The Historic Meridian Park 2010 Tour of Homes is quickly approaching! Set for June 26 and 27 from NOON until 5 PM, the neighborhood’s rich history, diverse architecture, live music, and vintage automobiles make the tour one of the city’s favorites!

Friends and neighbors often ask me, “What can I do to support the tour?” Here are a few ideas:

1. Attend the tour at least once…maybe twice! The tour features eight homes and four gardens, live music and concessions on the courtyard, vintage automobiles in the 3200 block of Pennsylvania St., and “welcoming porches” where you can relax, have a glass of water, and mingle with other homeowners while enjoying the beauty and social connection embedded in our neighborhood’s grand front porches.
2. Tell all your friends about the tour! Contact at least 10 co-workers, family members, and friends to tell them about the tour. If you are on Facebook, join the Historic Meridian Park Tour of Homes page, RSVP for the event, and suggest the page to your friends. Once you’ve hit the “Like” button to join our page, you’ll be entered to win free tickets beginning June 1! Also be sure follow the tour on Twitter; you’ll find us at @HMPHomeTour.
3. Do your part to ensure our neighborhood looks its best! Prior to the tour, be sure to mow your grass, remove clutter on your porch and in your yard, dispose of any visible trash, prune flowers, and cut back bushes and shrubs along the sidewalks that would interfere with patron traffic. Also, take a minute to clean up the curb in front of your home and clear out storm drains.  We need everyone’s help to make our neighborhood sparkle!
4. Refrain from parking on the street when possible. Residents of the 3200 block of Pennsylvania St. will need to refrain from street parking on their block for the entire tour to accommodate the vintage car showcase. If you live along this stretch of Penn, you will receive a flyer with specific instructions prior to the tour. All other residents should minimize street parking and park in garages and driveways when possible.
5. Volunteer! Many volunteer opportunities are still available for the tour weekend including staffing the ticket-booth, helping with security, acting as a docent (or guide) in one of the tour homes or for the vintage cars, assisting with set-up needs, and lending a hand with clean-up after the tour. To volunteer, contact the Volunteer Staffing Chairs -  Ben and Abby Nicol  – at 616.334.1012 or abbybarnesnicol@gmail.com.

For additional tour information, please contact Cassie Mehlman-Rhys, 2010 Tour Chair, at (317) 997-2791.

Historic Meridian Park 2010 Tour of Homes Set for June 26 and 27

“Front Porches: Reflecting and Connecting” Theme of First Home Tour in 4 Years

(Indianapolis, Ind.) – Historic Meridian Park, one of Indianapolis’ pre-eminent early 20th century neighborhoods, will offer a rare glimpse inside a number of its beautifully maintained and restored homes, as well as some of its gorgeous porches, gardens and antique cars, during the 2010 Tour of Homes set for June 26 and 27.

Located within Mapleton-Fall Creek, Historic Meridian Park is bounded by Pennsylvania St. and Washington Blvd. from 30th to 34th streets.

Tour organizers say they’re looking forward to sharing the splendor of their near north side community with the public for the first time since 2006.  In particular, they’re excited to shine the spotlight on the front porches in their neighborhood, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“We decided on ‘Front Porches: Reflecting and Connecting’ as our theme because our porches illustrate not just the beauty of our neighborhood, but also utility and social connection,” said Cassie Mehlman-Rhys, chair of the 2010 Tour of Homes.  “Just as a kitchen serves as a gathering place within a home, a front porch serves as the same kind of place for a neighborhood.  I’ve met many of my neighbors, and made many friends, by simply sitting on my front porch and greeting people as they come and go.”

Tour attendees will be invited to stop and take a breather at “welcoming porches” between their visits to houses.  Live music and antique cars will be found on Washington Ct.; food and drinks can also be purchased there.  Free parking will be available along neighborhood streets.

Also of note for 2010, six of the nine tour homes have been restored to their former glory after being gutted down to the studs.  But you’d never know it with the attention to historic detail that has been preserved.

One home currently in the midst of major renovations will be opening its doors to tour goers.

“We want to showcase the sometimes long and difficult work that goes into maintaining and restoring homes that are more than 100 years old,” Mehlman-Rhys added.  “Seeing a renovation project in progress is often inspiring.”

Among Indianapolis’ first suburbs, Historic Meridian Park is best known for its Arts & Crafts architecture, including Mission-, American Four-Square-, and Prairie-style homes; but it also features outstanding examples of Tudor, Dutch Colonial Revival, Italian Villa, American Four-Square, and French Eclectic styles.  All of the buildings in the area reflect the use of natural materials such as brick, stucco, wood siding and tile, and they emphasize visible structural elements such as beams and large overhangs.

Advance tickets will be available for $13 at Marsh supermarkets. Select locations to be announced at a later date.  Please be sure to visit www.historicmeridianpark.org for updates on ticket locations. On June 26 and 27, the days of the tour, tickets may be purchased on site at Trinity Episcopal Church, 3243 N. Meridian St., for $15.  The church is the suggested starting point for the tour.

Profits from the 2010 Tour of Homes will benefit neighborhood beautification as well as ongoing neighborhood projects.

For volunteer opportunities, please review our many committees and contact one of our Committee Chairs:

Research Committee: The Research Committee works collaboratively to research and document the homes and gardens on the tour and to put the homes and gardens in a context that is useful to our tour patrons. Contact Sharon Gamble @ 317-283-1698.

Tour Staffing: The Staffing Committee is charged with recruiting, scheduling, and training the volunteers necessary to staff the home tour and its leadership committees. Volunteers are needed to serve as home and garden docents, committee members as well as in other positions throughout the tour. Additionally, the committee assists with community marketing initiatives. Contact Ben and Abby Nicol @ 616-334-1012 or bsn@pkpfoundation.org.

Event Planning : The Event Planning Committee plans and coordinates all activities that will form entertainment aspects of the home tour, including food and beverage, antique cars, and music spotlights provided by vendors and volunteers.  Contact Kara Haughey @ 317-730-3812 or karahaughey@dci.org.

Coordination of Tour Homes: This Home Coordination Committee acts as the liaison between homeowners whose homes or gardens will be on the tour and the Tour Committees.
Contact Lorraine Vavul @ 317-931-9236 or Margie Luchtman, @ 317-927-8970

Prep and Clean-up: The Prep and Clean-up Committee works to works together to plan and coordinate both set-up and tear-down of the event, including all material needs in homes and stations. Volunteers must be available on the tour dates to participate in this committee. Contact Larry Sanner @ 317-503-4212.

Marketing: The Marketing Committee works to promote the home tour via PR channels, promotional materials, community events marketing, and social networking. The committee also develops the home tour program and sells advertising space within the program. Contact Cassie Mehlman-Rhys @ 317-997-2791 or csm34@sbcglobal.net.

Don’t miss this tour! Interested in volunteering? There are a number of opportunities available from marketing and PR to home tour set-up and tear down. To discuss your interests and opportunities available, please call Cassie Mehlman-Rhys at 997-2791.

The tour also featured music in the Garrett/Cuthbert Gardens. On Saturday, the Amabile Trio performed on Saturday and the Classic Connection, a women’s barbershop quartet, performed on Sunday.

The neighborhood was the subject of several features in various local media prior to the tour:

• The Saturday, June 22, 2002 edition of the Indianapolis Star featured an article on the neighborhood by Courtenay Edelhart entitled “Salvaged Suburb: Tour of reclaimed Meridian Park will feature homes, gardens and vintage cars.”
• Sharon Gamble of WFYI interviewed Ken Keene and Lorraine Vavul about the tour. The interview was broadcast on WFYI’s “The Art of the Matter” on Saturday, June 22, 2002. WFYI is on 90.1 FM.