Castlegate Christmas Party

Hi Neighbors,

The HOA has planned the first Castlegate Christmas Party on December 19th from 2-5 p.m. at the park at Castlegate Blvd. & Sandwick.

There's a lot going on, games, bands, Santa pictures, firetrucks for the kids to see, food, etc.

This is a GREAT way to meet your neighbors to promote the sense of community in our neighborhood and help everyone meet neighbors that they haven't met before!

If you can't see the details in the flyer, I'll probably shoot this out to the email list today as well. Also, you can contact Ryan Olsen from the HOA Board at Ryan.Castlegate@gmail.com

This flyer went out on the Castlegate Marketplace group today, if you haven't joined that list, here's the website: http://groups.google.com/group/castlegatemarketplace?hl=en

I hope to see you there!

-Justin

New Google Group

Hi Neighbors,

Some of you who follow this blog may have noticed the new box above with the Google logo. That box is there to help you subscribe to our new Castlegate Blockwatch Google Group. Fortunately, our group has grown as of late and in order to help us communicate better I put this group together. Later on this week (if you don’t subscribe on your own), you may get an email from Google that you’re email address has been moved into the group. This will help us make sure that everyone will be able to receive important neighborhood and security information regardless of various email SMTP restrictions…please pardon the tech babble.

If you’d like to visit the Group and be one of the first to sign up, please visit the blog at www.CastlegateBlockwatch.com to submit your email address, or you can go directly to http://groups.google.com/group/castlegate-blockwatch?hl=en

Also, you may see a few signs around the neighborhood mailboxes with our information on them which we’ve placed in order to make sure everyone knows that we exist! If you have a neighbor that doesn’t know about the Blockwatch, would you please forward (or print and hand deliver) this email to them? With more members comes more success and security for everyone!

- Justin

"We look out for each other!"

www.CastlegateBlockwatch.com

New Email

Hi Neighbors,
We've seen a good response in the area from Meadow Lark to Brae Voe & between Simonton Blvd and Telescomb keeping an eye out for the peeping tom. I've seen several men and women walking the streets at night with flashlights to keep an eye on everything, and your work is appreciated! Even if this guy isn't caught, hopefully he knows that he has been seen and we're all aware of what he's doing. He should know that activities like that will not be tolerated.

Another quick point of business, I've set up another email account, Info@castlegateblockwatch.com. I did this for two reasons. First, I wanted a domain name so we could set up email accounts for our captains (once we have them established). Second, I really stink at using Gmail, as you may have noticed earlier.

If you could, please update your address book. This account will still forward to the new one so nothing will be missed, but all new notifications and updates will be from the new address.

We've had a good response of people wanting to get involved and help lead their local areas, but we still are in need of many volunteers. If you have any interest, feel free to contact me at Info@castlegateblockwatch.com.

Have a great night!

- Justin

Continue the Blockwatch

Hi Neighbors,
In case you hadn't heard, A few of us are in the process of continuing the Castlegate Community Blockwatch. The previous director has moved out of the neighborhood but she is still helping us with the transition. If you are interested in participating on any level with the Blockwatch (even if you have very little time to spare), please send in your information (name, email, phone, address) to castlegateblockwatch@gmail.com so we can notify you of upcoming events.

Thanks in advance for your participation!

HOA Fees

Several people have asked me why we've had the increase in HOA fees. I have been wondering the same. I have been told by our property manager at Oasis that a packet of information explaining the increase is being mailed to us and we should receive it some time during the first week of February.

Holiday Safety

Tonight we met and discussed holiday safety, graffiti (on SRP boxes), and other blockwatch matters. It was wonderful to meet so many of the newer residents from Parcel 1 (the northwest corner of Castlegate--the new construction)! I feel blessed to have such great neighbors and look forward to getting to know them better. It was great to see the regulars, too. To those of you who were unable to make it, I really do miss you when you're not there, and hope you are doing well!

Here are some reminders about holiday safety:

While shopping, keep your purse secure on your shoulder or strapped securly into the child seatbelt on the shopping cart (still watch it, though!).

Cover the keypad with your other hand when entering your PIN number for debit card payment.

Be aware of people around you in parking lots; ask for security to walk you out if you see suspicious looking people.

Don't leave your already purchased items sitting in plain view in the car; lock them in the trunk (if you have one).

Be cautious about scams; if someone asks you to donate toys or money, make sure it's to a well known organization (like the Marine Corps or Sheriff's Office).

SAFETY TIP: Keep your car keys with "key fob" next to your bed at night; if you hear someone attempting to break into your car or house, hit the horn button on your key fob to scare them away.
SECURITY TIP: Remember to keep your porch light and coach lights on at night

TRAVEL TIP: If you are traveling during the holiday season, be sure to have a trusted neighbor keep an eye on your house; leave a phone number so they can reach you if needed.

REMINDER: Have you tested your fire/smoke detectors lately?

No Quorum for December HOA Annual Meeting

Last night as I approached the small group of people gathered outside Simonton's Multi-purpose room waiting for the karate class to finish, I quickly realized there weren't enough people there to make a quorum for the HOA Annual meeting.

Again.

This happened last December, too.

This meeting is important because it involves election of new board members (or reelection of current ones), and because no new items can be brought to the board until this Annual Meeting is properly conducted.

I know this is the holiday season and we are all busy with festivities and planning and shopping and all that good stuff, and it's hard at the end of a long day to leave the comfort and warmth of our homes to get out to an HOA meeting (or a blockwatch meeting), but in order for our community to run the way WE want it to, we have to take Nike's advice and "Just Do It."

The HOA Annual Meeting will be rescheduled for January. Please make every effort to be there, and if you cannot, please MAIL IN YOUR BALLOT; mailing in your ballot will count toward a quorum.

Thanks so much!
sandi