Dear Neighbors,

As I write this my bags are packed and when you read this I'll be racking up some of the 15,000 miles on my train trip.

Thinking back to the beginning of October, it was so gratifying to see so much participation at the Neighborhoods Conference. TLNA was well represented and I was able to be involved in a presentation on Zoning, Land Use & Development with Bassett Neighborhood resident Paul Hees, developer Todd McGrath and Brad Murphy of City Planning and Development. Our workshop was able to use as a textbook example the recent project at 1140 E. Dayton (incidentally all units are now sold and I was a guest at their organizational condominium meeting). Next year Madison will have the pleasure of hosting the national neighborhoods conference, NUSA Õ99: Building Neighborhoods Block by Block on May 26-29, 1999. My hat is off to all who made the recent conference a success as well as the ongoing planning for the future conference. Neighborhood resident Cheryl Wittke and Jule Stroick of the City deserve special praise.

I would also like to thank neighborhood residents Hans and Mary Lang Sollinger for the fundraiser they gave for TLNA. We received over $1,700 and your ideas would be helpful as we prepare our annual budget. No stranger to controversy, Mary is spearheading an effort to site an IMAX at the Orpheum Theatre on State Street. By chance, the group in opposition to that site is led by neighborhood resident Joe Lusson. Please see their articles elsewhere in this issue. The new council will be seated by your action at the annual meeting. I would warmly thank ALL who have given freely of their time and themselves in this and other years for the betterment of the neighborhood. Best wishes to the new council!

Recently a friend recounted the words of a neighbor: "we live close together. We must be good neighbors. Courtesy is an avenue we all benefit by travelling whether itÕs walking the dog on a leash and picking up after it, keeping the noise down, storing the proper place and time or obeying the traffic law as a bicyclist (I could go on); the point is that our actions and non-actions have a tremendous impact on our neighbors. Therefore, let's be good and considerate neighbors! Hope the spaghetti tasted good Ð I missed not being there but I hope you enjoyed the camaraderie that is the hallmark of the Tenney-Lapham Neighborhood!

-Richard Linster Ð Departing President


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