I completely slept on this conference this year but Cindy B was good enough to offer this summary. I’ve been to this event every year and it is always very encouraging to see all of the hardworking folks there who believe in their neighborhood and are willing to get involved….
Residents of Sumner Lake Honored at City Conference
The City of Manassas honored five neighborhoods with “Neighborhood of the Year” awards at its annual Neighborhood Conference, November 13, at the Boys & Girls Club.
Sumner Lake Homeowners Association was honored with the “Best Neighborhood Communication/Involvement” award for their response to the Sept. 23 fire that destroyed three homes, damaged five others and displaced 11 residents on Tillet Loop. Residents turned the neighborhood’s website into a vital communications link to identify victim needs and spread the word to meet those needs. They opened their community center to shelter fire victims and collected more than $10,000 in cash, clothes, food, household items and furniture. Donations are still being collected through the holidays.
Point of Woods 1 & 2 and Point of Woods 3 Homeowners Associations were honored with a joint “Best Neighborhood Group Effort” Award. They pooled resources to launch a Neighborhood Watch and host activities such as a Fall Festival to build community, despite the financial hardship of last winter’s snow removal.
Cannon Ridge Homeowners Association won the “Best Back Yard/Storage Area” award for staging a community walk-through to identify issues such as fallen trees and exposed wires, and then addressing those issues. They also organized a creek cleanup.
Wildwood Condominium Association won the “Best Curb Appeal” award for modeling a clean community and adding a beautiful new entrance sign and playground.
Other highlights of the day-long conference included:
- Free private consultations with housing counselors from Fannie Mae and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service for homeowners with mortgages in distress.
- Tips on how to use social networking to increase communication among neighbors.
- The opportunity for youth to explore “My Defining Moment” and create T-shirts for non-toxic bears to be donated to patients at Children’s Hospital in memory of Sey-J Landsdowne, a Boys & Girls club member who died of leukemia this past summer.
The City’s Neighborhood Conference was sponsored by KIA of Manassas, the Boys & Girls Club of Manassas, Dominion Towing, Lucky Dog Grooming, Virginia Housing Development Authority, Yard by Yard Landscaping and many other community partners.
As a follow-up to the conference, the Neighborhoods Work Group meets Tues., Nov. 23 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Wellington Community Center, 9700 Wellington Road in Manassas. All City residents who what to work to improve their neighborhoods are welcome to attend.
For more information, contact Neighborhood Services Coordinator Christen Zenich at 703-257-8315.
November 16, 2010 at 9:27 am
I think there was a very good turn out. This was my first year attending. I didn’t get a chance to go to any of the workshops because I was working a booth but I did get a chance to meet quite a few new people. I plan on attending it next year.
November 17, 2010 at 10:07 am
As an young adult going to college and living at home, I’ve been feeling a little left out from these things lately. I’m too old for the “youth cafe,” which aims at teens and too young to be really interested in HOAs which was this year’s focus. That’s why I did not go this year.
I wish the conference was like the second year with the Manassas Next stuff, the gang workshop with the MCPD and the GRIT, ICAR’s workshop (one of the leaders of that is the professor of my conflict class), and so forth. That was a good time for me. These last years’ offerings have been so much worse by comparison in my opinion…
November 17, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Andrew, I passed on your feedback to Christen Zenich. The planning team just met this morning to outprocess all the feedback from attendees.
One suggestion was two tracks — one with the standard stuff like Neighborhood Watch, GRIT, CERT, Fire Safety, etc. and the second one to fit whatever the theme is (last year was emergency management, this year was volunteerism).
A big hit this year were the private consultations with counselors from Fannie Mae and Virginia Cooperative Extension Service for mortgage distress — they were busy throughout the conference seeing folks one-on-one.
Several comments were related to the fact that nothing appealed to “upper or middle class neighborhoods.” We were thinking maybe next year we could draw an HGTV-type celebrity to run one of the workshops or have a presentation by remodelers/landscapers with plenty of time for questions and answers.
November 17, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Sumner Lake receives their award:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KWmV5ibUk0
November 22, 2010 at 7:24 am
What no awards for GTS? What a shocker.