and Rob Ewell. Each will be serving a three year term that will expire in Oc-tober 2014.

Now that we have a full Board in place the real work begins. For 2012, we have visions of a stronger community that is fiscally responsible, a Board who serves the majority of the members with commit-tees, and functions and facilities that are clean and well maintained. We hope better communica-tions and accessibility to documents and infor-mation will help members stay informed and partici-pate wherever and when-ever they desire. In the near future, a “documents’ committee” will be formed that will begin reviewing our governing documents, to not only bring them up- to-date with current Virgin-

In the last Green Runner, we were eagerly anticipat-ing the upcoming Novem-ber 21 meeting where we hoped to reach our quor-um of 361. On Novem-ber 21 we did just that with 742 members repre-sented in person or by proxy. Once ballots were cast and counted the re-sults were announced: Dennis Higgins with 492 votes, Darlene Smathers with 384 votes, Rob Ewell with 369 votes, Amanda Melson with 309 votes, Robert Dean with 237 votes, George O'Leary with 128 votes, Carol Sprangers with 61 votes, Jim Pearson with 37 votes, Cyrus Altimus with 31 votes and Jerry Rowe with 23 votes. Subse-quently our three new di-rectors are Dennis Hig-gins, Darlene Smathers

ia Code but actually make sense as well! A pool committee has been formed and will hold their first meeting on January 18, at the Clubhouse to begin working on the many issues facing our biggest and oldest recre-ational facility – our pools. Board Director Scott LaFountaine has volunteered to chair a committee to review how the Association can comply with ADA stand-ards. These are just a few of the many things coming in 2012. All com-mittee meetings, board meetings and forums are open to the mem-bers. Please attend when you can – the Board needs your input and ideas.

Happy New Year!

Special points of interest:

Annual Meeting

Canal Dredging

Safety

Inside this issue:

Annual Meeting 1

Canal Dredging 1

Burglar Proof 2

Nifty 50’s Info 3

Calendar 4

Sports 6

Larkspur 7

GR Little League 8

Scouting 9

Saving Money 10

Green Run Canal Dredg ing Infor mation Night

located between Buckner Townhomes and Wood-land Meadows. The actual dredging should begin in the spring. More infor-mation will be available on our website,

www.greenrun.org.

2011 Annual Meeting Finally Concludes!

The city held an infor-mation night on Tues-day, January 10 at Rosemont Elementary. The meeting went over the dredging process and the order that the canals will be dredged as well as a timeline. The first canal to be dredged will be the canal

Jan- Feb

2012

During the winter months, especially around the holidays, burglaries are a concern as folks are leaving valuable pre-sents under trees and stashed throughout their homes. Just one burglary in your commu-nity in the course of a year is one too many and Green Run has had several over the past month alone. While it is im-possible for police officers to watch every home in every community during his or her shift, it is possible for home-owners to make their homes harder targets for criminals. Take a few moments and uti-lize this home security check-list to see what you need to do to burglar-proof your home:

DOORS: YES / NO

Exterior doors kept locked?

Exterior doors of solid-core construction at least 1” thick?

Exterior doors fitted with deadbolt with 1” throw?

Door strikes secured with long screws/bolts?

Sliding glass doors locked and fitted with track locks, Charlie bar, or wooden rod?

Side entry from attached gar-

age equipped with deadbolt lock?

WINDOWS: YES / NO

Are all windows secured by pins or locks?

Double-Hung sash windows pinned?

Window air conditioner se-cured to window frame?

Sliding glass windows fitted with track locks or wooden rod?

Basement windows locked and secured?

LIGHTING: YES / NO

Front and rear porch lights present and working?

Motion-sensing lights along sides and rear of home?

Motion-sensing or floodlight over garage entrance?

Interior lights on timers?

LANDSCAPING: YES / NO

Shrubbery trimmed to below window-sill height?

Shrubbery trimmed away from entrances so that they are visi-ble from street?

Trees trimmed at least 4 feet

from ground level to allow visibility from the street?

YARD, GARAGE & DRIVEWAY: YES / NO

Is the yard fenced?

Is fencing in good repair with locking gates?

Are garage doors and side en-trances locked?

Are all garage windows cov-ered?

Are ladders or other climbing aids such as garbage cans, lawn furniture secured?

Are bicycles, lawnmowers, power & yard tools stored in locked garage or shed?

Are house numbers visible from street?

For more information on home security tips and/or to have a Crime Prevention Officer come out to assess your home, please contact the Crime Pre-vention Unit at 385-1006. Officers are available upon request to do a home security assessment (always free of charge) and let you know what you need to do to make your home a harder target for crimi-nals!

THE GREEN RUNNER | WWW.GREENRUN.ORG

“Is Your Home Burglar-Proof?” by MPO Leta Krieger

Bill Holtz President

(Oct. 2012)

Jay Stern Vice President

(Oct. 2012)

Patricia Keeley Treasurer

(Oct. 2012)

Jill Ewell Secretary

(Oct. 2013)

Amber McCulloch (Oct. 2013)

Scott LaFountaine (Oct. 2013)

Dennis Higgins (Oct. 2014)

Darlene Smathers

(Oct. 2014)

Rob Ewell (Oct. 2014)

Green Run’s

Officers

& Directors:

Crime Alerts

We have a page on our website

at: www.GreenRun.org that has

a place for Crime Alerts in our

area. Check it out Here:

http://greenrun.org/crime-

alerts.asp

On that page there is also a link

to a “Home Security Booklet”

PAGE 2 | JAN-FEB 2012 | GRHA

Neighborhood Watch!

If you are interested in participat-ing, visit http://greenrun.org/neighborhood-watch.asp Our webpage and click on the tab that says or Email: iwatch@greenrun.org for more information. Thank you for keep-ing our community safe!

Welcome New Home Owners to our Community

Our next planning meeting is scheduled for January 12, 2012 at 1pm in the clubhouse.

January 20, 2012

Birthday Party Celebration and Money Bingo

We will decorate with birthday party decorations. We will be serving beef stew, rolls, salad, cake and ice cream. Cost will be $7.00 per person.

February 17, 2012

Mardi Gras Celebration

This celebration will be a pot luck finger foods gathering. Cost will be $3.00 per person. Please let the Nayla know what you are bringing. More infor-mation on entertainment com-ing soon.

March 16, 2012

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day Dinner will consist of corn beef and cabbage, potatoes, corn bread, water gate salad, key lime pie and green jello

Cost is $7.00 per person

LOOK AT YOUR BOX TOPS AND LABELS!!

We are collecting box tops and labels for Schools. Bring them to our next din-ner!! We are collecting box tops and yogurt cancer lids. Please bring to the next dinner.

"NIFTY FIFTIES" Contribu-tions:

1. A large box of food was donated to the Waters Edge Church, at 4141

THE GREEN RUNNER | WWW.GREENRUN.ORG

Holland Road. They have a food pantry every Tuesday.

2. $50 for the Green Run Children’s Holiday Party

We are currently looking for volunteers to help set up and clean up for each event. Please, contact Nayla Nieves at 427-9858 or email:

niftyfifties@greenrun.org

for more information.

JAN-FEB 2012 | GRHA | PAGE 3

Nifty 50’s+ Club Events, Contributions & Volunteer Opportunities!

If you are a new home owner here in Green Run, WELCOME! We have many opportunities and resources. Please read through this

newsletter and we look forward to meeting you soon!

2011 Year End

Single Family Homes Averages Sq. ft. 1635 Price $177,000 Days on Market: 89

Attached Homes Averages Sq. ft. 1224 Price $102,000 Days on Market: 80

2011 Last Quarter

Single Fam Homes & Attached Homes

Sq. ft. 1456 Price $138,900 Days on Market: 72

Real Estate Information

THE GREEN RUNNER | WWW.GREENRUN.ORG PAGE 4 | JAN-FEB 2012 | GRHA

Paid advertising

Stay updated on all the latest news and events happening in

our community! Just login to facebook, “Like” our page:

www.facebook.com/GRHOA

and stay connected!

Calendar of Events

PLEASE DO NOT

FEED THE

DUCKS IN OUR

COMMUNITY.

January 2012 February 2012 March 2012

3rd – Youth Athletics 1st – Homeowner’s Forum 1st – Communication Committee

4th – Homeowner’s Forum 2nd – Communication Committee 5th – Youth Athletics

5th – Communication Committee 6th – Youth Athletics 7th – Homeowner’s Forum

9th – Finance Committee 8th – Members Alliance 12th – Finance Committee

10th - 6pm Architectural Cmte. 13th – Finance Committee 13th – Architectural Committee

10th -7pm Dredging Presentation 14th – Architectural Committee 15th – Events Committee

12th – Nifty-50’s Committee 16th – Events Committee 16th – Senior Dinner

14th – Green Run Little League 17th – Senior Dinner 20th – BoD Meeting

17th – BoD Meeting 21st – BoD Meeting 27th – Architectural Committee

18th – Pool Ad Hoc Committee 28th – Architectural Committee

20th – Senior Dinner Winter Office Hours

24th – Architectural Committee Committee Meetings at Clubhouse Monday—Friday

28th – Green Run Little League Begin at 7pm 9am—5pm

We value your input and feedback. Submit your ideas & comments to:

newsletter@greenrun.org

THE GREEN RUNNER | WWW.GREENRUN.ORG JAN-FEB 2012 | GRHA | PAGE 5

ADA Ad Hoc Committee forming. If you are interested in attend-

ing this meeting about the possibility of our Clubhouse becoming

ADA compliant and handicap accessible, please email Scott LaFoun-

taine at: slafountaine@greenrun.org

Communication Corner

Billing Inquiries

If you have any questions regarding your account with

Green Run Homes Assocation, please email:

billing@greenrun.org

The First Wednesday of each month is

our Homeowners Forums, 7pm at the

Clubhouse. This is an opportunity for

home owners to discuss issues and ask

questions with other members and

Board Members.

The Events Committee would like to thank

all that helped make the Childrens’ Holiday

Party such a success!

THANK YOU:

Residents, Santa, Fiesty Elf, Committee

Members & Staff Members

SPORTS Update : Footbal l & Basketbal l

PAGE 6 | JAN-FEB 2012 | GRHA THE GREEN RUNNER | WWW.GREENRUN.ORG

In effort to improve our relationship

withTwin Canal, the Spartans held a cook-out and a football training camp for the kids who wanted to attend.

Many thanks goes to our football director,

David Nieves, for putting so much time and effort into making this a successful pro-gram, to Jason Bowlen for handling all of our younger teams 10 years old and under, and to Steve Evans for dealing with our city teams 10yrs old and up.

Thank you to all of our volunteers; we

couldn’t have done it without all of your help.

Basketball: We have filled 13 teams

for a total of 143 partici-pants.

Games are scheduled to

begin January 2012, look for more information on games times, dates and location

Good luck to all of our

teams this upcoming season.

Football: The Spartan

Angel Holiday foundation as-sisted a family with 4 kids for Christmas. We supplied a Christmas tree, gifts, and food for the holiday.

This year

TUFF (The Ultimate Family Foundation) incorporated the weekly academic eligibility sheet, the 16 Trait Character Building pro-gram, and tutoring sessions. It continues to grow and get better.

Our banquet was phenomenal. We were

able to have 6 teams and their families meet and share a meal at a formal banquet. They dressed in their finest clothes and re-ceived great awards from the Spartan pro-gram.

Several coaches included extracurricular

activities with their teams. Some of these events were outside movie night with pop-corn, a college football game at NSU, camping, pool parties, and sleepovers.

Visit us on

facebook :

“Green Run Spartans,

Virginia Beach”

“Green Run

Basketball”

Pool Ad Hoc

Committee Meeting

Jan. 18th, 7pm

At the Clubhouse.

Discussion will include:

updating pool rules and Townhouse pool.

We would like to thank our sponsors Tidewater Marine Electric, Glen Davis and Ron Villanueva.

Committees & Clubs: (each month)

Architectural

Scott LaFountaine

2nd & 4th Tuesday

arc@greenrun.org

Communications

Amber McCulloch

1st Thursday

newsletter@greenrun.org

Finance

Patricia Keeley

2nd Monday

Youth & Athletics

Patricia Keeley

1st Monday

athletics@greenrun.org

Events

Chair & Volunteers needed

3rd Thursday

Nifty 50’s+ Club

Nayla in Office

3rd Monday

niftyfifties@greenrun.org

LKMS property to benefit “The Wounded Warrior Project”. There will be a 5K run/walk and a 1mile run/walk, so there is something for every-one!

Finally, we hope you will encourage your child(ren) to take advantage of the tutoring and homework club op-portunities available to them. Our LASSO (Larkspur Academic Support for Successful Outcomes) program is designed to offer students multiple opportunities to gain the academic assistance needed to foster success. The schedule is posted on the web-site and there are hardcopies availa-ble in the main guidance office, main office, and through classroom teach-ers. We also have high school stu-dents from the PAHS IB Program and Landstown High School who come in during our 6th and 7th grade core plus periods and work with stu-dents on math skills.

Great things are happening at Lark-spur Middle School! We are here to serve our students, parents, and community. Please feel free to con-tact us if we can be of assistance to you in our continuing educational partnership.

Daniel F. Keever, Principal

Larkspur Middle School, 757-648-4849

www.larkspurms.vbschools.com

Great Things Happening at Larkspur Middle! By Daniel F. Keever

Larkspur Middle School feels very fortu-nate to serve the Green Run Communi-ty! The 2011-2012 school year is almost half way over and there are some great things happening in our school and in our community that we’d like to share with you!

We have hard working students both in and out of the classroom. Our Q1 Honor Roll and Principal’s List totals were commendable. LKMS has had success with our sports teams during the first semester as well. In addition to sports teams, our students are encouraged to join any of the many clubs and intramu-ral opportunities we offer. Our goal at Larkspur Middle School is to have every student participate in some sort of activ-ity outside of the classroom. When stu-dents participate in co- and extra-curricular activities they take ownership in their school and learn to be better citi-zens as a result.

Another goal for the year is to have 75% of our students participating in a com-munity service learning project. We are pleased to announce that we are well on our way. In October, our students raised money and awareness for Breast Cancer Month. In November, a group of students spent a Saturday in frigid weather to cheer on and support the Special Olympics at the Virginia Beach SportsPlex. We have continued our work in December as students raised money and donated supplies for the Norfolk SPCA. We plan to continue our support of the community in 2012. Please mark your calendar for our 2

nd

Annual Fun Run/Walk that will be held on Saturday, February 25th on the

THE GREEN RUNNER | WWW.GREENRUN.ORG JAN-FEB 2012 | GRHA | PAGE 7

PAGE 8 | JAN-FEB 2012 | GRHA THE GREEN RUNNER | WWW.GREENRUN.ORG

Registration dates:

Saturday Jan. 14, 2012

Saturday Jan. 28, 2012

11:00am-1:00pm both days

Green Run Homes Association

Clubhouse

1248 Green Garden Circle

(Behind Green Run Elem. School)

Feb. 1, 2012

GRLL Field House

1837 Dahlia Drive

6:30pm-8:30pm

Green Run Little League (GRLL)

2012 Spring Registration

Offering Baseball & Fast Pitch Softball

Wow! What an awesome month of scouting. Green Run Cub Scouts have been busy. Congratulations to Preston Hassett, Richard & Justin Colquitt and Na-thaniel Conway! These boys have achieved their “Arrow of Light” This is the Cub Scouts highest achievement!

On a sad note, Preston, Richard, Justin and Na-thaniel have “Crossed Over” in scouting to the new Troop 598. They will be missed in the pack. Congratulations to both Noah & Hunter-for earn-

ing their Webelos rank! The scouts have met each week up to Dec. 19th. We celebrated the “Crossing Over” and our holiday party.

Our upcoming events include our annual “Pinewood Derby” and var-ious “Go and See It’s”. If you have or know a boy in the first grade

SCOUT CORNER! Greetings from Troop 598!

Yes, you heard it here! Green Run has a Boy Scout Troop. On November 15th, Green Run Home As-sociation (GRHA) passed to charter a Boy Scout of America troop to further expand the youth op-portunities for boys age 11 to 18 in our community.

News: Troop 598 kicked off its new program with two older scouts and four Webelo’s from Pack 598. Our first outdoor event is in January. These young men will be winter camping at the Tidewat-er Council Scout Camp Pipsico where they will pursue Pioneering Skills and instruction in various merit badges. Pass the word! If there are any boys age 11 to 18 who wish to be Scouts, contact me: BoyScouts@GreenRun.org See you Outside!

Yours in Scouting,

Scott LaFountaine

Scout Master, Troop 598

through fifth grade who wants to go outdoors and learn about our community, please contact us at Cub-Scouts@GreenRun.org .

Yours in Scouting,

Scott LaFountaine

THE GREEN RUNNER | WWW.GREENRUN.ORG JAN-FEB 2012 | GRHA | PAGE 9

Happy New Year

from Cub Scout

Pack 598!

have not been able to find

Fels-Naptha bars locally;

however, they can be

bought online through

Amazon.com. I have

substituted a castile soap

such as Kirk’s Hardwater

Castile and/or

Dr.Bronner’s Organic

Castile soap bars in place

of Fels-Naptha. You can

also use Ivory or Zote

soap. Just try to avoid

perfumed soaps due to

the added chemicals and

dyes. Check your wash-

er’s warranty if you own

Save money on laundry

detergent by making your

own! Try this recipe for

powdered laundry deter-

gent. Mix 2 cups of fine-

ly grated Fels-Naptha (or

Castile) soap with 1 cup

Washing Soda (not baking

soda) and 1 cup Borax.

Mix well and store in an

airtight container. Use 2

tablespoons per full load

of laundry.

Washing soda and Borax

can be found in the laun-

dry and cleaning aisle of

your local Farm Fresh. I

a front-loader since using

homemade detergents

may void your warranty.

Go to http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes for more homemade laundry soap recipes and tips. Visit: www.Earth911.com

Call: (757) 427-2600 or Email Staff: staff@greenrun.org

Office Hours

For Winter: Mon-Fri 9am-5pm

Green Run Homes Association

1248 Green Garden Circle

Virginia Beach, VA 23453

Updates & Info: www.GreenRun.org www.Facebook.com/GRHOA

Thr i f ty Ways to $ave Money by Sara Krieger

Happy

New Year

- 2012 -

To all

Green Run

Residents!