JUNE 2002
What’s in Your Backyard?
Have you ever noticed how the homes in Johanna Woods are positioned on the lots? Most of the homes are set so that the front doors don’t face the street. This is one of the big differences between our community and site-built home communities and is probably due, in large part, to the fact that we are primarily a community of single-section homes. Now, all of that was extra, here’s the point. Since most of our homes have front doors that don’t face the street, it means our front doors do face our neighbor’s home, usually the back of our neighbor’s home. With that in mind let me repeat the question, ìWhat’s in your backyardî? Whatever it is, it’s the first thing your neighbors see when they go out their front door everyday. It’s also the first thing their friends and family see when they walk up to their front door. Do you have a shed that needs repair? Would you consider it an eyesore if it were in your front yard? If you keep your trashcans by the back door, are they neat or do you just toss your trash bags out the door and forget about them until trash day? How about the back steps? Are they in good repair? Curb appeal is an important aspect of any community, but, as homeowners we need to be concerned with our entire home site. It’s very easy for a manufactured home community to become a ìtrailer parkî. All it takes is for the homeowners and management to stop paying attention to our homes and lots. It requires far more work to avoid looking like a ìtrailer parkî, but it’s worth the effort. Have you looked in your backyard lately? Would you be pleased to have whatever’s there in your front yard? If not, now’s the time to “fix” it!
Your neighbors will thank you!
Is Your Identity Safe?
Have you ever heard the stories of people who have been victims of identity theft? Their experiences range from minor problems to devastating financial difficulties that can take weeks and months to sort out. And often by the time the problem is discovered, major damage has been done to their reputations financially. Do you know how identity theft occurs and how to protect yourself? If not, you need to make plans to attend our Neighborhood Watch meeting on Tuesday, June 11th, at 7:30 pm in the Johanna Woods clubroom. We will have a speaker, provided by the Citizens Crime Commission, who will be addressing this important topic.
These crimes are growing rapidly across our nation. And as our society and our individual households become more sophisticated technologically, so do those who would like to profit at our expense. We must all learn more about protecting ourselves from these types of crime. This meeting will be a good place to start. Come out and join us! Refresh-ments will be served and it will be a good time to meet some of your neighbors!
For Johanna Woods Only…
June is… Dairy Month, Perennial Gardening Month, Safety Month, Iced Tea Month, etc., etc. Who comes up with all these things? Oh well, we may never know. Dairy Month sounded like the most fun and interesting of all these observances so we are focusing on that one. Hence, the recipe for home-made ice cream on the other page. Sounds good doesn’t it! Now, it doesn’t do much good to have a great recipe for ice cream unless you have an ice cream maker to make it in does it? Of course not, and that’s where we come in. For the month of June, instead of a cable drawing, we will be giving away a $40 Wal-Mart gift certificate so you can purchase an ice cream maker if you don’t have one! Yeah! And we want you to know that we have done our homework on this one. The days of the old ice and salt laden ice cream makers are over! You can now get a fully automatic, ice cream maker that you can set on your kitchen cabinet, plug in and forget. And you can get them for under $40! Such a deal! And it’s just for you, from Johanna Woods.
Flag Day Doin’s in Broken Arrow
As you probably know, June 14th is Flag Day. But did you know that the City of Broken Arrow is planning a parade and salute to America downtown that day? The parade will begin at 5:00 pm and will include a bagpipe unit, color guards from the police and fire departments and branches of the military. Then, there will be a patriotic program in Central Park and a softball game between the police and fire departments! Sounds like a fun evening!
And here’s a little flag history that you may or may not know. It was on June 14, 1777 that the Continental Congress passed an act establishing the design of the official flag for our fledgling nation. Later, in 1949, President Harry S. Truman officially declared June 14th as Flag Day. Do you have a flag? Be sure it is on display on the 14th!
Inspections Have Begun!
The 4-sided inspections of our homes have begun! If you haven’t had yours yet, be patient, it will be in your mailbox soon. This is a busy time of year for the community, with the pool opening, inspections, etc., but we will get it all worked in eventually. It occurred to me while preparing this newsletter, that some of our residents may have overlooked one of the most important aspects of our annual inspections: while we are inspecting you, we are also inspecting ourselves! We have a large property with fences, buildings, concrete surfaces, playground equipment and so on. The Spring inspections are a wonderful opportunity for us to get out into the community and look at EVERYTHING! And we do!
Outdoor Cook’s Corner
Double Chocolate Ice Cream
Yield: 1 Quart
Ingredients:
2 1/2 Ounces Unsweetened Chocolate
1 Cup granulated sugar
1 Cup Milk
2 Cups Heavy Cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 to 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Chopped nuts or miniature marshmallows, if desired
Directions:
In a 2-quart saucepan, mix chocolate, sugar, milk, cream and vanilla and heat until the chocolate is melted. Set aside until cool. Pour the cooled mixture into a blender and process until smooth. Add chocolate chips (or chunks of your favorite chocolate bar) and blend until chips are broken up. Pour into prepared ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions. Just before the ice cream is done, add chopped nuts or marshmallows.
Sounds great for a hot summer day to me! Enjoy!