Dues for the year are $10.00 per household, yes that includes all members of the family.  Yes, it's not a lot, but we want to make these affordable for everyone and there are some large families up here ... so if you want, you may contribute more (!)   Dues need to be paid before or at the March 13th Board Meeting of the HWNA.  You may also pay them on line in the left column by pushing on the button "donate" under "Join the HWNA", there will be a place in the box for you to put your name, etc. so we will know who you are and we'll know what they're for.  Thank you for your support as we head into another year to do good things in our neighborhood.

The requirements to be a member in good standing of the HWNA with voting privileges, in addition to living within our boundaries, are (1) payment of annual dues and (2) participation in at least 1/3 or all activites and meetings (any combination) held throughout the calendar year.

Due to one of the nominees failing to show at our Annual Meeting of Members on January 12, their name had to be removed from the ballot, as someone cannot be elected to a position in the HWNA if they are not present.  THEREFORE, this position is now an appointment to be made and approved by the Board and is open to all members in good standing of the HWNA.   Please send an email of your desire to be appointed to this two-year position, along with what you feel qualifies you to serve and any other information you want to give us, to our Secretary, Sharry Carey at sharry.carey@yahoo.com before Sunday, February 5, 2012.  The nominees will be voted on by the full Board at the February 9th monthly meeting.  The nominee with the most votes will be installed.

1st Place   179 Eldon Avenue

2nd Place   2608 W. Broad Street

3rd Place    318 S. Hague Avenue

Best Business Display   The CycleCo.Com Shop at 2630 W. Broad Street

Congratulations to all our winners and we look forward to seeing everyone again next year.  Also thanks to everyone who participated in this great display of neighborhood pride ... it is things like this that set us apart from other neighborhoods and make Highland West a fun place to be.  Next year's Holiday Lights contest will again begin on Thanksgiving weekend and continue through Christmas, so start planning your holiday displays now!

Officers for the year (2012) are as follows:

Geoffrey Phillips, President

Michelle Phillips, Vice President

Sharry Carey, Treasurer

Board Member at Large (2 year Term):   Keith Chaldis

It was also decided by the members and the Board that our website will now be moderated.   There has been significant discussion and thought within our organization to go to a static website which would not be interactive, meaning there would be no blog - no place for members of our community to post information.   The majority prevailed, although less of a majority than in the past when this matter has been taken up, and we will continue with the present site, but with restrictions.

Going forward, the following rules will apply:

1.  Only postings that affect our neighborhood will be accepted.

2.  Our website/Face Book pages are not places to take the place of the Dispatch regarding events, crimes, etc. that happen in all neighborhoods throughout the city.  Our website/Facebook page are to promote the good things happening all around us in our neighborhood.  The regular news media is more than suficient to fill us in on the other things.

3.  If a posting is found to be what members of the board and community would consider a "rant" it will be rejected.  If there is a serious concern affecting our community regarding safety, community standards, or whatever,  that we all need to be aware of, we need to think the post through, add facts and figures, etc., pictures further defining the issue are helpful, and then create a thoughtful piece or call to action for our community.

4.  The site is now set to "Moderate Postings", so all postings will take anywhere between a few minutes to a few hours to appear.   All media and releases are now going to be under the eye of the Executive Committee; Geoffrey Phillips was voted by those present to make these decisions. 

Please understand that these two sites, this one and the FaceBook one are to be about the good in the community and those things we need to deal with that directly affect our community.  It can still be a place for some debate, but it is also a place for thoughtful, insightful conversation.

IN ADDITION, the southern boundary of our district was placed upon the table.  For years it has been Sullivant Avenue, however, with little to no participation from people who live south of Fremont we may elect to redraw this boundary at the next Annual Meeting of Members to occur in January 2013.  We want involvement by people in all areas of our district, but we also need to have a manageable area for the members we have who are active.  We could do so much more with additional people on board, so this is to encourage people south of Fremont to join in the fun.  As a Board we did not feel it was fair to just arbitrarily redraw the southern boundary at Fremont Avenue across without first being sure people south of Broad knew it was under consideration.  There are many reasons people hesitate to be involved, but those same reasons had to be overcome by all of us who decided to take a stand and become involved.  Once the decision is made and you set yourself out from the pack, it really isn't that bad!  You begin to feel a sense of accomplishment and those around you who may not have joined in begin to look up to and respect you for what you're doing and they too become involved.  It's contagious!  We will continue to attempt to enlist members south of Broad during the coming year and the results will be discussed at the end of the year if we need this issue on the ballot for the next Annual Meeting.