Long-time ESNA President to Step Down after 10 Years

The long-time president of the Eight Streets Neighborhood Association in the South End, Michael Almond, announced Tuesday night that he would be stepping down from his leadership role after five good years of leading the organization.

Prior to that, he was also a very active vice president for five years.

“I will be stepping down as president after five years as president of Eight Streets, and spending the previous five years as vice president,” he said. “We still haven’t decided who will succeed me. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with everybody over the years. But after 10 years it’s time for someone new.”

Almond has been an affable leader for Eight Streets over the last five years in particular, running a very efficient meeting and tackling tough issues. He was particularly instrumental in getting attention to Watson Park and other parks in the neighborhood – not to mention addressing persistent trash and rat issues.

All of the other officers in the organization will continue to serve, and he said he will stay on until a new president is chosen.

•SEBA Stroll coming in May

The South End Business Alliance (SEBA) President Liz Beutel announced the organization will hold the annual South End Stroll on May 14, 15, and 16 to highlight the lifestyle of the South End, and bring business to the numerous stores in the area.

“We have a lot going on,” she said. “We had a stroll in December and had about 90 businesses participate. I have more than 40 signed up now and I expect to get 130 to 140 participants involved and we want neighbors and neighborhood associations to participate as well. It coincides with the spring cleanup also.”

SEBA has reinvented itself since Beutel took over last October, and even has increased its membership through the pandemic by offering Webinars and help to local businesses. She said they are looking at businesses in the South End now as everyone comes out of the pandemic, and it looks like the neighborhood fared well.

“We had wondered if we were going to lose a lot of businesses in the South End,” she said. “The South End itself has grown and we’ve added 100 businesses in the South End since 2019. We’ve really grown. We did lose a few restaurants and a lot of them went on hibernation. Home services and personal services have actually grown a lot. People have done more startups than we’ve seen previously.”

•Peters Park

The City is currently resurfacing the Peters Park tennis courts as promised some time ago, and they will be adding lines to accommodate the emerging game of Pickle Ball. The Park is also expected to get new basketball hoops too, and a new tool shed is to be installed by the City as well.

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