Soon to be retired Lt Col Brian Stives MC'd the event. Joining him to provide the invocation, Irwin Loud, Jr, LTC Retired, and to provide the keynote address, Ralph L. Kuster, Jr, Col Retired.
We were entertained with several wonderful musical selections from the Timberwilde School Choir. In addition to singing quite well for a young group, the kids were wonderfully well behaved considering the sun bearing down upon them.
Col Kuster, a former F-105 fighter/bomber pilot with 110 combat missions over North Vietnam and unfortunately, one sortie that didn't make it back to base, told a story of how he never fully understood the significance of Veteran's Day (or Armistice Day as it was called when he was a child). He had watched the parades and later as a Boy Scout, proudly marched in those parades. As a member of the military, he participated in parades and began to fell like part of the team. But Col Kuster explained to the assembled crowd and the attentive students, in 1967 he was shot down behind enemy lines. Luckily for him, he was picked up by Air Force ParaJumpers as his fellow pilots circled above him to secure the area. But many of his fellow servicemen were not as lucky and they spent time as prisoners of war. It was this that finally made him understand the deep pride that those who had served before him felt.
Following the stirring speech, and as Taps and Echo was performed by Warren High student Daniel Flores and retired MSgt Keith Kolars, several veterans put wreaths at the base of flags in the Great Northwest's memorial to those who have served.
Following the ceremony, attendees were invited to enjoy refreshments inside the lodge of the Great Northwest where staff served up cake and such.
I hope that for many of you, this was not just a day off, but at least worth a few moments of reflection and thanks for those that have and continue to serve.
Eva collects the goods
The event was hosted by our Deed Restrictions Architectural Control Officer (DRACO) Jose Morlett and he arranged for a City of San Antonio Code Compliance Supervisor, John Kelly, from Housing & Neighborhood Services to provide us with an informative and interactive briefing.
Officer Kelly had lots of really good information and answered questions from the audience, often fielding questions from residents who were slightly perturbed (I'm putting it mildly) about perceived inaction by his department. What we found though was that in some cases, action was taken, people were cited or perhaps went to court, and the judge basically let the violators off easy. But thankfully, Officer Kelly passed out his card and took notes, street addresses and made a list of violations he would personally look into.
I have always found that by attending these types of meetings, you can really get straight to the person who can help you out, a whole lot easier than counting on a voice at the end of the phone. I hope that the folks who came to the meeting with complaints got the help they deserve.
After Officer Kelly gave his talk, DRACO Jose Morlett expanded on several areas and how the Deed Restrictions differ from the City Code, and likewise how they are handled. I urge you to read the next issue of Passages where Jose will have a full article on many of his efforts to better enforce some of the crazy things you see as you drive around the area.
Tonight (15 Aug 2009) is the GNW Luau. Free to residents (have your membership card at the ready) and $3.00 for guests. BYOB.
In spite of a slow start, it was apparent that many people driving past the collection point went home and cleared off the shelves in their garages, because we ended up with 50 gallons of paint suitable for recycling through the city of San Antonio's paint recycle program.
With a great turn-out of volunteers, A-Team members took advantage of the manpower available and did a quick clean-up of the soccer fields and picnic areas.
By noon when the project was complete, A-Team Coordinator, Mike Yager had a truckload of paint to deliver to the city collection facility on Culebra Road, and the A-Team members were looking forward to the next event scheduled for August 29.
I should tell you that my wife and I attended the last Luau with neighbors and we had a blast. The GNW Sounds warmed up the crowd with a few festive numbers at the beginning of the event, then a DJ/Karaoke guy came on and really got things going. The event is for adults aged 21 and up and it is a BYOB type of thing. There will be food provided. Don't call PETA, but someone said they might even have a pig on a spit! Check your next Passages for details.
My wife and I had an awesome time at the first Casino Night. The folks who put it on did a great job and nobody, far as I could tell, was disappointed. This one is not free and it is not BYOB, but everything is very reasonable. Again, learn more in Passages.
I recently did a story on a group of National Junior Honor Society students from Zachry Middle School who participated in a community service project at Kuwamura Park located at Timber Path and Cliffbrier in Emerald Valley. This story prompted one former GNW resident and long time reader to ask about the origin of the park name. And that prompted me to ask the same question. Who is Kuwamura and why do we have a park named after him?
Well, I’m happy to report that every ballot was reviewed and re-reviewed for accuracy, and when anyone saw anything even slightly out of place – even if it was obvious the intent, at least two people would look at the ballot to be sure. And even then, if anyone thought that the tiniest something might be cause for someone to later make any issue of a ballot, the matter was evaluated until put to rest. I guess the point I’m making is, this group did things with the utmost of integrity with no agenda to push toward a particular outcome. 
The proxy is like a vote all by itself. You are voting that you want there to be a quorum of the association when you submit your proxy. If you don't submit your proxy, you are also voting; that you don't want there to be a quorum. But I suspect most people don't realize that. So when you don't return your proxy paper with your regular ballot, you basically have voted against whatever you marked on your ballot. I know, it is confusing.
I wish I could tell you that people from all nearly 5,000 of our residences turned out for the big meeting, requiring the association to have to rent out the AT&T Center for the event, but instead, a fairly small percentage of the membership made it. Granted, it was a larger crowd than the usual monthly board meetings. 
The annual meeting is more than just a place to tally up the votes, welcome new directors to the board and say goodbye to those leaving. The GNW office staff puts forth a tremendous effort to research the names of residents who have participated in volunteer events throughout the year so they can be recognized, create certificates and T-Shirts, decorate the lodge and arrange for catering (this year, a nice spread from Parties for Less owner and resident, Hilda Diaz). 
And what event would be complete without a thoroughly festive performance by the GNW Sounds? 
Chairman Garcia presented the two candidates seeking election to the Board of Directors, Mark Martinez and Beatriz Dean.
The board recognized Mike Yager and Bill McDonough as Volunteers of the Year for their tireless efforts in maintaining many of the public areas that do not fall under the auspices of our maintenance staff. I can tell you first hand that these two folks do so much for the community, and it is appreciated.
The board also recognized Betty Hood and Judy Montville for being Neighbors of the Year. Betty is well known in her neighborhood for huge National Night Out events as well as going out of her way to organize and obtain complimentary items to support all of the many NNO block parties throughout the Great Northwest. Judy is well known in her neighborhood as well. She has been tackling the issue of stray and vicious animals in the Great Northwest, arranging meetings, working with the city Animal Care Services and the City Council staff to bring to light the negative impact of this problem on our area.
The Youth Service Award was presented to a much deserving young man, member of The GNW Sounds and other volunteer efforts, Daniel Flores.
And for their non-stop efforts supporting the community and the association, Minda Tovar and Chief Roger Burton were awarded the Above and Beyond Award.
The people of the Great Northwest have spoken, whether they all realize it or not.
There were several experienced gamblers who fully understood the terminology, the odds and the various strategies involved, but for me, I relied very heavily on Allan, one of the guys running the Craps table to keep me straight on when to place bets. Eventually, thanks to a lady who had a long run of good luck, I made a series of solid bets and walked away with a healthy heaping of chips, as opposed to my experiences in Las Vegas where I tend to walk away empty handed!
Craps wasn't the only game in town. I have always enjoyed the sound of the one-armed-bandits, though rarely have I appreciated the shear waste of money. True to casino form, my experience here was no different. For $500 in chips, the players receive a bag full of tokens that work the slots. And of course, I went through that little baggy in about two minutes. But other people were luckier than I. Several people hit big on the slots, and I'm sure they will thank me later for contributing my tokens to their big take-home.
My wife was having fun at the black jack tables and so I decided to join in. In the grand scheme of things, I think this is the best place for you to get bold and play a lot of chips. Like Craps, the table is made fun and entertaining by the dealer and the excitement of the people joining in. Thankfully, we had a good crowd and excellent and entertaining dealers. As the night went on, my confidence and chips began to grow and I started to make some larger bets.
Other folks played the Roulette table which seemed to be very popular as well.
And it wouldn't be Casino Night without a little cheer from the bar. A professional catering staff was brought in to man the cash bar, and as it turned out, it seemed to be a very popular idea.
When the gambling officially stopped at 10PM, the players traded in their chips for tickets toward drawings for prizes including the grand prize, a trip to Las Vegas. Depending on the amount of chips you had, you got a certain number of tickets, so really, those who did extremely well in their gaming got more chances to win the prizes.
And the winner of the trip to Las Vegas was the same lady that had the hot hand in Craps earlier in the evening!
