How do you like the new holiday look of The Avenue? College Hill Business Association President Gayla Price reports that the Association obtained funding this year to purchase the beautiful garlands and bows that you see on our new lampposts. To continue the holiday theme, businesses purchased wreaths to be placed on the remaining lampposts. The end result: a beautiful holiday wonderland!

Stop and tell the participating businesses and groups "thank you" for taking part in this festive streetscape decoration. Special thanks go to Marty Weldishofer for designing this project and Karen Hartman who went up and down the avenue taking orders.

Have a great Holiday Season!

“As you all know, I have been saying there would be a ground breaking celebration in 2005 even if it was New Year's Eve,” says Mary Weldishofer, College Hill’s Director of Development. “Well, the official ground breaking will not take place until June, 2006, but I think we owe all of College Hill a celebration for the hard work and support everyone has given to this community’s development. So ...

“CHCURC is inviting College Hill to a New Year's Eve 2005 Pre-Demolition Extravaganza. This exciting event is for the entire community. We will be providing refreshments, music for dancing, party hats and noisemakers, decorations and a non-alcoholic champagne for a toast at midnight. The College Hill Business Association is providing a Fabulous Fireworks Display for everyone's enjoyment as we greet the new year."

Everything's free, including a warm place to party, complements of CHBA and National City. But there is one catch: everyone should bring an appetizer or a snack to share.

So bring your friends and neighbors and some goodies to share to the Great Pre-Demolition Extravaganza. The party starts at 9:00 pm at the site of the former Kroger Store.

The College Hill Cooks! cookbook may be the best $15 book you will ever buy, especially if you're looking for a great last-minute gift. The College Hill Forum--Your Community Council--will deliver this 400-page collection of your neighbor's best recipes to your door before Christmas.

Send a $15 for each book to College Hill Cookbook, 1630 Harbeson Avenue, 45224. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number. Make checks to the College Hill Forum. If you have questions, call the Forum office at 513-542-7263.

Applications are now available at the Lord's Bounty for 2006 scholarships and grants. Scholarships to attend undergraduate colleges are available for College Hill residents and members of College Hill churches; grants are available for College Hill nonprofit organizations. The application deadline is January 31.

Last year, the Lord's Bounty gave 15 scholarships and 4 grants totaling $22,500.

"A Shining Light for Brighter Day," a benefit concert for College Hill's own Brighter Day book and music store is Friday at 7:30 pm.at First Baptist Church of Kennedy Heights, 6201 Red Bank Road.

Coinciding with the highly publicized release of the "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" movie by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, College Hill Presbyterian Church is presenting a program entitled “Narnian Spirituality” on December 18 at 9:00 am. Dr. Tom Dryer, CHPC’s own resident expert on C.S. Lewis and his writings will explore some of the great moments in the Narnia story that reveal C.S. Lewis’ ideas about God, faith and the human experience. Participants will also be able to sample authentic Turkish Delight, the candy that led Edmund (a main character) to betray his brother and sisters!

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe has sold over 85,000,000 copies in 29 different languages, making it the second most popular children’s book of all time.

There is no charge for this event. For more information call CHPC at 541-5676 or visit www.chpc.org.

The lovely streets of College Hill will again be lined with luminary on Saturday, December 17th at dusk (rain date is Dec. 24th). This popular event, sponsored by the College Hill Forum Events Team, has become a tradition celebrating the festivity & joy of the season.

After watching footage of Hurricane Katrina on television, staff members at Core Behavioral Health Center’s Hamilton Avenue office wanted to unite to help the victims of the areas she devastated. In response, Core sponsored an internal fundraiser with their staff.

Some staff paid for the opportunity to “dress down;” others paid to wear the colors or logos of their favorite sports teams. A raffle was held for lunch with the CEO. Three huge glass jars, one for each team, were set up to collect change, with the winning team winning bragging rights. The event raised over $800 that went to the American Red Cross.

Core has been member of the College Hill community for 33 years, providing outpatient counseling, case management services and psychosocial programming to the residents of the West side of Hamilton County.

Samantha Gerwe-Perkins, Director of Aiken High School's Drama Club, thanks community members for their donations of set materials and props in support of Aiken's drama productions. Special thanks go to Pat Agnew, Director of the Laboiteaux Woods Nature Center, who donated some painted backgrounds, and Barbara Druffel, who donated some lumber, a door, clothing and various props.

The next Aiken production will consist of short plays and performance poetry written and directed by Aiken students on March 10 and 11 at 7:00 pm.

The 2006 College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation Annual Dinner will be held Tuesday, February 7 at 6:00 pm, at the Twin Towers Gulden Community Center. Attendees will be updated on the Linden Park Commons project by the developer, Al Neyer, Inc., and will find out what is coming for the Business District. Guest Speaker will be Rob Daumeyer, editor of the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Clear your calendars for the College Hill Community Pot Luck Dinner on Friday, February 24, at the College Hill Presbyterian Church. What a great chance to meet your neighbors and enjoy a great variety of everybody's favorite dishes! Specifics will follow after the first of the year.

Don't plan on coming to the December Forum meeting, because we don't do Forum in December. The next Forum meeting will be Tuesday, January 24, at 7:00 pm at the College Hill Recreation Center.

Your editor caught this building in the process of disappearing from view. It was located on the west side of Hamilton Avenue just south of the corner of Hamilton and Belmont. The owner, Twin Towers, has no current plans for the property.