Historical September–October 2009 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Summer is a busy time for so many of our neighbors, it seems especially so, for many of our younger neighbors. Several of the children in the neighborhood have kept busy this summer, many sharing their talents with others. Parkview resident Michael Schimmele had a terrific summer with The Muny.
He was in ‘Music Man’ at the end of July and performed with the 48 Muny Kids, traveling throughout St. Louis to perform their show at fairs, nursing homes, church groups, and schools.
He is also in ‘Just Imagine’, a group of 16 Muny Kids who are performing this show year round. Molly Hart of the 6000 block of McPherson appeared in the summer production of ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ at COCA.
This was Molly’s third summer musical with COCA. Joe Grady, 2009 St. Roch graduate, recently returned from Massachusetts where his St. Louis Scott Gallagher U-14 Academy team advanced to the finals and placed 2nd in the country in the United States Youth Soccer National Championship. Only four U-14 boys’ teams in the United States, one from each of four regions, advanced to the National Soccer Championship.
The St. Louis Scott Gallagher team Joe plays for won the Missouri Youth Soccer Association State Cup in early June.
Then they advanced to the Regional Championship in South Dakota where they competed against state champions from 14 states. Their team won the Region 2 title to advance to the National Championship series in Boston.
They advanced to the national championship game, but lost 2-0 to California. Joe and fellow neighborhood resident and St. Roch graduate Zach Hoffmann will play soccer for St. Louis University High School in the fall. Joe is the oldest son of Jim and Mary Alice Grady. Many of us spent at least a little time traveling this summer for our vacations and weekend getaways.
But some of our neighbors went farther than the rest of us. Warren Rosenblum, Nicole Blumner and their daughters Eve and Vera of the 6000 block of Westminster just returned from a visit to Berlin, Germany.
While Warren researched a book on justice in the Weimar Republic, Nicole, Eve and Vera rode the subway to various creatively-designed playgrounds, stopping at a few bakeries and ice cream shops along the way.
They were visited by former neighbor and babysitter Amelia EinbenderLieber, who was making her way across Europe on a summer trip. Warren’s research also took him to the Czech Republic, where he photographed documents that were ably translated by friend and neighbor Patty Heyda. Patty also provided excellent Prague travel tips. Joe and Beth Hogan of the 6100 block of Kingsbury celebrated Joe’s 40th birthday in Pamplona, Spain, where Joe decided to mark his birthday by running with the bulls on July 7th! Dressed out in all white with a red kerchief, Joe arrived at the gate at 6 a.m. to run, the run was at about 8:30.
It fulfilled a many-year dream of staying where Hemingway used to on the square, and running with the bulls! Joe also able enjoyed the San Fermin festival for two more days in Pamplona, before spending the rest of the week in Barcelona, where he was able to see the Tour de France. House guests are a big part of summer news in the neighborhood as well. Both the Gudiswitz and Voss families host a Spanish exchange student every summer, Claudio Olalla. Among the many things Claudio enjoyed was a trip down to the new Citygarden with Anton and Alvaro Gudiswitz and Luke Schoemehl.
If you have not made a trip to see the Citygarden, you should definitely check it out.
It is absolutely spectacular for all ages! Skinker DeBaliviere President Sean Meara and his wife Angie are plenty busy as summer rolls to an end. Sean and Angie (and big sister Olive) welcomed a son, Van Meara, on August 2nd. Van weighed in at 11 lbs. 13 oz., 22 inches long. Congratulations to the entire Meara family! And the Allen family, formerly of the 6100 block of Westminster added a girl to their crew! Olivia Rae Allen was born on July 31st, 7 lbs, 3 oz, 21 inches long. Proud parents are Jamie and Cari Allen. Big brothers JD and Tyler are thrilled to have a baby sister. Welcome to our new neighbors on the 6100 block of McPherson, Gabe and Lenee Bien Willner. Gabe and Lenee actually met many of the neighbors at the McPherson block party, before they had even bought the house. And a sad farewell to the Hereford family who have downsized and moved to the Gaslight Square area, but are still active with Skinker DeBaliviere.
All of us on McPherson will miss seeing them every day, but are glad they are still close by. St. Roch Alum, and former Parkview resident, Brian Christopher was ordained a Jesuit Priest on June 13th. Brian celebrated mass at St. Roch on June 21st and there was a lovely reception following the mass.
It was great to see the Christopher family and to share such a special day. Brian was the youngest child of (the late) Henry and Yvonne Christopher, who lived on the 6200 block of Pershing.
With great sadness, we have to report on a dear old neighbor who passed away.
This summer, Skinker DeBaliviere and St. Roch lost a very special woman. Betty Newsham died on June 26th. Betty and Bob Newsham were married for 58 years and lived a majority of them on the 6100 block of Kingsbury where they raised their nine children. Betty was the kind of woman every neighborhood needs.
She was a dear friend to so many, and kept an eye on all of us on Kingsbury as we grew up (sometimes we did not want her to, but now as a parent, I’m glad she did!). Betty always had a friendly greeting and it’s hard to imagine not running in to her and sharing a story.
She was a fixture on her porch swing as we all grew up and played, and as an adult, even my own children would enjoy visiting with Betty on her front porch.
She will truly be missed. Our hearts go out to Bob and the entire Newsham family. Do you have some news to share?
Please send your items to Rachel Boxdorfer at rboxdorfer@ prudentialalliance.com with the subject line ‘News of Neighbors’. Thank you!
Original photograph caption
Van Meara, pictured with birth announcement. Descriptive caption supplied; photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, September–October 2009.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2009_09.pdf, printed page(s) 3, 4; PDF page(s) 3, 4.
