Green Valley, Az.

Monday Morning Memo-----------November 17^th

Good Morning:

A terrific new improvement is in progress at our Sunset Ramada, in the form of a greatly enhanced kitchen area. This features a long utility counter and a work station with a new double sink with hot water available, and lots of additional storage space, including a special niche for the Hospitality Committee’s rolling ice chest. The tops of the new cabinets will be faced with ceramic tile, and the woodwork painted to match the existing cabinets. The utility counter will be useful as a serving area, and will eliminate the need to get out the portable tables during many of the events held at the Ramada. The work on the project is being performed by the men’s auxiliary of the Esperanza Enhancement Team, consisting of Lance Ewing, Ben Sheffield, Greg Gramstad, Vince Brow, and Jon Raby. Plans and working drawings were done by Jim Lindberg. The tiling will be done by Bill Duncan, and the painting by Bev Brow. The entire cost of the project is being paid by our volunteer committees from the proceeds of their fund raising events. This type of thing is why supporting our committee’s activities and fund raisers is such a good idea---it comes right back to us.

Be sure and stop by the Ramada and look at the new facility. We think you will be pleased. We will be enjoying this new amenity for years.

There were a few surplus pieces of the wood purchased for this project, and there remains a 4 x 8 sheet and three large pieces of pressboard, available for sale for the best offer. Call 625-7353.

About 60 people braved the not-so-warm evening last Tuesday to enjoy Hamburger Nite. It was the usual fun time, and our thanks to the Hospitality Committee for their hard work in entertaining us. Lots of our winter visitors are returning and it is always fun to see them again at these events.

Our Hospitality Committee reports that they have decided to cancel the Hamburger Nite now scheduled for November 25^th, due to the close proximity to the Thanksgiving Holiday and the fact that many people have guests coming in. However the December 7 party will go on as scheduled, and a firm plan has been finalized and will be reported as soon as details are available.

About 30 people enjoyed Coffee & Donuts Wednesday morning at Sunset Ramada. Our host was Ken Miller. There will be more such events as the year passes, so watch for them. A nice way to begin your day.

Fourteen players showed up at the last pickle ball clinic, held at our tennis court the morning of last Thursday. Everyone had a delightful time, learning and playing the game. It is great exercise and the lessons are free. Gary Beatty, our teacher and coach, is a fun guy and a very good player. We have room for more students, so if you are looking for a great way to have some fun and get some exercise at the same time, come up and join us. The clinics will be held each Tuesday and Thursday mornings, at 9:00 a.m., at the court. There is room on our court to run two pickle ball games at the same time, and thus everyone gets ample opportunity to play. Players must wear tennis shoes with white soles.

The Budget Committee met Tuesday and finalized the 2009 budget for our HOA. Financially our HOA is in pretty good shape. We are maintaining and making regular improvements to our facilities, and are adding to the reserves for contingencies. Our HOA has no (zero) indebtedness. There will be no dues increase. The budget will be formally adopted at the Board meeting today at Sunset Ramada at 1:00 p.m. All residents are invited to attend the meeting, where copies will be available. An agenda is appended below. Our HOA owes a big thanks to Joan Moreaux, the treasurer, who carefully watches and accounts for every penny of our dues--and nothing gets past her. She is a very important person on our Board of Directors.

Three more burglaries have been reported, for a total of 14. Entry in all three cases was via a pry bar used on the slider. One of the homes was empty; another reported theft of a VCR machine; no report on what might be missing from the third. Continued vigilance is important. We may have another speaker on home security in the near future if it can be arranged. We have, however, received some information that a gang has been recently apprehended who the police feel are behind the burglaries. Watch for further details.

Jim Sage repaired our broken pool gate lock on Tuesday, saving us a visit (and a bill) from the locksmith. Jim helps us on a lot of things in EE. Thanks much for your help, Jim.

Our ever vigilant webmaster, Craig Surprise, intercepted a couple of “spammers” who tried to register on the Forum on our website, and put them on the banned list of entities that are forbidden access to our site. He is currently working on adding a rather extensive list of known spam-generating sites to the same banned list. Keeping these guys off our site is important because if they obtain access they will start posting advertisements--as happened to the old Forum. Some of the ads were pretty salacious in content. For example, one of the newly banned spammers wanted to advertise “zoo porno”. It doesn’t take too much imagination to conjure up what that might be about. Craig is such a highly talented webmaster we are glad he is on our side in keeping these guys out--and not on the other side trying to get in.

The Enhancement Team wishes to say thank you to all those who donated the great variety of special items that have come in for our Holiday Boutique. This will be part of our December 3rd Holiday Neighborhood Gathering at the Sunset Ramada, 9-noon. These items will make an impressive display and be offered at irresistible prices. As part of
the gathering we will also have a bake sale and we need donations of cookies, muffins, cakes, breads and other holiday goodies. If you would like to use your favorite recipe and donate the delicious
results, please call: Bev Brow, 625-7741, Tess Ewing, 625-7353, or Barb Cottrell, 648-3149.

We are very saddened to report the recent death of Phyllis Johnson-Frost. Phyllis, wife of former Board member Robert Frost, was a former chairperson of our Hospitality Committee, and helped with social events in EE for many years. She was active in the Neighborhood Watch program. She was also an early historian of our subdivision. Phyllis was a friend to all who knew her, and will be missed. A memorial mass will be held at San Martin De Porres Church on December 6 at 10 a.m.

All interested Bunco players please meet at Sunset Ramada on Friday, November 21^st, at 10:00 a.m.. If this date or time presents a problem, but you are still interested in playing, please call Melodye at 399-0455.

Have a good week.

The Monday Morning Memo is not an official publication of the HOA

of Esperanza Estates, and is intended to be informational only and

is distributed as a courtesy. Content is entirely determined by the editor.