Greenbelt news review., December 30, 1954, Image 1

About Greenbelt news review. (Greenbelt, Md.) 1954-current

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Vol. 19, No. 21 Greenbelt, Maryland, Thursday, December 30, 1954 10 Cents*
1954 Review Reveals Varied Year
Of Land Deals, Shorts, Tax Battle
A variety of events filled the pages of this newspaper during
the year 1954, ranging from the ups and downs of GVHC’s nego
tiations to sell its vacant land to whether shorts should be worn
at the Center, climaxed by a lively battle on taxes. The newspaper
itself made news when it was decided to change its name from the
Cooperator to the News Review. At any rate, here is the panorama
of 1954 in Greenbelt as presented in the pages of the Greenbelt
Cooperator-News Review.
January
The problem of teen-agers drink
ing on the premises of the Drop
Inn was revealed in the January 7
issue. The Drop Inn membership
cards of six local teen-agers were
revoked when they were found
drunk, ill, and disorderly follow
ing a Christmas dance. That same
week the city council considered a
refreshment concession for the
q lake picnic area during the sum
mer, although nothing later came
of it.
The next issue announced the re
vival of the Greenbelt Citizens As
sociation, and a long letter from
Roger Willcox, GVHC’s planner,
stirred up discussion on the loca
tion of the new Inter County Belt
Freeway which threatened to cut
off valuable GVHC land. This con
tinued to be the chief topic for the
rest of the month.
February
The first February issue revealed
that Bob Volckhausen had been
elected president of the revived
Greenbelt Citizens Association, al
though only for a three-month pe
riod. Only 70 members attended
the quarterly membership meeting
of the Greenbelt Veteran Housing
Corporation, the first of a series of
membership meetings at which less
than a quorum were present How
ever, as the time for the annual
election meeting approached, in
terest grew as the Hare or pro
portional representational voting
system was thrown out as illegal
by the GVHC board. It was also
announced that month that the
second model house would be
erected on the site of the new co
operative homes building project
Nominations for the new GVHC
board began to pour in, according
to the issue of February 18, which
also announced that GVHC had de
cided to take action in the case of
two GVHC members who refused
to get rid of their dogs. It was de
cided to terminate their contracts.
However, the next issue told how
this proved unnecessary as both
members agreed to give up their
dogs.
March
* The first issue in this month told
of resistance to the GVHC board’s
action in abolishing the Hare sys
tem of electing officers. There was
also the story of a car-theft gang
of eight boys and three girls ap
prehended by the Greenbelt police.
Most, but not all, were outsiders.
The big news of the month was
the annual GVHC election. Ed
Burgoon, Bruce Bowman, Ralph
Webster, A1 Long, and Frank Last
ner received the most votes in that
order and won election to the
board, but there were run-offs for
the other four positions. The next
issue revealed that Hans Jorgen
sen, Lloyd Moore, Frank Kriby,
and Wayne Tucker were the win
ners in the run-off election. Ralph
Webster was reelected president of
the board, Burgoon became vice
president again, Bowman was re
newed as secretary, and a new man,
Lloyd Moore, became treasurer.
April
The new long-awaited Greenbelt
directory was out, and local groups
participated in selling it. At the
first regular meeting of the new
Greenbelt Citizens Association Bob
Volckhausen was overwhelmingly
elected chairman for the coming
year. That month the first news
of a possible deal to sell GVHC’s
*
#mmbdt Hems ikuiem
AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER
Published Every Thursday By The Greenbelt Cooperative Publishing Association, Inc., 9 Parkway, Greenbelt, Maryland
vacant land was published, and we
also learned of the new co-op shop
ping center planned for the Whea
ton area PHA announced that the
remaining 818 acres of Greenbelt
vacant land would go to the high
est bidder. Six incumbents and
two newcomers, including Rev.
Hull, were elected to the Green
belt Consumer Services board. The
Chasanow case broke toward the
end of April, and the Cooperator
carried a front page editorial ask
ing the community not to become
panicky. The same issue carried a
story of fund-raising campaign for
a Greenbelt boy who was badly
hurt in a freak accident.
May
GVHC finally announced that the
.Johnson-Crooks Corporation of
Portland, Ore., had been sold the
vacant land for the construction of
detached, single-family houses. In
that same issue a Cleanup Commit
tee was formed to begin a cam
paign against “litterbugs.” A few
weeks later an essay contest to
promote this campaign was an
nounced. Harold Hufendick was
elected president of the Center
School PTA for the following year..
June
GVHC announced plans to en
courage GVHC members to paint
the exteriors of their homes them
selves with the paint provided by
GVHC. Members of. a row only
had to agree on a color but could
paint when they chose. This led
to a considerable sprucing up of
Greenbelt homes. The successful
bidders on the 818 acres of vacant
land were revealed with buyers
paying PHA more than half a
million dollars for the land.
July
The Fourth of July was celebrat
ed here on the fifth with the usual
parade and fireworks, and the cam
paign to permit the wearing of
shorts at the Center got off to a
rollicking start with plans to poll
residents on the subject. It turned
out that those opposed to shorts
were in a slight majority, and the
city council decided to table the
whole thing. That month the
question of possible “conflict of in
terest” due to Abe Chasanow’s po
sition as counsel for GVHC and
also head of Greenbelt Realty
arose, with Chasanow winning a
unanimous vote of confidence from
the board. GVHC also announced
a new system whereby homeowners
could take longer to pay their sec
ond mortgages. That month saw
the disappearance of the name Co
operator from the newspaper’s
name as the staff pondered a new
name.
August
Light industry was talked about
for Greenbelt while the paper con
tinued without a name. Greenbelt
had a short water ban as the area
experienced a drought. Late in the
month the American Legion dedi
cated its brightly remodfeled home.
September
Wayne Tucker left Greenbelt
and was replaced on the GVHC
board by Elliot Bukzin. Plans were
made for registering local voters
in the coming election, and again
the GVHC quarterly membership
meeting drew only a small crowd.
The Community Church held a suc
cessful gala carnival, the annual
fishing rodeo was held, and at last
the newspaper got a new name —
the News Review. The big news,
Your Income Tax
By E. Doußullian
This second article in the series
on changes to the income tax regu
lations will deal with personal de
ductions. These deduction are of
particular interest to residents of
Greenbelt as they include the in
terest and taxes that will be pro
rated by GVHC to its members (as
suming that Internal Revenue will
classify GVHC as a cooperative
housing project). To derive any
tax benefit from personal deduc
tions they should total more than
.10% of your income. Otherwise it
would be more advantageous to
take the standard deduction of
10% by the regulations. The GVHC
interest and taxes will be a major
factor in accumulating enough
personal deductions to exceed 10% V
of your income.
Contributions
The numerous contributions al
lowed by the regulations will be
limited to 30% of the taxpayer's
income. A further restriction des
ignates the recipients of the 10%
additional contributions permitted
by the new regulations. This ad
ditional 10% must be given to
churches, religious groups, educa
tional institutions or hospitals.
These limitations should not af
fect local taxpayers as most Green
belt residents ordinarily make
their contributions to the listed
types of organizations. Incidental
ly, the estimated value of used
clothing, furnitui’e, etc. donated to
Salvation Army, Good Will, etc.
can be listed as charitable deduc
tions. Contributions to the various
charitable projects sponsored by
Lions, Elks, etc. are also deducti
ble. The above is not meant to be
an exhaustive study oh contribu
tions; if you are in doubt check in
to it before you list it on your in
come tax return.
Taxes
To the amount reported tp you
as your share of GVHC taxes you
can add the following State, Coun
ty or City taxes that you have paid
in the taxable year— Income, other
realty, sales, gasoline, automobile
(both plates and title transfer),
etc., there are many others that the
majority of taxpayers have seldom
heard of and perhaps never paid.
See INCOME TAX, Page 2
however, was that FHA refused to
finance the Johnson-Crooks hous
ing construction, and GVHC had
to start all over again to market
its vacant land.
October
The reduction of taxes was now
in the headlines as the city council
began the yearly “battle of the
budget.” Meanwhile, GVHC began
to negotiate with another compa
ny for the vacant land. Another
incident involving difficulty be
tween Greenbelt Realty and GVHC
occurred.
November
The city council decided to cut
taxes by putting the trash pick-up
on a fee basis and integrating the
library with the county system.
The citizens prepared to bombard
the council with questions on the
budget. They preferred to keep up
the services but could not con
vince the city council to maintain
support of the local library. Mean
while, Frank Lastner became ex
mayor and a new county commis
sioner. The vacant land was fi
nally sold to the Warner-Kanter
Company of Cincinatti. A book on
Greenbelt was published. The
News Review was cut to two pages
for the first time.
December
The big news of the month was
the announcement of the 1955 tax
rate as $1.71 per SIOO of assessed
valuation and the election of Jim
Smith to fill the vacant place on
the city council. Jim Wolfe be
came mayor. Greenbelt looked to
another interesting year.
To Everyone, Both Short And Tall
A Happy New Year To You All
Here’s a poem of New Year
cheer
To welcome in the coming year.
Greetings, then, to each of you.
From us —the Greenbelt News
Review.
To Panagoulis, George the Chief,
(He is really not a thief)
And James C. Smith, the best
by far
(They only borrowed Hanyok’s
car ).
Here’s to Ike, and also Mamie,
Loftus, Mike, and Win McCamy.
The city’s finest, Austin Green,
And his wife, the beauty queen.
Old McDonald, and his farm,
May they never come to harm.
To Donnie Wolfe and Mayor Jim,
Lots of Christmas trees to trim.
To every club and group in town,
Never any cause to frown.
Especially never any cryin’
To every roaming Greenbelt Lion.
Andros, Percy, Algaze, Rae,
J. Walsh Barcus, Bell, Jack A.
Barrick, Frank, Bartholomew,
We drmk a toast to all of you.
Reverend Birner, Birdseye, Fred,
Dr. Bloomberg, Carter, Ed,
Elliot Bukzini, Ed, Burgoon,
May all your dreams come true
but soon.
A special wish for all the best,
Even more than all the rest,
A year as good as it can be
For Buddy Attick’s family.
To Terry Braund and Ann, his
wife ,
The best of everything in life.
And all that’s nice, but nothing
dull
To a wonderful guy named
Reverend Hull.
To Brautigam, Henry, all our
thanks.
May he inherit all the banks.
And all of us should lend a hand
To Vince Caruso and the band.
To Caldwell, Donald, Canning,
Carr,
Cashman, Jim., and Coleman, R.
Joe Comproni, Cormack, C.,
Everything from A to Z.
To Dr. Crowder, Davis, Roy,
Domchick, Dondy, and every
boy,
Eshbaugh, George, and Feld
man, S.,
A year that’s filled with great
success.
To Thomas Freeman and his
clan,
Each and every mailman,
Shorter hours and better pay
So they can see the light of day.
To Sherman Friend and Frucht
man, Jack,
Robert Garin, Connie Mack,
And all the Hanyoks living here,
Every kind of bonded cheer.
Adult Education Classes
Classes for Adult Education will commence for the second
semester at Northwestern Senior High School, Hyattsville. A fee
of $2 is required for each enrollee per semester. Classes must
have 15 or more students. Registration will take place as per the
schedule below:
Class Room Registration Date Times
Art Room 211 Tuesday, Jan. 4 6:30-10:30 p.m.
Art Room 212 Tuesday, Jan. 4 7:00-11:00 p.m.
Sewing Room 215 Monday, Jan. 24 6:30-10:30 p.m.
Sewing Room 215 Thursday, Jan. 27 6:30-10:30 p.m.
Typewriting Room 203 Monday, Jan. 3 7:30- 9:30 p.m.
Typewriting Room 200 Wednesday, Jan. 5 7:30- 9:30 p.m,
Ceramics Room 113 Tuesday, Jan. 4 6:30-10:30 p.m.
Wood Shop Room 113 Monday, Jan. 3 6:30-10:30 p.m.
Interior-
Decorating Room 214 Thursday, Jan. 6 6:30-10:30 p.m.
Beginning-
Shorthand Room 205 Monday, Jan. 3 6:30- 9:30 p.ttt.
Advanced-
Shorthand Room 205 Tuesday, Jan. 4 6:30- 9:30 p.m.
To Hatton, Herling, Herman,
Hicks,
Hoffman, Coffman, the Hufen
dicks,
Johnson, Jorgensen and Jones ;
Lots of friends to warm their
phones.
To Mrs. Kinzer, Keaney, Ken,
Bernie Krug and Baron, Len,
Lilburn, Lee and Linson, Ellen ,
Free good cheer to you we’ve
sellin’
Now we sing a merry song
To honor friend Adelbert Long:.
May he someday learn to write-
A column which is always right.
To Tony Madden, Maffay, John,
Peggy Markfield, a Kern named
Don,
And McCauley, Vice-Command
er,
We drink a brandy Alexander
To Dr. Moody, Morrison, A.,
John P. Murray, and John K.,
I. J. Parker and his girls,
May they all be Milton Berles.
To Ratzkin, Sanders, no mirage,.
We wish a hearty “bon voyage.”
And the best you’ve ever seen
To all who live at Seventeen.
To Plackett A. and daughter M.,.
The best of luck to both of them.
The same to Sisco, Sirlin, Small,
Schwimen, Slaughter, Schine
and Saul.
To Ritchie, Tom, and Ellie, too,
A happy year for both of you,
And Reverend Strausburg, good
old scout,
With him we cannot do without._
To Thomas, Earl, and T rat tier.
8.,
Wever, Leo, Christian, Z.
Dr. Wodak, Tredwell, Bill,
Everything you want or will.
To Campbell, Paul, and David
Kane,
Members who are not insane.
To everyone who labors there
A raise next year for them to
share.
To Webster, Ralph, who leaves
us now,
A photograph of Abe Chasanoio .
And to the board he leaves be
hind.
Anyone whom they can find -
To each and every co-op
Money—more and more and
more.
And perhaps some zeal and zest
Which in Greenbelt they’ll in
vest.
To Lastner, Frank, our former
mayor,
We offer up this little prayer —
May lie always be elected
To the office he’s selected.
And now we end this bit of fun,
Though we hardly mentioned
anyone.
If we forgot to use your name,
Happy New Year all the samel
(H.Z.)