Hello Old West End Neighbors!
by Iris Dethmers
My name is Iris Dethmers. My family and I have lived on Belle Street for over thirteen years. My husband is a retired hospital administrator, and I have worked with Vance County Schools as a teacher and now as an assistant principal.
We love “The Old West End” for its beautiful old homes, the ancient trees and the amazing wild life (the owls, hawks, etc.). Above all, we love our neighbors. This is a community of people who are willing to help each other in times of need or just have fun together.
Throughout the years we have gotten to know each other better through potluck dinners. We joined the neighborhood association and made friends while protecting each other and our homes. We became activists when we needed a stop sign to save our children from speeders (a child got hit by a car years ago). We worked toward creating senior housing when the old West End School was closed by the county. We also organized to work toward better housing conditions for our renter friends and, more recently, got the residential speed down to 25 mph. Like many organizations, as people moved or got tired it has gone up and down in membership.
Recently in talking to our neighbors we realized that new needs and situations are affecting or will be impacting our neighborhood soon. The high speed rail, a possible apartment development on Young Avenue, downtown development, neighborhood pride, and re-establishing friendships are but a few. So here we go, OLD West End. We would like to send an invitation to all neighbors, renters and homeowners, as well as businesses and churches in the neighborhood who are interested in kick-starting our association, to:
The 2008 Pot Luck Dinner, Sunday June 22th at 4:00 p.m. Looking forward to seeing you!
Please call or email me for more information at iris1206@earthlink.net or 252.432.3839.