OCTOBER 2020 Life at Crowfields DID YOU KNOW? October has two full moons this year: one on the 1st is called Harvest Moon. This happens about every three years, when the Full Moon, which is closest to the September equinox, happens in October. This marks the beginning of fall. The full Hunter’s Moon will be on the 31st. The Hunter’s Inside This Issue Moon this year will also be a “Blue Moon.” Halloween, the spookiest night of the year, is celebrated in Did You Know? 1 st many countries throughout the world on October 31 , the Tracking the Seasons 2 eve of “All Hallow’s Day.” A combination of the ancient From the Editor 3 celebration of the festival of All Saints with the Pagan autumn festivals celebration. The belief is on this day the The Property Manager’s Report 4 spirits can wander the earth freely. Children celebrate by Employee Profiles 6 dressing up on costumes and requesting “tricks or treats,” to Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes all the neighbors. Apparently, next to Christmas, spending in the Garden 7 on Halloween is the second highest for holidays. Activities and More in October 11 Here’s some October weather lore: Governor Cooper’s Phase 2.5 12 Announcements and Reminders 13 If ducks do slide at Hallowtide, Out and About Crowfields 14 At Christmas they will swim; If ducks do swim at Hallowtide, From the Kitchen 15 At Christmas they will slide. The Crowfields Chatter is Edited by Janet Moore and published by Gayle Connell. If you have ideas, an article or photos you would like to submit, contact Janet at 778-9300 or [email protected] The end of the summer is not the end of the world. Here's to October... A.A. Milne Page 2 Tracking the Seasons By Janet and Ed smith, from the Chatter Archives, November 1997 Page 3 Tracking the Seasons By Janet and Ed smith, from the Chatter Archives, November 1997 Submitted by Janet Moore, Editor Letter from the Editor —Janet Moore For a year now, I’ve been editing The Chatter with the able assistance of Gayle Connell. (To be honest, I couldn’t do it without her). Now it’s time to hear from you. Communicating well with our friends and neighbors is challenging in the best of times. But these are extraordinarily difficult times. Covid-19 put an end to First Friday and Simple Suppers. No more parties at the clubhouse, or indoor exercise classes, or history lessons from Bill Spellman, or travels through Greek mythology with Martin Snyder. Gone too are the wonderful lectures organized by the Social Committee, in-person board meetings and work sessions. All of these activities provided us with opportunities to gather, exchange ideas, and even break bread. Without them, there is a void that even Zoom can’t fill. With that in mind, and knowing that Covid-19 will be with us well into 2021, I am developing a readership survey to learn how we can improve The Chatter and identify other ways you would like to be kept informed. The electronic survey will go out later in October so that the results can be tabulated and reported back to you before the end of the year. The goal is to start 2021 with your recommendations incorporated into the January newsletter. When you get the survey, I hope you will take the time to fill it out. It won’t be a long one, and it will help make this long-standing publication better as we all figure out how to live and communicate in the time of Covid-19. The Property Manager’s Report Page 4 By Charles Bennett Greetings, As this year quickly nears its end, I prepare now for the upcoming one. I am currently focused on budget preparation. Reviewing this year’s profit and loss; performance reports help guide me to achieving a positive forecast result. Annually, I review all reserve items to ensure future repair and replacement cost are on track. Inflation rate increases are added as well as applying current costs to each item. There are sixty-four individual line items contained with-in the community reserves and thirty-four clusters, including roofs, exterior repairs, painting, and fences that all have to be accounted for. An extensive work book of Excel spreadsheets assists me in compiling and computing all this information. Consolidation of the community made this task more streamlined, and as many of you are aware, a large variety of talented people live within this community. One such resident was willing to share her talents to help me build this complex Excel work book. Many late evenings and lots of head scratching were needed to make my vision become reality. Her vast knowledge and years of experience made it happen. I lot of people don’t like to blow their own horn so, I will do it for her. Carolyn Jones assistance was invaluable and I truly do appreciate her dedication and insight. I knew she was up to the task as she had assisted me with another such project, a payroll spreadsheet, a year earlier. Her spreadsheet designs now save me countless hours of work and help ensure more consistent and arcuate computations. This is just one example of residents volunteering their time to make this community better. Every day, week, and month, these volunteers work hard to preserve, improve, and protect this community, to ensure its future existence. I fortunately get to work alongside them. Their guidance help lead me as I perform my duties as your Property Manager. We all owe them a big thanks. With the future in mind, I would like to say that Pete and I are in the process of updating our Grounds Plan for 2021. This year’s objectives were mostly achieved. Re-landscape work at C, D and E cul-de-sac was on schedule until the heat of summer put on the brakes. Grounds staff will be returning to this area soon to pick up where they left off. Pete hopes to have this project wrapped up before the leaf litter is in full swing. Pete and staff recently have been able to sow and overseed many areas where bare spots existed. Much success has been achieved, and thanks to rain and cooler temperatures, these areas are turning green once again. A few more areas still need attention, and weather permitting, they should be able to address them, too. On average the grounds crew receives approximately twenty-five work orders per month. Some simple to resolve, others consume days of work, not to mention continuing to maintain a seventy-two-acre park for your viewing and physical pleasure. Unexpected weather events continually make Pete alter his planned work schedule, and sometimes I don’t know how he makes it all happen. I do appreciate Pete and the grounds crew for their dedication and persistence. Speaking of the grounds crew, it finally looks like we have a full grounds crew! A new hire Jesse Edwards started September 10th, and another new employee, Nick Penley, is scheduled to begin October 5th. These two hires should bring us up to the required employee count for grounds. If all goes well, and they are able to complete their 90-day review period, they will become full time employees. Keep your fingers crossed all goes smoothly. I know Pete will appreciate the added help as leaves begin to fall. The Property Manager’s Report Page 5 By Charles Bennett The rush is on the get clusters ready for paint. Cooler weather is not far off and much work is still needed to ready three more clusters. P cluster is ready now for paint, and Q cluster is 60% ready. F and A clusters are next. Some work has already been done at F cluster with a couple more weeks’ worth of work required to complete. Painting can commence even though temperatures are falling. Our paint manufacturer states their product can be applied as long as siding surface temperatures stay above 35 degrees, after the paint is applied, and dries. Unfortunately, our contractor has been pulled away for other jobs on their schedule, but should be returning in early October. J.T. and James can work in conjunction with them to see the project through, hopefully before years end, and with a little luck and some determination, they should be back on track. J.T. and James have been busy the past few weeks cleaning roofs and gutters, so repair work was further delayed. No problem with not having enough to do around here, I mean, everywhere you look there are loads of beautiful mature trees. Never a dull or idle moment for this duo. Speaking of mature trees, or just trees in general, soon the grounds staff will be busy clearing leaves. Please keep in mind, they will be in the roadways and parking areas with loud equipment and will be unable to hear as approach in your vehicle. Please use extreme caution as you drive through the community. A near miss occurred just the other day. One of the grounds staff’s elbow was brushed by a passing cars mirror while he was blowing debris from the road. The vehicle never slowed or acknowledge the near miss. Please be highly aware, and share this urgent information with visitors and caregivers. Please remember to purge your utility areas of unwanted items that may have accumulated over the summer. These areas are quite difficult to maneuver in while you have a backpack blower strapped to you.