{"id":10224,"date":"2024-07-15T10:00:34","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T10:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/?p=10224"},"modified":"2024-08-27T00:23:11","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T00:23:11","slug":"july-august-2024-newsletter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/?p=10224","title":{"rendered":"July\/August 2024 Newsletter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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TUNED-IN<\/h1>\n

A Visit with George Igualt<\/h2>\n

By Dale Dauten<\/h4>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cYou can\u2019t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tina Fey<\/p>\n

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\u201cGoing down the chute\u201d came to mind when visiting with George Igualt, head of the park\u2019s management company, as he reminisced about jumping into the project to bring high-quality internet\/cable to residents:<\/p>\n

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\u201cAfter hiring multiple different experts with multiple solutions, we came close to giving up. But, it was Al\u2019s vision [Al LaCanne of the parks\u2019 ownership group] that got us started, so we kept going. If we\u2019d known all the issues we\u2019d run into, would we have jumped in? I don\u2019t know. But I know that with the help of Jesse Castro and his team, we are finally there.\u201d (As Jesse put it in a recent article, describing the increased speed of the parks\u2019 internet, \u201cIt\u2019s like getting out of a go-cart and into a Mercedes.\u201d)<\/p>\n

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Mention of Al LaCanne gives us a reason to bring back a favorite photo: George (L) and Al (R).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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We had come to meet with George for our annual update on park improvements planned for the off-season. He began by explaining how expensive infrastructure work for the internet\/cable continued to require a major portion of the improvements budget: \u201cIt\u2019s not something that you see when driving around the park, but we are proud of the systems upgrades that mean we\u2019re able to include the service for all our residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

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(We reviewed Jesse Castro\u2019s work in a recent newsletter. If you missed it, you can find it here:\u00a0Click Here for Last Month’s Newsletter<\/a>\u00a0)<\/p>\n

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As for the other changes residents will see, George began by describing his process of developing this year\u2019s improvement projects: \u201cWe\u2019re constantly assessing what needs to be done, but it\u2019s in the Spring when we get really focused. I meet with staff, of course, but I also like to keep my ear tuned-in to what residents are thinking. For instance, this year I kept hearing that the front signage for Silverigde needed more light. We experimented with more landscape lighting, and played with how it was aimed at the sign, and then we tried retrofitting the signage with lights, but we finally realized that it just wasn\u2019t good enough — we went with a sign that lights up.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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In addition, George visits with representatives from clubs and organizations that use the park\u2019s facilities, and says, \u201cThey usually have a wish list and we try to find a way to say, \u2018let\u2019s do it.\u2019 For instance, this year, the pickleball players wanted to new court divider. We had netting on the new courts, but we\u2019ll be adding metal fencing like the original courts. And I met with the lawn bowlers — they wanted to change the grass. For years we\u2019ve overseeded with rye and we get a beautiful lawn, but in visiting other places with lawn bowling, they\u2019ve determined that Bermuda grass is better for the sport, even though it dies down in the winter. So we\u2019ll be seeding Bermuda this year.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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(Speaking of grass, for those of you who play softball over at Silveridge\u2019s sister park, The Resort, you\u2019ll notice changes there. George recounted efforts by the head of the parks\u2019 maintenance team, Mike Hacker: \u201cWe have had a terrible time with crabgrass. It\u2019s green and looks okay, but it grows faster than other grass and it changes how the ball plays. Mike has made it his mission to eliminate crabgrass. However, to get rid of it, you have to dig out sections and add new dirt and reseed. It looks terrible now, but he\u2019ll be getting it back before Fall.\u201d)<\/p>\n

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As for other Silveridge maintenance, it continues over the summer, with work accelerating just before the new season starts. George explains, \u201cFor example, there\u2019s the tennis courts: we have an alternating schedule, redoing half the courts each year. We fill cracks and reseal and paint \u2013 they\u2019ll look brand new. And, we\u2019ll be giving the trees a fresh trim, and planting winter flowers, and adding fresh paint wherever it\u2019s needed. When people come back in the Fall, we want everyone to look around and think, the place has never looked better.\u201d<\/p>\n

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(Photo below: George heading out to review progress at the parks)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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As he thought about the return of seasonal residents, George smiled and added, \u201cI look forward to it every year. It\u2019s like I\u2019m a teacher and it\u2019s a new school year — I look forward to seeing familiar faces coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n

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(Photo by park resident Richard Young)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TUNED-IN A Visit with George Igualt By Dale Dauten \u201cYou can\u2019t be that kid standing at the top of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10224"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10225,"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10224\/revisions\/10225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}