There have been many on going positive activities in
Braeburn Valley this summer. The 4th of July parade and barbeque at the pool was
a success as usual. We had many great entries in the bike-decorating contest. We
had an HFD Fire Truck lead the parade again this year. Jimmy Gabriel and I
grilled up a lot of hamburgers and hot dogs at the pool to celebrate the 4th of
July. I want to thank Gene Yi, Ruth Hurst, Wanda Mommsen and others that joined
in helping make our parade and barbeque a great success! A good time was had by
all that attended.
National
Night Out was also another great event that took place at the pool on August
5th. We had neighbors meet at the pool for hot dogs and soft drinks. National
Night Out is a time for residents to come out and meet and visit with their
neighbors. We had representatives from Councilman Michael Berry's office,
Assistant Chief of Police Wong, Captain Brian Lumpkin and five other HPD
Officers that work our area attend our event. Another great job, Gene Yi, for
coordinating our refreshments.
During this summer, many people
are still going on vacation. While on vacation, please utilize the house watch
service provided by Security Sure. Before heading out on vacation,
just call Security Sure at (713) 778-1233 and tell them you would like to
request a house watch. Tell them the dates you will be gone and they will do a
special check on your home while you're away. Don't forget to have a neighbor
pick up your newspapers
and mail. Papers lying in the yard and full mailboxes are calling cards for
burglars, alerting them no one is home.
Thanks and have a Great Summer!
Richard Rage
UPCOMING EVENTS
AUGUST 21. 2003 AT 7 PM
Ruffino Hills Transfer Station Meeting at Valley West Elementary School Gessner
and Creekbend.
SEPTEMBER 18. 2003 AT 7:30 PM
Mayoral Candidate Forum at Welch Middle School 11544 Gessner.
PLEASE COME OUT AND ATTEND THIS MEETINGS!!!!!
URGENT NOTICE!!!
This article is to once again alert all of our residents and ask that you not
park your cars on the street. We are having a lot of problems with all of
these parked cars and trucks on the streets of Braeburn Valley. Cars parked
around the cul-de-sacs. Ambulances, fire and police cannot get around the
cul-de-sac. Please have some respect for your neighbors. Cars are being
vandalized while being parked on the streets. Please clean out your garage and
put your trucks and cars in them. Residents are leaving purses, cell phones,
loose change and articles of value in plain view; this is an invitation for a
crime of opportunity.
Please report any suspicious persons or vehicles. If the person doesn't look
like he/she lives in Braeburn Valley, then he/she most likely doesn't, so call
our security at (713) 778-1233 and report it. Be alert at all times. Report
any activity that is unusual.
POOL TAGS
If
you do not have a pool tag and plan on swimming at the pool any time before
the end of the season, please make sure you contact AVR Management to make
arrangements to receive your pool tag. The pool tags are no longer available
at the pool. AVR Management's number is (281) 481-8062.
You will need to sign the Pool Rules and Regulations Form and be current in
your maintenance fees to receive your pool tag.
RUFFINO HILLS
MEETING
The next meeting of the Ruffino Hills Solid Waste Transfer Station is
scheduled for August 21, 2003 at 7 p.m. at Valley West Elementary School
located at Gessner and Creekbend. We ask that all the residents of Braeburn
Valley continue to join with us in our fight to stop this project. An
attorney is now on board and working with us but we still
need all the support that we can get from total communities surrounding this
site. Please plan on joining us August 21, 2003 at 7 p.m. at Valley West
Elementary School.
MAYORAL FORUM
Please set aside September 18, 2003, 7:30 p.m., at Welch Middle School located
11455 Gessner for the Mayoral Forum. All four of the candidates will be
joining us that night and Doug Miller from KHOU Channel II will be our
moderator. This is your opportunity to have your questions answered. You can
put in your questions ahead of
time by going onto www .cartts.com. Enter your name, subdivision and
your question. This is a very important race so please join us.
E-MAIL VERSUS SNAIL MAIL
E-mail
(electronic mail sent via the Internet) Versus Snail Mail
(conventional US Mail)
If you remember the thrill of owning your first car and how you felt
you could do anything and go anywhere, well then you are in for an unexpected
treat. As sat in front of my computer the other night and on the one hand I
had my list of people (who have generously volunteered their time) to call
their neighbors and notify them of upcoming important events, it just struck
me that the task of calling 530 households was pretty overwhelming. I can tell
you that in the time it took me to look up my telephone committee members
list, I had already selected the people in my e-mail address book and sent
them the reminder for the National Night Out Event at the pool.
I've asked people at our meeting for their e-mail addresses and I've gotten so
many different responses: "E-mail, honey, I just got a cell phone yesterday".
Or ,"I really don't know what to do with a computer, where do I start?"
Well I must say that I've never been very good in the kitchen but I definitely
love computers. My mom is 70 something and I can say that now besides
playing Solitaire, she reads her local newspaper on the Internet, checks to
see if she won anything at the Texas Lotto site and (with a lot of coaxing)
has now started to pay her bills on-line through the Free Bill Pay service at
our bank; (a service which has saved me $ on stamps, ordering new checks and
trips to the, post office). When you pay your bills on-line, you can set them
up when you receive them and they go out the date that you want. No hassles
and you can travel and not worry about bills being overdue.
If there are those of you that would like to "get wired" or connected to
your loved ones (e-mail is a heck of a lot cheaper than "snail mail"
- it's
free), please drop me a line and ,let me know if we should start a Computer
Club for the homeowners of the subdivision. My goal is to just type you a
notice and just hit "send" and have everyone in the subdivision instantly
alerted at the same time. Now that's power.....
Lillian Jones
Llones42@houston.rr.com
2003 UPCOMING BV EVENTS
FALL DECORATING CONTEST
When: Sunday, October 26,2003 (7
p.m.).
There will be a prize awarded for the best decorated home.
HOLIDAY HOUSE CONTEST
When:
Sunday, December
2/, 2003 (7 p.m.)
There will be prizes awarded to the
winners of the contest.
BRAE BURN VALLEY WEBSITE
By
now I hope everyone who has access to the Internet has seen our website (www.braeburnvalley.com)
be sure to bookmark it and check it out on a regular basis. We have added a
new section called "Homes For Sale." Every home in our subdivision that is
listed with a realtor belonging to HAR (Houston Association of Realtors) will
have their home listed on our website. This will be updated monthly. If you
know anyone looking to buy a home be sure to give them our website address.
We have also added a lot more pictures from all the special events - have you
seen the 4th of July and National Night Out pictures? Do you need an ACC
Application? Do you need a map of our subdivision? Do you know where our pool
is? Did you lose your newsletter? All of these questions are answered on our
website! I also want to thank Sandy Taylor, our Webmaster, for the many hours
she has volunteered to make our website the best!!! I If you have any
suggestions on what else you would like to see on our website, please e-mail
me at mwaite@houston.rr.com.
STOPPING TELEMARKETER PHONE
CALLS
NATIONAL NO CALL
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Q: So does it make sense to sign up for both
the state and the national lists?
A: Yes, signing up for the national list will limit even more who can
call you at home to try to sell you
something.
Q: How does it that work?
A: The federal law takes precedence, so the rules there are standard. But
where the state ,law is tougher, it applies.
Q: Can you give me an example?
A: For instance, under the state law;
calls from Texas insurance agents cannot be blocked using no-call list. But
that loophole isn't in the federal law.
Q: Will signing up provide immediate relief?
A: No, those who sign up on the federal list now won't see any change until
Oct. Ist. And it remains to be seen if the state and federal regultors
will be able to enforce this complex set of rules.
To register for the federal program, call
toll-free at (888)
382-1222 or go on-line at
www.donotcall.gov.
(This article was taken from the Houston Chronicle on July 3,
2003.)
YARD OF THE MONTH
Congratulation to the following homeowners who
have won "Yard of the Month"!!!!
July - Verda and Lane
Aug - Hunter and Janet
Receipe Corner for Kids
By Mary Ann Waite
PIGS IN A BLANKET
1
package of Little Smokies or Cut up Hot Dogs
1
tube of Buttermilk or Crescent Roll Dough
Wrap dough around the meat and bake as directed on the
package. Provide dipping sauces and dunk away!
CHILI DIP
1
can Chili, with or without beans
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, cut in pieces
Mix in a microwave safe bowl and heat for I
minute, take out and
stir. Re-heat until cheese is completely melted. Serve with tortilla chips.
CARAMEL APPLE PIZZA
1 prepared pizza shell
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 large peeled and sliced apples
1/2 to I bottle butterscotch or caramel
ice cream topping
1/2 cup peanuts, walnuts or crushed Heath bars
Mix brown sugar
and cream cheese together and spread on the pizza crust. Put sliced apples
into a plastic bag and add about 1/8 cup of lemon or orange juice, then shake
so that the apples won't discolor. Lay apple slices in a concentric pattern on
top of the pizza. Drizzle butterscotch or caramel topping over the apples and
sprinkle with nuts. Bake at 3500 until cooked thoroughly. Slice and serve for
dessert.
ANT ON A LOG
Celery sticks
-
washed and cut into 4 inch slices
1 can Kraft Cheese - any
flavor (I
prefer Sharp Cheddar)
Spray some cheese into the
celery slices. Then, sprinkle with some raisins (ants). You can also use cream
cheese instead of Kraft Cheese.
Our next newsletter, Oct/Nov
2003 issue, will
feature Holiday Recipes. If
you have any holiday family traditions or recipes you would like to share,
please e-mail me or send to me in the mail.
Thanks,
Mary Ann Waite
mwaite@houston.rr.com
SECURITY
REPORT
The following is a summary of the security
report provided by Security Sure for the month of June 2003. '
11
Alarms,
1
Assist Homeowner,
3
Burglaries, 1 Drive-by
Shooting, 5
House Watches,
1
House Check, 3 Information
Calls, 1 Juvenile, 1 Pool, 1
Solicitor, 1
Suspicious Act, 8
Suspicious Vehicles, 3 Suspicious Persons, 1 Theft - Vehicle, and 1 Vehicle
Stolen
Total = 43
KEYS TO MANAGING
TIME
Keys, keys, keys to the car. Keys to the house. Keys to the
locker at the sports
club. Sometimes you can find
your keys, and sometimes you
can't. Here are three keys
to help manage your time.
Keep
these handy and you'll be surprised at how simple life can be!
Use a notebook for calendars
and vital information. It will help you keep track of all your basic records
and appointments.
Set a specific and regular
time for organizing work. Divide up a complex problem into manageable
segments. It may involve changing
your habits, revising your
schedule or
reorganizing
your surroundings. You decide your best time to solve your problems.
It's not how
long
you spend
on a task but
how effective you are.
Identify a small group of
projects...rank
them by number
according to how aggravating
they are! A problem
causing serious
tension is a one...and one that would wait until next month is a
ten.
Now go ahead...reward yourself with a little time, just for
you!
-
Go ahead
and lick the
batter! Heaven!
-
Schedule a time
to have the house
to yourself for even a couple
of
hours.
-
Do something fun with a tax refund.
From:
"Keep It Simple" by
Emilie Barnes
PLEASE
SHOP at Randalls
7098 BISSONNET AT FONDREN FOR THEIR GENEROSITY GIVEN TO OUR WELCOME COMMITTEE.
IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS
DON'T FORGET 3-1-1
AVR Management
(281) 481-8062
Security
Sure--Patrol (713) 778-1233
Garbage
Collection (281) 446-2030
Harris County Tax Assessor
City of Houston:
Mayor's Office
(713) 247-2200
Council Member Goldberg
(713) 247-3991
Houston Police Department
(713) 222-3131
Neighborhood Protection
311
Public Works & Engineering
311
City of Bellaire:
7008 South Rice Ave., Bellaire, TX 77401-4495.