NATIONAL NIGHT OUT

Crimefighters–

The National Association of  Town Watch has just announced their judging committee results for National Night Out 2010–

First Place (in the nation)- Category 3- RICHARDSON, TEXAS !

http://www.nationaltownwatch.org/nno/award.html

Congratulations and a heartfelt thanks to all of our Neighborhood Watch Facilitators, Coordinators and Block Captains. You put us there.

john

A personal property inventory can help recover or replace items lost to theft, fire, or other event. Create and store your property inventory at www.knowyourstuff.org

Officer John Corbitt
CCPS/CPTED Certified
(972) 744-4952
john.corbitt@cor.gov
Crime Prevention Unit— West Sector
Richardson Police Department

Please contact Marsha Mayo if you want to participate in the HPNA Citizen Patrollers Program or Crime Watch.mmayo01@sprynet.com

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Bond Tracker Program – City of Richardson Website

http://www.cor.net Follow this link to the City’s website; click on the 2010 Bond link on the left-side of the page; then click on the box: NEW BOND TRACKER.

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Reminder about the Community Garden

Below is information from Betsy Randall at the Epiphany Church at the corner of Custer and Greenleaf. We’re partnering with them to have a community garden and they’re now ready to take reservations for garden plots. Follow the directions below if you want to participate, but you should do so quickly because Betsy says the plots are going fast. You can get more information from Margaret Miller (email below) on the details of working on a community garden.

I’m very anxious to see this be a success. I think it’s going to be lots of fun as well as being a community builder.

Thanks.

Janet DePuy

President

Heights Park N.A.

214.282.6921

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Epiphany Neighborhood Garden

Join our Heights Park neighbors at the Epiphany Neighborhood Garden in the exciting first planting season of our community garden.  Plots are now open for reservation.  There are limited plots.  Reservations will be taken on a first come, first serve basis.  Simply email Margaret Miller with your contact information at paulmiller4@att.net to hold a plot for spring planting and to get all the information you need. No money is required for a reservation.  Cost for the year is only $75 and will be collected in January. This fee helps to cover water and general maintenance of the garden.

FAQs:

Where is the garden?  Episcopal Church of the Epiphany is located at 421 Custer Road, right in our neighborhood. How big is the plot?  Each individual plot is 5×20 feet. What does it offer for our neighborhood?  Community gardens live up to their name:  They build community!  The garden will provide a place to plant and harvest food, a place for folks to meet and get to know one another, a learning center for scouts and school children and many more benefits.

On a side note:  Two girl scouts hoping to earn their Gold Award have set in motion plans to install picnic table, benches and some landscaping.   One area will offer space for gathering and socializing, the other for prayer and meditation.  We also have scout groups who have asked to reserve plots.  Things are rolling!

Thank you,

Betsy Randall

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December Holiday Lights Contest

Don’t forget to have your holiday lights out in early December if you want to be one of the Yard of the Month Judges’ picks!

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Heights Park Hayride

Tuesday, December 21

811 Lockwood Drive

Join your neighbors for an “Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration”

6:30 pm – Hay Ride takes off from 811 Lockwood

Ride through the streets of Heights Park singing your favorite Christmas Carols.  You may ‘jump on’ at any time during the ride.  We will travel northbound on each street between Thompson & Floyd starting on Lockwood and ending at Heights Park.

7:30 pm – Dessert

Join us back at 811 Lockwood for roasted marshmallows and hot chocolate.

RSVP

Julie Anders: J2anders@sbcglobal.net

Community Garden

Watch your email for an update on the Heights Park/Church of the Epiphany Community Garden. The Rev. Betsy Randall spoke at our September general meeting about the garden and received lots of interest from our residents. She says the church leadership has approved the garden plan so Betsy is working on the details now. I should have more information from her to provide you next week on how the program will work and how you can participate. I think this garden is going to be a great community project for our neighborhood!

Heights Park Flag Lease Program

Many of you have expressed an interest in the Flag Program. The charge for the flag being placed at your curb five times per year is $35/year. You can mail a check to HPNA, P.O. Box 833537, Richardson, TX 75080. We’ll start the program in 2011. You must be a paid member of HPNA to participate in the flag program, however. Membership in HPNA is $15/year. So if you want to participate in membership and the flag program in 2011, you can mail a check for $50 to cover the cost of both. (One check is fine.) I’ve included a membership/flag form below for you to complete; we must have accurate contact information so the flags can be placed at your house. If you don’t know whether or not you’ve paid your 2011 HPNA membership dues, please send me a note. We begin our official membership drive in January, so you can sign up then or you can send your dues and flag money now. (Certainly not a requirement, but it would be helpful if you could let me know when you’re mailing a check so we can be sure to check the P.O. Box.)

Recycling Make Up Schedule: (from David Morgan, Assistant City Manager)

This information is already available on the City’s website http://www.cor.net/PublicServices.aspx?id=2420 and it will be in an upcoming issue of the Richardson Today as well.

Thanksgiving 2010

Thursday Nov. 25 will be made up on Wed. Nov 24. Friday Nov. 26 will be made up on Sat., Nov. 27.

Christmas 2010

Because Christmas falls on a Saturday this year, we had to do things a little different this year. Monday Dec. 20 and Tuesday Dec. 21 will both be collected on Monday Dec. 20. Thursday Dec. 23 will be made up on Tuesday Dec. 21. Friday Dec. 24 will be made up on Wednesday Dec. 22.

New Years 2010

New Years Day also falls on a Saturday this year which makes Friday Dec. 31 the City holiday. Friday Dec. 31 will be made up on Thursday Dec. 30. Thursday Dec. 30 will be made up on Wednesday Dec. 29.

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December Holiday Lights Contest

Don’t forget to have your holiday lights out in early December if you want to be one of the Yard of the Month Judges’ picks!

Heights Park Hayride

Tuesday, December 21

811 Lockwood Drive

Join your neighbors for an

“Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration”

6:30 pm – Hay Ride takes off from 811 Lockwood

Ride through the streets of Heights Park singing your favorite Christmas Carols.  You may ‘jump on’ at any time during the ride.  We will travel northbound on each street between Thompson & Floyd starting on Lockwood and ending at Heights Park.

7:30 pm – Dessert

Join us back at 811 Lockwood for roasted marshmallows and hot chocolate.

RSVP

Julie Anders

J2anders@sbcglobal.net

Here are photos of our 2010 Oktoberfest celebration at Heights Park. Contact us if you’d like a full-size high quality version of any of these, or want any photograph removed from our site. Thanks to everyone who came!

Photos by Nathan Beach.

Congratulations to Steven DePuy and Chris Michero at 619 Greenleaf for a wonderful fall display of hundreds of assorted pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns and other fall décor. If you haven’t had a chance to drive by their beautiful creation, please take the time and see what they’ve done with their cute cottage. It was definitely a hit on Halloween night! They were also featured this year on the BackYard Garden Tour benefitting Richardson High School. It’s truly a creative, festive and fun-filled garden—check it out!

Great News from Officer John Corbitt regarding National Night Out.

Crimefighters—

The votes are in and have been tallied. Congratulations are in order for the following National Night Out (October 5th) block parties that participated in our Neighborhood Award contest, and were subsequently judged as outstanding and worthy of special recognition. These Watch areas will have special signs displayed for the next year recognizing them as Neighborhood Award Winners. The city-wide results have also been published in the November issue of the Richardson Today.–

West side results

Overall Winnner-  300 blk N. Cottonwood- Patti Watson
1st Runner Up- 600 blk Lockwood- Janis Riley.

Congratulations, Janis, and the 600 block of Lockwood for another great NNO event!
2nd Runner Up- 300 – 400 blks Forest Grove- Bobbie Clinkenbeard
Honorable Mention- 1200 blk Mohawk- Diana Stein
Multi Family- Lakeside on Spring Valley- Tanya Pipken

All in all, we had 167 registered block parties that evening. While we made it to most, I know we missed some, came too early to a few, or too late to others. We had perfect weather and plenty of NNO spirit. We collected 4,775 pounds of items for Network that evening (combined with our pre-NNO events for a total of 6,299 lbs). The post report was turned in and we are awaiting NATW’s take on how Richardson did this year.

On behalf of the entire Crime Prevention Unit, I wish to commend all of our Block Captains and their helpers for their dedication to the community, especially those who serve year after year. Neighborhood Watch is an essential part of a successful partnership between residents and their police department, and it does serve to bring block residents outside to meet their neighbors at least once a year. So, we thank you all for your efforts and hard work, and your neighbors thank you as well.

A special thanks go to the west side neighborhood associations who recognize the importance of and help maintain the integrity of the “block watch” concept, which emphasizes neighbor watching out for neighbor. While associations serve to represent a neighborhood as a whole, Neighborhood Watch is much more effective and efficient when organized street by street. Several associations were more involved in NNO efforts this year, which helped streamline the process of getting more Block Captains organized and registered.

Officer John Corbitt
CCPS/CPTED Certified
(972) 744-4952
john.corbitt@cor.gov
Crime Prevention Unit— West Sector
Richardson Police Department

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HPNA November Yard of the Month Winners: Steven DePuy and Chris Michero

Congratulations to Steven DePuy and Chris Michero at 619 Greenleaf for a wonderful fall display of hundreds of assorted pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns and other fall décor. If you haven’t had a chance to drive by their beautiful creation, please take the time and see what they’ve done with their cute cottage. It was definitely a hit on Halloween night! They were also featured this year on the BackYard Garden Tour benefitting Richardson High School. It’s truly a creative, festive and fun-filled garden—check it out!

December Holiday Lights Contest:

Remember to have your yard/house prepared for the December Holiday Lights Contest. Judges will be choosing the winner at the beginning of December so if you want to have your home included, be ready. You can make your nominations online (www.heightspark.com Yard of the Month link). Nominate your yard or a neighbor’s yard. Good luck!

(The Yard of the Month program will begin again in the spring.)

Richardson Christmas Parade: December 4th: 9:00 a.m.

One of the main purposes of the parade is to get new, unwrapped toys from the parade entrants to Network of Community Ministries. I would encourage you to either donate a toy or write a check to the Network to make the Christmas season a little brighter for those in need. Please contact the Network with any questions.