Our growth continues in the Far South as Magnolia Plaza matures along with the Sawgrass entertainment area. If you haven’t had an opportunity to visit the new dog park at Ezell recreation area, I hope you’ll take some time to do so.
We are hosting numerous presentations in the Far South this year to help inform and educate our many newer homeowners. Our May program is titled “How To Benefit From Your Recreation Department’ and will be held on May 23rd at 7:00 p.m. at Ezell Recreation Center. Representatives from the Recreation Department will discuss how to obtain to enjoy the robust recreational opportunities available to you.
The Villages of Hawkins and St Catherine are hard at work developing AED programs for both villages. AEDs have been ordered and volunteers have stepped forward to be trained as responders. A special thanks to the Villages Public Safety Department and Sumter County for their assistance is helping get these programs off the ground.
It was impressive to see the proactive approach taken by The Developer to address a flooding issue that occurred along the walking path in the Village of Hawkins. The walking path has been fully restored and is now again being enjoyed daily by the many walkers, joggers and bicyclists who use the path.
In addition to our Far South VHA membership base growing daily, we are fortunate to have a number of homeowners volunteer to be neighborhood representatives. We currently have 15 neighborhood representatives in our area. If you’d like to see who your neighborhood representative is, please go to the VHA website www.thevha.net, click on the “Members” tab then click on “Neighborhood Rep Lookup”. Select your Village to see if you have a rep and their contact info… No rep? Consider volunteering! These wonderful folks are available to help with any specific concerns or question you may have.
Meet one of our new neighborhood reps; Jim DeCastro. Jim and his wife, Susan, moved to Citrus Grove with their son Matt and two Yorkies in January from Long Island. Jim has always been a volunteer, including as a Little League coach, Cubmaster and an elder at his church. Jim’s passion is singing. He sang the National Anthem at both the NY State Fair and a Long Island Ducks semi-pro baseball game. He has been in choirs that sang at Carnegie Hall, the Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting and Madison Square Garden. He recently joined The Villages Pop Chorus and North Lake Presbyterian Church. We thank Jim for joining The VHA and helping us out with our FB page and as a Neighborhood Rep!
Dave Fountaine, Vice President
716-816-8500
[email protected]