2010 Eastport Civic Association Home & Garden Tour: ‘Record attendance, record heat’
Despite record temperatures in the high 90s approximately 500 people visited 10 homes and gardens along 1st St. from Severn Ave. to Chester Ave. as a part of the Eastport Civic Association’s (ECA) 5th Annual Home & Garden Tour, June 13.
The tour doubled attendance and its proceeds over last year by netting more than $9,000. Monies are used to send Eastport Elementary School children to camp, purchase Neighborhood Watch signs, support the Eastport Girls’ Club, contribute flowers for the Spa Creek Bridge and provide welcome baskets for new residents. The ECA also lends a hand to other local projects including Thanksgiving meals for needy families and supporting Annapolis’ Mayoral candidate forums.
"The tour was a smashing success in spite of brutally hot weather.” said Phyllis Emmett, tour chair. “Every year the homes are so interesting, each with a story. Participating homes embraced Eastport’s maritime history while many adopted environmentally-friendly methods of building. DIYers could find inspiration in several dramatic green renovations along the 2 ½ block tour route. Gardeners reveled in a “city’ garden that was a ‘massive’ ½ acre and were energized by a robust vegetable garden.”
As an extra attraction, four of Eastport’s 13 street-end parks were included as gathering places and cool retreats. As well, artists from the Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association were outdoors painting “Plein Air.” Tour participants were able to view and purchase the completed works at the informal exhibit after the tour.
Business supporters included: Ahh, Coffee!, Eastport Deli, K & B True Value Hardware Store, Long & Foster (Eastport Office), Windwood Gardens, Artist’s Framer, Boatyard Bar & Grill, Davis’ Pub, In Home Stone Marble & Granite, Inc., Speight Studio Architects, Inc., W&P Nautical, Inc., K. Schafer Design, Ltd., the Eastport Business Association and Chesapeake Green Living Festival.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Linda Hughes, puffpiece@verizon.net, 410-263-8733 or Phyllis Emmett, jway62@gmail.com, 410-267-8218
Home & Garden Tour Offers Insider’s Peek at Neighborhood Charm & History
City Street-end Parks to Serve as Tour Oasis
ANNAPOLIS, MD (June 5, 2010) – Put on your sensible walking shoes and prepare to stroll through Annapolis' most walkable, charming and eclectic community -- Eastport! Eastport Civic Association (ECA) organizers are hosting their 5th Annual Home & Garden Tour Sunday, June 13, 1- 5 p.m. rain or shine.
Ten homes and gardens were hand-picked by the organizing committee based on their uniqueness and cultural or environmental significance to this maritime community. The tour stretches from the harbor’s edge and meanders along 1st St. from Severn Ave. to Chester Ave. All homes are within easy walking distance of each other.
“Featured homes boast a funky mix of architectural styles found in Eastport, as well as recognize the unique maritime culture of this historic neighborhood,” says Phyllis Emmett, tour chair. “DIYers will find some inspiration in several dramatic green renovations.” Participating homes include a stunning new Neo prairie style home that harmoniously integrates native plantings in a rain garden with vanishing flow wells to manage runoff. Another featured home is in the brick row house built in the late 1880s to house glass factory workers. One of the homeowners took two of these historic units and rehabbed them into one. Homes like these two underscore the owners’ desire to stay in a neighborhood such as Eastport which embraces its maritime history while eagerly adopting new, environmentally-friendly methods of building, adds Emmett.
This year four of Eastport’s 13 street-end parks will be included as gathering places and restful retreats, The ECA sees these waterfront pocket parks as “jewels of Eastport” and has been instrumental in preserving and maintaining them.
The tour kicks off at 22 Severn Ave., the Neo-prairie style home. Docents, stationed at each home, will present highlights and answer questions. High heels, photography and children under the age of 12 are not permitted in participating homes.
Advance tickets for $20 are available online with major credit cards and PayPal at www.eastportcivic.org. Tickets are also available at five locations at Ahh, Coffee! and Eastport Deli (both in the Eastport Shopping Center), K & B True Value Hardware Store (on 912 Forest Drive), Long & Foster (Eastport Office) and Windwood Gardens (on Old Solomon's Road). Tickets will be available the day of the tour for $25 at Tour Headquarters, 22 Severn Ave. (corner of Severn Ave. and 1st St.).
Supporting merchants will display the Eastport Home & Garden Tour poster and have informative postcards available. Posters and postcards are based on an oil painting by Patsy Helmetag, an Eastport resident.This year’s poster features: Historic Jeremy’s Way, brick row houses built in the late 1880s to house glass factory workers. A waterfront street-end park provides background interest.
Also, the tour will again host the Mid-Atlantic Plein Painters Association in their annual paint out. Finished works will be displayed and available for sale at 4:30 p.m. at tour headquarters on 22 Severn Ave.
For up-to-date tour details check www.eastportcivic.org or call 410-263-8733 or 410-267-8218.
Past tours have attracted more than 1,000 people to Eastport’s unique and historic homes and netted nearly $20,000 to benefit community charities and improvement projects, such as sending children to "Make a Friend" and "Fish" camps and contributing to flowers and landscaping on the Spa Creek Bridge and Eastport’s parks, respectively.
The ECA sponsors this annual event to further its mission of safeguarding the residential and maritime quality of Eastport and engaging in activities that promote, improve and protect the civic interest and well being of the community.
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MEDIA: For further media information: eastportcivic.org. News release & media dissemination provided by Linda Hughes, 410-263-8733, puffpiece@verizon.net.
Online ticket sales are now closed.
Please note that no ticket will be mailed to you. We will have your name on the paid list at Tour Headquarters on the corner of Severn Avenue and 1st Street.