Thank you to the many neighbors who have joined the Boulevard Lane Community Association for 2016. BLCA dues help to pay for many things, including the following:
- BLCA Membership Drive (every year)
- BLCA operational costs (office supplies, postage, etc.)
- BLCA website: BoulevardLane.org
- Inspection & maintenance of entrance & signs
- Inspection & maintenance of plum trees (arborist)
- Boulevard Lane Crier newsletter
- Spring General Meeting (every year, end of March)
- Annual Easter Egg Hunt (every year)
- Bark Day (every other year, next will be in Spring 2018)
- Annual Garage Sale (every year, first weekend in June)
- Dumpster Day (every other year, next will be in 2017)
- National Night Out (every year, in August)
- Fall General Meeting (every year, end of October)
- Holiday Light Walk (every year)
The benefits provided by the association benefit the entire neighborhood. Your membership each year is important and appreciated.
Growing up, I spent sunny afternoons riding my bike around the block for the umpteenth time, swinging on our play set in the backyard, and I participated in a coordinated effort to pick the grumpy old neighbor’s award-winning tulips (to bring them home to mom). We walked or biked to school. Most of our neighborhood knew each other by name. When I "borrowed" some rocks from my 1st Grade Teacher’s flower beds (because they were white and sparkly), I was sent back to her house to return them & apologize by the neighbor that saw me do it. Every summer the neighborhood would block off the streets and throw a BBQ with fun music and games for the kids.
There is a lot to be gained by fostering a neighborhood where these types of examples of a community of people are commonplace. We can all stand to be a bit more neighborly, right? We all can stand to participate more in our community. I hope to live (and for our children to grow up) in a neighborhood that looks out for one another. Where folks know their neighbors enough to realize that the vehicle in "The Joneses" driveway seems suspicious because you know they are on vacation. You might think that it is weird that their large screen TV is being loaded up and taken away—because you saw it being delivered recently. We could very possibly be THE DIFFERENCE for each other in matters of home security and the welfare of our children and pets.
Consider volunteering with the BLCA Board for a year—the time flies by faster than you might think. If not for the Board, then become involved in your local school’s parent/teacher association. Learn more about the neighbors that moved in across the street—get to know their kids and watch out for them as they dart in the street to catch their ball that went flying by because they missed the catch. Help the BLCA Board and other event volunteers set up at the next Easter Egg Hunt, and pick up trash when you notice it littering the entrance. BONUS POINTS if you organize a mid-summer block party in your cul-de-sac and start an annual tradition. A sense of community can only exist where there is participation by most. "Many hands make light work."
Greta Nelson, BLCA President & Crier Editor
