We’re pleased that Jerry Maryniuk, the former policeman we’ve dubbed The Official Cartoonish of RV Life, has passed along another cartoon… enjoy!

The tree trimmers have been out working at Silveridge, creating some inviting shade

I’ve always bragged about having the best residents in the world. We truly appreciate the respect you folks have given me and my staff. Our team has worked tirelessly in an effort to assist you in making this the best place we can make it.

In that spirit of mutual respect, I want to be completely transparent with you about where we stand in our annual adjustment in costs and rents. There will be an adjustment this year. I know that it is a disappointment to many of you — and I want everyone to understand why and how we came to our conclusion.

First, let’s start at the beginning…

The Market & Competition:
We know that there are plenty of other parks in the area and we do regular assessments of them to see where we stand. We have the enclosed handouts for comparisons of the value you receive for the money you spend.

1. The first thing I want you to notice is that we are a great value for the money – we aren’t the cheapest park in the market, but we believe we are by far the best value.

2. We have spent literally millions of dollars in upgrades over the past 5 years. By doing so, we have surpassed many neighboring communities in overall quality of the property, and in our amenities and facilities.

3. One of the reasons our park has a different “feel” than our competitors is that we have more space and less density – which is to say, we have wider streets and larger lots than most other parks. In comparing parks, the measure used is Density per Acre, and ours is at 9 units per acre compared to the 12-16 units that are common elsewhere. That gives us that open “feel” that so many visitors comment on.

Costs of Operations:
Next, I want to talk about the cost of operating a first-rate facility like ours. Just looking at standard costs of operations, those hard costs increased about $700,000 over the past five years. Our real estate taxes alone have increased from about $90,000 per year to $175,000 per year -that’s a 195% increase. We’ve also seen substantial increases in water, sewer and utility costs. During this time, we’ve had extensive maintenance on road surfaces, as well as amenity improvements.

Some other factors to consider:

Largest Facilities per unit:
If you visit other parks, I think you will agree that our facilities are much like those in parks “two and three times” our size. I have heard from many of you that our relatively small size (685 & 791 units versus 1200-2000 units) adds to our appeal. However, offering big amenities in a small park does have cost implications.

Historical Values of Your Homes:
In my 40+ years in the real estate industry, I’ve come to understand the importance of value. The value of anything has to do with “supply and demand” of the product being offered. Thanks to upgrades, our product (that is, our park) has been in high demand. We have enjoyed close to 100% occupancy during our past seasons.

Since we took over operations in 2008 and 2009, we have invested millions of dollars in upgrades to our faculties and that has been good for everyone. While property values in many competitors’ parks are still below pre-recession levels, many of you have increasing home values. Together we are enjoying the greater value of being a top-quality park.

IN CONCLUSION…

So, here’s the bottom line: As I mentioned, we will have an increase in rents again this year. Despite rising costs, the amount of increase will stay the same as in previous years, a $250 increase. This means that as a percentage increase to updated values, it is falling, but it is still an increase and I hope you will understand why it’s necessary.

We are grateful to have you as residents. We are committed to you. We are having this meeting now to simply give you time to check out other facilities if you do not trust our accompanying charts on values. 1 also realize that there are some residents who’d like to stay but are on fixed incomes and simply cannot afford the quality of park that we have become. For those of you in that category, I apologize. However, you can sell your home at a very nice market price and probably buy elsewhere for less money. You won’t receive the same quality of property, staff or amenity, but you can go elsewhere for less
money. We acknowledge we are not the least expensive. It is just impossible to create the quality of our parks without a cost.

We never promised we would be the “cheapest” in the market, just the best value for a high quality property.

We genuinely do our best to make this community your special home. Hope to see you next year! I will take comments and questions privately after this meeting.

Thank you for your participation and we wish you well this summer,

View Cost Comparisons vs. Other Parks (pdf)

Sorry that the photos are a bit blurry — maybe our photographer was laughing too hard?

Memorial for Harvey Jamieson on March 18^th 2016

Our Courageous Volunteers

Message From Sue Activity Director and Editor

It is only right that my last message of the season pays homage to our important volunteers. You have heard it before and I will write it again “Silveridge is the special ACTIVE, CARING and PRODUCTIVE Park that it is because of our volunteers!” A big thank you to the 300 plus residents who have served in a volunteer capacity this year. I believe there are three characteristics that I feel describe our volunteers:

1. They unselfishly give their time. Figuring conservatively our volunteers have contributed over 10,000 hours of their time. There are many ways of spending time in retirement. One should do what they want after working all their lives. A volunteer actually enjoys giving their time, gifts and energy to help out where needed. Time is a gift in itself and no one knows what time we have left. We have lost many loved ones this year who were in leadership volunteer positions. We celebrate our volunteers and honor the memory of those that have gone before us for their commitment to our community. Thank you for making your time count!

2. Volunteers want to make a difference. They see an area where they can help and use their background of experience and knowledge to educate and improve the lives of those around them. Kudos to those volunteers in leadership positions. These people spend countless hours preparing and organizing their classes. They come from all different walks of life. We have retired doctors and nurses, pilots, college professors and principles, computer trainers, police and fire officers, musicians, military officers – just to name a few. They know how to “Rock What You Got.” Thank you for sharing your talent

3. Volunteers have courage. Yes, it takes courage to step out of the box. Questions like, Do I really have the abilities to this? What if they don’t like me? What if I forget something or fail at my task? Whenever you start something new doubt comes easy, but courage takes work. It reminds me of the lion in the “Wizard of Oz” who needed courage in life- only to find out that he had it all along. The lion just had to have someone believe in him and tell him that the courage was within him. Thank you for volunteers for your courage!

I have planned a special recognition dinner and entertainment for all my volunteers on Thursday, March 17th. I want to recognize Jerry Colling and Tracy Gagnier and all the kitchen volunteers for stepping up to the plate after our chef, Harvey Jamieson passed away. Because of their leadership and sacrifice of time we were able to keep all our 70 food functions running smoothly and our tummies satisfied! A special thank you to my efficient assistant, Jill Belcher and Jarrod White, my set up person who has helped me and others in so many ways. Both Jill and Jarrod have helped make our Activity Office successful! Our new GM Rhonda and our entire staff have put in countless hours to make our park run smoothly. Thank you to my Mom, my “Balcony Friends” (you know who you are) and to my best friend and husband Jeff who has been my runner for food and supplies. After 47 years of marriage Jeff never knew he would have a second career as a domestic engineer! Thank you for making this the best year ever! Stay healthy and return safely to Silveridge. Watch for my summer newsletter online with a listing of entertainment and apparel to bring. May you all have a safe and healthy summer. Get ready to celebrate my Silveridge Friends. You know that we are the Friendliest Park in the West!

Thanks to All Residents!!

On behalf of the Sunshine Friends, I would like to congratulate the residents of Silveridge Park for their generous donations of money, cards, gifts and lap robes. Your generosity was awesome!! Because of you we can provide help and bring Sunshine around our park. Continue to let us know when someone in the park needs our help or a resident has passed away. Sunshine Friends.

Donations Wanted:

Books (2000-2016)

DVDs

2016 Magazines

Puzzles-(all pieces)

Older items?

Please donate to your favorite charity.

If you have questions,

call Audrey 480-373-7330