The four-night College Hill Block Party 2006 kicks off on Tuesday, August 1, with National Night Out from 6:30pm to 9:00pm featuring a cookout, music, displays by firefighters, police and community organizations. The new St. Clare gym will be open to the public.

Wednesday is Big Band Night from 6:30pm to 9:00pm. Big band music along with an ice cream social, dancing, local celebrities, board games, hop scotch and cornhole.

Thursday from 5:00pm to 9:00pm, it's Girls’ and Boys’ 3 On 3 Basketball, with music, cheerleaders and a drill team.

Block Party 2006 wraps up Friday night from 6:30pm to 9:00pm with Youth Night, featuring rap music and food.

All of the week’s events take place on the College Hill Presbyterian Church campus.

Event sponsors include Target, LaRosa's, Goodie's, Christ's Community in College Hill, Twin Towers and the Llanfair Retirement Community.

Call 513-541-5676 for more information.

The winners of Pleasant Hill Academy's Minorities in Math, Science and Engineering (M2SE) Egg Drop Competition had a Pizza party with Ms. Johnson on Friday, May 5. M2SE's mission is to significantly increase the number of students of color who are prepared for and enter math, science, or engineering fields. Students who stay involved in M2SE through high school and keep good passing grades can receive a scholarship.

The next day, the students attended the citywide competition at the College of Applied Science. There, Victor Fuller, a Pleasant Hill Academy fourth grader, won first place in the Egg Drop Competition. Pictured are all of the Pleasant Hill participants who were recognized at the ceremony for the John Lucky Scholar Award, an award given to students who excel in math and science.

How well do you know College Hill? Can you locate this?

Idea and photo by Gail Deibler Finke.

The cover article in last week's City Beat gives a comprehensive look at how Cincinnati's community councils work. While Kevin Osborne's article doesn't mention our own College Hill Forum, it does give good insight into the role that community councils such as the Forum play in making the city work as well as it does.

The article states, "For all of Cincinnati's many problems, the Queen City has a national reputation for doing some things right. ...[A] notable attribute is the city's abundance of neighborhoods that have retained distinct identities with unique characteristics such as town squares and business districts. Part of the reason those neighborhoods have managed to survive and, in a few cases, thrive during the suburban flight of the past few decades is Cincinnati's emphasis on promoting grassroots neighborhood involvement through its system of community councils."

Can you imagine over 30 homes in College Hill displaying a new coat of paint? That will happen in 2007, now that Give Back Cincinnati has chosen College Hill for Paint the Town 2007.

In this year's Paint the Town event in June, 800 volunteers repainted 30 houses in Hartwell and Carthage.

Judy Moyer, vice president of College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation, and her husband, Larry, opened their Laurel Court home for a CHCURC fundraiser for prospective Leadership Donors on June 28. Guests roamed the luxurious estate, enjoyed drinks, appetizers and musical entertainment, heard presentations about CHCURC and its projects, and then learned about the importance of financial support for the Director of Community Development. All in all, it was a lovely event, one which will most likely be repeated.

Two previous Leadership Donors told heartfelt stories about why they gave.

Tim Johnson and his wife Janet wanted to give back to the community for the value they had received by living in College Hill. Tim pointed out that their home would have cost much more in some other communities. He said that he and Janet wanted to put some of the money they didn’t have to spend on their home back into the community.

Jim Dietz talked about the long history of his family in College Hill, beginning with his uncle John F. Elliot who, in 1873, founded the Cincinnati Sanitarium (later Emerson North Hospital). Jim said, "The hospital’s impact on the social and financial well being of both College Hill and on my family cannot be overstated." He continued, "If my uncle were alive he would have made a major contribution to CHCURC and I felt I could do no less out of respect for him."

CHCURC President Carol Lyon asked guests to consider giving leadership gifts of $3,000 to $5,000 to support the now full-time Director of Community Development. The Director provides the expertise and the time to monitor Linden Park as well as CHCURC's other projects, including the Façade Program, Llanfair Commons, the Business Committee and the Gateway.

For more information about gifting or participating in fundraising, contact CHCURC Vice-President Judy Moyer ( jmoyer@cinci.rr.com, 513-542-7686).

Representatives John Neyer and Gail Paul from Al Neyer, Inc. and Ken Schoen of Bloomfield, Shoen & Partners, unveiled pictures of the proposed Linden Park Condominiums. The guests reacted with oohs and aahs. A variety of condominium living spaces will be available including one bedroom and two bedroom units as well as two bedroom units with a loft. All will have high quality amenities including hardwood floors and granite counter tops.

Presales are now beginning at prices ranging from $200,000 to $350,000. The sales team for the condominiums were introduced. They are Michael Defallco from Sibcy Cline (513-395-3295, mdefallco@sibcycline.com) and Theresa Alexander from Places for the Heart (513-662-8882, itstimetoown@aol.com).

Work has begun on the installation of a 24” water main underneath North Bend Road from Colerain Avenue to Hamilton Avenue. This work is scheduled to last for the rest of this year.

Residents should not see any interruption in water service during the course of the construction. One lane of traffic will remain open in both directions during this phase of construction.

This work will be followed by the complete reconstruction of North Bend Road.

For more information, contact David Krusling, Cincinnati Department of Transportation and Engineering, (513-352-3479, dave.krusling@cincinnati-oh.gov).

College Hill musicians Tom and Missy Strothers recently returned from helping staff Kentucky Music Week in late June.

Kentucky Music Week is has been furthering traditional music, dance and art for twenty-five years. It provides people of all ages with five full days of instruction in a wide variety of traditional arts: dulcimer & hammered dulcimer, vocal classes, banjo frailin', square dancing and autoharp.

... every Thursday, from 3:00 to 7:00 pm.