July 2018 Chickasaw POV.Pdf
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Electronic Chickasaw Point of View [email protected] July 2018 Chickasaw Happenings The Annual Fourth of July Celebration was held on Saturday, June 30. For the fourth year, it began with the parade of golf carts and utility vehicles. Below are four of the twenty–seven vehicles decorated in red, white and blue that participated this year. Every parade needs a cheering crowd, so one large group of friends gathered at the home of Mike and Maxine Dunn on Chickasaw Drive for brunch and parade watching. As the parade vehicles gathered at the Community Center, Ann Marie Weber served as assistant to Jerry Sitton and helped to put the vehicles in line. Later in the day, residents and guests gathered on the deck of The Grill for the traditional picnic sponsored by the Chickasaw Point Men’s Club. Overseeing the grill at the picnic were (from the left) Greg Woodson, Roseanne Weber and Jay Ratliff. After the picnic, members of the Oconee Eagles RC Club demonstrated the capabilities of their planes during an air show. The club has 40 members and flies near Westminster, South Carolina. Anyone interested in joining the club or just watching them fly should contact Ralph Yates or Darwin Ford. Scott Boone launches his plane as part of the air Surrounded by club members, Darwin Ford show. shows off his plane before it crashed into the trees. Fireworks completed the night. Another Chickasaw Point tradition is the Men’s Club Pancake Breakfast on Memorial Day Weekend. Residents and guests were able to choose from pancakes or waffles with all the trimmings. From the left, Joel Rexford and Powell Waite From the left, Joe Steinkirchner, Mike Berardo serve pancakes and sausages to the guests. and Jerry Sitton volunteered to staff the kitchen. From the left, volunteers Mike Dittmer and Gerry Large made waffles for the hungry guests. On the deck of The Grill, you will find a new bench on which you can relax and chat with friends. It was a gift from the Salem Lions Club and the engraved plaque says, “Presented to members and staff of the Chickasaw Point Golf Club In recognition of their hosting the 2018 Salem Lions Club Charity Golf Tournament”. From the Board of the Property Owners Association By Don Smith, President of the POA Many of you might remember that the Chickasaw Point Golf Association (CPGA) was once an important part of managing the golf course in conjunction with the Property Owners Association (POA) Board. After many discussions with residents and the growing amount of work we need to do concerning the golf course, the POA Board has decided to re-form the CPGA. The CPGA will assist the General Manager, Lisa Rose, in all areas of management for the golf course. The Board of Directors for the CPGA will consist of: The Current President of the POA, Don Smith The Current President of the CPGA, Randy Woodson Resident in good standing selected by the POA and CPGA, Skip Holden The Officers of the CPGA are: President – Randy Woodson Vice President – Pat Craft Secretary – Kim Wolcoveick Treasurer – Current POA Treasurer, Don Long Additional members – Jim Friesen and Lee Ray Thompson All of these residents have volunteered their time to improve the golf experience at Chickasaw Point, and the POA Board looks forward to working with them! The officers will be looking for additional people to serve on various committees, so if you are interested, please contact one of them. Communications and Public Relations By Gene Blair, Director of Communications and Public Relations Well, the time has arrived! This will be my last article as the Director of Communications and Public Relations (PR). Twelve years ago this August, I was elected to the board of the Chickasaw Point Property Owners Association (POA). I am honored that you chose to re-elect me three more times over the years. Now it is time to step aside and let someone else sit up front at the meetings, leaving me the opportunity to sit in the audience. From day one, I was assigned the responsibility of handling our communications and PR. It was exciting and challenging, but we made great progress. By we, I mean all the folks who did all the real work. I remember sitting in the activity center addressing printed Point of View (POV) newspapers with a large group sitting around putting on labels and sorting for mailing. And that was after so many spent weeks composing the paper itself. Some of that group migrated to our current team when we converted to an electronic version several years ago. I also remember the daunting task of creating new brochures for the community and the golf course. Then over the years, updating them to keep them current. We were highly fortunate to have found a vendor who was amazing at realizing our vision and converting it into a final product. Then, with the same vendor, we did a major upgrade to our website and added videos, narrations, etc. The website became so successful that realtors began including it on their sites as a link and using it for marketing from their offices. The first thing I learned was to get as much free "advertising" as possible. We did that through submitting "human interest" articles to the local papers. One time it included a full-page article about Chickasaw Point volunteerism including a photo of approximately 90 volunteers lined up at the golf course. We even had WYFF4 out here to welcome home a resident's son when he came back from the Middle East. The coverage on TV was something we could never have afforded to pay for ourselves. I personally went out into the local community and got involved with various service organizations. They were a great platform for promoting Chickasaw Point. As my networking grew, I was able to spend years on the Board of the Oconee Chamber of Commerce. I created an organization called VOSO (Voice of South Oconee) consisting of leaders from the lower end of the county. Our membership/distribution list consisted of over 7,000 members through the various communities in this area. I was on the Oconee County Economic Development Commission and worked to get the Industrial Park built during my years there. I also served on the Oconee County Transit Advisory Board, working with consultants to plan for public transportation countywide. I worked closely with the county council members and our state representatives on a variety of issues that affected us directly and indirectly. In fact, Paul Corbeil (past county council member) and I were instrumental in creating the Mountain Lakes Communities Association around 2006. I currently sit on that board, and we were recently instrumental in revising state legislation that would have had a severe impact on POAs. Finally, I was fortunate enough to serve on the board of the Oconee Memorial Hospital for eight years. That gave me the opportunity to have an impact on the stability of our local hospital and to greatly enhance its safety and quality measurements. Last December, I realized I was working harder as a retiree than when I was getting paid for working. So, I resigned from 90% of these endeavors and decided to play more golf! I share all of this with you, because I wanted you to know that I did my best, but, at 73, I want to slow down. Someone younger and with more energy needs to take the reins. I finally get to sit and watch. I love this community and the people who live in it. I especially love the people who did the actual work in Communications and PR. Thank you all! I am sure that I speak for our entire community when I express appreciation for all that Gene has done for our community during his time on the Board of Directors. Under his leadership, Chickasaw Point has become known as a destination for friendly community living and first-rate recreational amenities. Gene, I wish you all the best there is and may your golf ball land in the fairways. Bonnie Craft Editor, Chickasaw Point of View Chickasaw Point Road Progress Update By Mike Dittmer, Director of Roads Paving on Point Road, including shoulder work and striping was completed in June 2018. Striping was also completed on Oconee Avenue. Many thanks to the Point Road volunteers and some volunteers from Oconee Avenue (including the President of the POA, Don Smith) who helped finalize the shoulder work with crusher run, grass seed and mulch. This was a challenge due to the heavy rains we encountered, but after many attempts, we have a great final product. Thanks to all. The NEW crack seal machine is now operational (thanks to many) with testing complete on Oconee Avenue. We will do more when the weather cools down. We are currently in the process of securing quotes to pave the front entrance. For those that are not aware, the roads in Chickasaw Point were never properly paved when the subdivision was developed over 40 years ago. In addition, the maintenance of the roads has been neglected for many years. There is a plan in place to address road maintenance. To get all the roads addressed will take many years and significant finances. Point Road Final Surface The Road Committee along with volunteers spread pine straw and mulch with grass seed onto the shoulders of the road to control erosion when it rains. Safety By Dave Sabo, Director of Safety SUMMER’S HERE! It is hot, humid and sunny. Our activities are at a high level.