CLV Newsletter December 2011
 2011 Festival of Lights
The 27th Annual Festival of Lights is fast approaching!
This is the event that the Village residents open their neighborhoods to the public, to share the Christmas spirit and cheer with thousands of visitors near and far. The original concept for the Festival of Lights was to create a means for sharing the beauty and spirit of Christmas Lake Village with other communities. The Festival's dates are Saturday, December 10 and Saturday, December 17, from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Notices have been sent out to television and radio stations and newspapers in the area announcing the dates and time of the annual Christmas celebration. This year's event will offer hot chocolate, coffee and cupcakes to festival-goers at the Village Rec Center, served by the members of the Christmas Lake Village Garden Club.
The judging of individual and neighborhood displays will be on the evening of Friday, December 9. Many neighborhoods have been brainstorming, as well as preparing for their displays. The competition for the awards promises to be quite spirited again this year. As in the past, independent judges will be solicited to ensure fairness.
The categories for individual decorations are:
Kid's Favorite (judged by a child)
Best Theme
Best Special Effects
Best Christmas Message
Best Lake Display
Judges' Favorite
Awards for neighborhoods will be:
(Judges' Favorite
Best Use of Lights
Best Theme
Kid's Favorite (judged by a child)
Residents are encouraged to turn on their lights at 5:00 PM each evening through Christmas.
The Maintenance Department will put arrows out on the Festival Route prior to Saturday Night and a map of the route is located on the Christmas Lake Village Website, www.clvillage.com. But, they will also be on hand to help with any misguided visitors who have managed to become lost or somehow veered off the Festival route. This route is a little different this year, as we attempted to keep traffic issues at a minimum. The Village designed a route that safely allows for ingress and egress without creating a bottleneck or a hazard to the drivers. Unfortunately, there are many beautiful displays appearing in the Village that will not be viewed along the Festival route, but anyone not on the Parade route and would like to have their display judged, should contact the Association office at (812) 544-2234.
WAXL radio station in Santa Claus will again be asked to play Christmas music during the Festival. In the past, this has added immensely to the festival-goers holiday experience. In addition, Santa Claus is expected to be here at the Village entrance to greet each and every visitor that desires to participate by following the Festival route .Two of his elves will be on hand to greet the cars and pass out candy canes. Of course, there is no “actual” fee to enter the Village to view the Festival of Lights, but The Village would highly encourage each car to drop off donations in the form of canned goods or cash, for the North Spencer Community Action Center. Along with the elves, there will be other volunteers who will help with making sure that the cash, as well as canned good donations, make it into the hands of the Community Action Center.
 A Message From Board President Amy Busler
In order to help keep you updated with several Board plans and ideas, I want to bring to you an update of coming events. We have come up with two improvements for Christmas Lake Village. I want us to take special care of items that we own as an Association. The first project that was approved on this past Monday received a “go ahead” vote. So the renovation of the Recreation Center is cleared to begin. Heating and air conditioning costs will go down and the entire building will receive a facelift. Large windows will be installed to open up the view of our beautiful lake. This amenity will receive a much needed “update” that will re-establish this CLV property as one we all can take pride in calling our own.
Hopefully in the next year we will tackle another major project to bring the pride and reason why we all love to call CLV our home. As established at our monthly Member meetings, lake dredging and boat dock repair will hopefully stay at the top of things to get done.
One by one we will be marking things off the list. Kasper Gate should be installed in the Spring which will provide a better traffic flow throughout the Village.
I also want to ask a favor of each of you. I invite and encourage each of you to sign up for membership on one of our committees. We are still struggling to fill some empty seats. This is a perfect way for each of you to get involved without feeling like you have to be at each meeting. Some committees require more time while others have only a few meetings. We would love to see some new and fresh ideas brought forth from you .
At this time I would like to thank the property owners that take the time to come by or call me with concerns or thoughts. Although we may not always agree, it seems that there is always a solution to the problem. I am gaining a perspective of the Village that I’ve never had before. It’s been quite a challenge to learn so much about our Village. Thank you for being patient with me.
In closing, I want to wish each of you a Merry Christmas!! May peace and love fill your homes this holiday season.
 Property Manager Report
COMPLETED PROJECTS
As 2011 is drawing to a close, I want you to be aware of the projects that were completed over the previous three months. By far, the most expensive was the 2011 Road Paving Project. J.H. Rudolph & Company spread over 1,600 tons of Hot Mix Asphalt over Christmas Lake Village roads. This project was completed the week of Sept 19-23. Even though their completion date was earlier than 2010, it's my plan to finish next year’s Road Project earlier yet.
The Friday before the Road Paving Project, we hosted the Village's Annual Yard Sale, which included over 160 homeowners. The shoppers arrived in droves, beginning the Friday night prior to the actual start time of the event. This could have created traffic problems, pitting the early shoppers against the Village residents coming home from work. I'll sing the praises of our Guard staff, because they kept the traffic flowing.
Our waste removal contractor, Veolia, extended to our residents another attractive 3-year proposal to remain the Village's trash handler. Our monthly fee for trash pickup service will go down in 2012 from the current rate. Deals like that don't occur very often, but the Board jumped on it. Expect to see Veolia trucks in the Village for at least another 3 years.
October and November were months where our Maintenance staff removed the majority of tree limbs and branches that had become "clutter" in our residents' yards this year. This was followed by several rounds of removing large piles of leaves, which had dropped as they do every Fall. We also had our main roads "striped," in an effort to keep our night drivers safe.
Drainage was also on the Fall activity agenda. Numerous problem areas were repaired in every neighborhood in an effort to keep control of storm water runoff. We have a very narrow window of time to accomplish drainage these repairs, because our staff remains extremely busy during the mowing season trying to keep our common areas and empty lots mowed. But, during September and October, we usually experience months that are usually dry and a little cooler, so that when a drainage repair is nearing completion, the final item of the repair, is to provide erosion control and plant grass seed over the area.
UPCOMING PROJECT:
During this past quarter, some money was appropriated to make renovations to the Village Rec Center, as well as to perform a Lake Dredging Project. During this last 3 months, the Rec Center Project was determined to be the first priority. The design option that The Village is presently pursuing features 2 large, additional bathrooms and a new kitchen , added to the front, southwest corner of the current facility. Construction is to begin early n 2012 and last approximately 3 months. The impetus behind the initial project was to provide handicap accessible bathrooms on the main level. But because the facility is quite old, the excessive utility bills became an additional reason to renovate. With increased bookings and utility savings, the project will pay for itself in a very short time. The benefits the owners receive after that will "icing on the cake." This will be a facility that every owner can take pride in, while at the same time, potential property buyers considering The Village as their place of residence will view it as another reason to own property at Christmas Lake Village.
 Lake Patrol Guard In The Spotlight "Captain" Bob East
This quarter CLV places the spotlight of appreciation on “Captain” Bob, our Lake Patrol Guard. Although "Fit as a Fiddle," Bob East has been enjoying life for over 80 years. He's a licensed "trapper" with the Department of Natural Resources, an all-around-outdoorsman, which made him the perfect Lake Patrol Officer, as well as expert trapper of nuisance animals that find their way into the Village.
Captain Bob has been the CLV Lake Patrol Officer for 14 years, while living in the Village since 1993. He asserts that Christmas Lake covers 218 acres, with about 165 acres deep enough to tube and ski. "The attraction to people contemplating living in of Christmas Lake Village is three-fold, the lakes, the security and the golf course".
His most recent battle with nuisance animals has been the "turkey vultures," who have from time to time made Christmas Lake Village their favorite roosting place over the past 15 years. The vultures have stepped up from being more than a casual nuisance by being culprits responsible for damaging roof shingles, window screens, among other things. But with Bob's persistence, he feels confident that the birds have left for good. Bob claims, "All I have to do now is drive up and they run off! They know my truck."
Additional duties that Bob has faithfully carried out for the Village included checking for "current" boat ID stickers and boat speeders (especially in a no-wake zone). Bob handles a first offense with a warning, but multiple infractions of the CLV Lake Rules and Regulations will get you a ticket. He advises, "If you're going to fish at the beginning of the year, you better pay your assessment, because it's not paid, you will not be issued your boat ID sticker."
Captain Bob also keeps an eye out on our beach and swimming area. CLV has a diving platform where kids could get to pushing and shoving one another off the diving board. "This can really be dangerous, especially if they jump off the side of the board, instead of the end. A concrete base extends to within 12 " of the side. Incorrectly jumping off the side of that low diving board can get you hurt!" In answering the question as to what his job duties for the Village included, he replied. “I pick up trash every day and with my DNR permit , I trap nuisance animals, like muskrats. They are a menace to the integrity of our three dams.
Rec Center Rendering
Calendar of Upcoming Events
December 2, 2011 Next Newsletter Distributed
December 8, 2011 CLV Board Meeting @ Recreation Center @ 6 PM
December 10, 2011 Parks & Recreation Dept 5K Run/Walk @ 10:00 AM. Start at Rec Center
December 10, 2011 1st Night Festival of Lights 5:00 P.M.—9:00 PM
December 17, 2011 2nd Night Festival of Lights 5:00 P.M. —9:00 PM
December 23, 2011 CLV Office closed at noon.
December 26, 2011 CLV Office closed.
December 30, 2011 CLV Office closed at noon.
January 2, 2012 CLV Office closed.
|
