Greatest Person: Jane Piotrowski is a Community Advocate and Gardener Extraordinaire

As President of the Chestnut Hill Community, Jane Piotrowski does not have a lot of free time on her hands.

As Chair of the annual , come late November, that small amount of free time is whittled down to nothing. But Piotrowski wouldn’t have it any other way.

“If I couldn’t do this, I don’t know, I’d go crazy,” she said.

The Holiday House Tour each year is a fundraiser that benefits the community association. Five Chestnut Hill houses are decked out with lights, décor and flora from local shops and designers.

The rest is done by Piotrowski. Sitting outside in the cold, because the pine needles affect her allergies when indoors, the CHCA president puts together baskets, birdhouses, wreaths, planters and other holiday-themed decorations for the tour.

Spending some time with Piotrowski, when she can find some time, means watching her twist together pieces of holly, or arranging flowers for a centerpiece, while her home phone and cell phone ring simultaneously.

“This is just a peek into my daily life,” Piotrowski laughed as she put one call on hold to answer the other.

Through it all, she is able to combine her passions: crafts and gardening and advocating for the community association.

“I’m a huge defender of the CHCA,” Piotrowski said. “All the hours we put in, all the meetings we attend, we’re not getting paid for it. We’re just working to keep Chestnut Hill a great place to live,”

The organization, for which she became the president earlier this year, works with residents and businesses to guide development and renovations. It helps define what kind of businesses neighbors would want to live next-door to. It serves as a go-between for the community and the City of Philadelphia, giving the city recommendations on zoning ordinances and other matters that apply directly to the neighborhood.

Being the president means dozens of meeting a month, especially during times when a larger development is on the horizon. Piotrowski attends meetings with neighbors, meetings of the association’s subcommittees, meetings of Philadelphia City Council, and still finds time to make the Holiday House Tour a hit.

This year, more than 600 people came out for the house tour, all of whom saw professional décor side-by-side with Piotrowski’s labors of love.