If you’ve ever considered organizing a neighborhood association and need a great example to follow, look no further than West Hills. The West Hills Community Association is the oldest in Knox County and one of the oldest in the state.
Lee Hume took the reins as president of the group in January of this year. While the COVID-19 pandemic has understandably altered how things get done since last March, Hume said they have managed to adjust and press on.
Lee Hume
“We haven’t had a general community meeting since Covid began,” Hume said. “But now that the leadership team has received their vaccinations, our executive committee has met in person since May.”
The annual summer picnic in West Hills/John Bynon Park was sidelined last year due to the pandemic, but the association found a new way to get it back on schedule in June.
“Instead of having everybody bring food, we scheduled four food trucks,” he said. “Or people could bring their own food for their family or group. We really had one of the best turnouts we’ve ever had. It was great.”
Hume said the strength of the association is in the diversity of the residents of West Hills.
“Our neighborhood of 1,400 residences is blessed with families and individuals who have a wide range of experiences, backgrounds, age, and expectations. We have a wonderful community here, and we’re passionate about protecting it.”
The latter may give some local developers headaches on occasion, but that is what a good neighborhood association does, Hume said.
“It isn’t about being anti-development, it’s about staying true to the type of neighborhood this was originally laid out to be. So, we’re going to look at density, lot size, style, impact, everything. Developers know how zealously we try to protect West Hills,” he said. “We insist that the integrity of the neighborhood not be jeopardized.”
That is evident in that among the six committees, three are codes, traffic and zoning. But everything isn’t about preparing to argue before the zoning board. The community has a Christmas mailbox decorating contest and the garden club members dole out a “yard of the month” award.
“The yard of the month award is a real point of pride for the homeowners who receive it,” Hume said.
Hume and his wife, Sue, have lived in the same house in West Hills for 35 years. They met while attending UT (he’s originally from Franklin and she is from Middletown, Ohio). They both work for the university. He is a senior art director in the Office of Communications and Marketing and she is a recently-retired clinical associate professor of speech pathology at the UT Hearing and Speech Center.
An added blessing for the Humes is the return of their daughter and her family to the neighborhood.
“When she and her family were looking to buy a house, she came back to West Hills,” he said. “It’s wonderful having them just a block away.”
The current project for the association is, unbelievably, getting West Hills established as a Dogwood Arts trail.
“It’s not finalized yet, but everything is looking good,” Hume said. “We’re very excited about it.”
He said the neighborhood is full of older dogwoods, thanks to a fundraising drive many years ago to construct signs for the entrances.
“The garden clubs sold dogwood trees to raise the money for them,” he said. “That’s why there’s so many still here.”
That community spirit’s roots still run deep.
Beth Kinnane is the community news editor for KnoxTNToday.com