Strawberry Farms will celebrate its first Annual National Night Out “Party”!!!
July 19, 2024
Strawberry Farms residents,
Do you value having a neighborhood that is:
connected to the larger community,
hosting events for the residents, and
maintaining a voice with the City of Columbus when we need attention for issues on our blocks and in our parks?
Maintaining a volunteer community association doesn’t happen by accident. It takes volunteers … and many hands make light work.
I (Alice Foeller) have served as the president of the association for a number of years, following in the footsteps of other great resident volunteers. My kids are now in college and I have sold my home in Strawberry Farms, so I am pleased to be passing the baton to our new president, Alycia!
Alycia is a hard worker and doing great things already, such as winning a grant to host a National Night Out party for the neighborhood! However, she should not have to do it alone.
Let’s support her and set her up for success by building the volunteer association board back up to higher levels. We currently have the following open positions:
- Vice President (substitutes for the president at monthly meetings in the event of absence – can be done in person or on Zoom)
- Treasurer (submits a monthly report of funds received and expended from the bank and PayPal – can be done in person or on Zoom)
- Secretary (takes notes at the monthly meetings and submits the minutes of the meeting for approval at the next meeting. Sends out reminders of meetings.)
- Membership Chair (Monitors membership forms and total membership, coordinates membership drives, promotes membership applications at special events.)
- Special Events Chair (Coordinates volunteers, supplies and publicity for special events, such as the National Night Out party)
- Newsletter Chair (Creates a newsletter quarterly or annually, arranges printing and mailing or hand distribution or digital distribution, according to available budget)
- Webmaster (Makes updates to the website)
- Advertising Chair (Connects with local businesses for small advertisements in the newsletter and website to support association communications.)
- Safety Chair (Connects with our Police Liaison Officer to make sure she is invited to monthly meetings; potentially could start a block watch or similar program)
No experience is necessary, and this is a great opportunity to meet neighbors, and build a connected and caring neighborhood.
A Little History
We’ve had many great initiatives over the past two or three decades, and some of them can be left in the past. Others can be brought back if there is interest and volunteer support.
Back in 2019, (yes, that’s five years ago) we were doing the following activities as a neighborhood:
Hand delivering paper newsletters; hosting a Fall Festival with a petting zoo; coordinating a neighborhood Santa visit; being selected as a Neighborhood Pride neighborhood to receive extra attention for tree trimming, hydrant painting and a week of city-sponsored events; sending a representative to the Northland Community Council; sending a representative to the Northland Development Committee; negotiating the zoning variance for Four Point apartments that leveraged the installation of sidewalks along Blueberry Hollow and a basketball court and additional playground equipment at Strawberry Farms Park; hosting litter clean-ups; hosting landscaping days to improve the public traffic islands, and more!
During the pandemic, residents’ capacity to volunteer was diminished and the activities of the association diminished. As president, I was doing a lot of the maintenance of the organization and basic paperwork and attendance at meetings on my own, in order to keep things running and make sure the association continued to exist.
For the record, the Association is NOT an HOA, which means we will never tell you what color to paint your mailbox, but it also doesn’t have any income other than the membership fees of those who take the time to pay the voluntary $20 annual fee.
It’s a New Day!
We have many new residents who have just moved in. We have residents whose circumstances have changed – some have more capacity to give a little time. Many more people are comfortable paying their annual membership of $20 online using the website.
LET’S CELEBRATE our great neighborhood, and the bright future ahead by getting involved, increasing membership and increasing the size of the association’s board!
It has been an honor and privilege serving on the board for the past decade, and I will certainly miss Strawberry Farms.
-Alice
