Conservatory Green Block Captain Anne Walker has been an ideal block captain. She has kept her neighbors informed on community meetings and updates, helped initiate acquiring neighborhood watch signs, as well as organized a team for the annual Stapleton Kickball Tournament. “She has been basically everything you can ask for in a block captain,” said neighbor Julia Dillingham. “She simply made a mistake that you really can’t recover from. Is there a chance she could lead us again? Certainly, but not in the near future.”
The irrecoverable mistake that Dillingam is referring to is Walker’s recent suggestion for the upcoming block party. “She sent everyone an email suggesting that we have a dry, or alcolhol free, block party,” said neighbor Keith Kouremetis. “It did not go over well.” Neighbors first had to figure out if Walker was kidding. “She is a pretty serious person, but I still thought she had to be joking about this,” said Kouremetis. “So, I emailed her back and kind of said, ‘ha, good one’ to test it out. But, she emailed back and said she was serious.”
Walker declined to be interviewed, but neighbors say she listed reasons as to why she thought a dry block party was a smart idea. “She mentioned a handful of reasons such as having the kids see the adults drinking, people not staying up in the alley until 1AM, and no one telling inappropriate stories from when they were younger,” said Dillingham. “But, collectively, those reasons are almost the same reasons we all enjoy the block party, aside from influencing our children to drink.”
After a brief email exchange of the residents on the block, minus Walker, the Block decided to remove Walker from her block captain responsibilities. “We did it very professionally, through a brief to the point email,” said Kouremetis. “We let her know her and her family are still very much a part of this block, but maybe her leadership was out of line with that of the constituents.” Kouremetis is serving as the interim block captain until a decision can be made on a permanent captain by August. “Our focus right now is in having a great block party with lots of booze,” said Kouremetis. “After that, we are just taking things one step at a time.”
]]>