"But, we've turned the corner now," said George Beltz, a committee chairman with the Hoover Neighborhood Association.

He and Nancy Carlson, president, think the third attempt will work because organizers are focused on three reasons to make the association a long-lasting force to improve the area between 21st and 31st streets and Yale Avenue and Sheridan Road.

"We want to make this a neighborhood where children can walk home from school and play in their yards safely," Beltz said.

Property value is a second reason.

"We've watched nearby Florence Park go from a not-so-great neighborhood to a vastly improved one," Beltz said. "Homes there sell for about $150 a square foot. Ours are in the $80 to $85 range. So we're working on curb appeal to increase our values."

Noting those are solid reasons for any neighborhood to form a successful association, Carlson said it is honoring the memory of Elizabeth Wagoner, a neighborhood girl who was murdered near her home in March 2006, that is the binding force.

Two neighborhood meetings at Hoover Elementary School after the death were the beginning of the neighborhood association, Carlson said.

"A core group of us has held together to make this association successful. We feel the best way to honor Elizabeth's memory is to make this square mile a more beautiful and safer place to live. That's our passion, our motivation," Carlson said.

Those goals will be attainable if residents volunteer one or two hours a month, she said.

"A lot of people live in our square mile," Carlson said. "I've been told we have about 2,000 homes, and that this is one of the most densely populated areas of town."

Carlson, Beltz and other association officials hope all the help needed to enhance the neighborhood comes from donated time and money rather than mandatory membership fees.

A garage sale fundraiser is scheduled Saturday.

"We're asking residents to hold sales and donate proceeds to the association," Beltz said. "Officers have paid several hundred dollars out of their pockets for mailing, signs and other expenses. They should be reimbursed."

Carlson's sister-in-law, Megan Brungardt, who has been president of her homeowners association for several years, spoke at the March Hoover meeting about Citizen Alert Action Patrol, a program that trains residents to patrol the neighborhood and report suspicious activity to the police.

"The March meeting was also about encouraging people to become part of our three committees and sign up to be block captains to help with communications throughout the neighborhood," Carlson said.

Beltz said those committees include safety, social and beautification and code enforcement.

The safety committee will start a Neighborhood Watch program this summer. Beltz, head of beautification and code enforcement, said his committee has made progress in eliminating overgrown and cluttered yards.

The next association meeting, he said, will focus on curb appeal.

"I think we have turned the corner," Carlson said.

"While I'm walking, I'm seeing more people walking the neighborhood, more younger families, many with strollers."

Garage Sale

What: Hoover Neighborhood Association fundraiser

When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday (Rain date is April 28)

Where: Hoover Elementary School, 2327 S. Darlington Ave.

For more: Call George Beltz, 402-9786 or go to the Web site, www.neighborhoodlink.com/tulsa/hooverna