LTWCA Newsletter - August/September 2006

 

Emergency Preparedness Events

The Emergency Preparedness Team will be conducting three community-wide events over the next three months.  In the first event, at 10 A.M. on Sunday, August 20, we will do a test of two-way radio reception throughout LTW, with a goal of identifying the spots that have the most difficulty communicating with our emergency operations center (EOC).  This past AprilÕs earthquake drill pointed up again the fact that our hilly and woody terrain prevents many of us from being able to communicate directly from some of the far ends of our neighborhood.  In an emergency, communication with houses in these areas would have to be relayed through a radio operator in a high-reception spot. We are scheduling this test at the same time as the dog poop pickup, in order to make good use of all of you who volunteer your time.  Even if you are not available to volunteer as a mobile radio operator, please monitor your two-way radio inside your house, on channel 9-11, and take a moment to try to get through to EOC.  If you can only reach EOC via a relay from someone walking in the road, yours is one of the houses in a low-reception spot that we are trying to identify.

 

The second event, which will take place on a weekend morning to be announced in the next newsletter, will be activating the updated Emergency Phone Tree.  The TeamÕs goal will be to make contact with every household as efficiently as possible.  In the event of an emergency situation that does not cut off phone service, activating the Phone Tree will be among the neighborhoodÕs first response efforts.

 

Finally for the third event, CERPPÕs autumn districtwide drill will be a wildfire simulation, getting started at 9 A.M. on Saturday, October 21.  Put it on your calendar -- additional details will follow. 

Submitted by Arthur Nielsen.

 

Water Board News

Community Working Groups: In order to develop and deliver services to District residents, the Board has established three Community Working Groups. The Groups are open to all interested residents and will be an open forum to exchange ideas and provide input to the Board as they make decisions about service delivery.

The three Groups are (with Board contact):  Water Use Efficiency (Gage, stan@ostassoc.com) ,

                         Emergency Preparedness (Miller, fraziermiller@yahoo.com),

                         and Land Management (Krenz , charleskrenz@sbcglobal.net).

Each Group will meet in publicly noticed meetings and explore a full range of services that the District might provide in each topic area. The Groups will report back to the full Board who will then make decisions about funding for suggested services.

 

Please look for announcements of these meetings on the community list servers, the District web site (http://www.vistaverdeca.org/ltcwd.html) and posted on neighborhood kiosks. The Board encourages your participation in this important endeavor.

 

District Secretary/Auditor:  The Board wishes to thank Toni Markley for her 30+ years of service to the District. Now that Toni is no longer with us, the District is looking for someone to take on this important job. The position entails writing minutes from Board meetings, managing the DistrictÕs finances and various other administrative duties. It is a paying position and requires a minimum two year commitment.  We doubt anyone could commit as much time as Toni! Please call David Smernoff, 851-9202, if you are interested or want more information.

Submitted by David Smernoff

 

Celebrating the Life of Tom Maddox

On 12 July life changed for the residents at the far end of Los Trancos Circle.  A good neighbor and friend, Tom Maddox, was struck by a car while riding his bicycle on Skyline Rd.  He passed away three days later on 15 July.  Tom brought many talents and good neighbor qualities to Los Trancos Woods.  In any emergency Tom could be counted on not  only to pitch in, but to have the tools and know-how to deal with the situation.  For years Tom was our local recycler of bicycles, which he dispatched to a program in Nicaragua called Bicycles not Bombs.  Broom removal was just one of his latest gifts to our community, along with DPB Dispensers which he designed and built just before his death.  In honor of Tom LTW will have a community gathering at 2 P.M. before the Annual Picnic.  Bring your thoughts and stories, and let us celebrate Tom MaddoxÕs life with us.

Submitted by Linda Drey-Nightingale

 

New Dog Service

Coming to your neighborhood soon is a friendly helper to dog walkers!  Ever forget that plastic bag used to pick up FidoÕs processed food?  Well, now there will be Dog Poop Bag (DPB) Dispensers at three locations around the neighborhood.  To celebrate this new service and start things off right, Jamie Sovereign will lead volunteers in a neighborhood "dog doo" cleanup.  Along with this Arthur Nielsen will be coordinating a test of our family radios (walkie-talkies) to get a better idea of coverage in the event of a disaster.  Please join us for a quick hour of community spirit, 10 A.M. on Sunday, Aug. 20, at the stop sign on Los Trancos Circle  You bring your radios; we will bring the pickup gear!

 

Neighborhood Notes

-  We have been cordially invited to the Vista Verde Annual Picnic from 11:30-2:30 P.M. on 26 Aug. at Jacques LittlefieldÕs unique property.  RSVP to claudia@rjswan.com with number attending.

-  Mark your calendar for the LTW Annual Picnic at 3 P.M. on 17 September.  Look for the picnic flyer in September.  Our guest speaker will be a representative from the SheriffÕs Dept.  Come hear ways to improve safety and sanity in our neighborhood.  A neighborhood Celebration of Tom MaddoxÕs life will proceed the picnic at 2 P.M. in the same location.

-  A new LTW Directory is due out in September 2006.  Please immediately e-mail or call Gale Smith with your changes. 

-  District 1 - Residents have received word of the passing of their former neighbor Jean R. Moses.  Jean (1918 - 2006) and her husband Lincoln who reared 5 children here preceded us as founding, contributing participants in numerous projects that continue to benefit our community.

     Submitted by Julie Duncan

-  District 4 - Tao Sato-Perry was not deterred by our heat wave and he came into the world on           21 July weighing 8 lbs. 12 oz. and 21Ó long.  Active participants in the home birth were parents Chris and Keiko, and big brother Koan.  For many hours they even had an extra pair of eyes watching over the family in the form of a doe at the window.  She was fondly given the name ÒdoelaÓ (that must be our local doula).

-  Lost Your Way?  We have public walking routes in our neighborhood and we have private routes.  Make sure when you go out on your walks that you are not trespassing on private property.  Unless you are specifically given the ownerÕs permission, please do not cut through yards in order to access trails or create short cuts.

Many thanks to Alex Kostrikin for years of copying our Newsletter.  This will be his last  edition.  Can someone else please step up to the plate for six issues a year?  Call Linda, 851-1787.

 

Next Meeting -  7:00 P.M., 13 Sept., 1074 Los Trancos Rd.   Agenda includes new dog pickup program, annual picnic and emergency preparedness.  For minutes of the last meeting, please see the LTWCA Web Site or your District Rep.

 

Los Trancos Woods (LTWCA) Web SiteThanks to Jerry Jensen for maintaining this site.

The web site address is:                    The group e-mail list is:

http://lostrancoswoods.org/                    ltwca@yahoogroups.com