WCVB Chronicle's "Inside Beacon Hill" episode
The Beacon Hill episode of Chronicle, broadcast on Tuesday, July 10 2012. If you missed it, or are missing home, follow this link to see what makes the Hill such a special place.
SEGMENT ONE : The Many Moods of Beacon Hill
SEGMENT TWO : Beacon Hill's fixer-upper; Most Photographed Street
SEGMENT THREE : Architecture on Beacon Hill its African American Connection
SEGMENT FOUR : Beacon Hill's Youth Invasion
Show Resources
Producer: Sangita Chandra
Videographers: Judi Guild, Bob Oliver, Carl Vieira
Editors: Ellen Boyce, Debbie Therrien
Museum of African American History
Mark Kiefer, Beacon Hill Architectural Commission
Charles Street Supply and Hardware
Vira (Charles Street boutique)
Kathryn Kuchefski/Peonies & Pearls event planning
Banks face backlash as they bid for top sites
The Boston Globe, Todd Wallack, Monday, February 20, 2012
Capital One Bank ousted a women’s clothing shop from its Back Bay space and is trying to force out a popular Beacon Hill convenience store.
TD Bank is replacing a barbecue restaurant in Quincy, took over a bagel shop in Wayland, and could supplant an Irish bar near Faneuil Hall.
In Wellesley, at least four banks have claimed empty storefronts.
But the new branches have not always been enthusiastically welcomed. The reason: Disappointed residents were hoping for more restaurants and grocery stores instead of additional places to make deposits and withdrawals.
Bank on Market Instead
Boston Herlad, Boston Herald Staff, Wednesday, January 11, 2012.
Beacon Hill’s Charles Street remains a uniquely Boston mix of chic boutiques, trendy restaurants and the essentials that every neighborhoods needs — a laundromat, dry cleaners, a hardware store. It is, in short, not some outdoor mall but a place where locals and tourists find common ground.
And one of the places at its epicenter is the Charles Street Market — a clean, brightly lighted convenience store (once a 7-Eleven) — that has been a fixture on the street for years and remains essential to residents (as evidenced by the standing room only crowd assembled last week at a Beacon Hill Civic Association hearing).
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Suzanne Besser Works to Make the Hill A Community
The Beacon Hill Civic Association's executive director has guided the group toward more neighborhood-building activities. Article by Kimberly Ashton from Patch.com, December 22, 2011.
Suzanne Besser remembers standing in her Chestnut Street home in 1998, looking out the window and wondering how she could connect with her new neighbors. She had just moved from Simsbury, Conn., for her husband's job and felt lonely.
"I thought it could be very isolating," Besser said, remembering her first experiences of Beacon Hill. She had planned to take a year off work but wanted to find a way to become part of the community.
"Then this job came up," Besser said of the executive director position at the Beacon Hill Civic Association, "and it totally changed everything." Besser altered her plan: she wasn't going to take a year off, she was going help build community on Beacon Hill.
See the Entire Article on Patch.com
Ania Camargo Brings Her Lesson From Bogota to Beacon Hill
Inspired by her hardworking and passionate mother, Camargo, chairwoman of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, spends hours giving back to the community. Article by Kimberly Ashton from Patch.com, October 21, 2011
As a girl in Colombia, Ania Camargo learned by example from her mother the extraordinary things that can happen through dedication to community service.
Although she had seven children, Camargo's mother used what unimaginable spare time she had to start a cultural center dedicated to teaching lower-income people in Bogota how to speak English. Within 10 years it had grown to become a university of 10,000 people, with Camargo's mother as the volunteer director.
"So that's my role model," Camargo, the Beacon Hill mother who runs a business and chairs the Beacon Hill Civic Association, said. "She's a very passionate person, she does what she believes in. That joy that she gets from helping other people, that's part of the reason why I volunteer."
For Camargo, like her mother, volunteering has always been important. "I have volunteered my entire life," she said. "I think some people are rigged one way, I was rigged that way."
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Mayor Menino awarding the Golden Broom to Anna's Taqueria, Michael Kamio and Isidro Mota. |
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Annie Krahl |
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Mayor Menino presenting the Golden Broom to resident Jack Fitzgerald. |
First Golden Brooms awarded
Jack and Mary Fitzgerald of Irving Street and Anna’s Taqueria of Cambridge Street were presented with the first Golden Broom Awards by the Beacon Hill Civic Association at a ceremony held last week on Charles Street
“We are all here because we care about our neighborhood,” said Mayor Thomas Menino, who presented the awards. “Let’s keep working together to make this a cleaner city.”
The awards are part of the Clean.Sweep.Repeat. Once a week. campaign launched earlier this year to encourage residents and businesses to assume the responsibility of cleaning up the area in front of their homes. The Fitzgeralds and Anna’s Taqueria were chosen from the many nominees to receive the award because of their continuing efforts to keep the area around their properties clean and litter-free.
The BHCA worked with Charles Street Supply owners, Jack and Cassie Gurnon, to promote the campaign. The ceremony was held in front of their store window, which has showcased the campaign for the last few months.
“This neighborhood is all about unsung heroes,” said City Councilor Mike Ross, who also attended the ceremony, along with City Councilor Felix Arroyo, State Representative Marty Walz and Commissioner of Public Works Joanne Massaro. “The BHCA continues to step up to new standards.”
Walz urged the BHCA to “export” the Clean.Sweep.Repeat. campaign to every other Boston neighborhood. “Just think what it would be like if all other neighborhood launched the campaign,” she said. “Take it on the road!”
Dog poop problem on Beacon Hill
FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com
Thursday, 24 Mar 2011, 6:13 AM EDT
Residents on Beacon Hill are making a big stink all over the growing problem of dog poop!
With spring officially here and the snow melting, city residents are dealing with a new problem. Boston Common and the Public Garden are now littered with leftover dog dooty, once covered by all the snow.
Tourist season is just around the corner and members of the Beacon Hill Civic Association want dog owners to help clean up the hub.
The committee is coming up with new ways to encourage dog owners to take care of business by putting up more bag dispensers, more signs and asking park rangers to issue more tickets.
Course offers Tactics on not Falling Prey to Crime (PDF)
By Dan Murphy
Beacon Hill Times
February 8, 2011
If there’s one lesson that Sgt. Gary Eblan hopes to instill in people who attend the class he is teaching on street smarts later this month, it’s to follow their gut feelings.
“If you don’t trust your instincts, you increase your chance of becoming a victim,” said Eblan, a 22-year veteran of the Boston Police Department. “If the hair on the back of your neck stands up, don’t ignore it.” Eblan, who currently oversees the training curriculum for all incoming officers as registrar of the Boston Police Department, will offer his presentation entitled “Reducing the Odds” at Hill House, 74 Joy St., on Thursday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. The free lecture is co-sponsored by the Beacon Hill Civic Association (BHCA) Safety Committee in partnership with Boston Police Area A-1.
Ten FAQs for historic district homeowners (PDF)
Beacon Hill Times
Now there is a guide that makes it a lot easier for home renovators to navigate
their way through the various guidelines of the Beacon Hill Historic District.
Thanks to a year‐long collaboration between the Beacon Hill Civic
Association, the Boston Preservation Alliance (BPA) and the Boston Landmarks
Commission (BLC), a newly‐printed brochure is now available that answers ten
questions for historic district homeowners. They are the ten most frequently
asked questions the offices of the three preservationist groups receive, according
to Charlotte Thibodeau, who chairs BHCA’s Architectural Committee.
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2010 Beacon Award recipient Franklin B. Mead |
The Beacon Hill Civic Association has awarded the 14th annual Beacon Award to Frank Mead, Beacon Street, in recognition of decades of significant contributions to the neighborhood through community service.
To hear Mead describe his service over the years, it is “normal and average things,” but his humble portrayal does not justly characterize the scope of his contributions. From helping to write the architectural guidelines for the Beacon Hill Historic District in the 1970s to co-founding Beacon Hill Seminars and Beacon Hill Village, Mead’s gentle hand can be seen in the very preservation of the buildings on the Hill and the quality of life of those choosing to live here.
BHCA looks at options for improving Charles Street (PDF)
By Dan Murphy
Beacon Hill Times
At a Community Workshop last week, Beacon Hill Civic Association (BHCA) members outlined options for improving Charles Street, including the installation of bike paths, the launch of a new program to keep the area clean and the creation of a public meeting place.
Steep fines for trash scofflaws
Since the Green Ticket Ordinance went into effect in May, residents who put out their trash and recycling in Whole Foods paper bags or small plastic bags are now being fined from $50 up to $250, according to ISD Code Enforcement officers. Residents who put their trash on the curbside before 5 p.m. are subject to a $25 to $50 fine. And, if the fines aren’t paid, they’ll show up on tax bills.
BHCA Has Visions Of
Bike Lanes & A Park (PDF)
by Jim Cronin
Courant News Writer