Historical April–May 2005 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Get well wishes to Laurie Porterfield, Executive Director of Skinker-DeBaliviere Community Council, who is recuperating from major surgery.
We may not see her out with a shovel on Blitz Day but hope she’s much better soon – everyone misses her special touch! Thanks to dedica-ted SDCC receptionist Juanita, who’s keeping the office humming in Laurie’s absence. Check out the SDCC minutes for details of the most recent actions by the council, including re-presidenting Dan Schesch and electing several other new officers.
A relevant local follow-up to the recent open houses about planning for our region’s new greenway trails will be held on Tuesday, April 12, from 4-8 p.m. at the St. Vincent Park. For more information, call Great Rivers Greenway at 436-7009 or visit www.greatrivers.info. Party news: On February 23, Jennifer Olmstead (61xx Washington) and Sole Van Emden (6000 Pershing) sponsored a Skinker DeBaliviere party at Mirasol Restaurant. About 75 people attended.
Some were neighborhood veterans while many were relatively new to the neighborhood, with tenancies of less than 5 years.
It was a very convivial event with attendees enjoying delicious food with a Cuban touch and a variety of beverages. Clearly, Skinker De-Baliviere’s reputation for good times and esprit d’corps continues. Very sad news for long-time neighbors and friends came with the announcement that Ed Stout has died. Resident of the 6100 block of McPherson together with wife Mary Bea and children Joe, Marty, Danny, and Bea, Ed was also a long-time participant in all the neighborhood organizations, serving as an officer of Rosedale Neighbors in his spare time in the 70’s.
He was also executive director of a much-honored nonprofit organization called Aid to Victims of Crime for many years.
The TIMES printed a lovely piece by Ed a couple of years ago when he moved away from the neigh-borhood, at the happy occasion of his marriage to Maggie Menefee. Ed was preceded in death by wife Mary Bea, also active in neighborhood activities and local theater, including a unique 70’s phenomena, the Skinker-DeBaliviere Dinner-Theatre!
We wish all the Stout family well and hope we continue to see the younger generation at our Rags to Riches and other neighborhood events. St. Roch’s School was recently featured in the St. Louis Review Newspaper for its successful fundraising for technology updates. Raising $125,000 through donations, benefit dinner and golf tournament, the school has purchased 34 new computers and 5 “smart boards” which are interactive whiteboards with projectors and software. St. Roch has been educating children for more than 90 years and currently has an enrollment of 220 students from pre-school through eighth grade. Principal Gloria Oppenlander noted that the technology benefits all kinds of learning, including Ed Martin’s teaching of classical literature. Martin mentions having his class “visit” the Globe Theatre in London while reading and performing a Shakespearean play and visiting ancient sites in Greece for seventh grade mythology. For more information, call Openlander at 721-2595 or e-mail her at gloriao@ strochschool.org.
The FBI made an arrest of local interest recently.
The Post-Dispatch reported on March 15 that Paul Boghosian, whom they described as a “Ladue businessman,” had been arrested on charges that he offered a half-million dollar bribe to persuade a hedge fund to lend $ 2.5 million to him to purchase Hawaiian Airlines.
The local connection? Boghosian was the long-time tenant of the Wabash Station building on Delmar, running what he termed a mergers and acquisitions business from an office with a beautiful view of the old railroad line, once hosting a tour of the building for the Delmar planning group and Metro.
The building is now owned by our neighbor Joe Edwards, who will one day no doubt have exciting develop-ment plans to share.
Finally, did you notice the recent obituary about Evelyn West?
The former headliner/ owner of the Stardust Burlesque on DeBaliviere, had moved to Florida long ago. “Evelyn West and her $50,000 Treasure Chest” was said to be insured by Lloyd’s of London.
The theatre was still going strong, along with the Apollo Art Theatre, Al Baker’s Restaurant, and many others, when the Vatchas moved here in 1965 and reminded me of the largely untold history of that very interesting part of our neighborhood.
If anyone has personal memories or photos of the DeBaliviere Strip, email me at jvatcha@peoplepc. com or call me at 726-6974. That story and more could be an interesting addition to an upcoming TIMES. Looking forward to sharing all your news of neighbors in our next issue, just in time for summer. Be sure and let us know your family news and neighborly activities!
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April–May 2005.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2005_04.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
