Today is Earth Day 2009! Earth Day, recognized around the globe on April 22, is designed as a time to raise awareness and appreciation for our precious environment. Visit http://www.greendurham.net/ for activities and events that celebrate this great day!

There is also a good article on tips to conserve money and energy! Here's a link!

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/GlobalWarming/Story?id=7395740&page=1

The 2009 Easter Egg-stravaganza was a great success, thanks to all the volunteers and families that participated! I thought the playground looked good too, with new mulch and the benches and tables relocated to be more user friendly! Check it out if you haven't lately!

Our next event is the Neighborhood Yard Sale, May 16! Mark your calendar and start cleaning out your closets and garages!

IT’S TIME FOR THE….The 7th Annual Grande Park Spring “Egg”stravaganza!

WHEN: Saturday, April 11, 2009 @ 11 AM (weather permitting)

WHERE: The Grande Park Playground!

WHAT: The Grande Egg Hunt for children of all ages! There will be bags/baskets to decorate, or kids can bring their own egg baskets! The hunt will be divided up between the ages. Light snacks and refreshments will be available!

Parents: For each family who wishes to participate, please donate at least one bag of individually wrapped candy to fit in an egg by Thursday, April 9. Please label the bag(s) with the number of children participating and their ages. There will be a drop box on the porch of 106 Accura Ct.

NOTE: You do not need to provide filled eggs since we’ve saved the eggs from previous years. The social committee will stuff the eggs with the donated candy.

All children must be accompanied by an adult.If you would like to donate refreshments or for general questions, please contact Carol or Shinnette (e-mail addresses below).

Check your mailbox for the flyer and check this site for updates! THANKS!

THE HOA BOARD MET LAST NIGHT for our monthly meeting. We planned a few things for the coming months so I wanted to update the Blog with the news.


1. APRIL 11 – SAVE THE DATE! The annual EGG-STRAVAGANZA will be held at the Playground again! We will have a large egg hunt with prizes and activities for the kids. VOLUNTEERS are needed! Please contact me or Shinnette if you would like to help out! We will send out a flyer closer to the date to request help and candy for the eggs! I have tons of eggs from prior years, so we should just need the candy and prizes if anyone has something cool to donate!

2. MAY 16 – SAVE THE DATE! The Annual Grande Park COMMUNITY YARD SALE. We will place ads in the Herald Sun and other media. It’s a great time for everyone to downsize and make some money! The community aspect really brings in the traffic and buyers $ $ $ !

3. JUNE-AUGUST- We are starting a YARD OF THE MONTH contest during the summer months! We will be looking for the best looking yard/house in the neighborhood! The winners each month will be awarded a $25 gift card to Lowes and the chance to place the YARD OF THE MONTH WINNER sign in their yard that month!! WOW! This should be a great way to motivate residents to look their best and outshine their neighbors! I love a little competition!

4. Playground maintenance. The Playground will be re-mulched before April 11. We are also getting quotes to have the play set cleaned and sealed, a much needed maintenance item that we have not done in a long time, if ever!

5. MAILBOXES AND POSTS! We’ve noticed, as I am sure you have, that some residents are not keeping up with the maintenance of their mailboxes. It seems like a trivial thing, but it’s actually a real eyesore driving through the neighborhood. It doesn’t take that much effort especially when Morgan Property Management is able to purchase the mailboxes at cost for $35!!!! If you are one of the residents with a mailbox in need of replacement, please contact Sheryl at Morgan Property Management (see her contact info at the bottom of the blog) and order a new one! Perhaps you just need some black spray paint and new brass bands to make your mailbox sparkle?? You can buy just the bands from Sheryl too!

Speaking of sparkling! The original wooden mailbox posts are really starting to get old and in some cases rot! We have found a PVC post that looks similar and needs little to no maintenance. We found them at Lowes for $79! Here is a picture; you don't have to attach the flower pot in the back if you don't want to.




Otherwise, a quick fresh coat of white paint does the trick! If you need assistance with mailbox maintenance, please contact one of the HOA Board members, we may be able to help !

6. New Officers. We elected the new officers last night too. They are:
President – Don McFarland
Vice President – Casmir (Caz) Duval
Secretary – Cynthia Duval
Treasurer – Carol Hammett

As always, if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or concerns or would like to post something to this blog, please call one of the HOA Board members below!

SECURITY ALERT:

A woman today was robbed of her purse today at 5p at the Food Lion on Guess Rd. Thankfully, she was not personally assaulted or injured. A small (ie, Honda Civic, Mazda, Toyota Corolla) dark colored, she thinks it was two-door, drove up beside her while she was loading groceries into the front passenger seat/floorboard of her car. There were two men in the car. Her purse, including all ID, credit cards, cell phone, check book, etc was in the front passenger seat. The driver of the vehicle jumped out of his car and reached over her shouldar and grabbed her purse, jumped back into his car and drove off on Horton Rd towards Duke St. Sarah was able to obtain a portion of the vehicle's license plate #, however, the plate was literally a plate - an "unofficial" temporary, paper plate affixed to his car. A police report was filed on the scene. As the thief stole her driver's license with her address, she wanted everyone in the community to be especially vigilant of any strangers/strange vehicles in our neighborhood.

~HOA Board President’s 2008 Annual Report ~

The year 2008 marked the 6th year for the Grande Park Homeowners Association. The Homeowners Board has continued the established programs that were in place during previous years. The board consist of 5 members. Morgan Property Management continued to represent Grande Park and their contract was renewed for another year.

Newton’s Landscaping contract was renewed for another year. Newton’s Landscaping has done an excellent job and based on reports received everyone seems satisfied. The Social Committee. Carol Hammett and Shinnette Richmond co-chaired the Social Committee. They continued with events and programs such as the Easter Egg Hunt, yard sale, National Night Out, and fall festival. The December Lumination was left up to each individual homeowner. Everyone enjoyed the Christmas Caroling and the donations of food for the Durham Rescue Mission was a success. The $25.00 gift certificate was given to Jill Hoffman on Carey Place for the best decorated house during Christmas. These events were successful due to the tireless efforts put forth by the Social Committee. Our community owes this committee a great deal of thanks. Ann McCracken, Amy Kujawa, Kristen Barnhill and Lenore Plymire helped in some of these events and their assistance was greatly appreciated. Thank you on behalf of our community!!!!

The Block Captains, established in 2004, continued to play a role in representing the neighborhood and making sure needed information was distributed to their respective groups. As of this time all nine Block Captains positions are filled. Some of the older Block Captains would like someone else to step up and give them a break. It is not in the best interest of Grande Park to keep the same ones without giving them a break. The Grande Park Newsletter, edited by Don McFarland, was discontinued. The reason for the stopping the newsletter was the implementation of the Grande Park Blog. This web page was set up and maintained by Carol Hammett. This Blogs offers the community an instant update on current events and other useful information. Every resident should earmark this web site on their computers because if you want to know what is happening or need help this is where you go.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome. The Architectural Improvement Committee (ARC) continues to keep our neighborhood in compliance with the Architectural Guidelines that were established and then revised in August 2003. This committee is composed of Cas Duval. Cas has done an exceptional job and our thanks go out to him. Cas can use some additional help and if you are interested in serving please give him a call.

The additional light in the playground was finally installed. This additional light was needed and provided the light necessary to make everyone feel safe. Along with the new signs pertaining to the playground rules seems to have helped decrease the late night activities.

Appearance: Thanks to each homeowner for the way they have maintained their property’s appearance. I have continued to receive complaints from some homeowners within the neighborhood itself concerning animal waste. Each person is responsible for the cleanup of their animal’s mess.

Stolen Property and Malicious Vandalism: There has been a few instances where some items were stolen from cars and garages. Most of the time the cars were unlocked. These problems and some other incidents have created the need for the Neighborhood Watch Program to be escalated. Anyone seeing someone stealing, vandalizing property or suspicious activities should call 911 immediately. You may request that you not be identified if that is your desire. Each Block Captain is requested to update their telephone tree and make the necessary contacts when the need arises.

Neighborhood Needs: The HOA Board is considering a spring cleanup of the neighborhood. Particular interest is the poor condition some of the mail boxes and mail box post are in. There is always a need for people to serve on our different committees. These committees are there to make sure that your investment in your home remains solid. I hope your desire is to have a beautiful and a safe neighborhood. Without your help it is difficult to get everything done.

Thanks to each member of the board and committees during the past year. Your tireless efforts did not go unnoticed. Without your time and efforts this neighborhood would not be the fine place it is. It has been my pleasure to serve as your HOA Board President for the past year. I appreciated your support and input.

~Donald McFarland, Board PresidentGrande Park Homeowners Association

GRANDE PARK ANNUAL MEETING

Wednesday January 14, 2009

7pm @ Aldersgate Church, 2nd Floor

You should have received your annual notice and proxy (if you won't be attending the meeting) in the mail this week. Please come!!!!!