I’ve had a child in the WJCC school system for seven years and this is the first year I’ve actually been worried about our school situation.  I think our neighborhoods are about to be caught up in the politics of this redistricting and not in a good way.

There is a school board meeting Thursday night at 6:30 over at the County Complex (Building F) off of Mounts Bay that we all need to attend!  Right now, our neighborhoods are slated to attend Bland Blayton elementary school next year.  It’s a new school, but we’ll see plenty of wonderful DJ teachers and specialists that are leaving DJ to work there.  I think it will be a good situation for us, even though we will be driving a little further to attend the school. 

Not only do I think it will be a good school, I think that this latest redistricting map will be the most balanced for all students throughout Williamsburg and JCC.  DJ is currently 37 % free and reduced lunches, while Matoaka is 19%.  With this change, Matoaka will stay the same, DJ will go down at around 30% and Blayton will be around 25%.  Changes had to be made due to overcrowding.  (Why build a new school, only to leave several schools over 100% of capacity?)  So, it was a domino effect with schools moving students to alleviate this overcrowding. 

Now here’s the problem:  No one at Matoaka wants to move!  (Why would they?  It’s considered the golden school?)  Spring Hill has been changed the last four times and are tired of it.  I get that.  Powhatan Secondary (200 students) doesn’t want to be split.  Who does?  But I heard this argument last time around with Ford’s Colony and I don’t think it helped DJ or the redistricting plan.  If no one from Matoaka moves, it will have a negative effect on DJ and Bland Blayton.

Powhatan is planning to come out in droves tomorrow night to show their support for keeping Matoaka the way it is.  Unfortunately, this effects us, our kids, our school, our property values!  I’m feeling bullied by these groups and am afraid, through their show of support, they’ll get what they want.  So, I’m asking YOU to stand up.  We need to start by emailing the school board and telling them stick to their criteria, stay the course, and not to be bullied!  (schoolboardmembers@wjcc.k12.va.us) We need to show up at the meeting tomorrow night and show our support for making the schools more equal!  This is the last public meeting before they decide what to do.  We have to stand up now or we’ll have no right to complain.

6:30 Thursday night

County Complex, Building F

Mounts Bay (right before Kingsmill entrance)

Let me know if you can make it.  Please, consider helping our neighborhood by telling our School Board Members to be fair to all of us!

Mary Berry

5 Sussex Court

mfmeberry@aol.com

Sorry for the delay. I am in the process of overhauling the WF Website www.WindsorForestHOA.com  Could you take a few minutes and proof it for typos. corrections, additions.

Thanks for any assistance and thanks to Dean Whitehead for stepping up to assist me with the pool this year.

john womeldorf

John@MrWilliamsburg.com

757 254 8136

Windsor Forest Association

Oyster Roast and Shrimp Boil

  When: Saturday October 3 6:00-10:00 pm

Where: Windsor Forest Clubhouse

Cost: $10 per person pay at the door

What to bring: Side dish or desert

Oysters, Shrimp and refreshments provided.

Adults Only

Thanks to John Spence our new Adult Social director who is graciously hosting this event.

Email John@MrWilliamsburg.com to RSVP or call 757 254 8136

You can pay at the Door !

We need your help this Saturday !

Date : Saturday May 2, 2009

Time: 9:00 am

Assigned to :

Done

Task

Drain Pool/ Install drain grate

Acid Wash/ Paint pool

Pressure wash pool deck/ clubhouse deck

Fold pool cover place on cart cover with tarp.

Turn on water to pool office/ bathrooms

Install signs around pool deck/ Frogs bulletin boards

Fill in holes along Wyndham Way with flow-able fill ( need to order 4 yards ? )

Weed flowerbeds/ spray weed killer

Trim trees/ shrubs

spread liriope out in beds

Spread Mulch

blow off tennis courts

hang wind screen netting on tennis courts

make list of volunteers attending/ take pictures

Clean pool office/ Bathrooms

install stair handrails in pool

empty bathrooms, lily pad, clean and arrange furniture

Caulk seams in concrete between pool and deck

Stain bench, etc.

Drain baby pool, clean/ paint

Place gravel on drive to soccer field and around walkway to pool and alongside Wyndham Way ( where it’s eroding)

rake debris from sand in playground

Repair swing sets at playground

Repair bench at playground

Paint clubhouse

Fill holes in siding/ caulk siding clubhouse

Spray mold on clubhouse

Check and install all umbrellas

Check all lights for operation

Replace hose bib on bottom and top of sand filter

Plant Flowers in Pots

Re-strap Chaise Lounges ( Order webbing)

Varnish Frogs Awards Case

grade trail to Tyndall ct and put stairs in/ gravel

Restock supplies and First Aid Kit

Place gravel/ crush run beside Wyndham Way where people park and on hill leading up to soccer field .  (Order crusher run from Massie)

Clubhouse Painting Party will be Saturday June 13th

Bring rakes, wheelbarrows, shovels, blowers, Pruners, hedge trimmers, weed eaters

Paint Rollers, Paint Brushes, Garden Sprayers, Pitchforks

Call or email John Womeldorf 254 8136 with any questions or comments or to volunteer for other work days.

John@MrWilliamsburg.com

CALLING ALL SWIMMERS: THE WINDSOR FOREST FROGS MANDATORY REGISTRATION MEETING WILL BE HELD THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2009 AT 7 PM IN THE WINDSOR FOREST CLUBHOUSE.

· MEET OUR COACHES, JOHN POORMAN AND SARAH KIM

· LEARN WHAT ELSE IS NEW FOR 2009

· REGISTER FOR THE TEAM

· SIGN UP FOR VOLUNTEER JOBS

· ORDER TEAM SWIM SUITS AND TEAM SPIRIT CLOTHING

· MEET OUR FABULOUS FROG FAMILIES

WE WANT YOU!!

COME SWIM WITH THE FANTASTIC FROGS!!!

PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN JOINING THE FROGS. ASK THEM TO DO THE SAME.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL ALISON LENNARZ (253-8568)

Click the link above to read this month’s issue of the Forester !
You can also retrieve any of the older issues by clicking on the link on the right side of the website.

Click the link above to read this month’s issue of the Forester !

     In 2006, our family started the venture to sell our home and move.  It was a very stressful time making decisions, watching the rates, and of course showing the house.  One decision that was a “no brainer” was that we were “Returnin’ to the Forest.”  Or at least she was. 

     My wife, Kathy, had moved into this neighborhood when she was two weeks old.  She has since gone away to college, gotten married (to me), and started a family.  She will turn 29 again this December, so she has been a part of Windsor Forest for many years.  She knows how close knit a community it is and she wanted her family to experience the same.  I entered the picture in the high school years and saw a lot of the same qualities.  I probably spent more time in this neighborhood than my own during those years.  Her parents were thrilled about that. 

     So our house was on the market and we began a journey through just about every house in Windsor Forest with a sign in the yard.  We were fortunate enough to find a fixer-upper next door to her parents.  I think.  We started our renovation.  All the time moving from place to place and driving back and forth to the Windsor Forest bus stop until we moved in.  Twelve months later we had taken that house and made it a home.  And that’s where we were; home.

     Seems like a lot to go through, but now we have swim meets, progressive dinners, picnics, parades, group trick-r-treatin’, holiday parties, and actual trees.  Annual events quickly became the norm.  You’d be hard pressed to find many of those qualities in other neighborhoods.  Kathy was back in a place she felt most familiar.  Even now, she will give me directions to pick up our daughter and will say “you know, it’s next to where the Kirschner’s lived”.  Huh?  Like I said, I’m not a veteran here yet so I may need a road name or two to find her. 

     You could set your watch by some of the people taking their walks around the neighborhood and their faces are becoming more familiar every day.  Some are old friends that could paint a picture of this place that would make anyone want to live here.  All throughout our moving ordeal, I would give Larry Foster updates on our progress and setbacks.  He would always smile and say it will be worth it.  Now I could hit a golf ball from our house to his (I’m not sure if I’ve hit it yet).

You really can’t appreciate an atmosphere like this until you experience it.  My kids and I have the benefit of living with, and next door to some real Windsor Forest historians.  Natives who have been here longer than most.  It says a lot about a place to have two generations choosing to live in it.  Will the third generation follow suit?  Let me get them out of the house first.

Curt, Kathy, Kayla, and Alyssa Nordeman      

     We are now updating our call list and would appreciate everyone’s help.  If you are interested in joining—or if you need to take a break–please contact Lorie Spence via email at spenceL@widomaker.com with from the heart on the subject line.  Your help is greatly appreciated and always needed!

Lori Spence 258 4914