January 6, 2010
Dear Neighbor:
We have a wonderful community and the Directors of the Beverly Improvement Association are working to make it better. I am writing this letter to tell you what we are doing in conjunction with our annual membership drive. Our $15 dues are for the calendar year. What do you get for that $15? A lot. Let me tell you.
During the last year, the Beverly Improvement Association strongly advocated and received a dedicated beat car for our neighborhood. This dedicated police car has greatly increased the response time on 911 calls and increased the amount of time that the police are patrolling our neighborhood.
The BIA directors have worked on getting the city to repair potholes and repave Western Avenue and to enforce traffic laws whose violators endanger our children. But the work of your community organization has not all been to request city services, a lot of the work of the BIA is to encourage neighborly gatherings. Annually, we have, in conjunction with Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Santa’s Workshop where children supervised by adults and older children make Christmas ornaments and decorations, have treats, and have a photo session with Santa. For those who enjoy being outside in the winter, the BIA sponsors SEE and SKI, cross country skiing in our very own beautiful Dan Ryan Woods.
During the spring, summer, and fall, BIA sponsors the Bird Walk in the Dan Ryan
Woods, Family Bike Rides on the Major Taylor Trail through the Dan Ryan Woods, outdoor movies at Kellogg Field, and the Fall Fest at Christ the King with brats, music, and beer. We work on the beautification of Cosme Park and the 91st and 95th train stations and the Dan Ryan Woods as part of the Chicago’s Clean and Green. We support the wonderful efforts to restore the Dan Ryan Woods native habitat. We were a sponsor of the very successful first annual Beverly Hills Turkey Trot race and walk. We have an annual open meeting for the alderman to give her report on the State of the Ward and for residents to discuss issues of community concern and ideas to improve the neighborhood. We sponsor the Christmas holiday decorations and best garden contests. We provide community service scholarships to local students in the neighborhood who demonstrate service to our community.
We are not new to the neighborhood. The Beverly Improvement Association has been serving our community for over 100 years. Over those years we have fought to
preserve the Dan Ryan Woods and stop development on the eastern portion of the forest, to preserve the Rock Island Metra line and to build a permanent train station downtown and to rehabilitate our local stations, to develop Cosme Park, to convert the asphalt playground at Kellogg to a useful grass field with good playground equipment, to build the Major Taylor Bike Trail, to bolster 95th Street with new stores, the library, and the firehouse.
There is a lot more that we would like to do to improve our community: find good uses for the old library building and the old firehouse (perhaps a fire museum) which would
preserve these buildings, and build a bike trail to downtown along the expansive Metra
Rock Island Main Line.
We need your help in three ways. First, send in your dues and, if you can, send in
an additional contribution as all of our neighbors may not be able to pay dues. Second,
encourage your neighbors to pay their dues. Third, become involved by helping us. This is not a clique. This is your organization. We welcome your involvement to help make the greatest community in the world even better.
Thank you,
Collins T. Fitzpatrick, President
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2010 Dues and Membership Form
Please return this form along with your check payable to The Beverly Improvement
Association to:
Ed Blough, BIA Vice President
9423 South Hoyne Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60643
First Name Last Name
Spouse’s First and Last Name
Home Street Address
E-mail Address*
* We can notify you of upcoming events and neighborhood concerns by e-mail. If you do not wish to receive these, please do not list your e-mail address. We respect your privacy and will not share any personal information.
2010 Membership ($15) _________ Additional Contribution (>$15) ________
Please provide comments or suggestions on how the BIA can better serve our community. If you would like to become involved in the work of the Beverly Improvement
Association, please list your name and your telephone below. Thank you.
Comments / Suggestions / Ideas for North Beverly
The membership drive for 2010 is in progress! Thank you to those who have already sent in their membership dues. We will be sending out membership information very soon so please keep your eyes open for something in the mail. In the meantime, if you wish to complete your membership renewal now, click here for a printable membership form.
We can accept payment for your yearly membership dues by credit card via the PayPal service. By clicking on the button below you will be taken to a secure PayPal website to complete your payment. If you have not used PayPal before, you will be asked to take just a moment to register. All personal information is kept confidential.
