Ames Place News

1. Neighborhood Profile Being relatively new to the neighborhood, I’m always curious about the stories that can be found behind every front door. As we have space available, we’ll highlight residents. Wally and Mary Diboll moved to the 6600 block of Kingsbury in 1957 after living in the post-war faculty housing (now it is the parking garage) at Washington University. Wally is originally from New Orleans and retired from teaching at W.U. Mary was born in North Carolina moving frequently as a child. She taught kindergarten for many years. They raised 3 children who have settled across the country (Wisconsin, San Francisco, and New York). They have 3 grandchildren, all in New York. When I asked Mary what had changed, her laughter was loud. “Lots!” she said. There was one memory that seemed strongest…that of a stock watering tank. It seems that her house was a favorite among the neighborhood children because they had a swimming pool. Well, not exactly. What they had was a metal, 4 foot high stock watering tank. They ‘fancied-it-up’ by building a deck around it in the backyard, but it essentially was a tank that would have been used to water cattle if it was on a farm. Nestled in their backyard, it became the neighborhood swimming pool! At the time when air conditioning was not available, the tank offered a great opportunity to cool off and visit with neighbors. Wally and Mary are living proof that everything old is new again. When they moved to Ames Place, there were still streetcars. In fact, that was a drawing point for living here. Well, now there’s no streetcars, but MetroLink is coming! Ames Place News Ames Place Tree PolicyOur plentiful, mature trees are part of the appeal of Ames Place. The neighborhood owns the trees in the grassy strip between our sidewalks and streets.  All other trees are owned by individual property owners.The Ames Place Agents strive to maintain the trees owned by the neighborhood in a scheduled, comprehensive manner. This is a time-consuming, expensive process.  It includes planting new trees where needed. The Agent responsible for our trees is Rich Giesler.  Homeowners can play a role as well regarding the trees owned by Ames Place. You may do minor trimming on these trees, for example, if a small low limb interferes with walking on our sidewalks. You do not need an Agent's permission to do this work.On the other hand, no major trimming of an Ames Place tree should by undertaken by a homeowner without first speaking with an Agent.  Under no circumstance should an Ames Place-owned tree be removed without the approval of the Agents.It's a good idea to check the Ames Place trees in front of your home for any dead limbs that may need removal.  If these exist, please call Rich Giesler or another Agent to discuss how to deal with this.  The goal will be to get the limbs quickly removed before they drop and perhaps cause property or other damage.  Everyone's cooperation is appreciated. April 2004

2. News & Business • Parking: As recommended by several residents at last year's Ames Place annual meeting, many more new "No Parking" signs have been placed in the alley between Pershing and University Drive in the 6600 and part of the 6800 blocks.  It's hoped that these additional signs will significantly helpthe problem of residents' garages sometimes being blocked by vehicles parked in the alley.  If problems still occur (as is likely) and you need a vehicle towed, please contact one of the Agents to get this done.  • Curbs: As most residents have no doubt noticed, a comprehensive effort was made in late March  to repair and patch street curbs throughout the neighborhood.  This has not been done for several years.  In addition, one badly deteriorated driveway (or approach) in one of our alleys hasbeen completely redone.  This is the driveway in the Pershing alley at Kingsland. • Construction Traffic: Signs forbidding construction traffic from using our neighborhood roads are posted. If you see a construction vehicle using our streets, please notify an agent. Note the date, time and license number of the vehicle. Construction vehicles are extremely heavy and put an unusual high burden on our streets and may damage them. We just resurfaced our roads last fall. We do not want the costs of having them resurfaced again anytime soon. Report any construction vehicles using our streets! • Summer Work: Are you a neighborhood teen who would like to make a few additional dollars this summer? Are you interested in doing yard work, running errands, or babysitting? Are you willing to play your guitar at a neighbor’s barbecue? How about pet sitting? If you would like to put a notice in the next newsletter offering your services for a price, please contact me (Kat Robinson) at 726-4633 or kat.robinson@charter.net. Perhaps there is a room out there just waiting to be painted! • Website: We’ve been promising you a website and hope that it will be functioning soon. If you have any suggestions of what you would like to see included on the website, please e-mail me (Kat) at kat.robinson@charter.net. I’ll forward your suggestions to the appropriate persons. • July 4th Celebration: Joan Clarkson is always interested in hearing your suggestions for the July 4th neighborhood celebration. If you have any suggestions, please give her a call at 862-0747. We would love to see more kids in the Ames Place 4th of July Band. Tune up your instruments and join us! If you are interested, call Ron Krone at 862-2517. • Abandoned Tricycle: On Halloween night, a tricycle was left in front of the house at 436 Melville. It is a hand-operated silver tricycle. It has a necktie holding the cushion onto the seat and several stickers on the plate covering the chain. Neighbors have been asked if they can identify it, but so far no identification has been made. This tricycle would love to find it’s way back home! If it belongs to your family, please stop by and claim it. It can be found at the back of the house. Residents are responsible for the upkeep of the alley directly bordering their property line. Maintenance includes any necessary weeding, mowing, raking, litter pick-up, and fence repairs. The city has graciously agreed to clean the alleys on Monday, April 26th.  To prepare, please clean/sweep leaves about 3 ft. out into the alley that Saturday, April 24th. Mike Jurries will coordinate having a drink cart swing by the alleys from 2:00 - 3:00pm. The city will use the leaf pick up machine.  No need to bag leaves, just sweep them into the alley! Alley Clean Up 2004 Ames Place Agents Larry O’Neill 725-4018; Rich Geisler 721-1548; Mike Jurries 727-9917 Call Kat Robinson (726-4633) or e-mail Kat.robinson@charter.net with information that you want included.