CAPTION: Grand prize winner Al Holman of Chestnut St. receives his award from Beacon Hill Civic Association Chair Jeannette Herrmann and Beacon Hill Garden Club President Betsy Madsen.

CAPTION: Goodwin Place resident Katharine Howard accepted an award from Beacon Hill Civic Association Chair Jeannette Herrman for her walkway’s plantings, which were cared for in a joint effort of Goodwin Place residents.




Winners in the 48th Annual Beacon Hill Window Box Contest were honored last Tuesday night with gifts, certificates, accolades and a slide-show display of the results of their efforts.

Beacon Hill Garden Club President Betsy Madsen and Beacon Hill Civic Association Chair Jeannette Herrmann passed out the awards to six grand prize winners and a host of honorable mentions. The Beacon Hill Times was also a sponsor. The Park Street School offered the space to hold the ceremony.

Grand prize winners were Claudine Eaton-Lewis of Charles St. for “Year Round Beauty,” Michael Bissanti of The Paramount Restaurant on Charles St. for his “Succulent Succulents,” Albert Holman and Susan Stickells of Chestnut St. for their side garden, which judges called a “Beacon Hill Oasis,” Kathy Farrell of Beacon House on Myrtle St. for her lush window boxes—“A Beacon of Beauty ,” Miguel Rosales for his minimalist “Stairway to Stars” on Myrtle St. and Rita and Don Mignosa of Beaver Pl. for “Purple Majesty,” a lush collection of boxes.

Honorable mention awards went to many gardeners this year. They are, according to street:
Anderson St.
Beacon Hill Market

Beacon St.
Sue Lester, Michael O'Herron of the Unitarian Universalist Association and
Patricia and Jon Baker.

Brimmer St.
Church of the Advent Garden Guild

Byron St.
Francoise Woodward

Charles St.
Figs, Hungry I, and Polly Latham Antiques

Chestnut St.
Jeanne Muller Ryan, Elizabeth and Caleb Clapp, Lynda Schubert Bodman, Elizabeth Campanella, Vivien Hassenfeld, Anne and Jeff Mitchell, Kristine Irving at Koo de Kir, Amy and Giles McNamee, Tom Kershaw of 75 Chestnut, Cynthia and John Reed, Esta and Robert Epstein and Deborah and Chris Abbott.

Goodwin Pl.
Katharine Howard and Goodwin Place residents

Joy St.
Sharon Smith

Lime St.
Mr. and Mrs. George Carmany, Helen and Jack King, Ron Stetler and Laura Ulvestad,
Katie and Jim Curtin, and Joanne and Tim Burke.

Louisburg Square
Katharine and Peter Black

Mt. Vernon St.
Candace and Robert Kosturko, Jutta Hicks, Audrey and Steve Reny, Chris Smart and Shari Loessburg and Leah DePrizio Priestley

Myrtle St.
Rhonda Yacawych

Phillips St.
Susan Schnur

Pinckney St.
Shari and Robert Thurer and Mary Mahoney and River House residents

Revere St.
Mariah Daly, Suzanne Newton, Charles Alexander, Susan and Chris Alberti

River St.
Bump, Mr. and Mrs. James Daly, Brenna Graham

So. Russell St.
Katy Wetzel

Temple St.
Brendon Gorman, Cheryl Aldridge

Walnut St.
Molly and Bill Sherden, Cornelia Patten and Donald Paige

W. Cedar St.
Jim Carroll and Lexa Marshall and Rouvalis Flowers

Beacon Hill voters showed strong support for Sonia Chang-Diaz in the recent senate race. Incumbent state Senator Dianne Wilkerson won the Democratic Primary for the Second Suffolk seat by a margin of 767 votes over challenger Chang-Diaz. But, on Beacon Hill, voters came out strong for Chang-Diaz.

Only 16.5 percent of Beacon Hill voters supported Wilkerson, compared to 78.9 percent who came out for Chang-Diaz. Citywide, Chang-Diaz captured 44.06 percent of the vote, but Wilkerson won the race with 49.98 percent.

Wilkerson will face Republican challenger Samiyah Diaz in next month’s general election.

credit: Jacqueline G. Freeman




Board members Kate Jose, Judy Feingold, Lime Street, Ginny Durfee (standing), Evelyn Bonander and Barbara Hawkins are busy planning this year’s Friends of MGH Cancer Center fund-raiser. The cocktail buffet and book signing will be held on November 9 at the Barnes & Noble in Prudential Center. Featured authors include Paula K. Rauch, M.D., Wendy Rouillard, Janet Coleman and Ulrike Welsh.

Party-goers can win great raffle prizes including a Red Sox package and a Newport getaway. For ticket information, call 617-724-0170.

Suffolk University has submitted a proposal to the Landmarks Commission that would remove the existing building but preserve the architectural detail of the north and east facades in lieu of designating the building a landmark.

In the proposal, which Suffolk submitted on October 3, the university would construct a 22-story student residence on the site of the former Metropolitan District Commission headquarters. The building would incorporate the most important architectural elements of the building there now. To sweeten the pot, Suffolk also proposes to establish an “interpretive museum which would contain a serious interpretive effort to memorialize the MDC’s historical role and its contributions to the Commonwealth and the City.” Finally, Suffolk would also develop and implement a preservation plan for the buildings it owns within its campus.

The proposal is currently being considered by a subcommittee of the Landmarks Commission, according to Ellen Lipsey, executive director of the commission.

The subcommittee was created at the request of the university in August to explore other options to landmarking the building.

Lipsey said it is not unusual for developers to submit other options for review. “In some cases there are reasons why some alternatives would be considered,” said Lipsey. “[The commission] has granted [such agreements] in a couple of instances.”

The subcommittee will meet on Friday with a group of five of the residents who submitted the petition for landmark status. “The subcommittee wants feedback, and then it will go back to Suffolk,” said Lipsey.

Once the subcommittee comes to a consensus it will go back to the full commission at a public hearing. “If there is any consideration it will be done publicly,” said Lispsey.


SIDEBAR:
After several conversations with Sam Maione, owner of Capital Coffee House on Bowdoin Street, Suffolk has decided to remove the public café component of its proposed residence hall at 20 Somerset Street. Local eating establishments expressed concern over the competition such a café might present. To that end Suffolk has committed to partnering with local businesses to allow for student use of RAM cards in their stores.

What Wilkerson can do

Dianne Wilkerson won her Second Suffolk state Senate primary race fair and square. The votes were counted twice and there is now no question about the outcome. (See front page story.)

Wilkerson faces a Republican challenger, Samiyah Diaz, in the general election.

But let’s say Wilkerson wins in that election. She still has a problem with her Beacon Hill constituents.

The numbers tell the story. In the three Beacon Hill precincts Wilkerson represents, she received a paltry 16.5 percent of the vote, while her challenger Sonia Chang-Diaz raked in almost 80 percent. This is pretty much a disaster and an embarrassment for Wilkerson, despite her win.

It is up to her — not just between now and the November election, but after the election, should she win — to regain voters’ trust. Naturally, we have some advice for her.

First, she needs to meet with voters — at the civic association, at Hill House, at the business association and in neighbors’ private homes. During those meetings she needs to hear from her constituents about the issues they care about and promise to carry those concerns to the State House.

She needs to finish the job on the matters that affect downtown Boston residents the most. Right now it’s the report on the Hynes Convention Center which is long overdue. It looks as if the hearings over which she ably presided resulted in the consensus that the Hynes should continue its present function as a state-owned property. The Hynes also looks as if it will continue in its present role and ownership because Governor Romney, who spearheaded the effort to privatize it, has lost interest in its fate. But Wilkerson needs to complete her job, which she told the Beacon Hill Times’s endorsement panel in September would be finished more than a month ago.

She also needs to clear up her alleged campaign finance law problems with the attorney general’s office, which have yet to be resolved.

Finally, Wilkerson needs to manage her private financial life in such a way as not to embarrass herself and her constituents. She could hire a financial advisor to help her learn to manage her finances, or she could take advantage of the free financial programs that State Treasurer Timothy Cahill and the YWCA sponsor periodically. Financial scandals may not be as hurtful to other people as most sex scandals, but they still make the perpetrator look pretty foolish.

Wilkerson has attributes that could make us proud of her. She is smart, well-spoken, runs a good meeting and has often worked hard for legislation that Beacon Hill voters would enthusiastically support. Those are the qualities that she should put front and center and use her intelligence and hard work toward putting the rest of her life in order.