I am very angry to report that last night sometime between 8pm and 6:15am someone knocked our mailbox off.  We have a wooden mailbox and someone or a group of someones broke our mailbox and then proceeded to throw it in the middle of the road. Our neighbor called us this morning at 6:15am to let us know that our mailbox was in the middle of the road. We were unsure if it was because of the earthquake this morning, but when the sun came up it is clear that it was not from the earthquake and that it was taken off. 

As I was filing a police report one of the neighbors on one side of me said that her mailbox was open on both sides and the red flag was up.  She said it appeared that their mailbox had been tampered with.  (Last summer we had to do a police report because we found firecrackers in our mailbox that had been set off and so did one of our neighbors next to us). After talking with her longer she said did you see the group of about 10 boys last night that were walking around out here. I told her no but my husband and I heard talking and looked outside, but didn't see anyone. This was around 9:30pm.

I understand that sometimes the way things work is that kids or people will target someone or a group of people for not putting up with kids doing things they should not. What I am trying to say is that last summer when we had issues I asked some of the neighbors around me to make sure and report when they see things happening that should not be happening with kids. The response that I received was that they were afraid to say anything for fear of retaliation. You know I too am not wanting to have retaliation. However, I WILL NOT allow kids to try and intimidate me so that I don't tell them to stop tearing things up or ask them to get off of our property.

I will try to end this now. We get the lovely honor of having to pay for a brand new mailbox and do the labor to install it. If you have kids that are running around after dark and they are not near your home please ask them what they have been up to and make sure that your kids know that messing with mailboxes are a federal offense.  I also want them to know that if they are breaking the law by vandalizing other people's property or even public property I am reporting it. I will not stand by and watch my home and those around me go down in value because of people have no respect for other people's property.

How do you make a parent care for their child?  I dirve through the neighborhood from one end to the other every day now at least once.  Today was the first day I saw a group of boys that numbered more than three, and yes there were about 7 to 10 of them on Sycamore Forge.  I am working on a new newsletter at this time and will address the issue in an article but that won't insure the parents are holding their children accountable for their actions.  Do as you say, call the police, when the parent has to pick their child up from the police station they might get the hint that it is time to keep their kids under control, perhaps not the first time but by the second or third time they will get the hint.  Parents, if you read these posts, please take the appropriate action to control your children, if not, enjoy your drive.

Think public whippings.

The unfortunate thing is that we can not do anything about having the parents care. However, the adults in our community can make sure and stand up for our property and our neighbors property. I am so thankful to have the great neighbors that I do on either side of me. They have been so supportive and helpful. Two of them helped my dad put our new mailbox in this weekend. The other two are just supportive and help to keep an eye out for things that look suspicious. I do appreciate you putting something in the newsletter at least if they don't read the website they will get it from the newsletter.