{"id":11130,"date":"2026-07-15T10:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T10:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/?p=11130"},"modified":"2026-07-14T19:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T19:06:14","slug":"july-august-2026-newsletter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/?p=11130","title":{"rendered":"July\/August 2026 Newsletter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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The latest in our series\u2026<\/h2>\n

The People of the Park<\/h1>\n

A Conversation with New A.D. Silvia Osborne<\/h1>\n

By Dale Dauten<\/h1>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Say you wanted to design the ideal backgrounds for the people to head up your events and recreations team. How\u2019s this sound for Activities leadership\u2026<\/p>\n

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Start with a person with a history of leadership\/management experience, including running\u00a0retail locations — someone who\u2019d been promoted multiple times and\u00a0even awarded a major corporation\u2019s \u201cchampion\u2019s belt.\u201d Next, add a person who\u2019s owned and run a restaurant\/bar \u2013 and, not just any bar, but the one that was the meeting spot for the area\u2019s residents. And, let\u2019s include that both are people who happen to love crafts, dances, classes and putting on events.<\/p>\n

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It won\u2019t surprise you to learn that the above description is that of Silveridge\u2019s new Activities leaders: Silvia Osborne as Activities Director and Tammie Littlejohn as Assistant. We\u2019ve written about both previously \u2013 prior to their new posts — and you can learn more about their backgrounds here:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Silvia<\/p>\n

https:\/\/silveridge.com\/?p=10259<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tammie<\/p>\n

https:\/\/silveridge.com\/?p=10623<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We recently sat down with Silvia to find out how she\u2019s settling into the new role. She\u2019d been the Assistant A.D. for the past two years, working with Lu Way, and said of Lu, \u201cWe were all blessed to have years of great events \u2013 she\u2019s a big act to follow.\u201d Silvia added this about her time as Assistant: \u201cI spent two years sitting up front, listening, taking it all in. I\u2019ll be trying to incorporate what I learned from our residents.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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We started by asking Silvia about the best and worst parts of those first two years: \u201cThe best is being the face of fun \u2013 I love that. As for the events themselves, the dances are my favorite. But a downside? There wasn\u2019t one.\u00a0If I had to say anything, it was that by February and March you start to get a little tired — there\u2019s just so much going on, all the time. It\u2019s good to have the offseason to recharge.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Part of that recharge is having recruited Tammie to join the leadership team. Silvia pointed out that Tammie is already a familiar face around the department, having been a volunteer for years and having become known for her displays in the glass case near the office. She\u2019s also become highly knowledgeable about the park, given her work with sales and rentals. Silvia said of Tammie, \u201cShe\u2019s very creative, very crafty and used to run a bar — I can hardly wait to see what she comes up with next.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That attitude applies to the whole team of people involved with putting on events. Silvia told us that her biggest lesson from her years in corporate life involved teamwork. \u201cWhen I started out,\u201d she recalled, \u201cI thought it was all about me, that if I wanted it done right, I\u2019d do it myself. But, eventually I learned to recognize the different talents of the people around me and realized that if I built a team, and relied on their talents and creativity, not only would the results be better, it would be easier on me.\u201d She added, \u201cI heard someone say, and it stuck with me, \u2018There are two kinds of leaders: those who push people down and those who push people up. I wanted to be the second kind. I learned to value people, to appreciate them and let them know it.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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We asked Silvia if residents should expect any big changes in events\/activities around the park and learned that most things are staying the same, with Silvia singling out the dances, classes, yoga, and coffee\/donuts, all carrying on as they\u2019ve been. However, Silvia has been looking at ways to cut costs for residents, telling us, \u201cWe\u2019ll be adding events with more community involvement. We\u2019ll have game nights where they\u2019ll be our version of shows like \u2018Jeopardy\u2019 or\u2018 Family Feud\u2019 — you can participate or just come and watch. And we\u2019ll do more events like the Poker Runs. We\u2019re looking for more ways for people to get involved while being budget-friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Plus, there will be some variations in familiar offerings, with Silvia providing this example: \u201cI\u2019d heard residents say that they wished that New Years Eve went till midnight. So I took a poll on Facebook and found that most people would rather have 8 to midnight instead of what we\u2019ve done in the past, which is 6 to 10. That way, instead of a dinner, we can have snacks, and that means we can cut the cost to residents in half.\u201d<\/p>\n

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So there will be both changes and continuity, all meant to keep the spirit of the park rolling along. Reflecting on what Silveridge means to her, Silvia said this:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI came here and found something I\u2019d never found before: a real community, where people are so involved. That\u2019s something you don\u2019t see, that I had never experienced in my life. But it\u2019s here. It\u2019s like\u2026\u201d [And Silvia sang a bit of the \u2018Cheers\u2019 theme]\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(If you\u2019re feeling nostalgic, here\u2019s that \u2018Cheers\u2019 theme song\u2026<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/DfpzsezVlpo<\/a>\u00a0)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And let\u2019s end with photos of Silvia getting into the spirit of events around the park\u2026<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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The latest in our series\u2026 The People of the Park A Conversation with New A.D. Silvia Osborne By Dale Dauten […]<\/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\/11130"}],"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=11130"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11132,"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11130\/revisions\/11132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/silveridge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}