The German Village Society and German Village Commission are set to award six outstanding contributors to our historic district May 9 during the annual Caretakers of a Legacy event in the German Village Meeting Haus.
The event celebrates and recognizes restoration and preservation achievements in our historic district. Members of the German Village Society are "Caretakers of a Legacy," dedicated to retaining the character and distinction of the past while creating a thriving and contemporary community in German Village.
It is fitting we honor good preservation, restoration, rehabilitation and community development work with the same title.
The commission gave three awards.
The Commissioners' Award was bestowed on Frieda Hoheisel for her property at 839 Mohawk St. Her Certificate of Appropriateness application last fall allowed her to do a major reinvestment in her landscaping, including new hardscape, fencing and other improvements.
The Preservation Award was presented to Scot and Kelly Helton, whose home at 251 Jackson St. will be on this year's Haus und Garten Tour. This two-story brick cottage has renovations to their outdoor living space, which happens to be one of the few side yards in the Village.
The Chairman's Award was given to 607 Lathrop St. for improvements made when a German Village couple made a project out of renovating it for sale.
The society gave the President's Award to the Deadheaders of Huntington Garden, who celebrate 25 years this year. The three beds leading up to the Schiller statue have been lovingly tended by the neighbors, led by Alberta Stevens, for 2.5 decades.
The society also honored recently retired City Historic Preservation Officer Randy Black with the Special Ambassador Award. Black built a large network of preservation supporters, community activists, builders/developers /architects/commissioners/lawyers/state and local government employees/and consultants helping him to raise the presence of the office throughout the city.
At the conclusion of the awards program, the society unveiled its long-awaited storytelling signs program, now christened as "The Brickline: An Urban Historic Discovery."
The relevant themes that can now be discovered on an initial set of signs along Beck Street were identified with input from the community.
They are: German settlement, immigration and culture; the early groundbreaking historic preservation movement; the architecture, landscape and physical context of the neighborhood; German Village parks and gardens; and LGBTQ residents as community visionaries.
Darci Congrove and John Pribble have been leading the comprehensive signs program for German Village for eight years, and help fund it by hosting the annual Tea 43206 event at the German Village Guest House.
German Village Society Executive Director Shiloh Todorov submitted the Village Notebook column .