old the date! Save the weekend!
Don’t let it rain!
The Fisher Park Centennial Home &
Garden Tour is being held the weekend of
May 4–5. Seven wonderful homes, most
with gardens, will be open for anyone and
everyone (nine years and older, please) to
enjoy.
The homes
(featured on page
2) offer a glimpse
into the character,
spirit, and tradi-tions
that have
built, and continue
to strengthen, the Fisher Park Neigh-borhood.
“Tour Weekend” times are 10 am–4 pm
on Saturday, May 4 and from 1–5 pm on
Sunday, May 5. Tickets are $10 in advance
and $12 at the door.
Advance ticket sale locations are listed
on page 3.
featured
This issue:
Tour Volunteers Still
Very Much Needed
Fisher Park – Est. 1902
Park Day: Clean-Up
& Pre-Tour Grooming
Saturday, April 20
10–Noon
Greenhill Cemetery Tour
Sunday,
April 21, 2 p.m.
Home History Workshop
Saturday, May 11
10–Noon
A Preview of the Home &
Garden Tour Sites
Advance Ticket Sale
Locations
Sponsor, Patrons and
Friends Listing
Starting a Home
History Book
spring 2002
don’t
Forget:
(details page 4)
Home & Garden Tour
May 4–5
hanks to everyone who has already
volunteered – we have about 50
volunteers so far. But we need as many as
225 volunteers to fill all required slots!
Each home needs from four to seven
host/hostesses plus a ticket taker for each of
five time slots. We need your commitment
now. Volunteers don’t have to be Fisher
Park residents – so ask your friends
who may want to help. Hosts and
hostesses need to arrive at their
assigned location five minutes
prior to their shift.
You’ll have the opportunity
to see friends and neighbors
while getting involved in our
unique neighborhood. We’ll call
you a week before the tour to confirm your
time, day, location, and answer questions.
Please call Kay Quinlivan (272-3758)
or Susan Seel (275-3470) to volunteer or
mail in your pink “Calling All Volunteers”
sheet distributed in late March or e-mail
FisherParkTour@aol.com.
Centennial Tea A Huge Success
hanks to much planning by Judy
Morton’s Tea Committee, a dozen or so
volunteer “serving wenches,” commitment
from our neighborhood Board, and very
generous funding from an anonymous donor,
our 2002 Centennial Tea was a huge success.
More than 100 senior and former residents
of Fisher Park attended, some from other
states, many from local retirement centers.
The finger food was fabulous, enlivened by
woodsy floral arrangements of fern, moss,
hyacinths, and narcissus. Tea was donated
by Twinings Tea of Greensboro, packers of
(please turn to p. 4)
Featured Properties for the 2002
Fisher Park Home & Garden Tour
Here’s a quick look at the four tour homes on the West side of Elm Street.
805 Simpson Street – Home and Garden of Michael Byrd (right) This Craftsman-style home is
characterized by the rustic texture of the building materials and broad overhangs with exposed rafter
tails at the eaves. A refined garden with trellises, arbors, and a glorious
fountain reflect the period and style of the home.
921 North Eugene Street – Home and Garden of Karine and
Archibald McCutcheon (left) Sophisticated furnishings and lovely antiques comple-ment
this Dutch Colonial home, built in 1928. Be sure to visit Karine, an
artist, in her backyard studio which will be open during the tour.
401 West Bessemer Avenue – Home and Garden of Katrina
Solomon (right) Said to be built in 1924 by J. E. Latham, this
deceptively large home sits on an ivy-covered hill at the western
entrance to the Fisher Park neighborhood. The back yard emphasizes
the triangular shape of the lot. Next door, Liz Urquhart and Powell
Slaughter’s bonus garden will be open.
314 West Bessemer Avenue – Home of Nan and Richard Sipe
(left) Old magnolia grandiflora trees and a raised lawn impart a
dramatic entrance to this charming Colonial Revival home, built in 1912. The traditional four columns
front a deep porch, part of which has been enclosed, with French doors offering a
delightful access to the living room.
On the East side of Elm Street, be sure to visit these three tour homes:
213 North Park Drive – Home of Wanda and Carl Myatt (right) This new “in-field” house is
positioned in front of a 1926 garage/servant’s cottage. Designed in the “contextual” style, this energy-efficient
home captures elements from neighborhood homes and the streetscape, commanding a
grand view of Fisher Park and downtown Greensboro.
704 Magnolia Street – Home and Garden of Sheila Paquette and Matthew Christopher Baker
(left) Behind this 1913 bungalow and carriage house sits an enormous property, originally an orchard
and pasture that housed horses and carriages for the neighborhood.
The magical gardens feature a running stream, garden pools, and
“fairylands.”
601 Magnolia Street – Home of Cheryl Poole and
Barry Allen (right) Built in 1917, this classic American four-square
home features an extra wide porch that wraps around
the front of the house. Cheryl and Barry have been working since 1993 to personally and
lovingly restore both the interior and exterior of their home.
Two area artists have something to offer for our Centennial and
the May Tour. Stephen Costello’s watercolor map shows the “foot-print,”
location, and age of every neighborhood structure. The map is
surrounded by Fisher Park structures that are listed on the National
Register, plus Temple Emanuel, Holy Trinity, and First Presbyterian
and examples of Fisher Park dormers in Fisher Park.
Limited edition of 100 copies of the map will be avail-able
for purchase May 1. Contact Stephen at 274-0389 or
stecostello@hotmail.com.
The tour may also feature for sale William Mangum’s
Fisher Park print, “Season’s Delight.” Look for the display in
one of the Tour homes.
Fisher Park featured in art
Illustrations for this page and graphic design for promotional posters and Tour Tickets
were provided by Fisher Park resident Roger Seel.
For more information on the Fisher Park Neighborhood Association, visit:
dvance tickets will be on sale for
$10 from April 15–May 3. They
will cost $12 if you wait to purchase them
at the door. Tickets are available at these
locations throughout the city:
• Blandwood Mansion (Preservation
Greensboro).
• Chakra’s Spa by Panache.
• Gene Cline Home.
• The Farmer’s Wife.
• Fisher’s Grille.
• J. Michael’s Salon.
• Leon’s Beauty Salons (3606 North Elm
Street, Friendly Shopping Center, 1618
West Friendly Avenue, 3935 Bryan
Jordan Road, High Point, and Adams
Farm Shopping Center).
• Rag Poets Societe.
• Rebecca & Co.
• Smith Furniture (both locations).
Call Kay Quinlivan, ticket sales chair,
at 272-3758, if you want to purchase
advance tickets from her directly. Thank-you
to Kay and our ticket sale locations!
Save $2 on Your
Tour Ticket!
Lemonade available
during the tour
Many of our Fisher Park residents
are little folks – and they’re just as
excited as the rest of us about the
upcoming “Tour Weekend” because
they’ll be helping! Along with mom
or dad, they’ll be selling lemonade
and homemade goodies at one of
our two lemonade stands. Julie
Hatfield is coordinating this family-oriented
fun event, so call her at
272-0380 (or send an e-mail to
FisherParkTour@aol.com) if you’d
like to volunteer. Bakers need not
be young, just young at heart!
Bonus
Gardens
o you have a garden you’d like to
show off, but weren’t keen about the
idea of actually having on the tour? Then this
one’s for you. As an added bonus to ticket
holders, we are giving Fisher Park residents
the opportunity to open their gardens on
“Tour Weekend.”
Let us know you’d like to add your
garden to our list, and we’ll contact you
when your Bonus Garden sign is available.
Whenever you feel that you’d like visitors,
put the sign out. When you don’t want
visitors, take the sign in. It’s that easy!
You’ll be responsible for making sure
only ticket holders wander in, but other than
that, there really are no rules. As people are
strolling through our wonderful neighbor-hood,
your Bonus Garden sign will be their
cue to stop and visit! Call Katrina Solomon
[273-3456] or send an e-mail to
FisherParkTour@aol.com to sign up.
Coverage in the
Hamburger Sq. Post
f you haven’t already seen the April issue
of The Hamburger Square Post, pick up
a copy at one of their many distribution
locations around town. On the cover is an
incredible photograph of Fisher Park, taken
by Hugh Morton (Fisher Park resident Judy
Morton’s father) and article about our
Centennial year and upcoming Home &
Garden tour. As “Tour Weekend” gets closer,
look and listen for additional print-radio-TV
publicity and information.
Thanks to Sponsor,
Patrons & Friends
huge thank-you to those
companies who have made this
important fundraiser possible:
$1000 Sponsor
• Quaintance Weaver
$300 Patrons
• Bill Guill, Cornerstone Properties
• Graphica
• New Age Builders, Inc.
• Pain Ordinaire
• Price Newman Payne, PA
• Rebecca & Co
• Robertson Neal
• Thomas Fence & Deck Builders
• United Guaranty Corporation
$100 Friends
• Design Archives
• Pension Planning $olutions, Inc.
• Parker H. Washburn
These generous donations have
helped us defray the up-front costs
associated with the tour. Look for their
logos or names in our brochure, and
please support their products, services
and establishments.
There’s still time! If you want to
make a donation to the Fisher Park
Centennial Home & Garden Tour, but
missed the deadline for being included
in the brochure, we’ll include a list of
contributors in the next issue of the
Fisher Parker. Mail your check, payable
to FPNA (Fisher Park Neighborhood
Association), to P. O. Box 2043, Greens-boro,
North Carolina 27402.
Parking’s at a Premium
One way to make our guests feel welcome
during “Tour Weekend” is to make parking
as convenient as possible. We have applied
for a permit to allow parking along Elm
Street, from Fisher to Bessemer, for extra
spaces on Magnolia and North Park.
However, whenever possible, we’d
appreciate our residents taking advan-tage
of residential off-street parking,
making our streets more available!
Centennial Tea, from p. 1
Fisher park neighborhood
association
board of directors 2002
President, Ann Stringfield .............................. 273-1393
President-Elect, Genie Schwartz .................... 574-2942
Treasurer, Kay Quinlivan ................................ 272-3758
Secretary, Nina Dabbs ................................... 230-0422
Russ Clegg ..................................................... 574-1879
Mary Lee Copeland ....................................... 274-7826
Lawrence Cox ................................................ 274-6322
Marti Digby .................................................... 370-0008
Cindy Hatfield ................................................ 272-6472
Sandy Hurt ..................................................... 274-3846
Carol Lajeunesse ........................................... 272-5564
Todd McCain ................................................. 333-2299
Judy Morton .................................................. 273-8800
Steve Price ..................................................... 378-1812
Katrina Solomon ........................................... 370-1628
other Volunteers
Park Committee Chair: Angie Leath .......... 379-9699
Delancy Street ........................................... 379-8477
Historian: Mary Lee Copeland ................... 274-7826
Newcomer Welcome: Connie Usry ............ 279-8383
Newsletter: Liz Urquhart ......................... 373-1250
Block Captain Coordinators:
Jim Willis (Northern Fisher Park) ...... 275-5092
Cheryl Poole (Southern Fisher Park) .. 275-0333
all Twinings teas distributed in North America. Since the Tea, we’ve heard
lovely compliments around town confirming folk’s enjoyment, and we
received $450 in donations to the Fisher Park Endowment Fund.
Thanks to research by Kit Ravenel and Mary Lee Copeland, we now
have a list of “who lived where” for many Fisher Park homes, a good
beginning for your home history scrapbook. Contact Judy Morton (273-
8800) to ask if a former owner of your home attended the Tea, then
contact them to capture historical or fascinating remembrances. You may
want to invite former residents to your home for dinner before our
centennial music and dessert event in Fisher Park, planned for
September 28.
hat better time than our neighborhood’s centennial to research
and document your home’s history? (See the insert with this
Fisher Parker issue for ideas to create your own home history book. )
For those who need incentive, RSVP to Ann Stringfield 273-1393 for a
workshop May 11, from 10 till noon at the Downtown Public Library.
We ask everyone to create at least a one- or two-page document
summarizing the history of your home. If nothing else, document that YOU
live in the house, since when, and include some photos or remembrances.
You’re welcome to send it as a computer file or on paper. We’ll compile
all pages into one neighborhood-wide centennial scrapbook. Imagine how
this will be enjoyed in 2102!
Starting Your Home History Book
he City will remove existing wooden playground equipment, park
benches, and tables, including all those in our Fisher Park, due in
part to recent EPA rulings about preservatives in wood.
Our Park Committee met many times, assisted greatly by parents, to
choose from two new playground equipment options. After much debate,
our neighborhood requested modular steel and plastic equipment, all
dark green in color, to replace
the wooden equipment. Existing
wooden benches and tables will
be replaced with a recycled
wood/plastic composite material
of wood-like appearance (City
choice, not ours).
Although recent City budget
concerns may delay the entire
project, we can be sure our
children will be the first to
notice when the new equipment
arrives!
New Playground Equipment Soon
ust a reminder that the 2002 Fisher Park Home &
Garden tour is scheduled for Saturday, May 4, and
Sunday, May 5, 2002.
This is a great excuse for us to start spring cleaning
and sprucing up our homes. And, since the weather is too
wonderful to be indoors, the yard is a perfect place for us
to start. Ideas for “sprucing up” for springtime include
trimming trees, replanting containers, replacing ground
cover/mulch, and just general cleaning and grooming.
And, if you need a break from your own home and
yard, please remember that the next Fisher Park Clean-
Up is scheduled for Saturday, April 20, 2002, from
10:00 AM to 12 Noon. We’ll need lots of energetic
volunteers to assist in replanting the large containers
distributed throughout the park, and to help with a
general “clean up” of the entire area.
Historically, approximately 1,000 visitors tour Fisher
Park during the House Tour. This is a wonderful opportu-nity
for us to “showcase” our neighborhood, and once
again show the local residents that Fisher Park is one of
Greensboro’s best communities.
Spring Clean Your Yard
coming up
• Park Day: Sat., April 20, 10–
Noon. Angie Leath, 379-9699.
• Green Hill Cemetery Tour:
Sunday, April 21, 2 pm $5.
Wharton Street at Fisher Avenue
entrance.
Ann Stringfield 273-1393
• Home History Workshop:
Saturday, May 11, 10–12 noon,
Central Public Library.
Ann Stringfield 273-1393
