Just in case you've ever misplaced your HOA dues coupon book or missed a payment because it wasn't in your monthly bill pay folder, the HOA Board voted unanimously to reinstate quarterly statements starting in the Fall. We were sending out a high numbers ofreminders anyway, and in hearing from residents, it was determined that the savings wasnot, in and of itself, reason enough to continue the coupon books. It is our hope that withquarterly statements going out once again, more homeowners will remember to pay ontime, and our communication with homeowners will improve. One way that will happen isthrough our new quarterly newsletter. Another is through a new Facebook page we have setup. We are also considering a Finley Farms South website that can better keep you informedabout events and issues in the community. Any thoughts?

OUR NEW

LOOK

DID YOU KNOW?

One of the most famousQuarter horses of alltime may have grazedin your front yard?

More on page four >>

In working to create a familiar, recognizablecommunity that we are all proud of, one of ourBoard members, a designer, volunteered histime in creating a newlook for our communityfrom a familiar entry monument. You’ll be see-ing more of it in comingdays.

BY POPULAR DEMAND:STATEMENTS ARE BACK!

We've all had to deal with notices at one time or another for weeds in the gravel. So,starting in Oct. in order to offer positive reinforcement and keep our home values high,every quarter of the year we will be accepting nominations for best kept yard or most appealing yard contest. You can email them to finleyfarmssouth@ wearevision.com

Winners will be awarded gift certificates from the Home Depot: 1st-$100.00, 2nd-$50.00, 3rd-$25.00

So don't forget to tell us about thosehomes on your street or in the communitythat you think stand out in a good way!Maybe they will win. Maybe you will! Keepup the good work and take it as a thank youfor continuing to make Finley Farms thebeautiful place it is!

MOST BEAUTIFUL YARD

We are now on Facebook! Find us at Finley

Farms South, Gilbert, AZ

BOARDof DIRECTORS

PresidentPaul Gonzales

Vice PresidentSal LaTona

TreasurerJonathan Bailey

SecretaryHeath Westenskow

Board MembersRebecca FieldRita MayerMark Sequeira

PUBLISHED QUARTERLYby Vision Community Management for Finley Farms South

Michelle Kenny, Community Mgr.(480) 759-49453941 E. Chandler Suite #106-117Phoenix, AZ 85048

Emergency PagerAfter hours please call (480) 759-4945When prompted, select Option 5

www.wearevision.com(Click on Finley Farms)

We are now onFacebook! Friend us at Finley Farms South, Gilbert, AZ.

DESIGN: MJASTUDIOS

Upcoming Board meetings:

Third Thursday of the month: 7:00pm Executive session, 7:45pm Open session

September 17th • October 15th • November 19th • December 17th

Held at: Freestone Recreation Center, Guadalupe Road, East of Lindsay Road [Always check the www.wearevision.com website or call to confirm location]

Once again, dog feces is appearing in the common areas of the community. While this has not been a

problem for some time, once again, it is becoming a nuisance. Please remember to take a scoop and a trash bag with you when you walk your pets so that you can also clean up after them.

Better yet, join us in using these walks to pick up paper litter that you may find as you are out.

JOIN US FOR OUR FALL BBQ IN THE PARK!Fully catered lunch, fun, games and prizes with your friends and neighbors!!!

NOVEMBER 7, 2009 from 11:00AM-2:00PM

To RSVP, please call Jennifer Kunes at 623.810.7472 or email (jennkunes@yahoo.com) or Jim Sickles (jsic185333@qwest.net) your name, address,number attending and children’s ages. You will receive an email confirmation to ensure your meal(s) has been reserved. NOTE: This event is for Finley Farms residents only. Without confirmation, food is not guaranteed. No parking permitted on Columbus. Families are encouraged to walk to the event. Porta-potty provided. No alcohol or glass containers allowed.

Coming SOON: WINTER Movie night!

VOLUNTEERWe welcome you to our next HOA board meeting at the Freestone Rec Center, 3rdThursday of the month at 7:45pm (please check the website or call (480) 759-4945 forany last minute changes)! We are also always interested in members of our communitygetting involved on our Architectural Committee, Communications Committee, Land-scape Committee or our Social Committee; or better yet, as a Board Member! In addition, the Social Committee is looking for help setting up, running the games, etc.on the day of the Fall BBQ (above). You can email Jennifer or Jim to volunteer!

Watch your step!

Would you like to serve? Want to be heard?

Community GARAGE SALE: Saturday, Oct 17th!Banners, signs, newspaper ads, Craigslist and FACEBOOK will be used by the HOA tonotify the public about the community sale, from 7:00am-1:00pm.

We are aware of the numbers of people in the Valley looking for work and while our delinquencies have not become excessive, we are concerned and closely monitoring the situation. Overall, you should know that our association is doingpretty well...both operational budget and our reserves. Our property management company states that compared to othercommunities we are in pretty good shape. Still our deliquencies are higher than we’d like, and so as a Board, we are:

Finding ways we can help our homeowners:One thing we have done is gone back to quarterly statements. We are also looking into changing our policy in regards tocollections, getting a better response from late homeowners while saving those who are deliquent (for whatever reason)from being hit with excessive fees. The goal is always to help homeowners get current, not to make money off the difficul-ties of others. We will let you know more about this in coming days.

Pay your Mortgage and HOA dues first. The best way to avoid attorneys fees and liens is to pay your dues on time. Did you know that HOA dues, like mortgage loansare actually attached to your property and therefore can lead to foreclosure and judgements? Regardless of how often acredit card company or collection company may call and pressure you, you should always pay liens against your propertyfirst and protect your biggest investment. But what if you can’t pay?

We are becoming more proactive and sensitive to those struggling.If you are facing severe financial difficulties at this time, please know that we are especially sensitive to your situation. We encourage you to call Vision Management if you are having problems paying your dues and let them know. We areworking closely with them to help you and there are some alternatives they can discuss with you.

The board is looking into a number of repairs to our exterior walls and entry posts. Some of them are beginning to leandangerously pulling away from the wall by inches. We are also considering repainting to stop the mismatched look due tofading, different colors due to covering grafitti, etc. We can only do this as homeowners are sensitive and respond below...

Exterior wall damage - PLEASE CHECK!

As we are considering the need to repaint all our exterior walls in thecommunity we are noticing quite a number of places where homeown-ers are using excessive water inside their property (back yard) so that itis actually soaking through the cinder block and causing the paint todeteriorate/fall off in large patches. We have warned homeowners thatthis kind of damage will be billed to the homeowner and pictures takenwhere necessary to protect our common property.

Repainting the wall itself will not fix the problem because the newpaint/undercoat will not adhere to the sandy surface when the cementblocks have been repeatedly wet and crumbling away.We are asking all our homeowners to please check their exterior walls(where applicable) to make sure their irrigation or sprinklers are notsoaking the wall and take action where necessary to eliminate theproblem. Thanks for your help in this matter.

PAYING ATTENTION: TO THE ECONOMY

PAYING ATTENTION: TO THE WALLS

The exterior of the wall show-ing damage and ground show-ing excessive watering.

BULK TRASH is picked up the week of

the third Monday of the month. NOT the third week. People putting out bulktrash before the Saturday night prior will be fined. UPCOMING DATES:Sept 21, Oct 19, Nov. 16, Dec 21.

TRASH DAY is every Wednesday

Please do not put out bins before thenight prior. Bring bins in the next day before nightfall. Please put bins in thestreet against the curb. Do not blocksidewalks.

RECYCLING is picked up on Saturday

morning. Do not put out bins before the night prior. For Guidelines as to what can go into recycling, go to:www.ci.gilbert.az.us/pw/recycling.cfm

Did you ever wonder what existedhere in Finley Farms before your housewas built? Who were the Finleys, wheredid they come from and where are theynow?

Mr. Finley was born Jim Finley inTucson, November 22, 1890. His fatherdied while Jim was a small boy. Hismother, Mattie Riggs of the pioneer Sul-phur Springs Valley Riggs family died in1939. At the time of his marriage toMargaret Igo in 1911, ‘Jack’ (as he wascalled) owned 35 head of cattle and ahomestead claim near Elgin, Arizona.Since the outfit was too small to afford aliving, Jack worked away from home.

In 1941, Jack Finley moved his wife andtwo sons, Tom and Jack, to the Gilbertarea from Tuscon. Jack purchased the420 acres, now known as Finley Farmsfor less than $100,000 and moved intothe original farmhouse. In 1954, thishome was leveled to make room fortheir new house, which still stands on the edge of Finley Farms withsome of the other original farm structures on the west side ofGreenfield, just north of the canal.

This house was then sold to their former bookkeepers of forty years.

Although Finley grew cotton and al-falfa, and supported a herd of cattle, f

the farm was much better known for raising award-winning quarter horsesfor racing and then breeding. At one time, there were as many as 100 brood-mares and 5 stallions living at Finley's farm.

One horse in particular stands out to all true horse fans...Doc Bar, one of thebest quarterhorse breeding stallions ever known!

For many people, Doc Bar symbolizes the American Quarter Horse. Hisoffspring literally transformed the sport of cutting and he became a foundationsire for highly successful performance bloodlines. The good-looking 1956 littlechestnut colt that resulted from that breeding never succeeded as aracehorse (or as a performance horse, for that matter). He earned atotal of $95 in four outs on the track. As Art Pollard, the owner ofLightning Bar, Doc Bar’s sire, says: “The gate opened and he(Doc) broke and ran about 50 yards and came in last byabout 10 lengths. After the race, Tom and Jack asked me

if I would give $1,000 for him, which was about what they had spent on him... I said I wouldn’t

give my pocketknife (for him). So two fools met that day - they were fool enough to offerhim and I was fool enough to refuse.”

Doc Bar went on to win nine grand champion titles and one reserve champion title out of 15 shows. In 1963,Dr. Jensen of Double J Ranch in California, purchasedDoc Bar for $30,000. Doc Bar died in 1992, and wasinducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Famein 1993. In 2007 Western Horseman magazine chose

Doc as number two on their list of top ten ranch horsebloodlines. Another well-known horse owned by the Finleys was Texas Dandy, inducted into the Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1995. But that is a story for another day.

The rural land on the far outskirts of a small farm town known as Gilbert was quietly cultivated for over 50 years. The Finley boys, Tom and Jack, were now in their retire-ment years and the land was sold and later developed by

Jackson properties with parcels of homes built by Trend, Continental, Morrison and Greystone homes. �

The Finley families still reside in the valley.