Post date: Jun 14, 2018 4:17:36 PM
I’ve recently joined our Board of Directors and have been on the learning curve regarding the extensive “cat herding” that goes on for the volunteer Board members as they (we) diligently work for our community. It’s quite stunning and amazing how much behind the scene work occurs.
All of us have wanted to create more community in our village but we can’t possibly handle all the tasks associated with it given our own lives, families, work demands and the formal requirements for our subdivision. So, we are hoping you all might be able to help build our community and our relationships in our neighborhood.
To that end, this item on the Board Wish List is inspired by the idea of “block parties”. We don’t have blocks, but we do have “Phases”. (This is hold over language from construction days – Phase I is the Northwest circle, Phase II is the Northeast Circle, Phase III is the Southwest Circle and Phase IV is the Southeast Circle). There are four phases and each phase has community property at the center of it which could be perfect for gatherings.
We’d like to challenge each of our Phases to step up and host an event. Here are some ideas of events to help spark creativity:
v Ice Cream Social
v Badminton Tournament
v Volleyball Tournament
v Euchre Tournament
v Talent Show
v Christmas in July
v Games/Contests/Etc.
v Garden Walks (walking tour)
v “Look what I did to my home!!” (walking tour)
v Pot Luck
The more creative the better. The idea first and foremost is to have fun and to promote opportunities for neighbors to get to know each other and build relationships. Of course, we must remain legal and safe. Oh, and name tags would be very helpful!
Here is our proposed schedule of Village of Hickory Pointe Fun Days
Early May
July
September
October (maybe something around Halloween?)
This schedule allows each Phase to choose a month (your choice of a date in the month), and should allow for outdoor events in weird weather Michigan (of course there’s no guarantee about weather- so rain dates might be important to consider).
I’m certain that a lot of neighbors in each Phase do not even know each other so that will be a challenge in our kick off of this. What might be a starting point is for a group of neighbors who do know each other get together and start to get some ideas, find a way to share ideas with the rest of the phase and then take ownership. This is meant to inspire groups (informal committees) in our subdivision to help drive our sense of community. So, put your thinking hats on, have fun and let’s see what happens!
By the way, first come first serve on dates (just let me know which date your phase wants and I’ll add it to the schedule – laura@hickorypointesub.com). (And at this time, the Board is not designating funds to assist this with this due to our budget.) Have fun! Hope to hear from you all soon!
Laura Higle (on behalf of the Board)