Dear Village Neighbor / Friend,
Again, I want to remind all that I send these enews messages to my Verizon address and include all other village email addresses in the bcc line. It isn’t personal unless the shoe fits. Webmaster Bob Havey and I are trying different techniques to fix distribution problems with these enews. I ask for your patience and that you please let us know if this edition ends up in your Junk or Suspected Spam folder.
1. Republic Trash Services - Steve Mason (Vancouver) contacted Republic regarding Christmas tree pickup. Trees can be put curbside on the normal yard waste collection day, free of all decorations, lights, etc. Trees longer than 6 feet should be cut to be shorter than 6 feet. They “normally” pickup Christmas trees on the first two Wednesdays of the new year, but will they make up for yesterday?
Many of you received a recorded message from Republic saying they intended to catch up with curbside collections by this coming Saturday evening. Their website includes a report that all routes were suspended day before yesterday due to hazardous road conditions. They close that report with “We will resume routes when it is safe to do so.”
A voice recording when you call them at 703/818-8222 asks that we leave our containers curbside until they can catch up. Be on the lookout for them and sound the alarm using our FaceBook Group if/when you spot them doing what we pay them to do. I welcome any reports from those who use American or Bates.
2. Village Directory Ads – Last call, but hurry if you want to advertise your business or the one where you work in our next directory. Those ads help defray the cost of the directory. Here are the ad rates for the 2022 directory:
- Back Cover - $325
- Inside Front Cover - $250
- Inside Back Cover - $250
- Full Page - $150
- Half Page - $125
If you have questions, contact Steve at Printing Ideas (steve@printingideas.com). He will help with your ad if you need him.
3. Directory Delivery – we still need a few more volunteers from the east side of Rolling Road to help deliver the directory to CAWSV members door-to-door later this month once Steve at Printing Ideas finishes the run. Time required is 30 – 45 minutes tops and is a suitable service project for older kids. We’ll break them into lots, provide you a list of recipients along with a map. Deliverers leave the directory near recipient’s front door out of the weather and where it won’t blow away.
If you did not join or renew your membership in our civic association, you can purchase a copy of the directory for $10.00. That also comes with a free membership for the rest of this fiscal/membership year.
4. ECHO - Last year, 650 children received toys, games and books, and more than 1000 received filled backpacks for school. ECHO’s Food Pantry distributed more than 315,000 pounds of food to more than 1100 local families. At least 3,600 people found clothing they needed. ECHO provided rent assistance and help with utility payments. Donations of goods and money allowed ECHO to provide household items such as sheets, pots, and pans, as well as personal hygiene supplies and diapers to those needing help.
ECHO has volunteer openings for specific days. If interested, email Volunteercoordinator@echo-inc.org for more information. ECHO needs staple foods and hygiene supplies constantly. Check ECHO’s website, echo-inc.org, to find the list of needed items. ECHO’s days and times of operation: Monday through Friday, 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings 7:00 to 9:00 PM. Also, one Saturday morning a month, but check echo-inc.org for that Saturday date. Volunteers and donors are advised to check ECHO’s website on days when the weather is questionable.
5. Has our Civic Association Become More Efficient? Credit former President, Dick Denny. We went from 40+ block captains who invested 2 – 3 hours to do the membership drive door-to-door to doing it all by email, direct mail, website, and FaceBook Group. Before our reliance on enews, we put out hard copy Village Crier four times each year We reduced that to three times and then went completely to electronic media. To distribute that newsletter door to door cost about 50 manhours each edition. We are now trying to find a secure way to put our directory online; if you know how without security compromise of our personal information – please let me know.
6. Random Acts of Kindness:
- Mitali Mathur wants to give a loud shout out and a huge thank you to Dave Schulker and Bill Daugherty for removing snow from the entire sidewalk upfront. This is the best neighborhood, all thanks to neighbors like Dave and Bill.
- Julia Hale would like you to post a big thank you to Chris Pappas for clearing the sidewalks on our streets and clearing our driveway. Julia says he is a dear.
7. Calendar:
- 17 January Martin Luther King, Jr Birthday
- 21-24 January FCPS Student Holiday
- 21 February President’s Day / Student Holiday
- 2 March Wednesday Collection of Yard Waste Begins Again
- 4 March FCPS Student Holiday
- 13 March Daylight Savings Time Begins
8. Happy Birthdays: USAF LTC (R) Glenn Cooley (my son) and Brendan James Cooley (his son, 13 years of age early next week). Life is good isn’t it?
Stay safe. With the snow melting and refreezing – roads and sidewalks can be treacherous.
John Cooley
CAWSV