I would like to thank everyone for attending our Homeowner’s meetings for the month of July. We will be taking a break from our monthly homeowner’s meetings for the month of August. The Board will continue to conduct regular meetings for the rest of the summer, and we will see everyone at our September homeowner’s meeting. Keep your eyes on the Southwind calendar for the meeting date and time.
Mid July brought us temperatures that were unreasonably high and warranted our members take safety and health precautions. It also brought power outages that affected hundreds of our residents. On the evening of Saturday, July 20th the Berkeley Police Department and Judy Noonan contacted the Board to advise us procedures might be put in motion to provide a cooling station for those residents that were in need of air conditioning due to age and/or health reasons. The temperatures were reaching the high 90s and with the humidity, it created a feel like temperature in excess of 100 F. Fortunately, the transformer that burned out was replaced and electric service was returned to normal at 12:45 am. With the assistance of the Berkeley Police Department, Judy Noonan and the JCP&L emergency crews a potentially dangerous situation and the activation of emergency protocols were avoided.
With that being said, I need to address a matter that could and can make initiated emergency protocol quicker and much more efficient. During the potential emergency of July 20th, the Berkeley Police Department would have had to visit each home affected and advise the homeowners individually, taking a lot of time and valued manpower. Almost all of us have email addresses and for those that have either smart phones or flip phones with email features, emails can be received even when electric power or Wi-Fi is not available. The Association Office is compiling a list of email addresses for our membership as quickly as possible. If you don’t have an email address, please advise the office so you can be added to a contact list. These email and contact lists will only be used for notifications approved by the Board. We know that many of our seniors do not have email addresses and for emergencies I would ask that we know our neighbors and reach out to them when a crisis is imminent and render assistance or at the very least the information they will need to remain safe and in good health. This information network will assist the Police Department should emergency protocols be required. We moved to this community to enjoy our retirement years. More than likely, for the same reasons our most senior members moved here years ago. It is our responsibility to ensure that we all render assistance to our neighbors when it becomes necessary. The Board will continue working on methods of notification and as we move forward, I’m sure they will improve. For now, lets make sure we all help one another. I truly believe that when we show kindness to our friends and neighbors, it will be returned tenfold.
Once again, I want to thank everyone for their assistance and understanding concerning our efforts to assist Holiday City Berkeley with their recent disaster and during their rebuilding period. It appears their rebuilding efforts will be taking them well into the next year. I’ll repeat my thoughts from last month’s message regarding some inconvenience may surface as we walk through the months ahead, but we need to consider the gifts we all have and understand the circumstances that brought Holiday City Berkeley to the place they are today. It was simply quoted by one of our members “There for the Grace of God go I”. We at Holiday City South can all stand tall, with our heads held high in true American spirit, knowing we are helping our neighbors and friends. I am grateful and proud of each member of our community and more than that, I am proud to be your President.
I will end this month with a quote I believe is appropriate: “If you want a friend, look first to see if you are willing to be one.”
The Trustees look forward to seeing everyone in September.
My best to everyone,
Mike Signorile
President