John was born in Eatonton, GA, and moved to Atlanta in 1960. He worked at the Chevrolet Company when he was younger and eventually joined the U.S. Postal Service where he served as a walking postman in the Midtown neighborhood for 11.5 years, from which he is now retired.
John bought his home in Westview in 1968. His purchase was for practical reasons at the time, but he has since fallen in love with the neighborhood. Before getting involved with the Westview Community Organization John was active in the church choir at Mount Moriah Baptist Church at Lowery and Fair Street in the 1970s and 80s. Eventually John became involved with the Westview Community Organization where he served as President in 2008 and 2009, and he currently serves as the Chair of the Beautification Committee. When he joined the committee, the Chair at that time initially thought he was joking, but John has faithfully been mowing the Westview park triangles and participated in plantings ever since.
A few fun facts about John:
Currently in his CD Player: Michael Jackson
Favorite Color: Blue
Dream Vacation Destination: Paris, France
Doesn’t Like: Squash Casserole
Pruning is one of the most misunderstood elements of tree care. Trees Atlanta will teach you to prune better than most landscapers out there. Sign up for our Westview Pruning 101 class for an introductory lesson on the best way to structure and train a tree’s growth. Once you become an expert pruner, you will cringe every time you see “crape murder.”
This class is required to volunteer to prune trees with Trees Atlanta and it’s a prerequisite for the 102 & 103 classes that will be taught later in the season.
Please meet up at 495 West Ontario Avenue at 9:00am.
Chad purchased his home in Westview in 2009. Since moving to the neighborhood he has been an active volunteer engaged in numerous projects including (but not limited to) working on the neighborhood’s National Register application, coordinating with Trees Atlanta to plant over 300 trees in the neighborhood, repairing and installing signage throughout the neighborhood and helping out with community clean-ups.
Chad’s home is a 1925 Craftsman Bungalow with Tudor Revival detailing. He works as an architectural historian with the Georgia Department of Transportation, and the historic housing stock of Westview is what drew him to the neighborhood. Before living in Westview Chad owned a home in East Atlanta, and he finds similarities between the two neighborhoods – great historic houses, proximity to a neighborhood commercial village, and the same geographic orientation to the city.
A few fun facts about Chad:
Favorite Color: Orange
Favorite Band: Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Favorite Movie: Superman
Favorite Book: Dear Theo: The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh
Favorite Place in the World (other than Westview): Bolinas Beach, California
Favorite Food: Chocolate Chip Waffles at Waffle House
On Saturday, March 22, 2014, neighbors met at the Westview Community Garden on South Gordon Street to weed some garden beds, but more excitingly to put together a chicken coop acquired thanks to a donation by Random Acts. Children and adults worked together to put everything together. Next step – chickens!
Overall the community garden is looking at a promising year with three households starting seeds for the garden, the nearly completed garden shed that will double for a rain catchment purposes, and surrounding businesses eager to use spare vegetables grown in the garden. Volunteers are always welcome to help keep up the garden; community members meet up nearly every Saturday morning to work on the garden.
To view photos of the gardening day check out the photo gallery below or visit the Westview Facebook page.
On Saturday, March 1, 2014, neighbors and volunteers from outside the community came together to work on the South Gordon Community Garden.
Thanks to a Love Your Block grant Westview neighbors were able to fund a shed for the community garden. Neighborhood architects put together a fancy design and fellow neighbors handy with tools built the shed during the garden workday.
In the meanwhile the Atlanta Community Food Bank organized a group from the First Presbyterian Church of Salisbury, North Carolina, to come clean up the community garden and prepare it for the upcoming spring growing season.
To view photos of the garden work day view the photo gallery below (click “continue reading”) and to tag yourself in photos please visit our Westview Facebook page.
Continue reading →
On February 9, 2014 neighbors got together to clean up portions of Rogers, Manson, Westwood and Willard on a mild Sunday afternoon. 15 bags worth of trash were collected!
To view photos of the clean-up please check out the photo gallery below or visit our Westview Facebook page.
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Part of the Westview clean-up crew
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Before clean-up
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After clean-up
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Part of the Westview clean-up crew
Georgia State University did a feature on their website about “Georgia State Artists Display Work Across Atlanta.” Hadley Breckenridge, an alumna of GSU, is one of the former students featured by the university for her artwork. Hadley participated in the Art on the BeltLine project three years in a row, all three of which can be found along Westview’s portion of the Atlanta BeltLine!
In 2011 her first piece, titled Enterchange, was painted along a retaining wall along Muse Street facing the Atlanta BeltLine. In 2012 she painted The Highball Artist on the Lucile Avenue bridge. In 2013 she revisited Enterchange by enlarging it to the remaining span of the retaining wall, as well as on the Muse Street facing wall.
To see Hadley Breckenridge and neighbors in action visit to the Westview Facebook page.
On November 16, 2013 neighbors got together to clean up the southwest quadrant of the Westview neighborhood. The volunteers swiftly compiled 10 bags of trash.
To view photos of the clean-up please visit the Westview Facebook page.
