Dear Residents,

 

Happy winter! What a great turnout we had in October for National Night Out! I would venture to say there were close to 80 folks including children. We had free hot dogs and accompaniments, a balloon artist and games for the kids, free raffles for the adults, and the Jeremiah's Ice Cream truck was there selling cool treats. Sheriff Capt. Tony Minnis attended to meet residents and answer any questions. Thank you to all who came out and to everyone who helped make this a success. We have a great board who put this together, and a special Thank You to our Grill Master, Adam Greschler. It goes without saying thank you to Karen, Kendle, John and Charlie who did a lot of the behind-the-scenes work, and to Zamina and Vinod for loaning us your grill every year.

 

It was a busy fall. We hope you noticed the new lighting at the Conroy entrance. Fred Hawkins and Doris Shepard diligently worked with the county for a $3,000 grant. It took over a year to work on, but it came through. We now have beautiful new sconces on both sides of the entrance, new sign lighting and spotlights to light up the plants and shrubs. It really looks lovely.

 

In preparation for hurricane season, all the palm trees on both medians of Pine Springs and Pin Oak were trimmed back. A lot of the palm fronds were dead and hanging. Everything is up to par now.

 

We also put down fresh pine bark along Dr. Phillips Blvd. and at our Conroy and Pine Springs entrances. Our new landscaper, Lucas Chiddister, is doing a terrific job of keeping up with our landscaping needs. Thank you, Lucas.

 

The big story is the streetlight project with the county. Hidden Estates, which has 99 homes, voted overwhelmingly at 83% for new streetlights. We are awaiting the tally on Hidden Springs. In Hidden Springs alone, there are 284 homes. This was a major undertaking. We are keeping fingers crossed that we get the 66 and two-thirds votes for new streetlights. We had a team of 10 walking door to door to help get the word out. Thank you to all of those who took time out of their weekend to visit residents and explain how new lighting will affect our neighborhood; safety is the biggest impact and also aesthetically. Thank you to Martine, Marty, Sally, Jim, Taylor and Bianca, Charlie, John, Adam, and my husband, Paul.

 

In walking door to door, myself, I got to meet a lot of you. So very nice to meet you in person. Please always feel free to email the HOA for any concerns. We will try to address them as quickly as possible.

 

We now have help in sending out contribution notices. That in itself is a lot of work: folding 384 notices, placing in envelopes, stamping and placing in mail. Thank you to Charlotte and Paul. You guys are awesome.

 

Lastly, thank you to all those who contribute their $110 per year. As you can see, without your contributions, none of this could be accomplished. We are also grateful to those of you who actually contribute over and above. We thank you for that, too. All of you make a big difference.  

 

Donna Fontaine

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