Marlborough Mesa

JANUARY 2000

Feb 16, 2003

PARTIES OF THE SEASON (3)

1) AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER

The Borg Family and Friends Christmas Party was truly "An Affair to Remember"! This was their 10th Annual Christmas Holiday Party. It was indeed a party for Children! Nancy and Bret have this party to collect Toys for Tots and several Marines were there to collect those toys. When you receive an invitation, the only thing you are asked to bring is a "toy" for a "tot".

That night I have never seen so many wide-eyed children just "waiting" for Santa to arrive in the Borg household. And arive he did with all the children sitting on the floor surrounding the big fellow. Of course, he had presents for them all.

Admidst all of the adults were little girls dressed in their best holiday long dresses with delicate bows in their hair. The young gentlemen had equally handsome attire with suits and tuxes all dressed up and READY to party!

And Party EVERYONE did! There was an abundance of food and drinks, both inside and out. The furniture was cleaverly placed where it was needed the most, but more importantly "out" of the living room -- because THAT was the dance floor!

Nancy says the party was totally presented by students at Dobson High. She hired the Strings from Dobson High School to perform for the first 1 1/2 hours. They played beautifully. All of the students who serve the food and assist she and Bret throughout the evening are from Dobson High. Their party has become a hit with the Dobson High Kids. They always have so many who call to work the party. Their DJ was only 13 and 1/2 years old -- he would put many on-the-air DJ's to shame!

They sang the 12 days of Christmas where everyone as a group picked out a day and they got into a group and sang one of the days ... for instance one group would be 5 golden rings while one group was the four calling birds. Nancy says this is always fun. The kids are always A partridge in a pear tree.

One of the most memorable things to happen was toward the end of the party when Bret asked everyone to make a human chain-line to start "the passing of the toys". It was simply an incredible sight. All the toys that everyone had brought were placed on the back patio -- and the
stack was HIGH and large! The Marines took to their station, which was in a very large U-Haul like truck parked in front of the Borg home. A line of adults and children was formed from the back patio, winding and weaving through the different rooms, all the way to the FRONT of the house to the street -- and the toys began coming! Each toy was passed into everyone's hands right into the truck! When a box of Legos, a fire engine, an electronic game, a Barbie ... and so on were passed into YOUR hands and you passed them to the next person, it really felt like YOU were a PART of making some unfortunate children's Christmas just a little brighter. What a great feeling and what a wonderful thing to do.

HATS OFF TO THE BORG'S!

Nancy and Bret say that mostly their party is for seeing old friends and making new ones. It is truly a special time. They say they are very proud of this event -- and rightly so.
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2.) NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY 2000!

As I lay sick in my bed on New Year's Eve (my 1st time ever!), I could not help hearing THE PARTY ON SPRUCE! The "kids" were at play most assuredly, and this time it was the BIG kids! The street had been blocked off earlier in the day with even a porta-potty in place! Flyers had been passed out earlier in the week to everyone on the block plus all the surrounding homes on different streets. This had been all put together by Ron and Cindy Hedger and Michelle and Andy Geramanis.

They were PREPARED for a night of fun -- AT HOME -- including all the kids. There were portable heaters and firepits, games (Andy even made a hugh dartboard) and raffles for prizes of all kinds There was even a DJ and "dancing in the driveway".

At the start of a New Millennium, the sounds of fireworks could be heard loud and clear. No, it was not from the Spruce Block Party, it seemed to come from Dobson High, but far and wide -- you could see and hear them right from our own homes -- an added bonus to a well put together New Year's Eve 2000.

It is my understanding they are planning and even bigger and better party next year. They have a WHOLE year to plan -- so stay tuned.

One more thing, pictures of this party are compliments of "one of the Spruce Street Gang", Marty Klopper. Those will be on the homepage under Community Pages very soon.
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3.) and then there was ... THE SINGLES PARTY

You may think this SOUNDS like a big roaring bash -- well it was -- sort of. There is never a dull moment when children are around, right?

Jane Jones and her two children, Benjamin and Ariel (our grandchildren) decided to "have all the fun -- but stay at home".

She invited several "singles" she knew, along with their children ... had me "post" it on our website under "Community Calendar" ... and passed out some flyers to the neighboring homes on Mollera and Obispo. Her home was FULL. It seems this year everyone WANTED reasons to stay home.

They played games both inside and out. They even set up a portable table tennis set in her living room (furniture re-arranging time again) and had badmitten games going in the back yard. If you got cold -- you still had something fun to do. No dull moments at this party!

Of course, as with any New Year's Party, there were lots of goodies. Everyone was ask to bring a dish of some sort with Jane cooking and baking (her specialty) for all.

And, at the stoke of midnight, like the other parties of the neighborhood, everyone enjoyed the fireworks. It was a display that was even BETTER and LONGER than any 4th of July fireworks show. Any why not? A New Millennium was before us.
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Note: There may have been OTHER parties in our neighborhood, and I am SURE there were, these just happen to have been the ones I was kept informed. If anyone else had a party and would send me a note accordingly, I would be more than happy to place it here.


Also, as the year progresses, and our NEW WEBSITE is read by even more people, put your "events" online so our whole neighborhood can see. If you need ANY help in doing any of this -- please email me at jnajones@cybertrails.com and I would be most happy to help. I have RECEIVED much help in getting this all set up, so I would be delighted to return those favors. Alma



SCULPTURES IN THE STREETS
If you have not yet walked the short 3 block area of Main Street Mesa yet -- you won't want to miss it! You probably have read about it -- but you have to SEE it to really appreciate these works of art. I walked the streets between Country Club Drive (they start just east of there) and Center Streets (there are 2 statues just east of there). I had to TOUCH them, as they were so real looking -- so did many other people. Just to FEEL the cable knit sweaters brought back old memories. I actually had to "try and pick up" the 2 lunch sacks of the ladies on the park bench. The inscription reads: "Crossing Paths." Downtown Mesa has not been this ALIVE since the 60's! There are 15 of these statues in all. The names and descriptions of them are:

Just a Taste -- Two girls share an ice cream cone
Special Delivery -- Mailman
Crossing Paths -- Older women chat on a bench
Photo Shoot -- Man takes photo of wife, boy & dog
Ambassador of the Streets -- Woman walking dog
Los Mariachis -- Two mariachi players with guitars
Big Sister -- Girl tying her sister's shoes
Let's Skip The Meeting -- Two businessmen talking
Who's In Charge -- Boy riding on father's shoulders
Shaping Up -- Woman jogging
Life At A Proper Distance -- Mother with child in knapsack
Waiting To Cross -- Girl swinging around stop sign
Holier Than Thou -- Man in suit with trash container
Sharing The Headlines -- Seated couple sharing the newspaper
A Little To The Right -- Couple with binoculars

The bronze statues were done by J. Seward Johnson, Jr. and they are "on tour" throughout cities of the US. They will only be here through FEBRUARY. They leave March 1, 2000.

DON'T MISS THESE and grab a camera when you go!
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ARE YOU AN OPTIMIST OR PESSIMIST?

TAKE THE TEST -- it might surprise you!

Jim, my husband, brought to my attention an article in the Tribune that he KNEW I would like. I have always had strong feelings that optimistic people were generally happy people. If something dissappoints me or makes me unhappy for any reason, I try hard to find a "good angle" to the whole scenerio and I have talked with many of you who feel the same way.

I remember growing up with a Mother who "practiced" that philosophy every day of her life -- and that was before phychology was such big business! She would say for instance, after her wallet had been stolen, "We'll, I guess that poor soul needed it worse than we did." That was how she looked at everything. We were very poor, growing up in the back hills of West Virginia and as a child growing up, we had very little by today's standards. Many of her "teachings" rubbed off on me, which I am eternally grateful. I wouldn't trade my childhood for all the "wealth" in this world. She taught us to appreciate those "wonderful intangibles."

The headline of the news article reads: "Optimists' benefits: Be happy, live longer." Apparently studies now show that a positive outlook boosts health, work habits and even reduces stress.

They say that pessimistic people appeared more prone to accidents and violence, including car wrecks, household mishaps, even homicide. Much of the time, they are in bad moods and when you're in a bad mood, you are more likely to do risky things because you are either distracted or downright reckless.

Optimists have long been portrayed as foolishly oblivious to problems. But numerous studies have shown that optimists, far from protecting their fragile vision of the world, usually confront trouble head-on. Optimism has been described as "the curious human habit of expecting good things to happen, often in defiance of reality."

Well, are YOU ready for the test? (Be honest -- don't look ahead:) This is the Life Orientation Test, developed by psychologists Michael Scheier and Charles Carver. To gauge your optimism level with this test, indicate your response to each item below:

A-strongly agree
B-agree
C-feel neutral
D-disagree
E-strongly disagree

1. In uncertain times, I usually expect the best. _____
2. It's easy for me to relax. _____
3. If something can go wrong for me, it will. _____
4. I'm always optimistic about my future. _____
5. I enjoy my friends a lot. _____
6. It's important for me to keep busy. _____
7. I hardly ever expect things to go my way. _____
8. I don't get upset too easily. _____
9. I rarely count on good things happening to me. _____
10. Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me than bad. _____

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Ignore your answers to items 2,5,6 and 8. Those are fillers.

Subtotal your scores for items 1,4 and 10 as follows:
A scores 4 points; B scores 3; C scores 2; D scores 1; E scores 4.

Subtotal your scores for items 3,7 and 9 as follows: A scores 0 points; B scores 1; C scores 2; D scores 3; E scores 4.

Add those subtotals for an overall optimism score.

The range is from 0 to 24, from extreme pessimism (0) to extreme optimism (24), with virtual neutrality being the midpoint, 12.

Were you satisified with the results? Are you the person you thought you were in this area? If not, I believe YOU and only you CAN change that. Personally, I have always felt that this "strength" is such an untapped area of the human mind. Maybe in the 21st Century, we will begin to focus more on the "joy" of living life rather than the "depressed" feelings we have!



THE MARLBOROUGH ENTRANCE SIGNS
To see a picture of the new entrance signs, you need to go to the homepage and click under MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS. This is the only place on this site large enough to accommodate that size of a picture. Otherwise, this is the flyer in its entirety.

The following flyer (including the picture) was PRINTED and PASSED OUT in our neighborhood on January 8, 2000 by some very SPECIAL people. A list of all their names appears as "volunteers" in the "Talk About It" section. If you know them -- thank them -- they are doing our community a great service, as TIME is valuable to ALL OF US.
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Back in September of 1999, a flyer was passed out to all of our 469 homes here in Marlborough. On that flyer, we asked for ideas for the sign, grant money sources and any feedback as to IF indeed the signs were wanted at the entrances to our development.

Well, it is now 2000, and - good news -- everyone we heard from was very excited about having our own "identity" at last. For the 462 homes in our area, we qualify for a total of three (3) signs at our entrances. We have just learned that we have been approved for a variance in regard to the placement and size of those signs. Locations are: 1) on the South wall entrance at Alma School and Pecos 2) on the East wall entrance at Guadalupe and Emerson and 3) on the North wall entrance at Alma School and Pampa (park entrance). Each sign costs a total $2,500. Mark Cefalu on Spruce Street works for Arizona Commercial Sign. They are giving a discount on these signs, as commercial signs ARE very expensive. If we get enough donations for all three signs, he will discount the price to $2,200 / sign.

The proposed first sign and grant money was approved in the amount of $2,000 just before Christmas. However, we as a "united" neighborhood must come up with the first $500. Then and only then will Mesa PRIDE put the remaining $2,000 in our account. If we should get "MORE" money than the $500, that amount will just be applied to the next sign. If we can raise enough for all three signs now, we would not have a 3-year wait for the remainder. This account will be kept active after the signs are completed as we find other "projects" that need attention.

The account has been opened at Desert Schools Credit Union at 2355 S. Alma School. If you can donate ANY amount, please make it payable to either Ginger Richter (preferably) or Alma Jones with a note on your check for: MARLBOROUGH MESA. You may drop off your donation at either home (or we would be glad to pick it up) - whichever is closer:

Rick and Ginger Richter/ James and Alma Jones
1145 W. Obispo / 1031 W. Posada Avenue
480-897-1295 / 480-831-1525

Our neighborhood is 21 years old - it needs a facelift! Think of what 469 homeowners can accomplish -- TOGETHER! If each person could just donate $5-$10-$20, we could see results so quickly. Let's set a deadline for donations of JANUARY 31, 2000. What a great "present" for US in the 1st month of a New Millennium!

The Neighborhood and Community Assistance Office, whom we have been working with all along said that WE here in Marlborough could set a trend and a good example for other such developments, as they have not had a community "come together" as we have many times, to work so hard for something they desired to see happen.
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Marlborough Mesa Website
If you have not heard anything recently about this - please do not be "left out" of the loop. Those of you who have ANY access to email, please "join" the many at Marlborough who have already done so (approximately 100). They have been "kept informed" as this has progressed and really KNOW what is going on in their neighborhood on every street - the good and bad.

We have such a powerful tool at our fingertips, so let's ALL put it to use. If you as parents do not get on the internet - and you have children - bet they do! Have them join just by providing me with your email address (these are kept confidential). My email is: jnajones@cybertrails.com. Our Marlborough Mesa Website is: neighborhoodlink.com/marlborough/ This is YOUR site! You can have a free homepage ?… photos, something about your family, etc. ?… actually anything YOU want it to be. There is an interactive area where you can place ads to buy/sell, garage sale times and dates, etc. and discussions WITHIN our neighborhood about issues WE want to talk about. There is a Marlborough Newsletter every month - maybe YOU would like to contribute an article, an idea - it would be welcome. Come on - get online. This is provided as a community service and there are NO charges.

Your Marlborough Website Coordinator, Alma Jones
480-831-1525 or 602-321-1139
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