CRESTWOOD CITIZENS ASSOCIATION

Join Us for a Crestwood Tradition:
Our Four th of J uly Kids Parade

Saturday, July 4, 2009 at 9:30 am

Gather at 1810 Shepherd St. NW. We will enjoy muffins, bagels, coffee, and juice while the kids decorate their bikes, scooters, strollers, wagons, and anything else they want to bring!
The parade will begin around 10:00 am.

Parade Route: start at 1810 Shepherd St heading east, then left onto 18th Street, left onto Taylor, left onto Argyle Terrace, left onto Randolph Street, left onto 18th Street, left onto Shepherd to finish at 1810 Shepherd.

Bring your children, who will have a wonderful time and bring yourselves to see a great show!

If you would like to contribute food or beverages, please contact Nicole Ruman Skinner at nrumanskinner@aol.com. If you are able to assist with decorations or a flier, please contact Kara Morgan at karam1@verizon.net.

History Project Set to Go On Line

Within about a week or so, you’ll be able to go to the Crestwood website and learn more about the history of our neighborhood. The story begins with Native Americans who came here to quarry stone, catch fish and gather walnuts. It continues through hundreds of years in which the greater Crestwood area was a single estate. Development finally came about—but only rather recently, since our o ldest homes still standing were built less than a century ago.

Two versions of the history project will be available at crestwood-dc.org. One is a slide show, similar to the program David Swerdloff presented at the May meeting of the Association. The other version is a full 130-page account of Crestwood through the years, with many more photos and maps.

Both versions include the two images we see here. At the top left is a portrait of Thomas Blagden, who in 1853 purchased the estate that became Crestwood. [Photo courtesy of great great grandson Allen Blagden]Thomas Blagden lived in a lovely manor house, which  unfortunately was torn down in 1934 to make way for development. In the bottom right photo of that house (taken just a few years before the structure was destroyed), we are looking north across Varnum Street, just east of 18th Street. [Photo courtesy of the Historical Society of Washington DC]

Association Elects New Officers

Here is the slate of officers approved at the May meeting of the Crestwood Citizens Association for the 2009 to 2010 term:

Delegates to the Federation of Citizens Associations:

Gale Barron Black, Jeff Hildebrand, Pat Hildebrand (alternate) 

We are also looking for additional block contacts to help with communication and to assist in projects like updating the Crestwood Directory (a project that is already being organized). Please contact any officer.

Association/ANC/Police Service Area Calendar

Mark these events down on your calendar at home — or, for the more technologically inclined, put them in your PDA smartphone or whatever:

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 4A meets on the first Tuesday of each month (except July and August) at 7:15 pm at the Fort Stevens Recreation Center at 1327 Van Buren Street, NW. The next meeting is Tuesday, September 1.

Police Service Area (PSA) 404 holds community meetings on the 4th Thursday of every month at 7 pm at 801 Shepherd Street, NW.

Association Begins Tree Project on Pilot Blocks in Partnership with Casey Trees

Three blocks in Crestwood have been selected for the “pilot” phase of a neighborhood-wide effort aimed at renewing our neighborhood’s canopy and understory trees. The Crestwood Tree Project was initiated last fall under the guidance of the Association’s Green Team, and the pilot phase was approved at the Association’s annual meeting in May.

"Canopy" trees are the really tall ones—like oaks, beeches and maples — that are typical of the mature trees in Rock Creek Park. "Understory" trees are the lower trees that often have an impressive show of spring flowers — like dogwood and redbud. Renewal of both types of trees does not occur naturally in an established neighborhood like ours — and the D.C. Government doesn't have responsibility for anything other than street trees, which it replaces only as budgets permit. So the Tree Project Working Group thought that a long-term effort was called for and has established the year 2020 as the target date for completing the Project

There are many benefits of a mature canopy of trees: lower energy costs, higher property values, environmental advantages like oxygen production and decreased storm water runoff—and last, but certainly not least, the special character of the Crestwood neighborhood that comes from the feeling and appearance of being "in the Park."

Fortunately, there is an organization that supports Washington neighborhoods in improving their trees. This group, Casey Trees, helped the Association’s Green Team with replantings at the Point (where Shepherd Street intersects with Crestwood Drive and 18th Street), and has expressed an enthusiastic willingness to help the Green Team and its Tree Project Working Group develop a long-range plan and assist with tree plantings. This will be one of Casey Trees’ first long-range neighborhood partnerships.

The schedule for this year includes the following steps:

• June-July: Education meetings with Casey Trees in each of the three "pilot" blocks. The blocks (and meeting hosts) are: Crestwood Drive (Gale and Bill Bentley and Sue and Alan Houseman); the 1700 block of Varnum (Bev and John Ostenso, Steve Klein); and the "interior" block bounded by Quincy Street, Argyle Terrace, Randolph Street and 18th Street (Doug Barker and Jacqueline and Frank Samuel).
• August-September: inventory of canopy and understory trees in the three pilot areas, conducted by Crestwood volunteers assisted by Casey Trees experts and volunteers.
• October-November: planting of selected trees in the three pilot areas, again by Crestwood volunteers assisted by Casey Trees. Depending on the number of trees needed, this phase may not be completed until the spring of 2010.

The Crestwood Tree Project Working Group is composed of the following neighbors: Doug Barker (Green Team chair), Peggy Beers, Gale Black, Steve Klein, Betsy Kraft, Bev and John Ostenso, and Frank Samuel (Working Group chair). If you would like to volunteer or learn more about this important Crestwood activity, contact Doug (dougabarker@yahoo.com) or Frank (fsamuel39@sbcglobal.net>/a>).

Latest Crime Statistics

May, 2009 – Police Service Area 404

Crestwood Crimes By Block:

Thefts from Auto (4):
3900 16th Street (Sat, 5/2, 8:30pm)
4700 17th Street (Tue, 5/19, 12:30am)
1600 Shepherd St (Fri, 5/1, 6:00pm)
1600 Shepherd St (Sun, 5/24, 12:30pm)

Stolen Autos (2):
3900 16th Street (Sun, 5/3, 3:00pm)
3900 18th Street (Fri, 5/1, 11:00pm)

Theft (1):
1600 Buchanan St (Sat, 5/23 10:00am)

Burglaries (3):
3900 16th Street (Mon, 5/18, 11:15am)
4000 16th Street (Fri, 5/1, 3:00pm)
1700 Shepherd St (Wed, 4/15, u.r.)*

Robbery (1):
4300 Argyle Ter (Tue, 5/26, 1:15pm)

Shots Fired (1):
1800 Upshur St (Mon, 5/25, 1:40pm)

Assault (1):
3700 16th Street (Mon, 4/27, 11:15pm)*

Crestwood & Area Trends:

--In Crestwood (16th St. & west), 13 crimes were reported in May, up from 12 in April.

--Four Crestwood crimes were thefts from auto (versus two in April); three were burglaries (versus six the previous month).

--Near Crestwood (PSA 404, 14th St. & west to 16th St.), 18 crimes were reported in May, up from 11 in April. Eleven were on or near 14th Street.

--In PSA 404 as a whole, 118 crimes were reported in May, down from 123 in April. Three categories increased (assault, theft & homicide), and five were down or even.