class date, December 10 at 7 PM. Here are the details on the program. http://www.houstontx.gov/police/vip/vip_citzpatrol.htm
Send an email to
to sign up as a volunteer.
Do you have ideas to make Halbert park an even better place for our community?
Currently it is used for tennis, basketball, dog walking, and a childrens' playground. What if it also had a dog park? And imagine if it had an agility course. Is there a way we can improve the park experience for our youngest and oldest neighbors? Can we do all of this on a budget with creative ideas? Please email your ideas, suggestions and complaints to
Together we can make Halbert the park of our dreams.
Bayou Bend, the former home of Houston philanthropist Ima Hogg, now houses the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's early American decorative arts and painting collection. Considered one of the premier collections in the country, the rare and beautiful objects dating from approximately 1620 to 1876, are installed throughout the 1920s mansion in 28 period room settings. Admission is $7.50.
Resturant Review of the Month
Have you enjoyed dinner and a museum lately?
The Menil is a free nearby museum at 1515 Sul Ross Street which exhibits the eclectic collection of John and Dominique de Menil. Now is a great time to enjoy some of this beautiful fall weather and check it out. http://www.menil.org/
Then head to Sophia's at 1601 W Main St for brunch, lunch, or dinner. The mussels are big, juicy, and tender. The beet salad is consistently yummy. The quail appetizer is delicious. The ribeye, pork chop, and snapper are all excellent choices. You can dine inside or out at this friendly BYOB restaurant.
www.E-Rescue-Houston.org is an animal rescue organization. To help raise money they have teamed up with a company that recycles electronic waste. If you find yourself with any of the following then consider donating them to E-Rescue-Houston.org:
* ink jet cartridges
* MP3 devices
* hand helf electronic games
* cell phones
All of the items collected are re-cycled and resold in some form or another, so these things do not end up in the landfills. If you would like to be rid of any of these items, please contact Holly Hughes directly at
or at 713-303-2801. They will make arrangements for the delivery or pick up of your items. Thank you for considering donating these things to E-Rescue-Houston. They are a registered 501c3 charity. If you are interested in a dog or a cat, please check out their available babies at the website noted above.
Pet Registry
As an added service for members of the civic club we are offering a pet registry. You can post a picture of your pet on the web site with contact information. This will allow other neighbors to contact you in the event that they see your pet. If your pet is lost we will post information about the lost pet in the Halbert Park information center and put a note on the Pet web page.
There is a link on the main page for Pets that will take you to a gallery of the pet pictures.
Newsletter 
Bayou Bend Home and Gardens