Our Easter Egg Hunt is tentatively scheduled for March 24th at 2pm.  We need to know if you are interested in continuing this tradition, though.  Please take brief survey and let us know what you think about it.  It is only four questions and will take a minute or less.  We want to hear from you either way, so if you don’t think it should continue, please let us know.  Here is the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YV6YYKJ  After we gauge the level of interest in the Easter Egg Hunt, we will send an email asking for volunteers for specific parts of the party from our new Hidden Oaks Homeowners Association email address, hiddenoaks63303@gmail.com.  Please update your contacts, as this will be the email that sends future communications from the board, and will be the best way to contact the board members

The Annual Meeting is tenatively scheduled for March 28th at 7pm at the Police Station on Zumbehl.  More details will be posted soon and sent via email.

Kirsten Harrison has done a great job on the board, and has decided to retire, so we need someone to step up and fill her shoes…as if that was possible.  Please think about it and contact a current board member if you have any questions.

Well, it should be well known by now that Kirsten Harrison is retiring come the next board meeting. There might be one other board member that will need to resign also, but that decision is yet to be made. So,while we are in the last months of this year and starting a new year, start contacting all three board members when something is needed. They will still confer like always, but responses will start coming from the other board members. Also, they will be determining if blast emails need to go out, start working on organizing things like the Easter egg hunt, garage sale etc. For your part, start getting used to talking with them and hearing from them. There will be differences in style and communication once the new board is set.

Also, in the meantime, start thinking about if you would like to be on the ballot to become a board member, or whom you might nominate (get their permission!). If you have questions about what this position entails talk to a current board member and read online in the covenants about what is required of a board member.

The annual meeting date is not set, but it will be scheduled for early April. This is the meeting where we vote for the board members and review the budget. We also include some special speakers to talk to what is of interest at the time to our neighborhood.

It is that time of year again! The Annual Halloween Parade is coming soon! We will have the parade this year on Sunday, October 28th at 4PM. Please dress up your child, bring them out and meet us on the corner of Basket Oak Dr. and Canyon Oak Ct. Once we are gathered the children will parade through the neighborhood to show the rest of us their wonderful costumes!

Please plan to come out and watch the kids go by! Of course if you want to treat a little early that is up to you. As an added attraction for the rest of us also, let’s have a dessert cook off! Please bring your fav dessert- can be Halloween inspired! We all will be judges! We will allso have some hot dogs and chili ready for when we get back from the parade. We can have chii, chili dogs and dessert! You will need to provide your own drinks- the version that best suits you!

This will be an end of year gathering before we all basically hibernate for the winter.

Please RSVP to Kirsten if you plan to attend both the parade and/or the chili & dessert event.

We had a great time at the picnic this year.  We had a bounce house, BBQ, and games to play, not to mention a clown was on hand to entertain the little ones. 

Thanks to Krista and Kirsten for all the hard work putting it together.

Our annual meeting will be coming up next early spring, likely being the first week or so of April. Kirsten Harrison has done a wonderful job on the board for a number of years, and we really appreciate her hard work.  It has come time for her to step down, though.  We will need at least one resident to step up be on the board.  Please think this over, talk to a current board member about what is involved and decide if you are ready to be on the ballot. 
 
Calling all Bunco Fans! We do have a neighborhood bunco group that meets September through May on the third Monday of the month. If you wish to join this group, please let Kirsten know! You do not need to know how to play this game. This is a time for the women of the neighborhood to gather, bring yummy treats to share and gab! The game is really easy to learn, so do not let that stop you!

OK, last thing, for now. We have had instances of teenagers/ young 20 somethings using the island sign for a bench in the middle of the night. It is also become apparent that they are not just passerby people, but our own residents. The board is researching and will be taking steps to adjust the island and sign so that it cannot be used for a bench. In the meantime, if you have young adults living with you, would you please ask them to not use this as a site to congregate? The sign and island is an entrance way, not a park with a picnic bench. Where we do spend association fees for the upkeep, we do not want to spend it on repairs because of this use. Please understand this is an entrance, and not meant as a place to congregate.

The westbound I-70 bridge over the Missouri River was built in the middle of the last century and is in need of major repairs.  Spans such as these are designed to last 100 years with a major re-fitting required at 50 years.      

Things are moving along as planned.  The westbound lanes will close and shift to the eastbound span no sooner than November 1st.  Weather may have an effect on the actual closure date, as will the availability of steel as it is manufactured for the new truss and approach spans.

The rehabilitation of the Westbound I-70 Bridge will include:

• Removal and replacement of the existing truss spans with new trusses.
• Replacement of the complete driving surface, edge barrier walls and  all expansion joints
• Elimination of the three spans nearest to the St. Louis County end and their conversion to roadway on embankment
• Repair all remaining concrete substructure units including replacement of some parts
• Complete replacement of the structural steel in the first nine spans of the bridge on the St. Charles County side
• Repair of the structural steel components of the long girder spans and the truss spans
• Repainting of all existing structural steel

More detailed information can be found here.

Fall Picnic- yes, the SummerFest that has been the first weekend of June has been moved to the fall this year! We have now booked the Vogt Bros Park Pavilion for Saturday, September 15! We are still working out all the details of this fun event, so stay tuned….just mark your calendars so you can attend!
 
Siding Questions- Well, since a lot of us got hit with golf ball and larger hail recently a question was raised about the siding having to match if only one or 2 sides of a home were to be replaced instead of the whole home. We do not have in the covenants a specific statement about this, other then general upkeep of the home being of a good standard. So we went to the Code office at the city. There again is not a specific code that siding needs to match (we are talking possible shades of gray or brown- not purple and pink!). However, the property maintenance code does state that all work needs to be done in a workmanship like manner. If your insurance adjuster needs to discuss this, please have them contact the Code Enforcement office for the City.
 
Clean Up Day- the Board, City Code Office and the St Charles Preservation Group are teaming up to schedule a neighborhood clean up day for us! We are still working out a date, so stay tuned, but start getting ready! There will be more details, but this is where we can dump old electronics, equipment, couches…etc right from the front door! We will also work at trying to do this with Southern Oaks also. This is one where we will need volunteers to help with a variety of functions for one morning only! There will be more details once we set a date and what can be dumped! Stay tuned!

Our Garage Sale is happening today, Friday and Saturday.  If you aren’t participating by selling your old stuff, maybe you should get out and buy your neighbors’ old stuff!  If you aren’t in the buying mood, get out and meet some new people.

We will hold our neighborhood-wide garage sale on May 2nd, 4th and 5th.  If you want to be put on the map, email hiddenoaksstcharles@gmail.com with your name & address and days & hours participating.

Yard Waste pickup is free this Wednesday, April 11th, 2012.  Place the waste in the appropriate brown bags, or your brown roll out cart marked with a big red X.