June/July 2015 Newsletter

Mesta Park Neighborhood Association
Newsletter
News and information for ALL residents of the Mesta Park Historic Preservation District
Volume 2015, Issue 5
June/July 2015
Get Involved!
www.mestapark.org
OFFICERS:
President, David DeWitt
Vice-President, Zach Osko
Secretary, Amanda Smith*
Treasurer, Amanda Harding
COMMITTEE CHAIRS:
Awards, Keri Bradford
Block Captains, Jim Pickens*
Finance, Zach Osko
Historic Preservation, Sherry Helsel
Home Tour 2015, Sarah Jordan
Lighting & Signs, David Howald
Membership, JB Schuelein
Mesta Festa 2015, Jill DeLozier
Newcomers, Trina Morrison*
Newsletter Editor, Laura Jergensen
Parks, JB Schuelein
Security, Colin Holman
Social, Reagan Bradford*
Website, Jennifer Tupps
MOVIE NIGHT AT THE ANNUAL NEIGHBORHOOD PICNIC by
Reagan Bradford
All residents of Mesta Park are invited to the Mesta Park Neighborhood
Association's Annual Neighborhood Picnic at Perle Mesta Park located at
NW 18th Street and Shartel Boulevard on Saturday, June 20, 2015
beginning at 6:30pm. MPNA will provide the fried chicken along with sodas,
water and ice. Residents of even-numbered houses are asked please to bring
a vegetable and residents of odd numbered houses are asked please to bring
a fruit dish or dessert.
For any residents of Mesta Park that are not members of the Neighborhood
Association or the Historic Neighborhood Security Association, the picnic will
be the perfect opportunity to learn more about becoming members. A table will
be set up with information and membership forms for the residents.
Following the picnic and business meeting, MPNA will screen The
Princess Bride outdoors at Mesta Park. The movie will be part of our
neighborhood picnic, and admission is free. The film (rated PG) is a 1987
comedy directed by Rob Reiner.
An invitation has been extended to the local Fire Department, EMSA, the
Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department, and the Oklahoma City Police
Contact: Chairs@mestapark.org
department to attend the picnic. Invitations have been sent to Ward 6 Council
OfficersandBoard@mestapark.org Member Meg Salyer, State Senator Kay Floyd, and House Representative
Visit www.mestapark.org/association-leaders
Jason Dunnington. All residents of Mesta Park are encouraged to attend
for additional contact info.
the picnic for an evening of good food and the chance to meet your city
and state representatives. Come mingle, eat and catch a movie in the Park!
*Board Members
The Mesta Park Neighborhood
Association Newsletter
is published ten times per year
(monthly except January & July) by the
Mesta Park Neighborhood Association.
Neighborhood meetings, board
meetings or social events occur
monthly.
WILSON HAPPENINGS by Kirk Wilson
June 10 - July 9 – RSA Summer School For 3rd Graders
July 20 - 24 – PreK - 6th Grade Enrollment 8:30-11:30am & 12:30-2:30pm
July 31 – School Year’s Eve 5:30pm (All students/families invited)
August 3 – School Starts
DATES TO REMEMBER
June 20: Picnic, Business Meeting &
Movie, Perle Mesta Park, 6:30pm
TBD: Traffic Commission hearing;
watch Nextdoor.com for details
Sept 12: Mesta Festa, 10am – 5pm,
Perle Mesta Park
PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND AWARE! by Summer Steel
As Summer and beautiful weather arrive, we have lots of kids back outside.
Please take extra caution when backing out of driveways or when pulling
along a curb. Parents of little bike riders, of little skaters, of little
skateboarders, and of kids just playing outside would be very grateful!
PAGE 2
Get Involved! (cont'd)
ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING AND PICNIC
Saturday, June 20, 6:30pm
The Nominations Committee is pleased to submit the following list of individuals who have
expressed their willingness to serve as officers and board members next year. Please join your
neighbors at the Picnic to vote on the following positions:
Proposed Slate of MPNA Officers, Board Members, and Committee Chairs for 2015-16
President:
Vice-President:
Treasurer:
2015
Nathaniel Harding
Trina Morrison
Cara Parent
Floyd Simon
Amanda Smith
Ryan Tupps
Zack Osko
Tyler Huskerson
Board Members: (serve three-year terms)
2016
2017
Shaundra Blundell
David Howald
Reagan Bradford
Steve Mathis
Tim Cook
Josh DeLozier
Megan Jester
Adam Hammack
Sara See
Sarah Jordan
Committee Chairs:
Home Tour:
Website:
Social:
Awards:
Lighting:
Mesta Festa:
Sarah Jordan
Jennifer Tupps
Reagan Bradford
Keri Bradford
David Howald
Jill DeLozier
Historic Preservation: Sherry Helsel
Newsletter:
Laura Jergensen
Parks:
JB Schuelein
Membership:
JB Schuelein
Security:
Colin Holeman
Newcomers:
Trina Morrison and Carol Haaksama
THE NEW MESTA PARK WEBSITE IS IN THE WORKS! by Koon Vega
The Mesta Park website will be redesigned from the ground up with many more functionalities, more engaging
content, and more reflective beauty of our community and our neighborhood. This project will be led by the
Mesta Park Communication committee, with CreativeVega as the vendor developing the website strategy,
design, and coding. The website will take about 2-3 months to complete after the approval from the Mesta Park
Neighborhood Association board. Stay tuned!
PAGE 3
MESTA PARK BUSINESS PAGE
SMILE
Lori M. LoVette,D.D.S. 1211 N. Shartel Ave., Ste. 1002
Oklahoma City, OK 73103
(405) 525­5555
PICTURE YOUR AD HERE!!
This newsletter reaches over 800
residences in the Historic
Neighborhoods area. If you would
like to advertise in the Mesta Park
Newsletter, email your ad to
newsletter@mestapark.org.
PAGE 4
Get Involved! (cont'd)
GET INVOLVED! by Sara See
The following responsibilities fall under the “Membership Committee,” and we need your help to make each entity a
success. Please see the descriptions below, and if you are interested in helping with any of the committees below,
please contact Sara sarasee@me.com or Trina tkinokc@gmail.com for more information.
BLOCK CAPTAINS: Responsibilities include: Maintaining accurate contact information for neighbors on your block,
reporting resident ideas to the block general, helping with membership drives/social events, etc. Please contact Jim
Pickens if interested: jpecans@aol.com
SOCIAL: Join one or more of the Social sub-committees: Carriage House Potluck, Easter Egg Hunt, Ice Cream
Social, or Park Picnic Potluck. We need your help the most with these!
DIRECTORY: Help to collect, organize and print a current directory
MEMBERSHIP: Help to organize membership drives
NEWCOMERS: Help to formalize a way to welcome new neighbors to Mesta Park
20th ANNIVERSARY OF MESTA FESTA by Jill LeLozier
Join your neighbors at the 20th Anniversary Mesta Festa, scheduled for Saturday, Sept 12, 10am – 5pm at
Perle Mesta Park! This is a fundraiser for the neighborhood, so we hope you’ll come out and bring lots of friends.
We will have kids’ activities, food trucks, live music, and games in the park, along with the annual chili cook-off and
beer tastings.
If you’d like to join the planning committee or would just like to volunteer on the day of the event, please contact Jill
DeLozier at jill.delozier@gmail.com or by phone at 405-623-7206 for more information.
Get Proud!
PAGE 5
NEIGHBORHOOD TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENTS by David DeWitt
After 18 months of planning and lobbying, the Mesta Park / Heritage Hills / Heritage Hills East Traffic
Control Plan is moving toward implementation. The Traffic Control Plan has three phases, each increasing
in cost and in impact on the borders of the neighborhood, and the City Public Works Department
suggested we apply for each phase separately. Phase 1 is installing stop signs where there are multiple
sequential intersections without one and converting yield signs to stop signs.
Our application for a blanket modification to the neighborhood traffic controls is atypical (but not
unprecedented - our neighborhoods had a similar application in the 1980’s), so our neighborhoods NEED
YOU to SHOW YOUR SUPPORT. Please attend the Traffic Commission and stand proudly in the
gallery when our application is heard. A gallery full of supportive residents is the most powerful
communication we can send to the Traffic Commission and up to City Council. Details about the meeting
will be posted on Nextdoor.
Get excited! The Traffic Control Plan should encourage through-traffic to use the arterial streets (e.g.
Classen, Broadway, 13th and 23rd), maintaining closer to residential traffic volumes in the neighborhood.
Thank you for your support.
TOM BRANIFF: ORIGINAL MESTA PARK RESIDENT by Stan Stalcup
The Braniff building downtown at 3rd and Robinson has been in the news lately with its recent renovation
and impending sale. It is well known that the building is named for the man who built it, Thomas E. Braniff,
one of early-day Oklahoma City's leading citizens. It is perhaps less well known that the Braniffs were
original residents of our neighborhood.
Born in 1883 at Salina, Kansas, Tom Braniff came to Oklahoma Territory with his family in 1900. He soon
thereafter went into the insurance business, a field in which he was an innovator. He offered some of the
first policies in the Territory to protect against damage caused by tornados. After Oklahoma's statehood,
Tom expanded his firm's business into the financing of construction and real estate development. He is
most well known, however, for Braniff Airways, which he founded in 1930 with his brother Paul as partner.
Begun as a regional airline that operated commercial flights between Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Wichita
Falls, it grew over the next five decades to become a major international carrier.
Tom Braniff was also a civic leader. Among other posts, he sat on the City Planning and Zoning
Commission, which drafted the city's first comprehensive urban plan in 1931. A Catholic, he helped fund
construction of the Little Flower Church on South Walker. He also endowed the Braniff Foundation to
support educational and family causes.
For much of his career, Braniff lived with his wife and two children in a spacious wood-frame two-story
bungalow built on three city lots at the southeast corner of Shartel and 20th Street. The Braniffs also
maintained a country estate at NE 63rd and Lincoln and a New Mexico Ranch, but the house at 740 NW
20th was the family's primary residence for many years until it was sold in 1943.
The Braniff house was demolished in 1965 to make way for the construction of the Shar-20 apartments
that stand on the site today.
NON-PROFIT ORG
Mesta Park Neighborhood Association
US POSTAGE
PAID
P. O. Box 61095
Oklahoma City, OK 73146-1095
www.mestapark.org
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
PERMIT NO.1657
Monthly Neighborhood Newsletter
Your neighborhood needs you!
Join the Mesta Park Neighborhood Association today.
MPNA MEMBERSHIP FORM
June 2015 – May 2016
NAME_____________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS/ZIP______________________________________________________________
HOME PHONE_______________________ WORK/CELL PHONE____________________
E­MAIL__________________________________________
Yes, I want to become a member of MPNA! Annual dues of $30 are enclosed.
Mail to: MPNA, P.O. Box 61095, OKC, OK 73146
Or join online at www.mestapark.org/membership!