You may recall that during a meeting of the Board of Directors for the Great Northwest Community Improvement Association (GNWCIA), our Community Manager gave us an update on some clean-up work that was taking place in the greenbet located behind the Lodge of the Great Northwest between Timberwilde and Tezel Road.
At that meeting, he suggested that folks might want to take a stroll to see the progress for themselves, so this evening, my wife and I charged up our little scooters (last seen in the GNW 4th of July Parade) and decided to take a little ride down there.
I have to tell you first off that our scooters are the perfect vehicle for a parade on a flat street with no bumps or hills, jagged rocks, dips or protruding limbs. But we gave it a shot in the greenbelt anyway...
My intent was to go along and take a bunch of pictures to show folks the progress (and there has been incredible progress since my first visit months ago). But since we could only make it less than 1/4 of a mile in, we opted to save it for more of a walking adventure.
But our failure should not deprive you from what I did see, so here are a few pictures of the first 1/4 mile.
You'll note some tagging along one privacy fence. I suspect the homeowners have no idea their fence has been defaced. Clearing out the area to make it more accessible and enjoyable should hopefully make this area more of a family friendly environment and less of a hang-out and tagging practice area. Who knows?
You can see that they have cleared out about 10 to 15 feet of brush away from the fence lines. A person walking should easily be able to navigate this area, taking a pet for a walk or just enjoying some time peering over the privacy fences of the people who back up to the greenbelt. I can just see the first incident of someone calling security, not because some peeping Tom is looking over the fence, but because some nosy greenbelt hiker looked over the fence and saw something he didn't need to see. So as a warning to Naturists, please keep a towel handy so as not to offend the people looking over your fence. I'm just being goofy now. There are no reports of repulsive nekkid people displaying themselves along the greenbelt, at least that I am aware of. I'll alert the Cibrian District Council Office if I hear of such antics.
Anyway, the one thing I did notice was that much of the brush has been pushed toward the dry creek bed in the middle of the greenbelt. I think the idea is to let it dry up and then it can be dealt with. I also noticed a large chipper on site, so I'm not sure how it will all end.
This weekend, weather permitting, I'm going to take a walk down the length of the greenbelt and snap some new photos and hope to report back with some better pictures that can reveal what an inviting place this area is and can be.
Meanwhile, the scooters will have to charge up and prepare themselves for an adventure a little less rugged.
In what can only be described as a perfect day for a parade, it would appear that the big Weatherman in the sky gave the residents of The Great Northwest Community Improvement Association (GNWCIA) a pass, just long enough to hold a spectacular parade.
You might recall last year, the annual 4th of July Parade had to be canceled at the last minute due to approaching thunderstorms. This year, we simply could not have asked for a better breeze to keep everyone cool and sunny skies to remind us that it is in fact, July!
This year, my wife and I joined several neighbors to ride our scooters in the parade. As The T-Post Posse, we earned suntans and sore butts putting along the parade route that started at Zachry Middle School, along Timber Path and up to the Lodge of the Great Northwest on Timberwilde.
This year, the Grand Marshall was none other than Miss Olivia Theriot. You may recall that not only is she a well known retired veteran of the Air Force, Miss Olivia is also the very first homeowner in Silver Creek. Robert Rodkey is seen telling Miss Olivia about some of the finer points of his Corvette, the lead car in the parade she rode in as Grand Marshall, driven by Chairman of the Board of Directors, Richard Garcia.
We had numerous participants including this incredible float saluting military members, and thanking them for their service!
There was a float with players and coaches from the NW Vikings youth football team...
Both Boy and Girl Scouts,
members of the GNW Sounds musical group,
and even the GNW Garden Club.
In addition to these organizations, the parade included several sharp looking older vehicles like Ole Betsy, a 1970 Chevy Truck driven by the Garza family and a few hitchhikers along the route...
and Chairman Garcia's '69 Mustang driven by Director Ida Rodkey and husband Robert.
The parade included numerous bike riders, walkers, people with baby strollers, and other vehicles including the several of the GNW Staff, like Fred Murphy, Director of Maintenance on his pristine condition motorcycle.
Recreation Director Stephanie Larrabie was in the parade,
while DRACO, Jose Morlette drove ahead to take pictures of the spectacle.
Chief of Security, Roger Burton showed off the new Patrol truck.
Speaking of security, we had officers from Precinct 2 Constables office out as well as friends from SAPD making sure the parade which lasted about 45 minutes from start to finish could safely make it down the 1 1/2 mile stretch of Timber Path and across Tezel Road to Timberwilde.
As a group, our little Scooter Patrol were really surprised at the number of people who lined the street along Timber Path. We were certainly pleased with the number of parade participants, but having never been in the parade before, we simply didn't realize that along the way, so many wonderful residents would be out in lawn chairs, under the shade of umbrellas and canopy. It was really nice to toot our horns and greet the crowds along the way.
I only wish that I could have taken pictures along the way - but being on a scooter is not conducive to busting out the camera every few seconds. But my son did get a few shots (featured in this report) from his position at the end of the parade. Either way, it was really nice to see so many people waving and cheering for us. We will definitely do it again next year - I hope you join us for the fun.
You'll note some tagging along one privacy fence. I suspect the homeowners have no idea their fence has been defaced. Clearing out the area to make it more accessible and enjoyable should hopefully make this area more of a family friendly environment and less of a hang-out and tagging practice area. Who knows?
You can see that they have cleared out about 10 to 15 feet of brush away from the fence lines. A person walking should easily be able to navigate this area, taking a pet for a walk or just enjoying some time peering over the privacy fences of the people who back up to the greenbelt. I can just see the first incident of someone calling security, not because some peeping Tom is looking over the fence, but because some nosy greenbelt hiker looked over the fence and saw something he didn't need to see. So as a warning to Naturists, please keep a towel handy so as not to offend the people looking over your fence. I'm just being goofy now. There are no reports of repulsive nekkid people displaying themselves along the greenbelt, at least that I am aware of. I'll alert the Cibrian District Council Office if I hear of such antics.
Anyway, the one thing I did notice was that much of the brush has been pushed toward the dry creek bed in the middle of the greenbelt. I think the idea is to let it dry up and then it can be dealt with. I also noticed a large chipper on site, so I'm not sure how it will all end.
