Spring 2021 Volume Thirty Number One Inside Essentials CTM President’s Letter 2 CTM Community News • You Do It • You Write It • We Print It Citizen Conmections 3 Save the Date! 2021 Clifton Golf Outing August 28 Spring Cleaning in Clifton 3 Please mark your calendar for Saturday, August 28—the date of the 2021 Clifton Golf Outing. This CTM tradition has raised over Neighborhood Safety Update 4 $60,000 for beneficiaries, including TriHealth Good Sam Cancer Center, Burnet Woods, Clifton Cultural Arts Center, Fairview Ger- man Turf Field and the Little Sisters of the Poor on Riddle Road. This year’s recipient is CANS (Clifton Area Neighborhood School). Safe Walking and Biking 5 Our full event, including dinner on the deck and Friend of Clifton Award presentation, will be held COVID Permitting. We are in need of volunteers to serve on the golf committee. For more info contact John Whedon at [email protected]. —John Whedon, Chair Winter Food Giveaway 5 Making A Connection 5 New Crosswalk 6 CCAC News 6 &10 Walk in Burnet Woods 6 go Vibrant Clifton 7 Small Businesses’ Profiles 8-9 The Simpsons Visit Skyline 10 Long Journey Home 11 Happy to Be in Clifton 11 New Library Manager 12 Trailside Events 13 Clifton Heritage 14-15 Off Ludlow Gallery News 15 Young Cliftonites, Lucy Whedon and Nora Cowles count the cash raised in the “Beat the Lady Bearcat” contest at the summer of 2019 Clifton Community Fund 16 golf outing. In total the event netted $10,000 for Little Sisters of the Poor. Online: Loads of colorful photos and hometown news by Tom Lohre Please support our advertisers! Permit No. 301 No. Permit Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati, PAID Cincinnati, Ohio 45220-0042 Ohio Cincinnati, U.S. Postage U.S. P.O. Box 20042 Box P.O. NON-PROFIT ORG. NON-PROFIT Clifton Town Meeting Town Clifton Isn’t she pretty? Color hits Ludlow http://www.cliftoncommunity.org/clifton-town-meeting/clifton-chronicle/ and Clifton Avenues! Tom Reese Retires pageSpring 2 2021 CTM President’s Message Clifton Chronicle Welcome to the Spring 2021 edition of the Clifton thank them for all their hard work. P.O. Box 20042, 45220-0042 Chronicle, published by Clifton Town Meeting. CTM is 2021 will continue to pose challenges for Clifton. Al- your neighborhood community council, dedicated to serv- though there is a light at the end of the COVID-19 tun- Send all images, ads and stories as well as updates to your ing and representing Clifton’s residents. It’s my privilege nel, it’s still in the distance. We need to continue to sup- mailing address to [email protected] to continue to serve as this year’s CTM President, and I port our local merchants and help them get through this Past Issues: and the rest of the CTM Trustees will be doing our best to last, critical stage. We have held together well so far, and it http://www.cliftoncommunity.org/clifton-chronicle make Clifton Cincinnati’s best place to live, work, and play. would be a tragedy if things fell apart this close to the end. Published Quarterly 12/1, 3/1, 5/20, 9/1 Before looking ahead to 2021, I want to take time to It’s much easier to keep an existing district vibrant than to Staff recognize all we accomplished in 2020 and the people who have to try and recreate one. Let’s all keep doing our part helped make it happen. 2020 was as challenging for CTM to make sure Clifton’s businesses stay open, Clifton’s spaces Vicki Black, Editor/Publisher as everyone else, but I am very proud of how we quickly are well-maintained, and Clifton’s residents are healthy so Jan Brown-Checco, Chronicle Committee Chair adapted to meeting and taking care of Clifton’s business that when the time comes we are ready and able to recover Tom Lohre, Neighborhood Liaison virtually. CTM did not miss a single meeting last year, and strong and pick up where we left off. Sixteen pages printed and mailed to 4,715 Cliftonites continually strove to serve our neighborhood. We joined Clifton is your community, and CTM is your commu- with summaries of and/or full stories. Complete stories with the Clifton Business Association for the Clifton Cares nity council. We can’t accomplish our goals without a strong and images are on the online version: http://www. initiative to both support frontline workers and help our and robust membership. If you’re already a member, thank cliftoncommunityorg/clifton-chronicle/ local restaurants survive COVID-related bans. We opened you. If you’re not a member, I urge you to consider joining up Clifton Plaza for take-out dining, cleaned up the Telford and getting involved. Our community will become how we 2021 CTM Board of Trustees seating area, replaced worn and dangerous benches along behave—if Clifton is full of passionate and engaged indi- Joe Brunner (President), Robert Hamberg (Vice Pres- Ludlow, advanced traffic safety initiatives, and completed viduals who work together to make it better, Clifton will ident 1), Ioanna Paraskevopoulos (Vice President 2), the signage installation of the go Vibrant walking routes. become (even) better. Even the smallest act of engagement Gérald Checco (Treasurer), Jan Brown-Checco (Secre- Although all our trustees worked tirelessly, I want to pay and civic participation can compound. If you are interested tary), Teckla Akinyi, Peter Block, Brendon Cull, Brian special attention to the trustees whose terms expired last in becoming a member of CTM or donating time, talent or Duffy, Chris Harding, Teresa Hoelle, Mark Jeffreys, year—Pat Borders, Buddy Goose, Rama Kasturi and Vince treasure, we are excited to hear from you. Naghma Malik, Malcolm Montgomery and Genet Metzger. I greatly enjoyed working with them all and — Joe Brunner, CTM President Singh (Trustees) Clifton Chronicle Reese Retires from CRC After 12 Years in Clifton Community is available online! Tom Reese started his career with the Cincinnati Recre- to Service Area Coordinator at Clifton Recreation Center. Past issue are also ation Commission by offering guided tours of various recre- It does not often occur that a CRC Service Area Coor- on the CTM dinator spends 12 years at one site, but Tom was exceptional ation centers with Arts for All. His role was creating work op- website. Use this portunities in the inner city through the arts. His talent shined at his job because he cared deeply for the Clifton community in the art of puppetry. When the program was over, he utilized and made many connections. As a manager and mentor, he was code or visit the his creativity part-time at Corryville Recreation Center. What always teaching the Clifton staff how to excel. Every day was site below. followed was a position as Community Center Director at a teachable moment or a “dress rehearsal,” as Tom would say, Pleasant Ridge Recreation Center. How often does one have whether in art, customer service or programming. https://www.cliftoncommunity.org/clifton-town- the opportunity to help coordinate an organization, have staff, Reese retired, having led the way joyfully as he served in meeting/clifton-chronicle/ and plan programs? Tom Reese worked with teen inclusion several recreation centers. The campers, staff and community of program performance while being their coordinator for after Clifton will miss him. We will try hard to lead by the example Keep in Touch with CTM school and summer day camp—this while also being an adjunct he left, demonstrating commitment and dedication. Visit http://www.cliftoncommunity.org faculty member at Cincinnati State. In 2008 he was promoted —Tiffany Thomas, CRC Community Center Director CTM Committees, Chairs & Liaisons 2021 Executive—President Joe Brunner Caretaking & Beautification—Gérald Checco Business District — Jan Brown-Checco Chronicle—Jan Brown-Checco Communications—Chris Harding Membership—Teresa Hoelle Housing and Zoning—Malcolm Montgomery Nominating—Teresa Hoelle Clifton Community LLC—Joe Brunner & Gérald Checco Transportation/Public Safety—Mark Jeffreys Parks—Mark Jeffreys Education—Brian Duffy Arts & Culture—Sean Mullaney Governance—Malcolm Montgomery Finance—Treasurer Gérald Checco Ad Hoc Committees Strategic Planning—Robert Hamberg Fundraising—Joe Brunner Save the CCAC—Malcolm Montgomery Neighborhood Community Plan—Joe Brunner Liaison Roles Uptown Consortium / UC Health—Brendon Cull Invest In Neighborhoods—Ioanna Paraskevopoulos TriHealth—Joe Brunner Clifton Community Fund—Teresa Hoelle Clifton Business Association—Jan Brown-Checco Neighborhoods of Uptown—Malcolm Montgomery To inquire about volunteering for CTM committee work, please email [email protected]. 2 Spring 2021 Clifton Chronicle Take an Active Part in Your Community! Clifton Town Meeting (CTM) is your community council which advocates on behalf of the Clifton community. CTM also sponsors many activities and festivals thoughout the year for our community. To support this important community work, we need your generous support. Membership dues are tax deductible and are the second largest support of income for CTM. If you paid membership dues sometime in 2020, thank you for your support. Memberships are based on the calendar year, and we need your support for 2021. —Join Clifton Town Meeting! Here’s How: Starting or renewing your membership will help us keep Clifton a vibrant, desirable, and fun place to live, work, and play. CTM also accepts donations, and you can do that at the same time you renew at http://www.cliftoncommunity.org/membership/ or clip this form and send it along with a check or money order payable to Clifton Town Meeting, P.O. Box 20042, Cincinnati, Ohio 45220-0042. Membership Categories __