Let us start this off by saying that we hope that everyone has a safe, healthy, and a year full of growth.
We, the association, had such a productive year. We accomplished some repairs to bear park, repairs and paint to the office building, a lot of cleanup, common areas sealed and so much more.We may not always get to things A.S.A.P, whether it is because of manpower, other pressing repairs are currently in process or both. We promise all of you that we will continue this pattern of growth throughout the year.
Many in our neighborhood suffered from hardships late last year and very early this year, some worse than others. Please, help your neighbors the best you can. Whether it is dinner for the evening, helping cleanup, donating items, sharing something on facebook or a simple kind word etc, sometimes that gesture, no matter how insignificant you may think it is, makes more of a difference than one may ever know.
October was a busy month. We processed a lot of payments, thank you for that everyone. Those payments are what pays for all of the street lights, beautification, grounds and maintenance, lawn service, snow and salt service and those, oh so fun, events like Halloween, Christmas and Easter.
Halloween was so much fun. That fun couldn’t have happened without all of our residents and those that helped decorate, set-up, host, cleanup and tear down. It is truly a group effort, the more people that volunteer the more we can do and get done.
November may have been cold but that didn’t stop the momentum of this group. A group of us dug a hole and prepped it for Detroit Beach Associations first ever “Forever Christmas Tree”. A week later the Forever Christmas Tree arrived and Snow’s Nursery picked out the prettiest Black Hills Pine for us, delivered it and helped bring it over to the tree’s new home. Our group of volunteers got that tree situated, planted and watered. We were able to water our new tree with the help of our awesome resident Portia. Thank you Portia for the use of your water, we cannot thank you enough.
Did anyone notice, given that it was kind of off season for the office, but to spruce up the outside of the office, a simple faux lighthouse etched glass decal was put on the door and a couple of small fake plants outside. Just a little something to make the office itself stand out a bit.
Christmas lights and decorations were pulled out of storage and prepped for their big debut. Candy canes were placed out front of the association, by the sign as well as by the Bear Park Sign. Some wreaths were hung on the lighthouses and the office and lights were put up in Bear Park, by the office and near the front of the association. A huge thank you to the volunteers that made it all Christmasy in preparations for the season and the upcoming Christmas tree lighting.
December it is cold outside but there was a fire burning under us. The office work continues, can’t stop that fun and that is what it is when things are getting accomplished, collecting money and helping residents out.
Sadly, while changing the light bulb on the lighthouses, we found that one of them is not working at all, we had a few electrical companies come out to assess the situation and it will need some work done to it in spring.
Our second annual Christmas tree lighting turned out very nice. Everyone that came enjoyed the christmas music, tree decorating hot chocolate and coffee. We had one little boy that was truly and thoroughly enjoying the decorating part. Thank you to all that came, Thank you to all that helped set up, cleanup and tear down. Just an amazing group of people.
In Closing, let’s take a dedicated minute to say thank you to those residents and random kids that took time out of their busy schedules to decorate, host events, clean up the neighborhood, make repairs and more. Without them, these events and improvements would not and could not happen because it takes manpower.
Easter- Frank, Victoria, Nancy, Nicole
Halloween- Frank, Tiger, Victoria, Adriana, Brandon, Jacob, Fred and Nicole
Christmas- Frank, Tiger, Victoria, Portia, Fred, Nicole
Planting and Prep of Christmas Tree- Tiger, Victoria, Frank, Nicole
Office Building Makeover – Tony, Jaws Program, Nicole
Neighborhood clean up and repair- Tiger, Tony, Jaws Program, Nicole, Nancy