Volume 12, Issue 8 August 2012 Steeplechase Board 2012 [email protected]Chairman Peggy Boydston 770-963-1572 [email protected]Facility President Jose Gonzalez 678-524-4164 [email protected]Community President Cristina Cryan 678-382-9888 [email protected]Communications Director Sandy Parris 678-427-4867 [email protected]Operations Director Nate Orrico 770-962-4668 [email protected]Treasurer Nicole Lister 678-464-5796 [email protected]Facility Social Director Molly Brooks 770-546-7459 [email protected]Swim & Tennis Director Bryan Schroeder 404-272-0174 [email protected]Community Social Director Meg Lovejoy 404-944-1180 [email protected]Secretary Pat Wagner 770-963-6285 [email protected]Webmaster Dan Gustavson 770-841-6449 [email protected]STEEPLECHASE COMMITTEES: COPS Program: [email protected]Garden Club: [email protected]Welcoming Committee: [email protected]POLICE RECOVERED STOLEN PROPERTY As most of you are aware, many of our residents have been victims of break-ins throughout the summer. Last week, I received a phone call from Cpl. Doug McClure of Gwinnett County PD asking for our help in finding some of these residents, as many of these stolen items have been recovered. No more details were available at the time of this printing, but it seems a young man is being investigated after he tried to pawn several of these items. Because very few police reports were filed, police are having difficulty locating the owners of many of these items. Please see the note below and contact Cpl. McClure if you need to recover any property you may have had stolen. - Sandy Parris “I am currently investigating an individual that has pawned several items in the month of July. As of today, I was able to locate 5 victims that live in your subdivision using the “home” feature on several GPS. I can only assume there are other victims and that is why I am reaching out to you for your help. The property I am currently in possession of is as follows: TomTom GPS (several) Ray Ban sunglasses (two) Jewelry Nintendo Garmin GPS (several) Megellan GPS Nintendo games (several) Watches Bicycle Personal DVD Player for vehicle “I have 2 GPS systems that I was able to find the street address “Steeple Run” and “Stone Mountain St”. Also, 164 Bay Bridge Drive St. Augustine Beach Fl. and 1241 Newell Parkway Montgomery Al. I have not been able to make contact with the Fl. or Al. address. I am thinking maybe one of your residents had friends or family from out of state and someone may be able to recognize the locations. “I did not want to be too specific on the items because the victims will still have to identify the property. If anyone had their vehicle(s) broken into please email me their name, address, cell phone number and a list of items that were stolen. In addition, add If they have or have not reported the incident to the police. If they do not have a report I can complete one for them. I have a lot of paperwork for this case and it would be much easier to track a victims case through email.” Thank you in advance for your help, Cpl. DH McClure #647 Gwinnett County Police Department CID-Burglary-Pawn Unit (770) 513-5362 [email protected]
POLICE RECOVERED STOLEN PROPERTY As most of you are aware, many of our residents have been victims of break-ins throughout the summer. Last week, I received a phone call from Cpl. Doug McClure of Gwinnett County PD asking for our help in finding some of these residents, as many of these stolen items have been recovered. No more details were available at the time of this printing, but it seems a young man is being investigated after he tried to pawn several of these items. Because very few police reports were filed, police are having difficulty locating the owners of many of these items. Please see the note below and contact Cpl. McClure if you need to recover any property you may have had stolen. - Sandy Parris “I am currently investigating an individual that has pawned several items in the month of July. As of today, I was able to locate 5 victims that live in your subdivision using the “home” feature on several GPS. I can only assume there are other victims and that is why I am reaching out to you for your help. The property I am currently in possession of is as follows: TomTom GPS (several) Ray Ban sunglasses (two) Jewelry Nintendo Garmin GPS (several) Megellan GPS Nintendo games (several) Watches Bicycle Personal DVD Player for vehicle “I have 2 GPS systems that I was able to find the street address “Steeple Run” and “Stone Mountain St”. Also, 164 Bay Bridge Drive St. Augustine Beach Fl. and 1241 Newell Parkway Montgomery Al. I have not been able to make contact with the Fl. or Al. address. I am thinking maybe one of your residents had friends or family from out of state and someone may be able to recognize the locations. “I did not want to be too specific on the items because the victims will still have to identify the property. If anyone had their vehicle(s) broken into please email me their name, address, cell phone number and a list of items that were stolen. In addition, add If they have or have not reported the incident to the police. If they do not have a report I can complete one for them. I have a lot of paperwork for this case and it would be much easier to track a victims case through email.” Thank you in advance for your help, Cpl. DH McClure #647 Gwinnett County Police Department CID-Burglary-Pawn Unit (770) 513-5362 [email protected]
2
FROM THE CHAIRMAN Well, summer is sure going by quickly! Hope you are all enjoying the heat and sunshine. Unfortunately, with summer comes some unwanted problems; mosquitoes, poison ivy, and, this year, many car break‐ins, as you have seen through your newsletters and E‐Blasts. They are happening all around the area, not just here in Steeplechase, so please be sure to lock your cars and close your garage doors at all times! There have been too many break‐ins for us to E‐Blast each one, so you may want to sign up for www.crimemapping.com to see ongoing notices. And now that the year is half way over, I hope that you will begin to think about volunteering to be a Board member in 2013. It is a big job, but if everyone pitches in and takes a turn, we can keep this neighborhood in good shape! We have an eleven member Board of Directors, so you can choose which activities you are most interested in leading. There are positions to interest everyone, whether you join the Facility or just enjoy being a Community member and keeping this neighborhood great, whether you have kids or not, whether you are young or older. So please, give some thought to taking your turn in leading your neighborhood. Our elections will be held at the November membership meeting, and the term of service is the calendar year beginning January 1, 2013. It really is in the best interest of Steeplechase to have some new folks step in with new ideas and renewed energy every year. Unfortunately sometimes the same people agree to serve simply because no one else will step up to the plate. Please help bring new leadership to our neighborhood; your leadership! You will receive so much in return, new friends, new understanding, and the unending praise and appreciation from your neighbors. (Okay, maybe not so much the last, but still...) I hope you will take the time to give the idea serious consideration and try hard to find a way to give back to your “hometown” of Steeplechase by spending one year serving on our Board of Directors. ‐ Peggy Boydston
FROM THE COMMUNITY PRESIDENT Well they’re here: the last few days of our summer break. I a m looking forward to an adventurous
school year.
A few months back, the board received an email requesting
people or a group(s) in our neighborhood community that home schooled. At the time, I wasn't aware
of any groups that got together for activities. As the months passed, I realized there might be a need. So if you're interested, I will start a list of families who home school their children and their interest according to age group. If you think you would like to be included, please send me a brief email with your name, your child's age, grade level and interest. I will start putting together a database for our families. I'd also like to include educational services. You don't necessarily have to be a home school parent. Maybe you provide a service like piano lessons or math reinforcement skills. To be included in this database, is of course at no cost. Just an extra service to help our community with their students educational needs. Now with that being said, I wanted to also mention the importance of keeping an eye on our kids. There has been
an increase of off road vehicles being ridden throughout the neighborhood. First of all, our streets are considered public roads. Therefore, the driver of said vehicles MUST have a proper drivers license. In addition, the driver MUST wear a helmet. We have already had several boys in our neighborhood pulled over by police officers. Please be mindful of the rules and regulations as well as setting the right example for your children by abiding by the law and reinforcing it for their safety. Which leads me to my next issue. Last month an email blast was sent out regarding numerous car break ins as well as a bicycle thief. I cannot stress the importance of locking your cars, and keeping your garage doors closed. If you see, hear or are a victim of such crimes, CALL POLICE. Do not presume "nothing will be done.” It is important a report is filed. Just like a fingerprint, every criminal leaves a marking. Whether It is intentional or not, those markings lead to additional clues that help police find the person responsible. So help us keep YOUR neighborhood safe. Be on the lookout of suspicious people. Call the police and report any questionable behavior. It's better to be safe than sorry. As always feel free to contact me with your thoughts and ideas. Blessings, Cristina Cryan
ATTENTION PARENTS OF HOME
SCHOOLERS
3
FROM THE FACILITY & COMMUNITY SOCIAL DIRECTORS
BACK TO SCHOOL SOCIAL Join us for a Back to School Ice Cream Social on Sunday, August 12th in the Pavilion at 3 pm! You can chat about your first week of school, your teachers and classmates, etc., while enjoying some cool treats.
We want to thank everyone so much for helping to make all of our neighborhood get-togethers such a smashing success! As volunteers, with busy lives like everyone else--We do the best that we can to please everyone, as well as make everyone feel welcome! Please feel free to let us know if you have any helpful suggestions. Thanks, Your SRHA Social Directors - Meg & Molly
STEEPLECHASE CALENDAR OF EVENTS Back to School Social* August 12 Pig Roast September TBD Garage Sale* September 14 & 15 Adult Close the Pool Party September 22 Halloween Party & Bonfire* October 27 *Events open to BOTH paid Facility and Community members
FROM THE FACILITY PRESIDENT It's been a H--O-T summer & I'm glad we have a GREAT swimming pool. Just a few short notes: 1. The urinal in the Men's room is fixed. 2. The vending machine in the pavilion has been reloaded: please enjoy the goodies. Feel free to share your requests or suggestions with me. 3. We've installed newer video cameras around the pool area. Hopefully, we'll never have a need to refer to them but we wanted to be proactive. 4. We are planning to start repairs on court 3. Volunteers are needed so we don't have to hire laborers. Please contact me to be put on the distribution list & be notified when we're 'going out to work on court 3'. We will be doing most of the work in the evenings when it's cooler, from 7 PM until whenever. Please see Brian Schroeder's article for details about our tennis courts. Thanks, Jose Gonzalez
FROM THE SECRETARY The board met July 11, 2012. We currently have 263 community members of which 131 are facility members. As per bylaws, financial books were reviewed by the chairman and presidents. It was suggested that the upcoming board look at the cost of an outside company performing one of the four yearly audits and building that in to next year’s budget unless it is cost-prohibitive. Past tennis court repairs and expenses were reviewed along with SET results and long-term plans for court replacement. By majority vote, Court #3e will be repaired using volunteers and labor
provided by Dailey Construction. It is hoped that volunteer labor will be plentiful with minimal expense to SRHA outside of materials. Our next meeting will be held August 15th 2012 at 7 PM. Pat Wagner
Board
Meeting
Notes
4
FROM THE SWIM & TENNIS DIRECTOR Swim Update The SteepleStation Stingrays Swim Team wrapped up the 2012 season; congratulations! The following Steeplechase Residents competed at Georgia Tech's Olympic Pool for the Gwinnett County Championships on July 14th and 15th. All swimmers qualified in the Top 50 in Gwinnett County for their respective events. 15 & Up Girls - Ana Villa, Celine Decatrel, Jill Blackmon 15 & Up Boys - John Baumgart 13/14 Girls - McKensie Julian, Kelsey Julian, Andrea Frant 13/14 Boys - Phillippe Decatrel, Chris Gazda, Zach Lee 11/12 Girls - Julia Reda, Danielle Naurt, Reagan Reese 9/10 Girls - Jenna Lister, Gaby Cryan, Haley McCraken, Peyton Bush, Tyler Reason (Thunderbolts) 9/10 Boys - Anthony Frant 7/8 Girls - Sophia Cryan 7/8 Boys - Tyler Schroeder, Brody Schroeder, Jack Lovejoy, Parker Reason (Thunderbolts) 6 & Under Girls - Alli Forrest Tennis Update TENNIS COURT REPAIRS: WE NEED YOU!!!! Our Tennis Courts are over 25 years old and in need
of total re-construction. Our initial est imates are approximately $60,000.00 to re-build Courts #1 and #2; $35,000.00 re-build Courts #3 and #4 each. So we are in need of raising approximately $130,000.00 to replace all our courts. Obviously this will not happen overnight. For the last two years the SRHA board has been allocating money in our budget for Long Term Improvements for the Tennis Facility. Each year we save a p p r o x i m a t e l y $4000.00. Also, several Facility members have started the SET (Steeplechase Events & Tennis)
Tennis Tournaments in May to raise money for a local charity and also to raise money for our Tennis Facility. Again, each year we save approximately $4000 from the tournament and periodic Round Robin Events. In the future we hope to save more from our Facility Budget and continue to grow our Tennis Tournament. But at $8000.00 a year, it will be several years away before we can do any of these major repairs. In the short term we are applying "band aid" repairs to our courts. Over the last few years, as we have been building up our reserves, several volunteers from the neighborhood have worked on repairing our Courts at a fraction of the cost of hiring a Tennis Court Repair Company. The results have been very
successful. We have received lots of compliments on the condition of Courts #1 and #2, all completed by volunteers (Your neighbors). This volunteer effort has easily saved the neighborhood over $5000.00 over the last few years, allowed us to build up reserves and keep facility dues from rising. Work is ongoing; we have repaired most of Court #4 - the final painting is still required. Court #3 is next on the agenda. As you are reading this, Court #3 repairs should have begun. We hope to have Court #3 and Court #4 completed by Mid August. That is where you come in: WE NEED VOLUNTEERS. The more volunteers we have, the sooner we can have our courts back in great playing condition, and the more money we have save for Long Term Improvements. No experience required. Learn from our experienced volunteers. Come hang out and socialize with your neighbors has we improve the conditions of our facilities. Please contact us so we can keep you posted on our work schedule by e-mailing [email protected] or [email protected] Jose Gonzalez has volunteered to manage our volunteer efforts. Jose will send out reminders to all the volunteers as to what tasks are ongoing. Also worth noting, the money raised at our SET tournaments over the last 3 years has had an immediate impact. Proceeds from our tournaments have afforded us to purchase the black monogrammed benches at Court #1 and #2, and just recently, new chairs for the Viewing Area at Court #1. Again without volunteers, none of this would have been possible. Anyone interested in volunteering with our Tennis Tournament as well, please contact us. To date we have saved over $17,000.00 towards our goal of $130,000.00. It will be a long road to reach our goal, but with continued volunteer help, ours goals are right around the corner. Thanks again for your support, do not hesitate to reach out to us for any questions. SEE YOU ON THE COURTS Bryan Schroeder
Above: SET Volunteers present a donation to the Quinn House.
5
GARDEN CORNER
COPS REPORT Hopefully, everyone is aware there have been several thefts in Steeplechase the past couple of months. Most of these incidents have been thefts from unlocked cars during the middle of the night. Some of these instances have been reported to the police. Others have not. Due to the non-reporting of theft from cars, it is difficult to determine how large of a problem this is. This type of crime usually in-creases during the summer months when kids are out of school. Due to the numerous reports of crime within Stee-plechase, the police have increased their presence in the neighborhood. See the article on the front page of this newsletter for more details. One other instance occurred when an individual entered an open garage and removed a bike during the middle of the afternoon on July 4th. The individual was captured by a surveillance camera. Steeplechase’s webmaster sent a link (in a weekly e-blast) of the video from the surveillance camera. The bike owner was able to retrieve the bike later that afternoon as the individual rode the bike back into the area from where it was stolen. Other instances have been reported to police where stolen property was left in the rear of a pickup truck. If you are missing a black and white bag with personal items, please contact the Gwinnett County Police to reclaim it. How can we help: ALWAYS report any kind of crime or suspicious activity to the police AND your COPS liaison. If the crime results in a life threatening issue, call 911. Otherwise the non-emergency number for the police is the best way to report this activity. By reporting, the police can get a better sense of (1) how large or small the problem is, (2) the areas affected and not affected, and (3) the different kind of crimes seen in one area. Steeplechase COPS
Hanna Kluesner, age 9, is excited about gardening and we are excited that she is sharing her first gardening experience with us. We would love to hear from the rest of you gardeners out there – please send us photos and info so that we can share with the neighborhood. Thank you, Hannah for taking the time to share your experience. We hope that you will continue to enjoy gardening for many years to come! “My name is Hannah Kluesner. I told my mom that I wanted to make a garden. It knew it was going to be hard work! The 1st thing we had to do was get all of the leaves out of the garden's spot. That was hard because you wanted to get all of the leaves out even the little one. Then we had to get the dirt nice and raked it up. The next thing we did was go to the store to get soil for the garden. We took that soil and mixed it in with the dirt in the garden. Then it was the time we had all been waiting for! Time to go get the fruits and vegetables for the garden and plant them! We planted 8 tomato plants, 1 jalapeno plant, 2 strawberry plants, 6 sweet potato plants, 3 cucumber plants, 3 spring lettuce plants, and a bunch of onions! I painted rocks with what was in the garden so we knew what everything was while it was growing. “There was one thing I didn't like. I didn't like having all the weeds! I've now learned how to fight back with the weeds. You put newspaper on the ground around the plants. You then lay hay over the newspaper so that the weeds can't get any sunlight to grow. I will do this next year for sure! “I liked watching everything grow in my garden. Another good thing is that you save money on fruits and vegetables. I hope this makes you want to make a garden next year!”
Do you have trees with limbs hanging over the street? Please be sure to trim limbs back to allow school buses and emergency vehicles to travel safely underneath. Rain barrels ● August 9 Noon to 1:00 pm. Learn about rain barrels which are relatively easy to construct at minimal cost. Rain barrels are used to collect rain water as an alternative way to provide water for your landscape. Pre-registration is required by Tuesday, August 7. Fall lawn care ● August 21 Noon to 1:00 pm. In this class you will learn about how to keep your lawn healthy and attractive into fall and winter. Pre-registration is required by Friday, August 17. all vegetable gardening ● September 5 Noon to 1:00 pm. Learn how to prepare the fall garden plot and which vegetables are the best choices for it. Pre-registration is required by Friday, August 31. The classes will be held in the Gwinnett County Cooperative Extension Conference Room located on the fourth floor of the Gwinnett County Government Annex Building, 750 South Perry St, Lawrenceville, GA 30046. There is no charge for the classes but pre-registration is required.
Above: Hannah shows off her garden.
Bill Campbell and grand-niece Corra Webb enjoy some gardening time.
6
The following article was submitted by Grow Counseling, a Thorough-Read News Advertiser. We found it to be extremely objective and informational; we hope you can find it useful as well. Help Your Kids Stand Up As we are all getting ready to send our kids back to school, the topic of bullying starts to become more prevalent. It is plastered all over the news these days with school shootings, cyber bullying, teen suicides being linked back to bullying. Bullying can come in different forms but the most common are verbal- calling names and putting others down, physical- hitting, kicking, pushing, or social- leaving people out or spreading lies about them. So this leaves many parents with a lot of questions: does bullying really lead to aggression in schools, how do I know if my kid is being bullied or bullying other kids, and how do I protect my kid from being bullied? I want to offer parents and others answer some of these questions and have some ways to start talking with your kids about bullying. Does bullying really lead to aggression in schools? Research shows there is an association between bullying and aggression in schools. One such research conducted by the U.S. Secret Service developed and implemented the Safe School Initiative project to study violence in schools. They found in several cases, bullying played a pivotal role in the assault. In over 2/3 of the cases, the attackers felt bullied, persecuted, threatened, attacked, or injured by others preceding the attack. Several had experienced severe and longstanding bullying and harassment, and in these
cases, the bullying experience was a motivating factor for the attack. So this along with other research shows bullying is something to be taken serious by parents and school personnel. How do I know if my kid is being bullied or bullying other kids? Your kids suddenly have fewer friends, are afraid of going to school or other activities, they frequently have damaged or missing clothing or other belongings, or they talk about wanting to die. The warning signs your kid is bullying others are a little different and these include: being violent with peers, frequently having extra money or belongings, blaming others for problems, or having friends who bully others. How do I protect my kid from being bullied? It is important to start talking with your kid about what bullying is and how they can respond to bullying; these cartoon clips on bullying can be a great conversation starter with kids: http://www.stopbullying.gov/kids/webisodes/index.html. Other ways to help protect against bullying is getting involved at your kid’s school, knowing what is going on in your kid’s day, or asking their school to start an anti-bulling initiative. If bullying continues or increases you can contact your kid’s teacher or principle, a counselor, or even the police if you feel you kid is in immediate danger. Jennifer Wilmoth, LAMFT Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist Grow Counseling
How to Help Your Kids with Bullying
August Yard of the Month Regis & Patty Sakalik 2451 Turf Court Honorable Mentions: 2239 Sandown Drive - Mike Taylor 1210 Fairfax Hunt - Bruce and Dianne
ATTENTION ALL DRIVERS! Back‐to‐School means more
children walking to/from the bus stops several times per day. Please
drive slowly and carefully!
7
Steeplechase
Party!
Photos courtesy of Peggy Willis
8
Ad Size Ad Cost 3 insertions 1 10% disc. Business Card $ 5 $ 13.50 Quarter page $15 $ 40.50 Half page $30 $ 81 Full page $60 $162 Advertising Guidelines: Format: Color or B/W, camera‐ready. Photos are highly encouraged! Deadlines and payment: All finished artwork and payment must be provided to me by the 20th of each month prior to the upcoming issue. Checks should be made out to SRHA and delivered to my mailbox (Sandy Parris) at 2208 Sandown Drive. Ads not paid for in advance will not run (sorry!). NEW: For multiple insertions, any changes to the original ad must be submitted electronically to Editor prior to next deadline. ** If any ad provided requires additional revisions not provided by advertiser, Editor may charge an additional typesetting / layout fee; to be discussed prior to any work being done. Questions? Contact Sandy Parris at [email protected] or at 678‐427‐4867.
Classifieds—Free to all paid members; may not offer business services. Members 18 and under may advertise services for free.
2012 NEWSLETTER ADVERTISING RATES
www.THESteeplechaseAgent.com THE ONLY Agent to continue to maintain prices in Steeplechase—Jason Moore! Jason’s Steeplechase
Properties Sell for an Average of $45,900 more than Properties that were not Listed with Jason! Don’t
Leave Money on the Table… Call Jason Today!
SOLD—2238 Sandown Drive
SALES PRICE—$180,000 Jason Moore, CRS, CDPE, ABR
RE/MAX Platinum Club Sever Road Resident Since 1989
Stay current with Steeplechase news! Read your neighborhood newsletter! www.steeplechase.org
Is this YOU? If the
address label does not
reflect your information,
please contact a
Board member! See
main page for details.
STEEPLECHASE CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2012
Back to School Social* August 12 Pig Roast September TBD Garage Sale* Sept 14 & 15 Adult Close the Pool Party September 22 Halloween Party & Bonfire* October 27
*Events open to BOTH paid Facility and Community members
