Living in the Neighborhood

Change in Newsletter Delivery for October and November

Your newsletter editor has decided to take an extended vacation in late-September into mid-October. Therefore, there will be no October newsletter delivered around the first of the month. Plans are to combine the newsletters for October and November with delivery expected sometime during the week of October 19. Efforts have been made to extend calendar reminders in this newsletter in order to avoid missing events in the neighborhood and around town.

My apologies for any inconvenience!

OktoberFest Party Chairpersons Named

Adria and Woody Appleby have agreed to chair the 2008 OktoberFest Party in New Neighborhood this year. Many will recall the outstanding job that Adria and Woody did as chairpersons for SPINN 2007. We can only expect them to continue with the fine neighborhood tradition.

For those residents new to the neighborhood, previous socials were always held in late-May or early-June – hence, Spring Party in New Neighborhood (SPINN). At the suggestion of a number of neighbors, it was decided that this year’s event will be held sometime in October. The format is expected to be lest complex than SPINN. For one thing, there will be limited daylight hours by late afternoon. The Association allocates funding for some food and perhaps a Bluegrass band. In addition, neighbors are expected to provide a covered dish. The socializing just comes naturally!

A tentative date has been set for Saturday, October 4 (4 – 8 p.m.). Planning is just underway. Further details will be included in a flyer reminding each street of what to bring. This flyer will be distributed closer to the event.

Meanwhile, volunteers to help are needed. Please step up and help. Planning should be rather simple with enough volunteers. Your comments and ideas are welcome. The concept is wide open. Planning for an October event will present a new set of exciting events and food ideas. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Adria & Woody Appleby (phone: 704.655.9717 or e-mail at adriaappleby@bellsouth.net).

New Da Daytimers Book Club to Host Davidson Book Clubs Annual Tea

Our neighborhood readers are back in the spotlight! The New Da Daytimers Book Club of New Neighborhood will host Davidson’s Annual Book Clubs Tea at The Pines retirement community on Thursday afternoon, October 16. The featured speaker will be D. G. Martin, host of the UNC-TV “North Carolina Bookwatch.”

This is a big annual event and more than 30 local book clubs will be represented. Book clubs have been a mainstay of Davidson society for more than a century, dating back to 1899, when the Women’s Book Club held its first meeting. The Charlotte Observer in a recent article stated: “There are towns with book clubs, and there are book club towns. Then, there is Davidson, where organized book discussion rivals organized religion.” This year’s fall tea marks the 12th annual gathering of the diverse groups in sponsorship of a popular speaker with ties to the literary community.

D. G. Martin, the program speaker, is a native son of Davidson. His father served as president of Davidson College from 1958 to 1968. D. G. is a graduate of Davidson and Yale Law School. While a Davidson student, Martin was captain of the basketball team coached by Lefty Drisell. In 1984 and 1986 he narrowly lost two races for Congress. He has served as both the Secretary and a Vice-President for the University of North Carolina system. His TV series, “North Carolina Bookwatch,” features interviews that shed light on author’s lives, books and the state’s imprint on their works. D. G. has hosted the series since its third season.

The New Da Daytimers Book Club meets the third Wednesday of each month in members’ homes and is open to all residents of the neighborhood. For information, call Kathy Cox at 704.895.0325. Boasting nearly two dozen members, we can certainly be proud of this group and its contribution to our community.

Kathy Cox - Thank you for a great job!

Yard of the Month, September, 2008

The Landscape & Grounds Committee congratulates Su & Daryl Chapman of 116 Caldwell Lane as the September 2008 winner of the “Yard-of-the-Month.” The Chapman home is easy to spot. It is the pink Charleston-style house with white trim. The Chapman’s moved to New Neighborhood from River Run in September of 2006, and they have worked hard to develop a beautiful landscape.

The front yard is planted with summer color, including various zinnias, encore azaleas, and a pot of gerbera daisies on the front porch steps. Hanging baskets highlight the front porch and are inviting to visitors. The yard is well trimmed and maintained. The green shrubs are most complimentary of the entire home. Su loves yard work and her efforts are obvious.

As with so many neighbors, the backyard is also a showcase. Stonework marks an attractive patio setting, complete with plantings and accessories. The patio furniture invites residents and guests to enjoy the cool of the evening in a quiet setting. The bird feeder and bath attract a variety of birds and gentle sounds. Again, it is obvious that many hours have been spent on this setting. The Star-of-Excellence will reside proudly at this Caldwell Lane address.

Each month (May through October), a yard is selected among single-family homes. Winners display a bronze star (“Star-of-Excellence”) during the award month. The criteria for selection are established by a Selection Committee. If you have questions or suggestions regarding this plan, call Judy McLean (chairperson of the Landscape & Grounds Committee) at 704.895.0940.

Chapman home

Once again, only a wide-angle lens can do justice to most of our Charleston-style homes.
Let your eye be the real judge of this month’s winner.

Congratulations to the Chapman Family!

To Flush or Not To Flush?
That Is (Too Often) the Question

It is simple. All I want is a toilet that will actually flush. Is that too much to ask? It is a delicate topic that nobody really wants to talk about, at least not in public, but in private conversations with my neighbors I have found that I am not alone. How did the most technologically advanced nation in the world get to the place where one of the oldest and most basic conveniences of our modern world simply no longer works? As it turns out, a little bit at a time over many years.

Before 1950, the typical toilet used 7 gallons per flush (gpf). Before we moved to Davidson, we lived in a 1920’s house in Charlotte. The downstairs bathroom had the original toilet. The 7 gallon tank was mounted high on the wall and fed its entire contents into the bowl through a 3 inch chrome plated brass pipe. With plenty of pressure and plenty of water, it could flush anything, even as it turns out a rather large sewer rat swimming as fast as he could. Wasteful of water to be sure, but that toilet never saw a plunger.

By the end of the 1960’s water consumption had dropped to 5.5 gpf. By the 1980’s it had dropped to 3.5 gpf. In 1995, the federal government mandated 1.6 gpf toilets for the entire country. As the water flow dropped, toilet manufacturers responded with minor tweaks to their existing toilets. The problem is the tweaked toilets no longer did their duty. And I would maintain that any toilet that has to be flushed four times to clear is hardly a water saving device. In fact, government studies (no kidding) have shown that low flow toilets use a good bit more water than their ratings because of the need for multiple flushes.
Although new, the toilets in my home and many others in our neighborhood are of the earlier inferior design. Why? Because the inferior toilets are half the cost of ones that actually work. Ours are so bad that I considered constructing an outhouse in the back yard, but the Architectural Review Committee, although sympathetic, would not approve it.

In the past few years, toilet technology fortunately has finally caught up the low flow requirement. The toilet manufacturers hired aerospace engineers with backgrounds in fluid flow dynamics to completely redesign their toilets. The results are impressive.

I decided to replace the toilet in our master bathroom with one of the new engineered toilets to see if they really worked. I selected a Kohler Cimarron Model 11466. It has the desired Class 5 rating and comes complete for $267 at Lowes. The only additional item needed was a braided stainless steel water connection hose for $4. Removal of the old toilet and installation of the new one took less than an hour.
The Cimarron uses 1.28 gpf, 20% less than the standard. Even so, in two months of testing, it has performed flawlessly without a single clog. I am quite impressed and most pleased. It is amazing how the elimination of this constant irritant has put a smile on my face. I will soon be replacing our other two toilets. A clog in the master bath is irritating. A clog in the guest powder room or guest bathroom is, well, socially unacceptable.

Thanks go to our neighbor (and frequent author) Mike Stenhouse for his insight and opinions into a common problem. Is this “Rocket Science?” Mike thinks so. He is a retired Aerospace Engineer!

No Parking on One Side of Wolfe Street

Residents entering New Neighborhood from the Grey Road entrance have likely noticed a new sign on the south side of Wolfe Street, “NO PARKING HERE TO CORNER.” In a recent review by the Covenant Committee, several suggestions were made to the Town of Davidson regarding parking and traffic control along our neighborhood streets.

Since the Grey Road entrance is a primary route for potential Emergency Response vehicles and First Responders, it was decided to prohibit parking along the south side of Wolfe Street. When cars, and particularly vans and SUV’s, are parked on both sides of the street, visibility and access are severely limited. The decision to make the south side a NO PARKING area is a safety decision for the neighborhood. Although there may be some minor inconvenience, please heed this restriction and emphasize it to your neighbors. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated!

Residents are urged to follow restrictions and use good common sense regarding access throughout the neighborhood. As previously discussed in newsletter articles, please instruct drivers to park in such a way as to not totally block access when receiving deliveries or loading large vehicles.

Neighborhood Dinner Group Survey

Thanks to all of you who responded to the dinner group survey sent at the conclusion of the winter season. The results were as follows:

What was the most enjoyable part of the Dinner Group last season?

Rating of restaurants visited in 2007-2008 (descending order).

  1. Mia Famiglia
  2. Dressler
  3. Prickly Pear
  4. Solace
  5. Soiree
  6. Toast
  7. Kudzu

What is the best day of the week for the Dinner Group?

Tuesday (57.1%)              Wednesday (42.9%)

How often should the Dinner Group meet?

Over 80% of the respondents - once a month.

What seasons would you prefer to have dinner?

Fall – 100%             Spring – 92.9%

Winter – 100%        Summer – 21.4%

What additional restaurants would you like to go to?

Other suggestions:

Give a choice of having salad, appetizer and dessert separately instead of including it all together. For many, this is too much food!

I plan to act on these suggestions. In considering other suggested restaurants, I will insure that they are capable of handling a group of 25 to 30 people and can provide not only good food, but excellent service.

— Arvind Patil

Newsletter Delivery Volunteers

Thanks go to all of our delivery volunteers! Our August team included Adria & Woody Appleby, Barbara Dillman, Barbara & Tom Doster, Tom Fischer, Sherman & Nancy Kahn, Norm Reid, Norman Richards, Dave Smith, Norma Stewart, and John & Marcia Williamson. August was another hot delivery month, but fall is just around the corner.

If you wish to volunteer, please call Dave Smith at 704.987.1472
(e-mail at davidbsmith@bellsouth.net).

 

St. Albans Square Neighborhood Associationfountain