Pride Civic Association DECEMBER 2013 SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: ANNUAL CHRISTMAS DECORATION CONTEST by Candy Helber T is the season to brighten up the neighborhood. Your Pride Civic Association is once again holding a Christmas Decoration Contest. Dig out those decorations and give your neighbors wonderful sights to behold. It is a pleasure to drive, walk, or bike around the neighborhood when the Christmas decorations are adorning our homes. Take advantage of the season and stroll through the neighborhood to see the beautiful displays. Enjoy your neighbors efforts in decorating their homes. (Continued on page 2) Annual Christmas Decoration Contest Judging: Fri., Sat., Sun., Dec. 20, 21, 22 Next committee meeting: Monday, Jan 6, 2014, 6:30 pm, Largo Family Restaurant Annual Neighborhood Garage Sale: Fri., Sat., Sun., Feb. 14, 15, 16 Visit us on the web at: pridecivic.org E-mail us at info@pridecivic.org DO WE HAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS? by Judy Carey I f you have not yet provided us with your e-mail address or updated an outdated one, please do so now. This is the fastest way to get information and alerts out to our neighbors. Whenever I am aware of something happening in the area, car burglaries, home invasions, coyote sightings, etc., I send out a neighborhood alert. I will notify you by BCC so your private e-mail is not out there. Although I will admit I know of twice I did not BCC and I apologize for that mistake. In addition, if you have something happen, please notify me so I can get the word out. I do not give out the exact address only the block number and street name to protect your privacy. If you would like to be added to the list, email me at: Info@pridecivic.org. Please include your name and address. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: TREASURER S REPORT ANNUAL GARAGE SALE OPOSSUM & OPOSSUM REMOVAL School Donation 2 3 3 4 A Hidden Gem 4 Neighborhood Crime Watch 5
PAGE 2 PRIDE CIVIC ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CHRISTMAS DECORATION CONTEST Continued from page 1) by Candy Helber Each of the four zones of our neighborhood will be judged separately on the weekend before Christmas which falls on December 20th, 21st & 22nnd. There will be prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place homes in each zone and a certificate for Honorable Mention. A 1st Place sign will be placed in the front yard of each zone s 1st place winner. The results of the contest will be posted in the first newsletter of the new year. Have a delightful holiday season! TREASURER S REPORT by Linda Bassett T he holidays are fast approaching. We will incur the following expenses for the Home Christmas Decorations Contest: awards, signs, and the cost of publishing the current newsletter. To date, we do not have any outstanding bills. If you have not paid your dues for the current year, it is not too late. A membership form is included below for your convenience. Pride Civic Association Membership & Volunteer Form March 2013 March 2014 $5.00 Donation per Household Annually Name Address Phone E-mail address I would like to Volunteer for the following... (check as many as you would like) Mail Donation to: Pride Civic Association 1303 Norwood Ave Clearwater, FL 33756 Please do not send cash in the mail! Block Captain Distribute Newsletters Telephone Alert System Newsletter Articles Garage Sale Committee Christmas Decoration Judging Activities Committee Committee Member Other
PAGE 3 ANNUAL NEIGHBORHOOD GARAGE SALE by Candy Helber I t s time to look through those closets and the garage to find surplus items around the house. We have scheduled the 20th Annual Neighborhood Garage Sale for Friday through Sunday, February 14th, 15th and 16th. To help get the word out your Pride Civic Association will put an ad in the newspaper and place signs around the neighborhood prior to the event. Let s provide great treasures for those bargain hunters! OPOSSUM & OPOSSUM REMOVAL by Concerned Neighbor T here is a right way and a wrong way. Poison is the wrong way and the ASPCA is the right way. A neighbor on Whitewood Drive found an opossum with 9 babies in their back yard. It was apparently sick. They called the SPCA and after examining the animals determined that they had been poisoned. The mother and 8 of her babies died. They took the remaining baby to try and save it. Opossums are nocturnal creatures. If you see one during the daytime, it might be sick or injured. or it might be a mother opossum hunting for food for her babies. They will go where they can find food. If you have a bowl of cat or dog food sitting out, you can expect to see an opossum helping itself day or night. Opossums don't carry rabies, nor are they an attack animal. They are more afraid of you than you are of them. Keep any food inside the house, and keep any trash inside the trash bins. If there is no food to draw an opossum, then they will stay well hidden and you won't even know they are in your yard. Chances are, within a week, they will have moved on to their next home. Killing Opossums in Florida: Pursuant to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Rule 68A- 9.010, it is legal to kill an opossum on your land. The statute states you may kill, as long as you do so humanely. Do not make the opossum suffer and do not prolong its death. Consult your local ASPCA or call a privately owned animal control service that will humanely remove them and relocate to another area. Fees for this service vary. Remember, poisoning opossums can also kill cats, dogs, squirrels or anything else that might come in contact with it. Opossum Pup
PAGE 4 PRIDE CIVIC ASSOCIATION A s many as of you are aware, I work at Oak Grove Middle School and like all schools we are always looking to raise money for items the school and students need. There are many ways we raise money. We currently collect box tops (found on many food items). We have a box in the front office where you can drop off your box tops. These are used by our library for books, etc., We also collect the following recyclables: plastic bottles and cans (clean ones, no alcohol related and no glass), metal, and paper (we get paid per ton). Dumpsters are located in the back of the school by the track and on the north side of the building. You can either put them in the dumpsters yourself or go into the front office and ask for Mr. Wright (he is a teacher so it may be a few minutes wait). You can also donate My Coke Rewards Points. Go to mycokerewards.com/ school & sign in (register if you are not a member). Enter your codes to collect points-then search for Oak Grove Middle to donate points. Enter the amount of points you'd like to give, then click donate. In addition, if you donate items (housewares, collectibles, home decor, clothing, shoes, and books) to Goodwill, please consider using the attended donation center at 2250 Gulf to Bay Blvd (across from Publix shopping center). This donation center is in a store front, open 8am to 6pm Mon.- Sat, 9am-5pm Sunday. If you tell the attendant you are donating on behalf of Oak Grove Middle School, our Electives Department will receive 5 cents per pound. They receive a check each month for various activities. Mr. Wright also runs the robotics club and he can use any official Lego pieces you may have. If you do not currently support another school, please consider giving the above to Oak Grove Middle located at 1370 S. Belcher Road. If you have any questions, please contact me at Info@pridecivic.org or call me at 298-0082. SCHOOL DONATION by Judy Carey A HIDDEN GEM by Bob Wittenberg A wonderful senior community center sits waiting to serve our neighborhood seniors just a few miles from our neighborhood. Senior Citizens Services is currently celebrating its 55th year of providing activities and services for seniors. Activities such as pinochle, canasta and even Wii Virtual Bowling are offered. Services include: computer classes designed specifically for seniors, referrals to reliable handymen, companions and caregivers. Advisory services include guidance regarding consumer problems, senior housing and transportation. Check out this gem at 1204 Rogers Street (Near Court St. and Missouri Ave.) or call them at 442-8104 for further details.
PAGE 5 NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME WATCH by Judy Carey I n case you didn t know, we have a neighborhood watch in our area. In the past, we had a call list set up by the 4 zones and were required to do a monthly test. At this time, we are doing away with the call list. I attended a meeting on November 13th with the Pinellas County Sheriff s Office (PCSO). They are looking at moving into the technology age and have requested we provide them with email addresses so they can send a message from the Sheriff's office regarding alerts that affect us. I communicated the above by email to those that are currently on our call list. I gave them the option of opting out of the PCSO receiving their email address. If you have not yet provided us with your email address, and would like to receive the alerts, please send me an email with your name, address, and email address. Our email address is on the front of the newsletter. Tom Bristoll has (Continued on page 6)
PAGE 6 NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME WATCH (Continued from page 5) by Judy Carey resigned as the Neighborhood Watch Chairman. I am taking over the position. If you have anything to report please contact me directly either by email or by phone at 298-0082. When something happens in the area, I like to get an alert out to everyone. I will never list the exact address that the instance occurred to protect your privacy. Pinellas County Sheriff 911 - EMERGENCY 582-6200 - NON-EMERGENCY