May 2009

It's been a wonderful Spring so far, for ducks and people like my neighbor, who love to cut their grass. Hopefully, by the time you read this, the sun will be out again and the monsoons will have stopped. Still, it's Spring and it's one of the best times of the year. There are a lot of good things happening in and around Hillsmere too. 

Most of you already know this, but we had a contest to see who could guess the number of eggs on the Easter Egg Tree that Leslie Donaldson decorates at 425 Hillsmere Drive, The idea came from our administrator, Jean Somers. We decided that the contest would be open to children, 12 and under. The person who guessed the closest to the actual number was to receive a $25 gift certificate to a local ice cream store. We had 27 people send in their guess. The winner was Kathryn Hantske, age 11, of Magnolia Lane. She guessed 1854 eggs. She received a $25 gift certificate to Brusters Ice Cream. We also had two honorary winners. Maya Glass, age 3, of Kuethe Lane, guessed 10 eggs. When her father took her to see the tree she originally guessed that there were two eggs. He told her there were more than two. She then guessed 10 eggs. Bob Berry, age 78, of West Bay View Drive, guessed 885 eggs. He is an honorary winner for being so young at heart. The honorary winners received a $6 gift certificate to Brusters Ice Cream. There was a picture in the Sunday Capital on May 3rd. It's also on our web site. I know a lot of you would like to know how many eggs there really were. We are not announcing the actual number because we will repeat the contest next year. Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest and thanks to Leslie Donaldson for being so supportive of our community.

Another really good thing that is happening concerns the new Annapolis Neck Fire Station in Bay Ridge Road two doors down from the Mexican Cafe. The station is now operational. There is a new engine ready to respond to fires and emergencies on the entire neck. It's not just a normal fire engine. It's a pumpertanker. A normal engine has a relatively small amount of water on board and counts on fire hydrants or tanker trucks to give it the water it needs to fight a fire. The new engine carries 2,500 gallons of water. That's enough to fight a fire with two active 1-314 inch hoses for 15 to 20 minutes. This is very important for our community since we don't have any fire hydrants. That amount of time will allow a moderate fire to be brought under control or, more importantly, enable the firefighters to rescue anyone trapped in a burning house. The best thing is that this equipment is only a few minutes away from our community. On May 15th there will be a full medical EMT unit also stationed at the new fire house. The fire station is manned by five firefighters 24 hours a day. The Anne Arundel County Dive Rescue Unit will also be permanently stationed at this location. The official ribbon-cutting will be on June 4th. On Saturday, June 6th, there will be an open house where everyone is welcome to come and visit the new station. There will be tours and the chance to look at all the equipment. You can even take pictures of your kids sitting on the fire truck! If you can't make it, feel free to stop by anytime and say hello.

We have also been making progress on the future of the Hillsmere Pool. As I mentioned last month, there have been a lot of rumors flying around. The HSlA board has been working on reaching a consensus on what we would like to see happen with the pool. I can't report on the details since it is still a work in progress. However, there are a few things that I believe we all agree on. First, the pool should continue to exist because it is a great asset to the entire community, increasing real estate value and bringing people together. Second, the pool should be available to more Hillsmere residents. Third, the financial viability of the pool should be maintained. The goal would be to keep the pool totally self-supporting. Finally, the consensus on the board is that, if at all possible, HPA (Hillsmere Pool Association) should continue to operate the pool under a new lease. There are a lot of details to work out. We are doing a lot of brain-storming and many really good ideas have been discussed. I can promise you that we will make sure everyone in the community is kept informed as this process continues. So, if you hear that we are planning to fill in the pool and build a motorcycle race track or that the pool will be turned into a fish farm, please don't believe it. Talk to me or any other board member first, before you call all your neighbors. The Hillsmere Pool has been one of the jewels of our community for nearly 30 years. The pool will stay and be better than ever. The entire HSlA board is dedicated to that outcome.

You may have noticed something new in the community. As I announced in the March Sea Breeze, starting May 1st we now have our security patrols provided by Blueguard Security. It's a family owned business that seems to be very interested in providing excellent customer service. There will be several security officers who will be patrolling for a minimum of 30 hours per week, all year round. You have probably seen the marked patrol car with roof mounted amber lights. Previously all our patrols have been in the evening and nighttime hours. This year, some of the patrols will be during the daytime as well. We will still have our off-duty Anne Arundel County police officers patrolling as before. Right now we have two officers working part time. Randy will not be back this summer as our beach and marina security guard. He has other work that prevents him working for us on weekends. We are looking for someone to replace him. We will have a security guard at the beach and marina on weekends and holidays for the entire summer.

That's it for this month. Thanks to everyone who volunteered for the beach clean-up days, Easter egg hunt, and other community events. Be sure to come out to the socials and Beach Happy Hours this summer. I’ll see you there.