Congratulations to the Tennis Club

CanAm Softball Games

Clipped from Softball Blog by Della Bass

A letter from Lisa

I recently read some disturbing comments on NextDoor regarding management’s lack of concern for our safety so I contacted Lisa Harold and asked for her input.  Obviously, she IS concerned about security as she and her family are also residents at Palm Creek. 

She has indeed been busy contacting our local police department for their help, input, and support.  She has quite a few “irons in the fire” to address our safety issues and will be distributing a letter to our mailboxes within the next couple days outlining the items.  It takes time to properly draft the letter, get it proofread, print 2000 copies, and get them distributed into our mailboxes so please be patient.

Hopefully seeing the increased presence of patrol cars cruising through our streets at night can verify that action has been taken.   We all need to heed Officer Engstrom’s advice about keeping our doors and valuables locked at night and when we leave home.  Let’s be vigilant.

Lisa was kind enough to release a DRAFT of the letter that will be distributed.

February 23, 2016

Dear Residents,

It is important to recognize that when something happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.  We are a family here at Palm Creek, and both as a resident and as the General Manager, I take break-ins and property crimes in the resort very seriously.  The purpose of the meeting with the Police Dept. on Monday was to start the process of building a relationship with our local law enforcement and to remind our residents and guests that we are our best line of defense against property crime in the resort.  Being mindful of locking sheds and homes, not leaving keys in golf carts, and properly securing bicycles and other valuables is an important step in not making us an “easy target”.

I would like to share some of the things that I have been working on for the last few weeks.  It was my intention to speak on this during the crime prevention meeting but it ended more abruptly than I expected.  It is important for you to know that while residents and guests need to do their part, management also has a critical role to play. 

-My staff and I have been putting together a “thank you” package for the Police Dept. and Fire Dept. and we have also introduced an annual Police Dept. fundraiser.  This season it will be a Nine and Dine in March.  We appreciate our local Police and we want them to know it!

-Jim Dawson, Officer Engstrom and I will be conducting a full survey of the resort.  From there, I’ll be able to develop a comprehensive plan where I can look at meaningful integration of signage, lighting, and monitoring that were discussed yesterday and address any shortcomings that we find.

-I will be hosting a focus group in the Ballroom on Wed., March 9^th from 3-5 pm to review specific crime prevention topics including Neighborhood Watch.  Please email me any questions or discussion items you would like discussed during that meeting and I will incorporate them into my agenda.  I will invite the Police Dept. to attend to give input if they are available but I will be the main speaker.

-We have increased evening property drives in the resort by our night driver and ranger teams.  I have also asked the Police to patrol the interior and exterior of the resort at least once per night as availability permits.  The Gate staff and Officer Engstrom have confirmed with me that this has been happening for the last few weeks.

-We have purchased an exit beeper at the Main Gate.  This will be turned on from 10 pm to 5 am and will alert the Gate staff if someone is exiting the resort at odd hours. 

-We are very excited to announce that we have partnered with Sam’s Club to offer a 10% discount to any Palm Creek resident or guest who purchases a game camera or security camera system from them.  They have many affordable options under $200. Please see the March newsletter for more information.

-The police dept. has recently received some new funding and programs.  During our resort survey, we will be able to determine if we can take advantage of these programs.

-Next season, we will ask the Police Dept. to have a booth at some or all of the Craft Fairs to talk about bicycle registration and share any current programs and information.  This will depend on their availability.

- If someone is involved in a crime, it is critical that a report be filed so that the Police Dept. is aware if there are any trends and can provide us support.  Any time an incident happens, the Gate immediately calls the Police, but we cannot file an actual police report if it was not resort owned property that was stolen or damaged.

-The police dept. is in need of unwanted bicycles and broken laptops for their bait theft program.  I have asked for a list of any other items they might need.  If you are interested in offering a donation to them, please contact the Activities Office for more details.

I want to thank those of you who took the time to attend the crime prevention meeting yesterday.  For residents and guests who were not able to attend, we will have information from the meeting included in the March newsletter.  You can also stop by the Activities Office and pick up copies of the materials. 

If you have any comments or feedback, please email me at lharold@suncommunities.com.  Thank you for joining me in a productive and healthy conversation about such an important topic to all of us.   I look forward to continuing to build partnerships for the success of our resort.

Regards,

Lisa Harold, General Manager

Palm Creek Golf & RV Resort 

Crime Prevention Meeting

Officer Thomas Anderson from the Casa Grande Crime Prevention Unit was at Palm Park today to talk about crime prevention and safety.  He discussed different ways we can protect ourselves from being an easy victim.  He left behind a flyer giving safety tips (posted below) and a link we can download to our cell phones that will allow us to access the police department other than the 911 emergency line.  Information regarding neighborhood Crime Watch programs was also available.

The phone app allows you to 

• send tips to the CGPD
• view a crime map and safety tips
• see CGPD's most wanted
• access social media, useful links, & press releases
• View CGD phone and email directory

Just go to the Play Store for your Android or to the Apple store for your iPhone.  Search for "Casa Grande Police Department".  

Busy Weekend

Gosh.........I don't even know where to begin with all the news from this weekend.  The park was absolutely booming with activity and the weather is absolutely gorgeous!

First stop after weaving my way through traffic due to the patio sales at many of the sites was to see finishing touches to the new activity pool.  Lots of backbreaking work to smooth it all off.

Ta da..........finished!  Now a couple days to let it filter and we're ready for action.

Restrooms should be ready soon as well.

The newly refinished tennis courts are in full swing.  All eight courts were active this morning.  Our tennis players are HAPPY again.

Roberta is not only an avid tennis player........she's my 'bestest' bridge partner too.

The woodshop's wood show and sale was fantastic!  We have sooooo many talented people here.

Tom Proctor does these amazing works of art.  

Arden Griepp can add his artistic drawing to his wood pieces.

Texas Eddie

Judy Clark has a beautiful collection!!!

I had to smile as I passed this line up of patient husbands resting in the shade while the ladies finished their shopping.

And, of course, lunch was served on the patio.

Next door was the annual quilt show.  Dolores Forbis played background music for this lovely event.

All these colorful items are donated to the hospital for newborns.  A true labor of love.

Fantastic work for our veterans too.

If I'm allowed to have favorites, I claim this one by Nancy Proctor.

There is a whole group of sewers who make clothes for this American doll.  Their theme this year was international so each doll had a wardrobe from a different country.

Bonnie Sewell sent me these fun photos from the morning Stretchers class lead by Rita Mullins.  

Looks like they have fun at their exercise!

While all these activities are here at the resort, some of our residents took their skills to a bigger competition in Tucson.  They entered their dogs in the big agility show there and all came away as winners.  Looks like the training classes lead by Karen Rust and Lynne Benton have definitely paid off.

(Terry Meyers and Blue, Sandy Morin and Grace, Jan Turner and Rusty)

I end today's post with this cute photo of our senior card players!

Full Season

I had to ride up to the mail room this morning to pick up a package.  It made me smile all along the way to see how busy and active our park is at full season.  Thought I'd share a few snapshots I took along the way.

First drove past the tennis courts.  All available courts were in full use.

The players look wistfully at the new courts waiting for the green light when they will have more room to play.

 Their bulletin board keeps the existing four courts well occupied.

It's always fun to pause at the puppy park and watch the busy pups at play.  Those added benches and umbrella are much appreciated by puppy owners.

Lawn bowlers were at the height of a tournament game.

Ricki Persing wasn't playing though.  She was on duty at the hostess station waiting to welcome new guests.  Thank you again, Ricki for all you and Myron do for the program.

Stop to view the pretty flowers and landscaping on the way to the office.

The billiards room looks pretty busy even on a nice sunny warm day.

New guests arriving every day.  Registration desk is always busy.

Volunteers are selling tickets for the chorus and the play.

Activities is bustling.

The library is really busy.

Finally made it to the mail room to pick up my package.

Silversmith room looks busy too.

Spotted this couple sitting in the walkway cruising their email from friends back home in the snow.

Ahhhh......yes.....the luxury of the nicest hot tub in town.

Folks just gather on the patio for a cup of coffee or quick sandwich from the bistro.

If only there was a workable deterrent for the darned pigeons.  They're getting braver now and don't even fly away when we walk past.  I love birds but these critters are a real mess.

Must stop and get some fresh veggies and oranges from this vendor.  He comes to the park every Tuesday and Friday.  I get a full back of yummy oranges for only $5.

Took a quick look at the pups in the big agility park.  

Softball game is underway.

I couldn't get the camera to focus well enough so you could see two remote control airplanes flying in the background over their special airfield.  Will have to make a trip back there on another day.

Needless to say, the pickleball courts were well occupied.

They have an information desk staffed by volunteers for the MANY people who stop by to learn about the sport.  

Have you noticed all the new baby oleanders at the back of the street of dreams?  They'll look a lot different in a year or two.  More trimming for our busy landscape crew.

The ducks are enjoying our pond.

My last stop was on Putter Place where I stopped to pick a pocket full of  kumquats.  WOW!  Is this tree ever loaded with fruit!!  Thank you Len for a nice morning treat.

All this fun and activity on a beautiful sunny warm day.  Current temperature is 84 degrees.    No wonder we love living here!!