June, 2004 - reaching 65 PRVA members

PRVA Yard Sale May 2004 Board Meetings, Minutes, Newsletter
Saturday, May 15th, promised 90 degree weather and bright clear skies. Our 'vendors' started setting up at 7a.m. We have never had as many 'vendors', about 15 families, neighbors, and friends, set up tables, lay out blankets and setup 'shop' for the day. Bureaus, golf bags, clothes, dishes...even a couple of 'big' toys...Harley Davidsons! Shoppers started arriving at 8ish and the flow never stopped. Perhaps it was the good promotion via ads, word-of-mouth, email...and/or perhaps people are becoming more familiar with our yard sales.. whatever the reason, we have never had such a well-attended yard sale, either by 'vendors' or 'buyers'...more

Questions to the board should be addressed to board@paulreverevillage.com . One board member receives all these emails and directs them to the appropriate person. 

Minutes from the April board meeting are posted in the private area. If you do not know the owner ID and password, just ask.

All newsletters, both hard copy and electronic, are archived on our newsletter page.

The Silver Lining Poison Ivy
There has been a nasty rumor hanging around for years that homeowner associations are inherently flawed. The premise is that both volunteer and hired management are incompetent, invasive and tyrannical. Read this article by Rich Thompson, president of Regenesis.net

Since there is no practical way for us to be free of poison ivy on our beautiful wooded grounds, 

this seems like a good time to post a page on myths and facts about poison ivy along with a couple of pictures of poison ivy on our grounds.

Boom Times For U.S. Broadband Usage Expected To Continue New Pet Community Member
According to Internet Week, "the number of U.S. homes using high-speed Internet service is expected increase by more than a third by the end of the year, a market research firm said." If we believe that research and apply it to our demographics, then that would mean ** more households would have charter or verizon high speed. Read more here.

Mr. Crosby - this little guy reminds me of a deer. The latest addition to Laurie and Randy's household.

On the humorous side, we have 10 Pet Peeves, such as "Taking me for a walk, then not letting me check stuff out. Exactly whose walk is this anyway?"

   
 
Boom Times For U.S. Broadband Usage Expected To Continue

By TechWeb News , InternetWeek
Apr 29, 2004 (7:00 PM)
URL: http://www.internetweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=19205587

The number of U.S. homes using high-speed Internet service is expected to increase by more than a third by the end of the year, a market research firm said. In a report released this week, Strategy Analytics predicts the number of broadband households will increase to 33.5 million by the end of 2004 from 25 million today.

Cable modem users are expected to account for 5.2 million of these new subscribers, and DSL service is predicted to add 2.9 million households. About 400,000 homes will use alternate broadband access technologies, such as fiber, wireless, and two-way satellite services.

In addition, the market research firm predicted major changes in the competitive positioning of telephone and cable TV companies delivering broadband.

Cable companies are expected to offer more compelling product bundles that include video, data and telephone services. To compete, telephone companies that have initially attracted DSL customers through low prices will need strong partnerships with satellite TV operators to keep pace.

Cable companies that have moved aggressively in the voice-over-Internet protocol arena include Time Warner, Comcast and Cox. Among telecom and satellite TV operators, SBC and EchoStar, respectively, are building a strategic alliance.  

Our yard sale coordinator, Charlene, was the first vendor to arrive, claiming a prime spot on the corner of Bunker Hill and Lexington. She did a terrific job pulling the group together and probably had more 'stuff' than anyone! Made out well too. One of the first buyers to arrive wanted to see the 'slot' car collection. Ron successfully sold his collection for a pretty penny too! Charlene, did you sell the blow-up Kayak??

Laurie quickly bought a mountain bike for $15 which she'll take up to their lake house to ride around the lake on. So, starting in the 'red', she ended up still profiting enough for a nice meal for herself and Randy!

New neighbors, Rebecca and Dan and also Ellen Mushlin joined our group of vendors. It was such fun going around and taking pictures. Everyone graciously allowed me to do so. Sorry I didn't get to chat with everyone, but hubby Bob made the rounds with our minpin canines and had a good time meeting you all. Rebecca, being the crafty Stampin lady, inspired a new twist to the next yard sale. It will be a Yard Sale AND Craft Fair. It will be held in early September, so if you are crafty, you might want to think ahead... Ellen is very happy here, she bought Claire Houle's unit at 6 Meetinghouse, and she's a real people person. Ellen served as an association president at her last home in a small complex. It was great chatting Ellen!

Then there was Andy who bought Cheryl Brady's unit. Andy is selling his Harleys...now that's gotta hurt a guy, but he wants to start his own power washing business. Nice talking to you Andy and good luck with your new venture!

Another nice twist to this yard sale was the offer from the Association to put any unwanted items, at the end of the yard sale, near the watershed. There was quite a pile there at the end of the day! The plan was also announced via email Saturday evening - the offer to place unwanted items or take items that were left there, was extended to everyone. Then a call was made to the Boy Scouts who were having a yard sale of their own. By Sunday morning, the pile was very small.... someone made out well! Then the pile got quite large again, the community cleaned house! The rubbish company removed the rest on Tuesday.