LOST CAT Missing since 7/15/03. Small,black spayed female, only identification mark is a tiny white spot on the right side of her neck. Friendly but very shy, her name is Peekaboo. Please call 451-4619

    There are two pieces in this month's issue -- one encouraging, one not -- that seem particularly reflective of where we are at this juncture as a neighborhood, and an Association. One piece is by HPNA Co-President Bruce Nadig -- who, inspired by the activist example of Hyde Park's unofficial Mayor-for-Life Dorothy Richter, decided not long ago to do something about heading off a misleadingly described and improperly permitted construction project that was about to get underway near his home. The other, by our other Co-President Gary Penn, outlines the large-looming threat of discontinuation of the city's garbage / recycling pickup services in our alleys; and describes the turnout, in a recent effort to recruit Alley Cat volunteers to help clear the alleys of foliage and other obstacles, as "pathetic".

    For neighbors who like living in Hyde Park, but who may be fairly recently arrived or have short memories, let's review some history: There's a good reason

- why

discontinuation of alley services remains still a threat rather than a reality;

- why

our Fire Station #9, though facing its own threats, is still very much operational;

- why

the 4000 block of Ave. F is a residential street rather than a Baptist parking lot;

- why

38 th Street between Speedway and Duval is not a 4-lane thoroughfare;

- why

a lamebrained proposal in the 80's to relocate all of Hyde Park's sewer lines from the alleys to the streets never came to pass;

- why

there are a handful of homes rather than a 100+ -unit apartment complex on the 4000 block of Ave. H;

- why

the Woodburn House has been relocated to 44 th and Ave. D rather than demolished;

- why

Speedway looks more like a residential street than an apartment ghetto;

- why

a state-of-the-art playscape and attractive northern gateway are now welcome and prominent features of Shipe Park;

- why

the Ney Museum is a model institution rather than a fond but crumbling memory;

- why

the newsletter you are reading has been successfully published and distributed every month for over 29 years;

- why

our distinctive Hyde Park stone markers grace so many intersections;

- why

we still have only one massive institutional parking garage in our midst rather than two;

- why

a 25+ year-old Homes Tour showcasing model homes in the area happens every year with the help of hundreds rather than every once in a while with the help of a few;

    In every one of these cases, the dynamic went something like this: Some neighbor(s) took a close and thoughtful look at a local problem or opportunity that invited action, determined a course of action, and decided, "This should happen"; and then, "This can happen"; and then, "I (and/or we) can help make it happen." In Gary's article, the particular "This" happens to be the situation in our alleys; but whatever the "This" might be, our collective response to the challenge needs to be robust rather than "pathetic" if Hyde Park is to remain the special neighborhood that it is. Dorothy, Bruce, Gary and many others have worked long and hard to bring our neighborhood and its Association this far. The efforts of such stalwarts merit our appreciation, but they also deserve our assistance.