The Country Club Crier
A publication of the Plantation Country Club Estates Homeowner's
Association
PO Box 121466, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312
President Dawn Raduano-791-4962 Vice President Tim Gardner 792-
5828 Treasurer Bill Ritter 584-2211 Secretary Charlene Strauss
581-1113
President's Message by Dawn Raduano
The time to vote is upon us. This year we are electing two seats on
the City Council. A strong turn-out from our neighborhood is
important for two reasons. The first reason is that we may assist in
electing a leader that we have chosen and secondly to increase our
clout on the City Council in the upcoming years. In the past the
voter turn-out in our neighborhood has been lower than in other
neighborhoods, such as Plantation Acres. This tends to impact us
when our neighborhood requests a capital improvement. We would like
to have a candidate elected who will sincerely care for our
neighborhood and will help us get projects accomplished. Hopefully,
you participated in the Candidates Forum presented by our Homeowner's
Association and Plantation East, or attended another event which will
give you insight into each of the candidates.
There are other County wide issues on the ballot that are of
interest. Early voting is currently in full swing, and you may vote
now or wait for Election Day on March 8th. Our next meeting is also
on this day and, after our meeting, a group from the Homeowner's
Association will wander down to City Hall to see who our
representatives will be for the coming years.
Please go out and vote and show all the Council people that
we have interest in our neighborhood, which is reflected by our
participation in electing the official who will serve our City and
our neighborhood.
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A special thank you to the guest writers in this issue of the PCCEHA
newsletter! Please consider submitting an article to next month's
issue. It is so interesting to hear from neighbors. If your hobby or
interest is exciting to you, it may be exciting to others as well!
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CHARLENE'S COLUMN "Dog Training" by Guest Writer-Tracy Tenner, Better
Behavior, Inc.
"Train, don't complain," is popular wisdom among dog trainers, and
this is the perfect season to start. It's never too late! Dogs are
pack animals and, therefore, want to be recognized members of your
pack (family). They want to live in the house and (believe it or
not) want to follow the rules, if only they knew them! As owners and
handlers of dogs, that is our job - to teach our dogs the rules in
language they can understand. Dogs aren't born knowing our language
and are incapable of understanding conversation. It is our job to
teach them appropriate reactions to our requests/expectations and to
keep it relatively simple. A good dog trainer will teach both you and
your dog how to "converse" and interact in a way that is acceptable,
indeed enjoyable, for all concerned. Prices for dog training will
range from $10 or $15/hour for group training to $75 or $100/hour for
private lessons at your home. Happy Training! Visit Tracy's website
at
http://community.webtv.net/trajo123/BetterBehaviorInc
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"Leaf Collection" by Guest Writer-Derek Burch
Forget Christmas, Valentines Day, 4th of July! This is the prime time
of the year for me! The leaves are coming off the oak trees, and I
can give my garden its booster shot for the year.
I use all the leaves from my neighbor's oaks, and any others that I
can get my hands on, as a thick mulch through all the beds and I do
mean thick! Some places get a foot, and the paths through the forest
get as much as I can balance on them. It all breaks down through the
summer and feeds the soil, which in turn makes for healthy, vigorous
plants with no other fertilizing. The stuff on the paths or in piles
in out of the way places gives me potting soil and topdressing as it
breaks down.
Take home message? If you really need to rake your leaves (why?), use
them to mulch your shrub beds. Just throw them on and shake off any
that sit on the leaves. Check that there are no piles around the base
of trees touching the trunk. That can actually cause rot and kill the
tree. Make doughnuts rather than volcanoes.
If you can't bear to see leaves around your garden, you can drop bags
of leaves (no trash, please) in my driveway, 4044 SW 4th Street, and
get my heartfelt thanks. They could also be spread at the Living Ends
as mulch. Be glad to share my garden with you, too. Happy mulching!
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Welcome to our newstest members!
Ann-Marie &
Christopher Cuthbert
and
Gabham &
Maureen Kenna
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Director's Corner:
MEMBERSHIP DRIVE--There will be a membership drive Saturday and
Sunday, March 5 and 6, 2005, with registration at three locations
around Country Club Circle as follows: 1) Tim Gardner's home (4351
E. C.C. Circle); 2) Charlene Strauss's home (971 E. C.C. Circle); 3)
rest stop near 50th and Country Club Circle. Please stop by and say
hello, and invite your neighbors to say hello to the neighborhood
association.
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Please Remember to Vote on March 8th! The more we represent
ourselves, the more represented we will be!
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FYI
*Check out the NEW website at www.pcceha.com!
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NEXT MEETING
Tuesday, March 8, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. at the Country Club.
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"McGinnis Park History" by Joe Mercogliano
We've all seen it and heard about it
.but what the heck is it??
McGinnis Park or the property that encompasses the McGinnis Park was
bought by John McGinnis in the early 1960's.
Originally it had 1 2 businesses on it that got condemned and
demolished by the fire department in the 1970's.
Since then, the land has remained vacant until the mid 1990's when
your homeowners association approached the city about purchasing the
property for a park.
In 1999, the project gained steam when George Lord presented a
petition of 1500 residents requesting a park be built in our area.
From 1999-2001, the city's redevelopment people for the Gateway
realized that the McGinnis Park is an intragal part of the
redevelopment of Peters Rd.
Finally in early 2002, the city bought the land for $285,000.
Since then not much has been done to plan or develop this area.
In November 2004, your homeowners association created a McGinnis Park
Committee who on February 22, 2005 presented a presentation to the
City of Plantation Parks & Recreation Advisory Board outlying our
wants and desires for our park. The board unanimously approved our
plans for the park and it is presently going to the Mayor and City
Council to move forward. The city has earmarked $100,000 for the
planning and development of the park and then $600,000 for the actual
building of it.
Go to www.pcceha.com for information.
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"Please Vote" by Priscilla Hawk
ELECTION DAY MARCH 8, 2005
PLEASE GO OUT AND VOTE, LET YOUR
VOICES BE HEARD
I am asking all my neighbors to go out and vote. We need your vote
to show unity in our area. This is the time to show that you are
concerned about your community and will go to the polls to prove it.
Our city officials do not react to our needs because they feel we
don't have any political power, because the East side residents don't
vote. Please prove them wrong on March 8. Lets all go to the polls
and vote.
Ron Jacob is not running for re-election, this leaves group #5
vacant. There are 7 candidates running for group #5 they are: Dr.
Bob Levy, from our area and our association and Sanford Fenster,
Jimmy Gordon, Matthew McLoon, Rico Petrocelli, Graig Rogers, and
Michael Taussig, which all live west of the tirnpike. Bruce Edwards
and Gloria Burnell are competing for group #4. Burnell is a new
comer to Plantation's politics. She is running against Bruce Edwards
who is running for re-election. The slot issue will also be the
ballot.
Politics are a dirty game some times. I know that you have noticed
that someone has removed all of Bob Levy's signs from around the
golf course. Rico Petrocelli's signs were also removed.
Let your voices be heard, please vote on March 8. 2005.
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Hopefully next month i will be able to upload the newsletter in its
proper format. The advertisers will be then able to be viewed!
PROGRESS!!!