Northwood News ♦ October 2008

President’s Message

By Carole Ann Barth

Fall is officially here.  The black gum leaves are starting to turn scarlet, asters and goldenrod are in bloom, and the fresh cider season has begun.  It’s a good time to consider the year’s “harvest” for our Association.

We met our membership target for the year, with 160 paid members.  Still, that is only 10.7 percent of the households in Northwood/Four Corners/Forest Knolls.  I would like to see that doubled in FY2009.  Please use the envelope enclosed in this newsletter to renew your membership for the period from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009.  It’s still a bargain at only $10 per household.

Remember, only active members are allowed to vote at Association meetings.  For you competitive types, Timberwood Avenue led the pack in 2008 with a whopping 40 percent of households signing up as active members.  Can your street beat that?

Fall is also election season, and the first order of business at the October meeting is to elect a new board.  The Board meets five times a year (September, November, January, March, and May).  At these meetings we discuss any issues we expect to come up at the next members’ meeting and plan articles for the upcoming newsletter.

In general, we look to board members to contribute occasional articles to the newsletter and help with association events and activities.  Often Board members chose to focus on a particular issue or project.  Of course, you don’t have to be on the board to write articles or help with events and activities, so sometimes board members help by recruiting volunteers.  We are all volunteers, so it’s understood that we do what we can in the context of very full lives.

In addition, the officers have the following duties:

• The President serves as the point of contact for the community, receiving official notices from a variety of agencies.  The President usually conducts NFCCA meetings and often represents the Association by testifying at hearings or otherwise communicating NFCCA’s positions.
• The Vice President steps in if the President is unavailable.
• The Treasurer manages the accounts, keeps track of the memberships, and writes the checks.
• The Secretary checks for a quorum (if we’re voting on any resolutions) and records any proposed resolutions and votes.

Please consider joining the Board; we do have open positions.  Contact Mark Weingart [number redacted] if you’re willing to serve.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  In the end, the civic association is really just neighbors getting together to protect and improve our community.  It’s a pretty simple idea, yet it can be very powerful.   ■