Lake Bosse Oaks

November 2010

 

Discovery, by Bonnie Anderson

 

Since April 12, 1981, we have witnessed the launch of the space shuttle from our own neighborhood streets.  It is fairly common to have the television tuned in for the minute of the launch and then doors open and we hasten to the streets to gaze east at the familiar contrail.  We have been treated to beautiful displays both day and night and in the process greeted our neighbors as we gathered to watch this amazing feat.

As of this writing, the final launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery is scheduled for Wednesday, November 3, at 3:52 PM, from Pad 39A.  One would think that after 132 missions it would become familiar enough to lose its wonder, but not to me.  The space program was part of my upbringing.  My dad worked for the Air Force in communications and would often travel for the Gemini and Apollo missions in that capacity.  He was familiar with not only the programs, but also with the astronauts themselves.  I have fond memories of watching TV as the Apollo spacecraft would splashdown.  We held our breath as waited for the hatch door to open, and we cheered when the astronauts emerged and waved to the world proving that they were okay.  These men (and women) embodied the pioneer spirit.  It made us proud to be Americans.

It is sad to think that this is the final launch of Discovery as the shuttle program nears its end.  The program was announced by President Nixon in January of 1972.  Space Shuttle orbiter Columbia (STS-1) launched from Pad 39A on April 12, 1981, marking the first launch of the program.  STS stands for Space Transportation System, but we commonly just call it the space shuttle.  John Young was the commander and Robert Crippen was the pilot.  They spent two days in space as the first of four test flights.

That seems like a lifetime ago, and in many cases, it was.  I had just had my second baby, so my kids have never known life without manned space travel.  So, I’ll look for you this Wednesday afternoon as STS-133 launches into outer space traveling to the Space Station once again.  We can stand in awe together as we approach the end of an era and bid Godspeed to these brave Americans.

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SPACE SHUTTLE FUN FACTS

DID YOU KNOW...

• It takes only about eight minutes for the Space Shuttle to accelerate to a speed of more than 17,000 miles (27,358 kilometers) per hour.

• The Space Shuttle main engine weighs 1/7th as much as a train engine but delivers as much horsepower as 39 locomotives.

• The turbopump on the Space Shuttle main engine is so powerful it could drain an average family-sized swimming pool in 25 seconds.

• The energy released by the three Space Shuttle main engines is equivalent to the output of 23 Hoover Dams.

• Each of the Shuttle's solid rocket motors burns 5 tons (5,080 kilograms) of propellant per second, a total of 1.1 million pounds (500,000 kilograms) in 120 seconds. The speed of the gases exiting the nozzle is more than 6,000 miles (9,656 kilometers) per hour, about five times the speed of sound or three times the speed of a high-powered rifle bullet. The plume of flame ranges up to 500 feet (152 meters) long.

• A stacked booster is the same height as the Statue of Liberty (not including pedestal) -- 151 feet (46 meters) -- but weighs almost three times as much.

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President's Corner, Ethan McCain

Hello all,

I hope you believe as I do that our neighborhood has been well cared for this past year! We made it our priority to work continually on our goals. The wall project is on its way to being paid off early, and the neighborhood landscaping has been properly maintained. These have been tough economic times, but we seem to be getting through it.   Thank you!

Don’t forget the annual association meeting is this Saturday, November 6th at 10am down by Lake Bosse. We will have a short meeting and address a few things, then we will vote for the 2011 HOA Board of Directors. Following will be our Annual Fall Festival!  We will have a bounce house and Sno-Kones for the kids.    In addition, some of our neighbors will be cooking up some delicious chili to share! So bring your lawn chairs, drinks, family and friends, because we’re sure to have a great time.

See ya then.

Ethan

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“ARB” Wired, by Mike McKee

Homeowners,

The annual meeting will take place at the Lakefront on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010 @ 10:00am.
Agenda items contain the 2011 Budget approval, and election of the 2011 Board of Directors.
 
Kathy Turner and I are working with the local sheriff's department to reinstate our Neighborhood Watch program.  They will provide new Watch signs for our entrances and random patrolling of our neighborhoods by law enforcement.

In order to do this, we need 40% of the Homeowners to complete a survey and bring it to the meeting on Saturday.  You’ll find it on Page 7.

If you will not be attending the meeting, please send the form and your proxy vote with a neighbor who will be there.

We appreciate your prompt attention to this, as we all believe and hope you’ll agree, it’s imperative for this program to be reinstated.

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Neighborhood Watch

All Neighborhood Watches share one foundational idea: that bringing community members together to reestablish control of their neighborhoods promotes an increased quality of life and reduces the crime rate in that area. As Rosenbaum (1988) put it ". . . if social disorganization is the problem and if traditional agents of social control no longer are performing adequately, we need to find alternative ways to strengthen informal social control and to restore a 'sense of neighborhood'". That's precisely what Neighborhood Watch strives to do. In fact, from the earliest attempts to deal with the neighborhood structure as it relates to crime (through the Chicago Area Project of the early 1900s), to modern attempts at neighborhood crime prevention, collective action by residents has proved one of the most effective strategies.

The reason for this effectiveness is rather simple: Involving community members in watch programs decreases opportunities for criminals to commit crime rather than attempting to change their behavior or motivation.

Today's Neighborhood Watch Program is an effective means of crime control and neighborhood cohesiveness. While not all of the programs in place today go by the same name, they all accomplish the same goal: to bring community members together to fight crime. As Minor aptly wrote, "Neighborhood is the key to maintaining successful relationships."

(Article taken from USAonWatch.org)

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Lasting Imprints, by Debi Walter

 

     We decided to take Highway 17 South and follow the signs.  We had our handy GPS to get us in the general vicinity, but we knew from experience we would need the local signs to actually bring us to the front door.

     In the car in front of us was a couple we have grown to love.  We met years ago at a conference through Tom’s work and have come together all over the country in beautiful places ever since – places where friendships grow easily and fond memories are made.  Today was yet another memory, but one with a bit of a sting to it.

     You see, our friend, David, is retiring, and this is their last conference.  We planned a surprise to honor him for his years of dedication and loyalty to our industry.  He was taken back by all the attention, as his wife stood silently in the back of the room – eyes brimming with tears.  This would be the last meeting of this kind and neither of us wanted our time to end.  So we prolonged the inevitable with one last excursion – we stayed over an extra day in order to tour an historic plantation.

     As we walked down the dirt path amid ancient live oak trees stretching as far wide as they were tall, we reminisced.  We laughed.  We stopped to take a few pictures.  And then we saw it;  the large white clapboard plantation home.  It was obviously old, but well kept.  It stood as sentinel facing the vast marsh as if it were keeping watch for the family to return who once called this place home.  But they would never return.  The last family member died in 1973 and the property was donated to the State of Georgia as is – with all the furnishings too.

     When we approached the front porch we rang the bell (not a doorbell, mind you, but a real bell with dangling rope to make it ring.) to let the guide know we were there.  The door opened and out came a man who looked as worn as the house, and just as content.
“Whoa, no need to ring the bell – we’ll start the tour at the top of the hour.  I’m not a wind up toy mind ya!  But I’ll sit a spell and talk until the others come.”

     It was useless to tell him our watches all said it was five after the “top of the hour”.  Aparently we were NOT on the same time schedule.  We were on time in the present; he was on time in the past, where he had obviously lived most of his days for the past twenty years.  We didn’t have the heart, or the chance to tell him we were the only ones on the property.

     It was ironic that his frame matched that of the old oaks surrounding the house.  He, too, was as tall as he was wide and had a scruffy white beard that mimicked the Spanish moss hanging from the tree limbs.  He added to the history in his own way.  As he stood to show us the 800 year old live oak on the side of the house, we marveled at it’s size and beauty.

     Finally, he was convinced no one else was coming and welcomed us through the front door promptly at fifteen past the hour, but who was counting?    Each room was full of antique furnishings, pictures and momentos of days gone by.  He even showed us a half full bottle of very old Kahlua.  The last family member to live here was the daughter who had never married.  She died as an old woman in the pink velvet chair in the parlor where she always took her morning tea.  Our guide shared as if he was the one who discovered her lifeless body.

     I asked him why she never married and his face lit up.

     “Ah – she never married because women in those days followed their husbands wherever they went.  A house would be a burden, even more so this large plantation.  Ophelia loved her home and so chose to never marry, rather than to risk losing her precious home and land.”

     This truth made me sad.  Yes, the property was beautiful, but was it worth giving up a future for?  I love my home, but it’s because of the people who live here – not the place itself. The Plantation and surrounding property was left to the state because there were no heirs to inherit it.

     As we finished the tour and headed back down the dirt path, I realized something.  Every where we go we leave an imprint on those whose paths we cross.  Our dear friends have left an imprint on our hearts we’ll never forget.  In the same way this old home remembers fondly days and people gone by.  I’ll always remember this day and the memories Tom and I made as we listened to an old man on the plantation share in his own quirky way, how his heart had grown attached to this place.  I’ll remember sharing it with special friends, and thank God for such relationships to attach our hearts to.

     Who are the people in your life who have made a lasting imprint?  This is the perfect time of year to tell them!

Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours!

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Kim and Jason, by Jason Koteki