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Inside This Issue:

Middleridge Civic Association May 2017 Life is too short to live anywhere else!

Mike’s Musings

By: Mike Torrey,

MCA President

Mike’s Musings 1

May Calendar 2

Editorial 3

Middleridge General Membership

Meeting 7

Love Letter to

Middleridge 8

Welcome to

Middleridge 9

Block Captain Needed 11

NNO Volunteers Needed 13

Fairfax Club Estates Pool Memberships 14

May Puzzel 15

Neighborhood Watch 16

Middleridge Home and Garden Tour 17

Neighborhood Watch Information 18

“I am not going to beat

around the bush here—

unless we have a Vice

President by the end of

May, I WILL HALT ALL

MCA EVENTS, TO

INCLUDE THE

NATIONAL NIGHT

OUT, IMMEDIATELY!”

Now that the warmer weath-

er is here to stay, spending

time outdoors is a great thing

after such a wet April. It is

great to see so many neigh-

bors out walking with their

dogs, exchanging greetings,

and sharing fellowship. It is

this spirit of camaraderie

that makes Middleridge such

a great place to live.

First of all, I would like to

thank Sarah Koch for again

coordinating this year’s East-

er Egg Hunt, which took

place on April 8th at Middler-

idge Park. This event was

well attended, with well over

50 children quickly scouring

the tennis court and sur-

rounding bushes in search of

eggs, especially the Golden

Eggs. It seemed like the

whole event was over within

30 minutes.

Secondly, I would like to

thank Sheryl Baer, Don

Gantz, and Greg Summer

for their hard work with the

Scholarship Committee.

They recently reviewed all

submitted applications, and

have selected three award

recipients who will be hon-

ored during our open board

meeting on May 4th at 7:30

pm at Bonnie Brae ES.

Please make an effort to

attend this meeting to rec-

ognize our deserving recip-

ients.

As I have mentioned in

previous columns, our

MCA Board has a consid-

erable vacancy for this

coming year. I am tired of

asking for folks to step up

and serve on our board, so

I am not going to beat

around the bush here—

unless we have a Vice

President by the end of

May, I WILL HALT ALL

MCA EVENTS, TO IN-

CLUDE THE NATION-

AL NIGHT OUT. IMME-

DIATELY! I don’t want to

have to do it, but I feel I

have no choice, considering

we have no succession plan

in place. You see, I have

been on the MCA Board for

5 years, and someone will

have to take the reins from

me next June, 2018. I

have explained in past col-

umns that being a board

member does not take up

too much of one’s time (and

I too have a family, a busi-

ness, a Marine Corps ca-

reer, and duties in the

Knights of Columbus and

the Ancient Order of Hi-

bernians, to name a few). I

will be interested to see if

anyone actually does step

up and serve on the Board--

-we will need to fill the oth-

er positions in the next few

years.

Please consider becoming a

member of the MCA if you

have not already done so.

Our membership co-chairs,

Al & Sandy Obuchowski,

are more than happy to as-

sist you with an application.

Al can be reached via email

at [email protected]. A

$25 membership payment is

all it takes to become a

member, and when you con-

sider what HOAs around

the area cost, it is a pretty

good deal! Your member-

ship and generosity helps

us to fund ALL of our activ-

ities, such as those men-

tioned in the previous para-

graph.

Again, with the warmer

weather now among us,

please watch your speed

around our neighborhoods,

as our children are out play-

ing and having fun.

I wish you all a safe and

happy month. See you

around Middleridge!

http://www.middleridgecivicassociation.org

mailto:[email protected]


Reaching 578 Homes and Families

= Student Holiday

General Member Meeting

Bonne Bree Elementary

Please Come!

Student’s

Released

2 Hours Early



Middleridge News

(Continued on page 4

8 Challenges Facing Your Middleridge Civic Association

by

Catie Morales – MCA Newsletter Editor

As the Middleridge Civic Associa-

tion faces changes and tries to sur-

mount the challenges before us, it

might be useful to remind the com-

munity of what it’s like being a

leader in Middleridge as we ap-

proach our next General Member-

ship Meeting to elect our new MCA

Board members.

Challenge 1: We are Doing

More with Less

We have 578 homes in Middler-

idge, however roughly only around

366 ever join the MCA. That’s just

63% of the neighborhood. And

while you may think getting a bit

more than 1/2 the community to

join is prety good, it shorts our

budget by $5,300 annually. You

see Middleridge’s needs and expec-

tations far exceed our available fi-

nancial resources. For every MCA

member who clamors on about how

we don’t do enough, another mem-

ber doesn’t want to pay for more

events. As a result, the MCA

board finds themselves searching

for innovative ways to squeeze

more from the meager $25/

annually charged to each member

who agrees to pay. Or to increase

revenues through innovative fi-

nancing schemes. You may be ask-

ing how? But honestly those

“schemes” fall on your neighbors

who volunteer to sponsor events to

cover the costs. But remember,

those generous “neighbors” are al-

ready paying their dues, so in

sponsoring an event, their mem-

bership dues increases from just

$25/annually to hundreds or even

thousands (yes, thousands) to

cover the loss, just because they

hate to see the Middleridge lose

events.

Challenge 2: Problems from

Above

Unfunded items from Virginia or

Fairfax County governments fur-

ther complicate the fiscal chal-

lenges, as we are compelled to

institute or continue programs for

which no additional finances are

forthcoming. (Caring for the

empty Fairfax County Park lot

between Broadwater and

Paynes Church, cleaning up

the County Parks and Lakes,

maintaining the grass and

plants around our signs so

they don’t become weed invest-

ed again) Yet, if we refuse to

continue these tasks it surely will

endanger Middleridge property

values. And while the MCA

board may not object to the ra-

tionale for keeping up with these

items, without the accompanying

financial support, the result is

less money for community events.

Challenge 3: Middleridge is

Changing

Change in Middleridge is coming

at a faster and faster pace every

day. Just look at how many homes

are For Sale or Under Contract in

the neighborhood. With that

change, sometimes comes compli-

cations. The patterns of our past

are no longer reliable predictors of

our future. We have needed to

learn how to “avoid being sur-

prised by unexpected events.”

What might you say is unexpected

change? Well, the relocation to

California, of our Web Manager,

who also kept our website on his

home server. The loss of Board

Members or Chair People. Kids

spray painting our neighborhood

signs. Cut through traffic. Van-

dalism on homes or cars. Prices of

events getting more and more cost-

ly. Only through some smart

“fiscal forecasting” will Middler-

idge be able to keep on top of

changes affecting our community

and our home values.

Challenge 4: Yes, Even the

MCA Board Faces Complex Is-

sues

In our internet world, everything

today is related to everything else.

This causes intricate and compli-

cated ways of breaking apart com-

plex challenges into manageable

pieces. Sometimes the MCA board

can’t control all the key contingen-

cies that may impact Middleridge

or our home values in the future.

That’s why you read month after

month about the need for new





blood on the Board. Our Board is

challenged to define issues in ways

every Middleridgian can under-

stand, and then get as many as

possible involved in finding new

and creative answers to vexing

questions. Because what happens

to one of us, happens to all of us. If

a house at the very top of Paynes

Church Drive burns down, how

does that affect the curb appeal

and community value of all of us?

You see, the Board handles more

than just parties and parades.

Challenge 5: Facing our Eco-

nomic and Time Constraint Re-

alities

Back in the mid 1970’s, I remem-

ber a family dinner conversation

that has stuck with me until today.

(Probably because I still live here.)

My father, coming home from work

at the Pentagon, told my mother

he had a conversation with a fellow

officer. “Where do you live, Joe?”

the officer asked. “I live in Mid-

dleridge, it’s a small neighborhood

in Fairfax, VA.” (We were even

smaller back then.) “Oh, I know it.

You mean you live in “middle rich!”

It took me until 9th grade to under-

stand the meaning, but the story

has stuck with me ever since. To-

day’s economic realities put the

Middleridge community far above

the “middle class” memories of the

past. People who can purchase

and live in a community where

houses cost well over half a million

dollars are not considered middle

class anymore. And while I under-

stand we all don’t feel like we are

on the other side of “middle class”

… many folks looking in from the

outside see a different reality.

Obviously, many Middleridge res-

idents still struggle to make that

mortgage payment, while others

(who have lived here for decades)

are depending on the increased

value of their Middleridge home

to take care of them through their

“golden” years. Your MCA board

is keenly aware we all have some

huge financial burdens, and they

do everything they can to keep

our Civic Association dues at a

manageable rate. Just $25 a year

… or just 7 cents a day! What

else can you buy for 7 cents a day?

I have sat through countless MCA

meetings listening to Board mem-

bers throw up their hands in frus-

tration as they try to help our

community understand Middler-

idge truly depends on each and

every home owner or renter to

pay their dues.

Sometimes people use personal

economic ups and downs as a rea-

son they choose not to get in-

volved, or pay their $25 dues.

Others will say they’ll gladly pay

the $25, but don’t have the time

to participate. You know the say-

ing: “If you want something done,

give it to the busiest person in the

group … because they are the

best time managers.” Yes, Mid-

dleridge, your MCA board and

Chair People don’t have the

time either. They too have

jobs. They also have families.

They just make the time. And

by the way, thank goodness they

do! Our property values depend

on them!

Challenge 6: Social and Cultur-

al

This isn’t the 1970’s anymore. Kids

can’t sled down Broadwater during

a snow storm, and not expect to be

hit by a car. You can’t assume the

unlocked car on the street will be

happily waiting for you when you

wake up in the morning. We are

now a “global” community.” We

have neighbors from all different

nationalities and backgrounds. We

stopped assuming everybody cele-

brated the same holidays decades

ago. The mixing of cultures has

challenged your MCA board to

come up with more “homogeneous”

events that will include the entire

community without sacrificing the

“Family Friendly” atmosphere we

have enjoyed here for almost half a

century! And when you have the

same people doing the job over and

over again, it is difficult to find new

answers to those problems.

Challenge 7: Loss of Confi-

dence in Your MCA Board

Listen, the lack of respect for au-

thority is pervasive in today’s socie-

ty, not just, as conventional wisdom

might have it, among younger gen-

erations. This may have a lot to do

with social media, or that every-

body can be a social “pundit” today.

Increasingly, people of all ages mis-

trust institutions of government,

office holders, corporate leaders,

schools, the news media and yes,

even the Middleridge Civic Associa-

tion board members. While I would

be amiss to call it “hate mail”, you

would be surprised at the amount



Middleridge News

of complaints the Board receives

daily on matters they have abso-

lutely no control over. “Why aren’t

our roads plowed? Why don’t we

have our own pool? How come you

can’t stop my neighbor from cutting

down all his trees? Why can’t you

stop my neighbor from changing

his oil on the street? Will you

please do something about the long

grass at the house on …” I think

you understand. But to be honest,

having been MCA President in the

past, the complaints usually come

from those who don’t join the

MCA. “What do you mean my kid

can’t be part of the Middleridge

Scholarship Fund, just because I

didn’t join, I live here too?” And

the very best complaint I’ve heard

over the years was from a resident

who complained we were wasting

their $25 a year on Scholarships,

All Night Grad Parties or Feeding

the Fire Fighters!

Here’s the truth! That $25 goes

directly to Middleridge. None …

and I do mean none … goes to

scholarships, grad parties or feed-

ing the fire fighters. Don’t believe

me? Check out your membership

form. Those funds come directly

from members who pay more than

just $25 a year. They lovingly de-

cide to “pad” their dues with extra

money to supply these things. Yes,

we have pretty generous neighbors

who believe it is important to give

credit to good students, provide a

safe and alcohol free graduation

party, and thank those that serve

our community. (Thank you to

those of you who do this!)

Challenge 8: Fear of personal

“Assassination”

No, the Board or Chair People

don’t fear for their lives, but serv-

ing the community year after year

can sometimes come at a personal

cost. You see every so often some-

one will try to bring down a Board

member or Chair Person a notch

or two. I know many of you have

seen them … the emails flying

around about how somebody did-

n’t appreciate the word “Free

Loader” being used in the news-

letter, or another person was up-

set because the Yard Sale wasn’t

adequately advertised. Even I

have taken on some personal at-

tacks as being a “know-it-all” or

“attention seeker” just because I

end up chairing events when no

one else steps forward. (I would

gladly give the “attention” to

someone else.) Of course, these

are very small things, but it caus-

es pain when you are freely volun-

teering your time to help the com-

munity and then get attacked for

it.

Unfortunately, we have learned to

live without constant community

approval. You cannot please all

the people all the time. However,

people should recognize we have a

responsibility to provide support

and encouragement to those who

assume the public leadership

roles, even if you do not always

agree or like them. If not, burn-

out ensues and apathy overtakes

everything.

Challenge 9: The Squeaky

Wheel

OK, I lied … I am throwing in a 9th challenge for good measure! You know the old saying: “The squeaky wheel gets the oil?” Well guess what? The wheels are get-ting really squeaky at the MCA and in desperate need of fresh oil. The people who have been there for years, are greying with age, moving out or sadly, simply burn-ing out. We are heading into our May General Membership meet-ing with 2 open board slots. Who do we turn to. Think about it, if you have liked the status quo in Middleridge, understand things may be changing! If you continu-ally celebrate all Middleridge has to offer, please know those things may not be offered anymore. Events are being canceled for lack of money or interest in volunteer-ing. People are growing weary and feeling unappreciated.

So, if you love Middleridge, con-sider getting involved on the Board. Take it from a woman who has very little spare time, it really is not as time consuming as you might think. Run for a Board Office. Be Block Captain! Be-come a Chair Person for the Hal-loween Parade, Easter Egg Hunt, Movie Night or National Night Out. But if you simply cannot do any of those things, please … please join the Civic Association and pay your $25! Take if from me, our property values really do depend on it!

Finally, don’t ridicule or complain about our Board members, or those who constantly volunteer to Chair events. These people de-serve our appreciation and re-spect. They may not be super hu-man, but what they do with a mere $25/annual budget is simply super amazing! Honestly, when you go to sell your house you’ll be glad they volunteered.



Middleridge News

When: May 4th

Where: Bonnie Brae Elementary School

7:30pm-8:30pm

Why: MCA Executive Board Elections

Scholarship Awards

Q & A’s with Local Officials

PLEASE COME! WE NEED YOUR IMPUT!




Neighbors

Moving Out!

A Love Letter to Middleridge

By Carole Rodero

It’s time to finally say farewell to what we have called home since we

purchased our house in 1982. This is a ‘love letter’ to Middleridge to

make this leave-taking a bit easier.

Moving from state to state and country to country with the military brought many rewards. Watching your

neighbors’ children grow from infancy to adulthood was not among them. Perhaps community interaction and

involvement was what I was seeking without even being aware of it. Middleridge offers that for sure!

We learn to appreciate best what has taught us and given us the most. As I walk my dog around Middleridge

for what I know is my neighborhood excursion countdown, I have been thinking about all this community has

given me. What I have enjoyed and am grateful for are the many friends my husband and I have made over

the years – among them some who are no longer living here and some we have just recently gotten to know. In

addition to friends we have made are the countless opportunities to support our community through volunteer-

ing in almost every capacity. This support began with membership in the Civic Association.

It’s easy to see where needs are when you join an organization so financial support moved easily into involve-

ment with the Executive Board and various responsibilities supported by the Board (Newsletter Editor, Neigh-

borhood Watch, and Welcoming). In addition, there was participation in neighborhood events (the semi-annual

park and woods cleanups, the annual plant share, the Halloween parade/party at the tennis courts, the holi-

day decorating and judging, National Night Out, and the Home and Garden Tour). Through these activities

and events I have met such interesting and diverse people. I thoroughly appreciated the opportunity to meet

people from so many other parts of the U.S. and from so many different countries and am now so fortunate to

have many of these people as life-long friends.

In life, we often get commensurate with what we give. If you want a lot out of life and your community, my

suggestion is to get involved. Start small with immediate neighbors: initiate the tradition of a 4th of July Block

Party, organize a Progressive Dinner, take a baked item or plant to a new neighbor, invite a neighbor over for

tea. Or go big: Run for office in the MCA, head or join a committee. You will gain so much by becoming in-

volved.

I hope that my next neighborhood is dynamic and invites involvement. If it does not, I will do my best to repli-

cate this community.

Middleridge…thank you and my love to you.



Middleridge News

Chelsea Pollock ~ Middlegate Drive

Relocated from Fairfax Station, VA

Reminder to Block

Captains and Neighbors!

YOU are an important link.

Please contact me when new people move into your area.

Newcomers! If you have recently moved in/back to Middleridge

and have not been officially welcomed, please contact me.

Carolyn Vaughan – [email protected]

Neighbors

Moving In!

Quality Landscaping at Affordable Prices

Mow Trim & Edge $30

Weed & Feed Program $120

Spring Cleaning @ $100

Gutter Cleaning $60

No Contracts / Your Satisfaction Guaranteed

Call for Power Washing, Deck Sealing

Spring Planting, and Mulching

(703) 503-3130



Middleridge News

We are desperately seeking a new Block

Captain for Block G39 to take over for

Gavin Calarco.

You would deliver to 13 homes: 10700,

10701, 10702, 10703, 10704, 10705,

10706, and 10707 Colton Street and

10727, 10729, 10801, 10802, and

10803 Rippon Lodge Drive.

Please consider volunteering to be the block captain for this area – as a volunteer you

need to be a member of MCA. Thanks so much.

You can send me an email if you are interested in being the block captain.

[email protected]

Sandy Obuchowski




Middleridge News




portant than protecting our family’s and the

neighborhood’s safety?

To that end, I sent an email out a few weeks ago

to everyone who has signed up for neighborhood

watch in the past or through the latest member-

ship drive to confirm your further participation

in the program. To date I am still waiting to

hear from several of you. Please make sure

[email protected] is listed as a

safe address in your email. The original email

was sent out under my email address,

[email protected], because the

changes in the leadership had not been caught

up with the email service. Anyone who wants to

sign up for NW, or find out more information,

can send me an email at either address now.

Greg has turned over the information and sup-

plies for the NW to me. I am currently working

on updating not only the files and spreadsheets,

but developing new information for processes

and procedures that we would like to implement

for the NW. I do want to re-start Watch patrols

as soon as possible, and I am sure that for the

first weekend of May I will be doing the runs. Af-

ter that, hopefully, I will be able to provide a

schedule for the other volunteers. Please remem-

ber it’s never too late to volunteer. If you are in-

terested just send an emai l to

[email protected] and we’ll be

happy to add you to the list.

The week after I met with Greg, I attended a

training session at the West Springfield Police

Station (that is our local station, for your situa-

tional awareness). Master Police Officer Michael

Hello Neighbors. My name is Vernon Campbell,

my family and I have been in Middleridge for

over 12 years now. I was VP of the Board for 1 ½

years, and newsletter editor for over 4 years. My

family and I also led the Neighborhood Night Out

for one year. At this time, I am jumping back in

as Neighborhood Watch coordinator. Greg Sum-

mers has been the coordinator for a number of

years, and due to other work and family commit-

ments, has needed to step down. We all give

many thanks to Greg for his tireless efforts over

these number of years.

I am stepping in because I believe Neighborhood

Watch is probably the most important service

provided by a community. What is more im-

Middleridge Neighborhood Watch By Vernon Campbell—Neighborhood Watch Chairmen




Middleridge News

Hello Middleridge! So far, we have 2 volunteers who willing to open their home/garden for our Mid-

dleridge Home & Garden Tour … but we need at least 2 more! Have you done some fun remodel-

ing in your home or reworking in your garden? We would love to have you on the tour.

The event will be held on Saturday, July 8th.

(As always, I encourage you to suggest a neighbor and I will discreetly contact them

without divulging your identity.)

Email me at [email protected] or call my cell phone at 703-371-9349.

Thanks, Mary Vander Maten

Stewart is the NW officer in the Crime Preven-

tion Unit, and he did over an hour of trainging

and Q&A for representatives of over 25 local

neighborhoods that are registered with the NW.

Once I figure out a schedule and am ready to pro-

ceed, I expect to invite the NW members for a

session that provides much of the information

from our training.

Elsewhere in this newsletter, I have provided a

couple pages of information from the training

that point out how all of us can help develop and

maintain a safe neighborhood. I can tell you from

personal experience, one of the most important

things is to LOCK YOUR CAR DOORS AT

NIGHT! A few summers ago, there was a rash if

burglaries where the perpetrators just availed

themselves of our “open door” generosity, mine

included.

The Police department continues to try and refine

the tools that we have at our fingertips as well.

They've improved their Incident Reporting Appli-

cation which maps reported crimes on an interac-

tive map. By typing in an address and searching

the map during a given time period, the various

crimes reported during that time period will come

up on your screen, showing you some of the crime

within the county. Look at the URL’s provided in

the other NW pages in this newsletter to get to

the application. You can also sign up for the West

Springfield newsletter while on the West Spring-

field District site which requires an email address

and will automatically send a reminder each

month with the latest tips and crimes.

Most safety precautions have a thread of common

sense about them, but I believe we tend to know

how great our neighborhood is, and let our guards

down. Over the next few months, I will provide

more tips from the police department that are de-

signed to help us utilize better security in things

we do.




Middleridge News




2017 MIDDLERIDGE CALENDAR OF EVENTS

June July August September

Executive Board Meeting

June 1, 7:00


July 6, 7:00

Home & Garden Tour

July 8, 1:00-4:00

National Night Out

August 1


August 3

MCA/FCE Moving Night

September 2, 8:30


September 7, 7:00

Every Month:

MCA Board Meeting: 1st Thursday of the month Neighborhood Watch

Newsletter Delivery: 5th of the month Welcoming: As needed. Please notify Carolyn Vaughan


Middleridge Website

www.middleridgecivicassociation.org

Look for:

List of MCA Officers

Committee Contacts

Photos of Events Past & Present

Past Newsletter Issues

Neighborhood Police

Reports

Middleridge Map/Street Name

History

And much more!!!

Executive Board

President—Mike Torrey

Interim Vice President—Rick Jones

Secretary— Brad Koch

Treasurer—John Tedrick

Other MCA Contacts

Webmasters—Joe Landry & Kim Nelson

Newsletter Editor—Catie Morales

Distribution—Sandy Obuchowski

Directory Editor—Al & Sandy Obuchowski

Membership—Al & Sandy Obuchowski

Neighborhood Watch—Vernon Campbell

Community Service—Vacant

Welcoming Chair— Carolyn Vaughan

Notary—Catie Morales

Middleridge Mailing Address

P.O. Box 208

Fairfax Station, VA 22039-0208

Newsletter Administration

Business Advertising Rates:

Regular Member*

Full Page $75 $50

1/2 Page $50 $30

1/4 Page $30 $20

1/8 Page $20 $10

*2016/2017 Paid MCA Member

Monthly Deadline for ads and articles: 25th of the Month

Checks Payable to:

Middleridge Civic Association

P.O. Box 208

Fairfax Station, VA 22039

Mail ads to the address above or Email Ads to:

[email protected]



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