GPPNA News! - Board Update & Annual Holiday Potluck Party (12/05)

On September 26th, the Greater Park Place Neighborhood Association (GPPNA) hosted its Annual Meeting of the Membership and elections for its Board of Directors. We welcomed the following new directors to the to the GPPNA Board: Marlene Green, Marilyn Navish-McCullough, and Melissa Neely. John Mayberry and I were re-elected for another two year term. At the November Board meeting, we elected our officers for 2012:

• Katy Frey, President
• Melissa Neely, Vice President
• Khrys Myrddin, Secretary
• Sue Breslow, Treasurer

I am sad to report that Jim Lenkner, who has been serving as our President, will be stepping down from the Board completely at the end of December. Jim has an eventful year ahead planning the out-of-town wedding of his daughter, so we wish him much luck for a joyous celebration and hope that he will find time again in the not so distant future to lend his skills and love of Park Place to GPPNA.

You can read more about the current board members and learn how to support our work by becominig a GPPNA member on our website:

http://www.parkplaceblog.com/about/

December is now just around the corner, which means the holiday season is upon us. The annual GPPNA Holiday Potluck Party hosted by the Board of Directors has become a cherished winter tradition in Park Place. The first year, we didn't know what to expect, and waited nervously for people to show up. We were delighted when folks started coming in the doors, bearing platters and bowls to share. Then we tasted the food. Ooooh my. People mingled. People chatted. People lingered all the way to the end, laughing and talking with friends, old and new. Each year, the word spreads a little more, more great people show up, and the food continues to be amazing. I know I am not alone in saying that it is the holiday party to which I most look forward. I really enjoy having time to get to know the people who live in my neighborhood and watching each conversation slowly turn this into a community, not just a geographic designation.

Our neighborhood has many obvious positive attributes: beautiful houses, tree-lined streets, historic architecture, and, of course, easy access to the City's finest park. These things are all well and good, but what really makes a neighborhood is not the things you can see when you drive down the street. What makes a neighborhood a true community is the relationships between the people within it, and fostering those relationshps has been a goal of GPPNA from before we were an official organization. There are folks in Park Place who laid the ground work for GPPNA by organizing people, collecting names for a neighborhood email list (now the Park Place Update with over 450 subscribers), organizing the summer picnic, hosting supper clubs, and creating block watches long before we incorporated with the Commonwealth. GPPNA has endeavored to channel all of that great energy into a formal organization that can be a repository for all this wonderful information and make sure that it gets handed down over the years.

Every year when we meet to assign responsibilities for the party and I fuss over what I am going to make, I get excited and happy. This party, to me, is what winter celebrations should be--an ingathering of the community to break bread together, share ourbounty, welcome newcomers, and get to know old friends just a little bit better. If I won the lottery, I wouldn't move, because as far as I'm concerned, I already drew the winning ticket.

And did I mention the food??

If you live in or near Park Place (not sure? --check here!), we hope you'll join us at the Social Hall in Waverly Presbyterian Church (corner of S. Braddock & Forbes Aves) on Monday, December 5th from 6:00 - 9:00 PM. Attendees are asked to bring a dish or dessert to share and a healthy, non-perishable item (no glass containers please!) to be donated to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

Join the Park Place community on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ParkPlacePgh/