President's Message

Happy New Year Fellow Stoneleighites!

First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Dean Johnson and my family and I have been Stoneleigh residents for the past 7 years. In just 7 years, the Stoneleigh rhythms and traditions have become my family’s rhythms and traditions. We are all very fortunate to be part of such a true community!

As Winter has set in and the Holidays are past, we don’t get the opportunity to see all of our neighbors, like we do in the warmer months. Rest assured that a lot is going on behind the scenes to get us ready for an excellent 2008.

Shortly, everyone will receive their 2008 Annual Dues notifications. Once again, dues remain at $25. In 2007, only 77% of neighbors actually paid their dues. I sincerely ask everyone to please participate in 2008. This money helps fund the COP, the Stoneleighite, the Directory, new trees, our York Road garden and many of our fine neighborhood events.

Our outstanding Social Committee, headed by Laura Collamer and Anita Anson, have a full slate of activities ready to go in 2008. A calendar of events is in this issue of the Stoneleighite and is also available on our website (www.stoneleigh21212.org). If you’d like to volunteer to help out in any way, please drop me an email at deanandnic@comcast.net.

While I’m on the topic of volunteering, I want to reinforce the statement I made at the neighborhood Annual Meeting. In a nutshell, we want to get more people involved in 2008. There is plenty to do and plenty to help with throughout the year, and all of the volunteering comes with the fringe benefit of meeting and socializing with your wonderful Stoneleigh neighbors.

For those who are unaware, our Past President Christian Merlo did a tremendous job over the past two years building and maintaining a Stoneleigh Google Group. This system allows us to get information out, via email, very quickly to all neighborhood subscribers. Currently we have over 350 distinct email addresses in the group. If you’re not already in, drop me an email and we can get you added (again, that’s deanandnic@comcast.net)!

Lastly, I’d like to ask again for volunteers to help assist our neighborhood Citizens on Patrol effort. Joe Oddo, who manages our Stoneleigh COP, is always looking for help (joeyo444@yahoo.com). Even if you only have an extra hour in your busy schedule, the COP would love to have you. We’re very fortunate as a neighborhood to have the COP, but like any organization, new blood is always needed in order to help it thrive!

In closing, I have to say I’m very excited about the opportunity to serve this community we love so much and truly look forward to meeting as many of you as possible.

See you around,

Dean Johnson