Thunder Road

The Thunder Road Marathon will be run Dec. 9, and the route goes right down Hawthorne Lane. Make sure you take that into consideration when you're making your Saturday morning plans.

Game day parkers

The Crime Dawg writes:

Pigskin action will take place at Memorial this weekend. The Dawg likes ‘Pendence to keep the streak alive.

A note from our own Sgt Stahnke:

The football game between Independence and Butler High Schools has been moved to Memorial Stadium Dec. 2. This game has an 8 p.m. kickoff with gates opening at 6:30. This event comes on the heels of the “Pioneer Bowl” football game between Tuskeegee and J.C. Smith, scheduled for 2 p.m. Due to these two events and the related festivities and activities associated, the Elizabeth area should expect heavy amounts of traffic, in the late afternoon particularly. Officers will be assigned to intersections near the stadium to assist with traffic control, but there will still be delays and heavy traffic flow.

Party time

Michelle Dagenhart writes:

Tell your neighbors - THE HOLIDAY PARTY is here! The Party this year will be held on Friday, December 8 from 7:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. Jane and Roxie Towns have graciously agreed to host again this year in their home at 1512 East 8th Street.

The Holiday Party is for everyone who lives in Elizabeth or has a business in Elizabeth. If you are new or old to the neighborhood, single or couple, owner or renter, resident or business owner – you are welcome. Come for a few minutes or stay a while, whatever fits into your evening plans. We do recommend that you find a sitter for your children, as this is an adult event.

The ECA will provide wine, beer, beverages and a spiral ham served with rolls. No RSVP is needed. Guests are asked to bring an appetizer or dessert to share. Your dish should serve approximately 10-12 people and be served on a disposable plate or platter. If you know you will be coming late in the evening, it would be helpful if you drop your dish earlier in the day. A waiter will be at the Towns home an hour before the party to accept early dishes. Please call Michelle Dagenhart at 704-335-0280 or Maya Packard 704-334-2196 with any questions.

Jennifer the chair

One Elizabethan writing about another: The Observer's Jim Morrill's woman-in-the-news piece on Jennifer Roberts. She'll have her hands full as new chairman of the Mecklenburg County commissioners. I'm confident she's up to the task. After all, it's not the school board.

Challenge in Cherry

Interesting situation in nearby Cherry. A developer wants to tear down 63 homes and replace them with townhomes and condominiums. Residents are rightly worried that the development will lead to higher property values, which could price people out of the neighborhood. Frankly I'm surprised it took so long for developers to descend on Cherry, although they've been encroaching on it for some time now. Will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

Spreading the dough

Charlotte's best pizza restaurant, Hawthorne's New York Pizza & Bar will open a new restaurant on N.C. 51 in Mint Hill next summer. Looks like the Adams boys are continuing to do well.

Shameless promotion

Strictly speaking my sister no longer helps to inhabit our fair corner of the world. But hey -- once an Elizabethan, always an Elizabethan, right? So perhaps I can without guilt invite you to shop at the new Web site she launched for Earrings and Company. Let me know and I'll get you 25% off between now and Dec. 22.

7th Street anniversary

At this time of year it is appropriate to give thanks to the people who fought so hard for what we enjoy now. Like a three-lane 7th Street.

From a Nov. 8, 1985 Charlotte Observer story headlined Plan To Widen 7th Street Dropped:

Faced with neighborhood opposition, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission has backed down from its recommendation to widen 7th Street through the inner-city Elizabeth neighborhood....

More than 30 neighborhood residents, including city council member Pam Patterson, crowded into the commission`s meeting room to watch the vote. Over the past few weeks, residents had lobbied against widening the street`s four lanes. They complained that a wider road would split the neighborhood and destroy its character.

Planning commissioner Joe Griffin disagreed. ``I certainly don`t want to ruin Elizabeth,`` he said. ``But this is a chance to get another artery flowing into town. I`m in favor of doing it.``

City transportation planners told the commission that 7th Street will eventually need to be widened for safety reasons. Once construction begins on Independence Boulevard, they said, more traffic is expected on the street.

But, said Planning Director Martin Cramton, ``If we begin saying capacity and safety are more important than surrounding neighborhoods, we may as well kiss inner-city neighborhoods off. We need to make a strong statement in Charlotte.``

So thanks Pam Patterson (who still lives in Elizabeth) and Martin Cramton. And a big lusty boo to Joe Griffin. And while you're digesting your turkey, don't forget that there are many more Joe Griffins out there (especially at NCDOT), and they would dearly love to widen 7th Street so folks in Union County can get home faster.

So long mass transit

Looks like Elizabeth won't have mass transit as an issue to talk about for quite awhile -- if ever. Work on the center city street car line, which would run through Elizabeth, now won't start until 2013. Seems there's some debate about what timeline was promised, but Charlotte Center City says the project will be completed in 2009 (PDF). Add in the usual delays between now and then and we're talking 2018 at the earliest before they start design work. And, as I more or less predicted, work on the Southeast Corridor now won't start until 2016 at the earliest.

They delayed for five years starting work on one of Charlotte's heaviest commuter corridors. Now they've tacked another five years of wait to it. At this rate the corridor that affects us most won't be finished in my lifetime. Heck, it may not even get started. And if you think it doesn't matter to us because we're close in and don't need mass transit, see my post about widening 7th Street.

Sex offender

From a note to the Crime Dawg:

Please make sure neighbors are aware that a recently-released criminal and sex offender moved to our neighborhood (on Weddington) about a month ago. He is described as being a black male, 6'2" at 155 pounds. He has been seen walking almost daily on Greenway Avenue. in the past two-three weeks in the daytime hours. He is bald and walks with a pronounced "strut." He has been seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt that zips up.

Cankerworm grant

Crime Dawg writes:

The Cankerworm Initiative Neighborhood Matching Grant was awarded on November 13th to the Elizabeth Community Association. The majority of this donation will be used to purchase Tanglefoot. Band your trees [with batting and tarpaper]. We need all trees banded in Elizabeth by Thanksgiving, November 23rd. The Tanglefoot will be applied on the dates below while supplies last.

Today begins our call for community volunteers to come out and work together. We need at least one person per household to sign up. Please email the date or dates that best suit your schedule to print_it@bellsouth.net. If you are available at a different time then those shown below, please email and let me know when you can volunteer, we welcome all help. Someone will contact you with your meeting location prior to your scheduled work date.

Tanglefoot schedule:
Shift 1: November 25, 9am-1:00 pm
Shift 2: November 25, noon-4 pm
Shift 3: November 26, 9am-1:00 pm
Shift 4: November 26, noon-4 pm
Shift 5: December 2, 9am-1:00 pm
Shift 6: December 2, noon- 4 pm
Shift 7: December 3, 9am-1:00 pm
Shift 8: December 3, noon- 4 pm
Shift 9: December 9, 9 am – 1:00 pm
Shift 10: December 10 noon to 4:00 pm

Our tower on CD cover

With a cover that looks like it would do this site proud, you gotta love "Moved To Stanleyville," a limited edition CD from Tom Constanten and Ken Foust (with help from Jamie Hoover, Jim Brock, Mark Maxen and Ted Henderson). No self-respecting Elizabethan should be without a copy of this CD.