Volume 3 Issue 5
October 1999

From the President by Jim Lantry
Another year of fundraising is coming to an end. If you haven't mailed in your dues for 1999, please do so now. Send them to: Archdale Civic Association, PO Box 41543. Charleston, SC 29423-1543. With only a 48% participation rate, we are considering raising the dues to $50 for next year. There has been no increase in dues for at least 10 years, and with escalating costs and a less than stellar donation rate, we cannot afford to maintain the current level of service. If we had 100% participation, we could lower the dues substantially, but that doesn't seem likely this year. Speaking of dues. I want to thank those of you who called to correct your dues status. I apologize for any typographical errors or omissions.

Your Civic Association at work. Besides the regular summer activities such as board meetings, general meeting; and regular boulevard maintenance, we have been working on the following problems within Archdale: The owner of the property behind the Prudential Building was contacted regarding cutting the grass and cleaning up the waste that had been dumped there. Code enforcement .was contacted about a property Archdale Landing regarding violation of nuisance ordinances (uncut grass). The county was contacted requesting replacement of three faded stop signs, patching of potholes on Laurel Ridge and Sunrise, and exploring the possibility of having a street sweeper clean all our streets at least once this fall. The entrance light was repaired and electric billing was transferred from the women's club to the ACA. The water meter at the entrance was activated and is awaiting installation of a spigot. New flowers for the entrance were ordered and will be planted this month. The mortgage company for an Oaks of Archdale property was contacted regard cleanup of the property. A lawyer was contacted regarding ACA legal options in relation to the vacant lot being sold on Knightsbridge. The county was contacted regarding responsibility for maintenance of the retention pond on Knightsbridge. Owners of three vacant lots within Archdale were contacted requesting that they maintain those lots in accordance with county ordinances. Trees knocked over by Hurricane Floyd were removed from common areas. While not all of these endeavors has been successful. we continue to work towards the resolution of each one. I want to assure you that the Association is working for ALL our Archdale neighbors, in very neighborhood. If your particular problem is not being addressed, it doesn't mean that we are ignoring you, it's just that my plate is pretty full right now and I have to set priorities on which issues to address first.

Flowers
The new flowers for the front entrance will be arriving soon. For other entrances, we will do our own planting in an effort to save some money. I was very pleased with the entrance flowers which survived pretty well until only recently. I encourage all our residents to come help us with the fall cleanup.

Thanks!!!
A big thank you to Shelly Richardson and the people at Accuprint. Accuprint not only handles the printing of the newsletter, the Richardson's are also Archdale residents. Without Shelly's help, the August newsletter never would have made it out on time. I'd also like to thank the resident who planted the flowers at the entrance to Stirling Forest, as well as all those residents who took the time to keep their common 'areas looking great. As a special request, I'd like to ask all our residents to take a look at their grass bordering the street and trim when necessary. There area few houses where the lawns are threatening to cover the asphalt!

Speeding
Please watch your speed while traveling on our streets, and if you have children who drive, remind them to do the same. A recent accident and several near misses underscore the need for all of us to please SLOW DOWN! Even the lawn care worker comment that he's had several close: call on the boulevard while cutting the grass. Lets all try to watch the speed limits a little closer.

Fall Cleanup
We will be having the annual fall cleanup on Saturday, October 23, beginning at 9am. We will meet at the front entrance at that time. The plan is to plant flowers at the Archdale Landing, Oaks of Archdale, Stirling Forest, and Brookshire entrances, as well as trim the bushes and shrubs (with the exclusion of the crepe myrtles, which will be trimmed later this year) at all the common areas. If you live near a common area, please come out and help. There are over a dozen common areas within Archdale, so the job is enormous if only a handful of people volunteer. If you have a landscaping idea for your common area, please share it with us. Leave all limbs and brush at the curb, so that it can be collected-by one of the volunteers. We will try to have someone on the boulevard collecting dues one last time, so if you have not yet donated, you will get one more chance to do so.

Yard Sale
We are planning another community yard sale at the front entrance on Saturday, November 6 from 8-12 noon, weather permitting. It will be advertised in the Post and Courier. We ask that if you sell items that you please donate $4 per family.

Awards
At the August general meeting, the Archdale Helping Hands award was given to Dr. Marlon Fox. Those of you who've seen Dr. Fox walking the boulevard picking up trash understand why he received the award. His hard work, on a purely volunteer basis, is what this award is all about, recognizing Archdale residents who go the extra mile to improve our community. Thanks again Dr. Fox! If you know of an Archdale resident who is an active volunteer in any local community project. please call me or any other board member to nominate that person.

What the Residents Are Saying?
As expected, publishing the dues list brought a few calls. Most were from residents who had paid but were not on the list. My treasurer, Ann Gregowicz has reported that those discrepancies have .since been corrected and I apologize for the errors. One caller was quite angry refusing to pay dues now or ever, and accusing me of neglecting the people of Archdale Landing. I want to assure that caller, and anyone else who feels their particular area is being neglected, that that is just not the case. One of our board members, Dean Officer, is a resident of Archdale Landing, and an active member of the civic association. In addition, Archdale Landing was the only neighborhood where I conducted a door-to-door campaign to meet my neighbors and introduce myself. We are targeting Archdale Landing to be the first neighborhood to get natural gas service if the residents wish, and recent letters to the county were mailed regarding paving issues and code violations within Archdale Landing. No area within Archdale receives any less attention than any other. As for positive comments, we received a nice letter from a resident commenting on the flowers at the front entrance. Thanks for the kind words! Due to some experimentation with what flowers do well under these hot and dry conditions, we will have even nicer planting next summer.

The National Volunteer Campaign by Steve Hurley
Attention Archdale, Waverly Place, and Archdale Forest Residents- Charleston. SC has been chosen one of only 25 cities nationwide to join the "National Volunteer Campaign," We in ,Archdale were asked specifically to help. We have chosen the Low Country Food Bank as our project. We will need people to help out on Saturday, October 23rd, for only a few hours to help sort and stack canned goods in preparation for the Thanksgiving baskets (which the volunteers will prepare in November). Last year we held a food drive at the entrance and it was a huge success. Thanks to the generosity of our residents, we were able to help feed over 200 men, women, and children at the Good Samaritan Mission. Will you help out again? Just drop off your cans and I will make sure they reach the mission. For information on either of these projects, call me at 207-7911. In addition to the needy, please remember your local fireman this holiday season. If you have the chance, drop off any pies, cakes or home baked items to the Ashley River Fire Station. It's a simple way of letting our firefighters know that we appreciate all they do for Archdale.

School Supply Drive by Steve Hurley
A big thanks to everyone who contributed to the school supply drive, It was a slow turnout. but did eventually pick up. We were able to help 56 kids in the Charleston area with their school needs. If it wasn't for your generosity, these students would still be borrowing from other students or teachers. I'm sure we helped boost self-esteem and moral in every child we helped.

Yard of the Month by Cherie Jones
We want to recognize yards of the month for August, September, and October. Congratulations to Steve and Wanda Smith at 142 Knightbridge (Stirling Forest), Anita Dunn at 304 Wakefield Court (Archdale Pointe), and Richard and Carolyn Reseer at 168 Botany Bay Blvd. We all appreciate your hard work.

Christmas Bows
It's become a tradition that every year a group of Archdale residents volunteer to make and sell Christmas bows the two weekends following Thanksgiving. The proceeds go towards the electric bill on the front entrance light. If you are interested in either making and/or selling bows, please contact Cherie Jones at 760-1942. Don't know how to make a bow? We'll teach you.