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			The WEECC Is No Longer Active Our community is now represented by the: Elliott Community Group In late 2010 community involvement with the West End Elliott Citizens Council ceased after 47 years of service. This started with the loss of two very active friends and neighbors: Elmer Clark who passed on in 2009, and Norene Beatty who moved to another nearby community. The last known participant was Matt Hogue. These pages are no longer maintainted, and remain online for historical review. Overlook Dedicated In Memory Of Elmer Elmer M Clark Sept. 29, 1940 - Dec. 3, 2009 He was one of the greatest assets that the West End Elliott Citizens Council ever had. He lived and breathed for the children and the community. - Norene Beatty View and sign Elmer's remberence guestbook Also see Post Gazette: news story, and obituary.	- The communities with a view -

We are chartering a bus to take those who do not wish to drive. The fare for roundtrip transportation is $8.50 per person. The bus will load between 8:00 and 8:30 AM at Lorenz Avenue and Crucible Street. The bus will reboard at Idlewild Park between 9:30 and 10:00 PM. Feel free to bring a lunch, but be aware that it will be a school bus and space is limited, so try to keep the size of your bags down. Don't forget a bathing suite for the H2O Zone. No one under 18 can ride the bus without being accompanied by an adult. This is non-negotiable.

If you are interested in additional information you may call the office or visit our web site at www.weecc.org [you are here!] where we have a link to Idlewild's web site. To make reservations please call 928-9424. If no one is there, please leave your name and number and we will call you back.

A Birthday Bash

If you haven't visited the library, perhaps you should. The brick structure stands so erect and quiet, but walk up those steps and through the double doors and you will enter a bright room, filled in the summer and after school with children. Some are reading, some are doing art work, and some are waiting their turns on the computers.

In the basement is an archive of Elliot and West End history. There is a set of 1916 plat maps, Sanborn insurance maps from the twenties and many photographs in albums. There are Langly High School yearbooks and a few old newspapers. The slide show  includes over a hundred photos dating from the turn of the century to the 1970s. A few local manuscripts, written by former residents are also in the library.

The head librarian, Marlene Demarest, is the moving force that makes this place so vital and such a great asset to our communities. She has a small staff that is always helpful and willing to go the extra mile. Marlene, her staff, and the Friends of  West End Library are planning a big birthday party and you are invited. The festivities will be held on the library grounds, complete with food, music and other entertainment. The WEECC Community Festival will be held at the same time on both the library grounds and West End Playground. We hope that the party, like the Idlewild picnic, will be a homecoming for those who have moved away and a venue for neighborhood friends to have fun.

-- Norene Beatty, WEECC president

Neighborhood children and teens have been working on a multicultural collage to be dedicated on the big day and they will display other art work as well. Steel Impressions, a drum group, will entertain us at about 2 PM. Birthday cake and lemonade will be served.

The West End Elliott Citizens Council will hold their Community Festival on the same day and same place from 1 to 6 PM. Kehonia Koncert, smooth sounding jazz trio will spin their magic about 3 PM, and there will be activities for the children. WEECC will serve hot dogs for the 100th birthday party. Come and enjoy the Birthday Party, the Community Festival, and the new West End Playground.

A hundred and nine years ago Andrew Carnegie wrote a letter to the city of Pittsburgh offering a gift of 1 million dollars to build a central library. In the same letter he also expressed the wish that a branch be established in Temperanceville. The West End Board of Trade immediately took up the cause, circulated petitions and invoked political influence, and nine years later on January 31, 1899 the West End Branch Library was dedicated on a spot where pigs once rooted and the Taylor Salt Works once stood.

West End Branch is the library where the first children's story time was held in the city of Pittsburgh by Charlotte Keith in 1899, where Mary Gilson argued, in 1905, with the library board about getting books in Polish for the immigrant children whose fathers worked in Carnegie's mills, where Ted Hamiel painted the famous children's story book panels in the basement in 1959, and eight teens created a mural on the Bookmobile wall in 1993. And that's just the beginning.

Growth in our neighborhoods... As we approach the new century these are exciting and good times in West End and Elliott. Positive things are happening in our communities that will give us a more prominent role in the city of Pittsburgh. In the West End the Trantor Building is being completely renovated and will be home to a new restaurant and other businesses. A Mexican restaurant will be built on the property where Best Oil was located. With the site of the new football stadium so close to the West End Bridge, we are hoping that the neighborhood's offerings will entice visitors before and after events. Businesses, however, are not the only new developments in West End. Also planned is a senior citizens' residence on Wabash Avenue. And the growth isn't stopping there. The West End/Elliott Citizens Council has purchased three lots in Elliott. There are plans to turn the small lot on Chartiers Avenue next to the Barvarian Club into a garden filled with flowers. The double lot next to our office at 734 Lorenz Avenue is where we will build the new community center, possibly with the help of the architect who has drawn up the design for the West End Overlook. A committee has been named for the planning and building of the community center.

and community services The New Life Fellowship Church, at the corner of Lorenz Avenue and Steuben Street, would like the community to know about their clothing room, which is open on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 PM and distributes free clothing. Those who wish to make donations can drop them off at the church on Tuesday evenings. Meals on Wheels is always in need of help. These people take a daily meal to shut-ins and those unable to prepare a meal for themselves. Their office is located in the United Church of Christ on Bucyrus Street and Chartiers Avenue. It is services like these that make our community special ­ people helping one another.

Crime Report   When last summer we saw a rise in problems on our streets, we didn't say it was a sign of the times or someone else's problems, we addressed them. It took time and planning to do the task properly, but March saw our neighborhood citizens' patrol take to the streets. Its purpose is to be a moving block watch and a neighborhood watch to assist in informing the police of what public safety issues exist.   We expressed our concerns to the Commander of Zone Four and became a target area. Some complained about the increased visibility of the police, but many more were grateful for the return of safety to our streets. We have a very effective and active community police officer, Virgile Myers, who reported at the July general meeting of the Council that Elliott had a thirty-one percent drop in crime in the month of June.  This report prompted me to call the acting commander of Zone Four (in the absence of Commander Bochtner who has been away on military call-up), Lieutant Dwyer, a police officer with thirty years service with much of that time spent on street duty. He was happy to speak with me and said he was proud that crime was down all over Zone Four, but nowhere as significantly as in Elliott. Lieutenant Dwyer said he attributes the unusually large drop in crime to citizens' awareness and their cooperation with Zone Four. He also stated that Elliott has been a target area several times and the community police officer, Virgile Myers, has been doing an excellent job.  Volunteers are welcome to drive or to ride as observers of the patrol, which serves our communities better as the number of participants increases.

The President's Announcement

Fourth of July at the Overlook was very special this year. Dru Imler of the West End/Elliott Joint Project decorated the fence of the overlook with beautiful red, white and blue banners that could be seen from the West End Bridge. The crowd of over three thousand spectators were speechless when the helicopter flew pass with a large American flag at eye level. We would like to thank all of those who visited our refreshment stand.

The Three Rivers Regatta fireworks were partially telecast from the West End Overlook by Channel 53, who has chosen the Overlook as one of the premier spots for telecasting the spectacular displays. For those who saw the fireworks live or missed them, the news director of Channel 53 told us that they will rebroadcast the whole show. Turn on those VCRs, this is one report you won't want to miss recording.

The West End Elliott Citizens Council launched a membership drive in May under the leadership of Steve Smith. We are happy to report that many more residents joined the Council. Memberships are always available and our general meetings are open to everyone. If we are to continue to grow and achieve new and better things for our communities we need new ideas and new volunteers. With the wide variety of projects and events that we undertake in our communities we always need help, and the more willing hands we have the more we can achieve for the good of our neighborhoods.

In April, as we reported earlier, a member of the Citizens Council set up a web site for the Council and put us on the Internet. This is no little web site. Ours is one you may want to bookmark and add to your list of favorites. It gives our history and events, and also links you to some of the most referenced web sites in Pittsburgh: the Post-Gazette, the Tribune, city and state government, the sports teams and even the Port Authority, from whom you can get a bus schedule.

All future general meetings will begin at 7:15 PM as a compromise between those of you with young children and those who are used to the 7:30 PM start time. Meetings are held at Stevens Elementary School on Crucible Street during the school year, and at the Emanuel United Methodist Church on Crucible Street in the summer.

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