volume 11, issue 3 september 2014 berkshire lakes news€¦ · of the kitchen area including new...
TRANSCRIPT
sequent approval. The contracts were let and
the clubs were notified the clubhouse would
be closed for renovations from the end of
June until August 31st.
My thanks to Melrose Gardens who gra-
ciously provided use of their facilities to the
bridge and card clubs as well as to other as-
sociations for their meetings.
The renovations included a complete upgrade
of the kitchen area including new appliances,
cabinet faces and granite countertops, both
women’s and men’s lavatories were likewise
upgraded, lighting was improved and hall
ways eliminated. Doors were replaced, mold-
ings added, tile and carpeting replaced and a
new color scheme introduced. While not visi-
ble the alarm system was upgraded, a neces-
sity fostered by an antiquated system which
caused many false alarms. Lastly the en-
trance sign to the clubhouse was literally fall-
ing apart and has been replaced.
Of importance to all members is the entire
renovation has been funded by allocated re-
serves.
Lastly I would be remiss if I did not express
my sincere thanks to the following members
of the Berkshire Lakes Women’s Club for
their advice and assistance in color, tile, car-
peting and granite selection: Minnie Long-
mire, Judy Gaffney, Betty Wright, Gloria
Andrade, Maria Schoenfelder and Delayne
Fleming.
The “new” clubhouse is one that prospective
property owners will be impressed with and
that we all can be proud of as an important
asset of the Berkshire Lakes Complex.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert (Bob) Luparello, President.
S eptember already and fall will
soon be upon us, the weather
up north starts to turn a bit
cooler and the greenery will
turn from green to brilliant crimson and
yellow and with that we’ll see the return
of our seasonal residents with our best
wishes for a safe journey back to Berk-
shire Lakes.
This newsletter serves many purposes,
one of importance is to inform our
members of the actions your Master
Association undertakes to maintain the
ambiance and quality of the associa-
tion’s assets. When individuals are in-
terested in purchasing a property they
carefully examine the available individ-
ual units but also the surrounding prop-
erties and the maintenance of the associ-
ation’s assets; i.e. the tennis courts, pool
area and the clubhouse.
Your Board of Directors were elected to
ensure the association’s assets were
properly maintained, upgraded as neces-
sary while ensuring financial stability, a
responsibility they seriously abide by.
To that end reserves were established to
provide the necessary funding for major
renovation projects; one being the Mas-
ter Association clubhouse.
The clubhouse is just about twenty two
years old and while it has been well
maintained, it was time for a major up-
grade. Last June the BLMA board ap-
proved a plan to upgrade the interior of
the clubhouse, bids were solicited and
then reviewed by the Finance Commit-
tee; their recommendation was present-
ed to the board for their review and sub-
THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Berkshire Lakes Master Association
SEPTEMBER 2014
VOLUME 11, ISSUE 3
Berkshire Lakes News
IN THIS ISSUE
The President’s Message 1
Spiders 2
The Great Wall 2
Scofflaw Consequences 2
In Your Garden 3
Berkshire Lakes Women’s Club
3
4
Editor: Fred Rogers
YOUR COMMUNITY
NEEDS YOUR HELP Berkshire Lakes needs the
assistance of volunteers in
various committee positions.
Can you spare a couple of
hours per month to assist in the
management of our communi-
ty and its maintenance as an
outstanding place to live and
ensure the ongoing ambience?
Contact Alexis at 353-7633
for details of the many availa-
ble volunteer opportunities to
help our community.
Use the above link to access
our web site and all the infor-
mation it contains on your
cell phone.
The web site also contains
the Newsletter. Please advise
the office if you elect to re-
ceive these electronically
which can assist us to keep
costs down.
IN THIS ISSUE
The President’s Message 1
Smart 911 2
Identity Theft Precautions 2
811 Call before you dig 2
Clubhouse Renovation 3
Berkshire Lakes Women’s Club
3
Interested in owning a Dog?
4
SMART911 MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE
Page 2 BERKSHIRE LAKES NEWS
Thinking of taking advantage of the weather to plant, we would like to remind you that safe digging practices must always be followed. In fact, in many states calling 811 before you dig is not only recom-mended, it is the law! 811 Call Before You Dig and the Common Ground Alliance celebrated Monday 8/11 as National 811 Day, which serves as a convenient reminder to homeowners to always make a free call to 811 to reach their local utility notification center before starting any projects that require digging. The Common Ground Alliance (CGA) is a stakeholder-supported organization fo-cused on protecting under-ground utility lines and the people who dig near them. A recent study revealed that nearly half of homeowners who plan to dig this year won't call 811 to learn the approxi-mate locations of buried gas, electric, communications, wa-ter and sewer lines before dig-ging, putting their safety and the safety of others at risk. According to data collected by CGA, when an individual makes a call to 811 before digging, damage occurs less than 1 percent of the time.
To learn more, please read Call 811 Before You Dig.
W e all hope and maybe pray that we will never need the urgent response to a medical situation that is provided in our 911 system. When we have to, our taxes pay for an excellent First Responder system that sends emergency services to our location be it at home or elsewhere for medi-
cal and other emergency needs. The system works well and response is started imme-diately upon a dispatcher receiving our cry for help.
In a medical emergency situation the responders are seeking as much information to assist you as they can via the dispatcher as they make haste to your scene, but the sit-uation can be far more complex when they have to consider any prevailing medical or physical conditions you may have and medications you may be taking in considering the actions they may need to make and time is always a commodity we can never have enough of. A system has been in place for some time whereby one can accumu-late important pertinent data on your state of health, medications you are taking and existing conditions called The File of Life. This is a magnetically based container which can be placed on your fridge into which you record all this data and it is availa-ble to any responder upon arrival at your site. There is also a portable version you can carry on your person when away from home. While very helpful to first respond-ers to conditions which may be affecting your current predicament, it has the draw-back of taking their time to get up to date with things after they arrive at the scene and delaying critical action.
Did you know there is an electronic system to provide first responders with critical information about you or your family before they even arrive at the scene of an emer-gency? It’s called Smart911. All residents need to do is go online to www.smart911.com and create a profile. Taking five minutes now to create your profile can save your life or the life of a family member in an emergency. The profile asks you to register your name, address, medical history and other important infor-mation. The next time you call 911, all that information will immediately be available to dispatch, providing critical information to be relayed to first responders.
The information you provide will only be used in the case of a 911 emergency. Infor-mation is stored on a secure, protected server, only accessible to the Smart 911 sys-tem, literally the 911 Call Dispatcher who can access the data and relay it to the re-sponders as they travel to your location. Registration is free, no fee for this service.
As always, the County Health Department, Emergency Management, and the Red Cross are always available to assist you with your preparedness efforts .
Call 811 Before You Dig
Y ou may not realize how
rampant and easy it is for
hackers to steal your mon-
ey, your reputation and
your credit in today’s electronic world.
A recent series of presentations was a
real eye opener for those who attended.
Several attendees attested to having had
a brush with identity theft in its many
and various forms and the complica-
tions of dealing with the resultant time
consuming chaos that follows as one
attempts to clear their name. It follows
that we must be alert to any early signs
which may show up in our day to day
protection. A particularly nasty scam
can be observed whenever you buy gas.
Look for the unbroken red seal tab over
the door or card entry that ensures a gas
dispenser is not trapping your card details.
Careful observation in the use of credit/
debit accounts can avoid blatant public
theft. Debit cards are particularly vulnera-
ble as they provide direct access to your
bank account. Keep a close eye on your
credit reporting companies, often the first
news that someone has cracked your cred-
it. You are entitled to a free annual credit
report from all of these companies:
www.equifax.com www.experian.com
and www.transunion.com
CHECK AND RECHECK ALWAYS!
IDENTITY THEFT PRECAUTIONS
A REMINDER:THE ALL
ROADS SPEED LIMIT IN
BERKSHIRE LAKES IS
25 MPH
VOLUME 11, ISSUE 3 Page 3
B.L.M.A. CLUBHOUSE RENOVATION
BERKSHIRE LAKES WOMEN’S CLUB
Dear Ladies, Welcome back to our 19th year of BLWC. Our new officers and chairpersons of different committee's have been work-ing very hard to bring you a year full of exciting programs and luncheons. Our first meeting is scheduled for September 15th: 6:00 pm in the clubhouse. You will be wowed by the New Look of the Refurbished Clubhouse. It has been completely remod-eled. New kitchen, floors, restrooms, painted, and new car-pets. Awesome is the only way to describe it. Our new Di-rectory for the year has been finished and many have al-ready been delivered. Our thanks to Sharon Miller and her Elves. Meeting Dates and Programs : September 15th: Dinner 6pm, $10, Contact Maureen Baker; October 20th: 7pm, Friends of the Library; Novem-ber 17th: 7pm Rookery Bay; December 15th: 6pm, Christmas Party, $10 per person. Contact Maisie McCann
Display of food prepared by Helping Hands Members for sale in
support of local schools. New Volunteers Welcome!
354-2417. Luncheon dates and locations: September 4th: D'Amicos 4691 Tamiami Trail North, Neapolitan Way. Welcome Back! Contact Sue Todaro 352-2979 by 8/27/14 (SEPARATE CHECKS) October 2nd: $25, Er ins Isle at Hibiscus Club 5375 Hibiscus Drive, off Rattlesnake Hammock Road, Dr.Corey Howard (Healthy Habits) Checks to Sharon Kaylor December 4th: $25 Royal Wood Country Club. Off Rattlesnake Hammock Road. St. Elizabeth Seton Chil-dren’s Choir, Checks to Sharon Kaylor by 12/1 This is but half of our scheduled year, with many more exciting events to follow. Board meeting September 12th: 9:30 a.m., see you there. Come join us in yet another exciting year with fun fac-es. NEW MEMBERS WELCOME! COME JOIN THE FUN! MEMBERSHIP: Betty Wright 354-0317
CLUBHOUSE INTERIOR—WORK IN PROGRESS!
Chris & Ricky Soule enjoying Valentine’s Day Dance & Comedy Show.
COMPLETED, AWAITING SETUP FOR ELECTION
INTERESTED IN A PET DOG?
WE’RE ON THE WEB
http://berkshirelakes.org
Ability Management Office 591-4200
Allen Bouley , C.A.M.
Office contact: Alexis Lassow
Office telephone (239) 353-7633
Office Fax: (239) 353-3770
Office hours: 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site: http://berkshirelakes.org
COACH HOMES WEBSITE:
http://berkshirelakes.org/associations/
coach homes
PARTRIDGE POINTE WEBSITE
http://www.partridgepointe.org
NEW WATERFORD WEBSITE:
http://berkshirelakes.org/newwaterford
WINDSOR PLACE WEBSITE:
http://www.windsorplacenaples.com
495 Belville Boulevard
Naples FL 34104
Tel: 239-353-7633 Fax: 239-353-3770
E-Mail: [email protected]
President
Bob Luparello
Vice-President
Tony Maro
Treasurer
Orie LaCroix
Secretary
Maureen Richards
Director
Bob Pacquin
Director
Fred Rogers
Director
Joe Schoenfelder
Berkshire Lakes Master Association, Inc.
FIRST CLASS
PRESORTED
US POSTAGE PAID
NAPLES, FL PERMIT NO. 28
B.L.M.A OFFICE INFORMATION
IMPORTANT IF PLANNING YOUR SUMMER
TRAVEL PLEASE MAKE SURE
THE OFFICE HAS UPDATED
INFORMATION OF WHERE
TO REACH YOU AND YOUR
RETURN TIMETABLE .
I nterested in rescuing a puppy? Buying your first puppy can be a daunting task, Don’t neglect the animal shelters as a great
source for lovely animals waiting to be rescued. Questions to ask when choosing a puppy whether from a Breeder or the Animal Shelter:
What kind of lifestyle does this breed require?
What personality traits should I be informed about?
What grooming requirements are there with this breed?
What type of exercise does this breed require?
Are there any common health problems associated with this breed?
May I see / visit where the pup-pies are raised?
How many litters do you have per year?
What happens to your retired breeding dogs?
How many different breeds do you breed?
What is the average lifespan of
the dogs? What type of food do you feed
your dogs?
At what age can the puppy go to it's new home?
What immunization protocol do you follow for your breeding
dogs and your puppies? Do the animals have any type of
socialization prior to being sent to their new home?
Do the dogs have any type of training prior to being sent to their new home?
Are you affiliated with any breeder associations? Do you have references?
What guarantees do you offer with your puppies?
Do you require spay/neuter con-
tracts on your pet quality puppies?
If, for any reason, I am unable to keep the animal, what is your policy?
Most breeders are more than happy
to answer questions related to the purchase of one of their puppies. The Animal Shelters are staffed with careful and knowledgeable person-nel/volunteers who can assist you to make a selection. It is up to both the Buyer and the Breeder/Shelter to
be comfortable with one another and to ensure that the puppy will be treated properly.