June Solla
On Saturday, October 6, 2012, The Emerald Lakes Community Center will be host to the Cancer Awareness Day Events. This day is dedicated to bringing awareness and help to those who need it and to creating a world with less cancer and MORE birthdays! Saving lives begins with one act, one participant and one dollar at a time. Please, come out and support this worthy cause.
Events
Breakfast- 9am to11am, – $7.00 adults ,6-12yo $3.50, under 6yo free
Crush Cancer Car Wash 12pm-3pm – $5/cars $7/trucks/SUV
Basketball Games 3pm- entry fee-$
Tricky Tray Raffle -$1/ticket.- Tickets will be sold all day- drawing at 6:30pm (winner does not have to be present but name & phone # must be on tickets),
PLUS – Music ,Fun Games , Crafts, Presentations by American Cancer Society,Breast Friends Of Monroe County and The American Lung Association.Those attending the American Lung Association presentation will be able to receive a “free” Radon Testing Kit (limited quantities).
Drinks and Dinner Special.
Beat Cancer Bingo Fundraising Special-7:30pm
For One Night Only – Smoking will not be allowed in the building. You may still go outside to the designated smoking areas to enjoy yourself.
Opinion
Lola Lauri
Our board has had a long-standing policy of not commenting on issues brought up in the news, on Facebook, on ELFP. With Joe Miller, John Cress, and new board member Daniel Glasgow, we are seeing a slow change in that policy. We have always believed that the board should aggressively seek to explain its position on controversial issues and explain why certain steps were taken to resolve those issues.
The following is from an article, published by Habitat Magazine, that explains the importance of communicating with the press and with its members through various forums:
Should your board talk to reporters when they call? Read the rest of this entry
Opinion
Lola Lauri
Hi Daniel Glasgow, and hello to the ELA Board. This letter is for you.
The problem that many of us Facebookers have with the board is that they have always refused to see the opinions and discussions on the internet as valid. We are real people, and real ELA members, many of whom cannot or will not attend board meetings. Frankly, those meetings are very uncomfortable and confrontational and I personally have to steel myself against those feelings and work myself up to attending, which is why I don’t go more often.
Daniel, in your speech at the annual meeting, you said that you wanted to represent everyone in our community, not just the people who attend meetings. If you could do that for us at the next meeting – represent us and insist that our opinions should count too, that would be upholding what you said you were going to do. I am not saying you have to agree with us, (heck, we can’t even agree with each other!) but you could talk about the other side of this issue to the board, you could explain what you have read here and get that side of the issue before the board.
Honestly, don’t you think Read the rest of this entry
Lola Lauri
The decisions made by the Emerald Lakes Boards of the past and present have been the subject of many conversations on our Facebook page. The bylaws revisions were soundly defeated, there is much debate over the new fee for putting our boats into the water, and who can forget the great “cover your propane tank” rule that cost many homeowners hundreds of dollars before it was finally deemed a failure? HOA’s are notoriously difficult to manage, and are often managed by fools. This is not an Emerald Lakes’ problem, it is actually quite widespread. I found some interesting HOA horror stories to share with you all. Some are funny, some are tragic, and many remind me of things that have happened here in our community. Click on the link below and tell me if you notice the similarities too:
http://gawker.com/5830257/the-horror-of-homeowners-associations
Lola Lauri
Cutting the cake is former board officer, Claire Abbazio, who held the longest continuous tenure of 13 years, along with current ELA Board President, Al Leslie.
On August 25, 2012, Emerald Lakes honored its many volunteers and welcomed its new members at a party at the Community Center. The party was hosted by the Emerald Lakes Directors Alumni Society (ELDAS). ELDAS member Pat Galderisi put together some numbers to help us appreciate how much our volunteers contribute to the community, “AARP says in PA each volunteer hour is worth $20.51. With 128 volunteers giving approximately 3 hours per week times 52 weeks each year, these volunteers have saved our community $409,543.68!” We didn’t check the numbers, but there is no doubt that ELA volunteers provide many valuable and important services in our community. As Pat says, “God Bless Our Volunteers, they are unselfish and positive.”
Just a few of the army of 128 volunteers who keep Emerald Lakes going all year long.
Our Wonderful Vols. seated left front, Robin Mastrocola, Tobi Barnett, seated right front, Jean Petersen, Marge Indri and Bill Henry.
New Members, L. to R. Tatiana, Yuri and Natalia Sokolov, seated back row, Mark Colville.
Volunteers Phil Botti and Nancy Pitcher.
L. to R. Pat and Eric Bergstrom, Bob Walsh, Gilda Spiotta and George Haab.
Our New Members – Tiesha Phillip and Family
Treasurer Earl Frank and V. P. Millie Bishop
Sue Lodato, Mickey Lammardo and Dolores Saintil.
L. to R. Margaret Fitzgerald, Bob Leon, Former Dir. Louise Leon.
Former directors Dale Walsh and Pat Galderisi greet volunteers and new members.
Nancy Jean and George Hesser.
Adrian Saintil, Rosario Lammardo and Former Dir. Claire Abbazio.
…..
Lola Lauri
The following is excerpted from the Manager’s report delivered by Allen Roth at the August 25th Annual Meeting: 
Aug 31
This gallery contains 13 photos.
Members waiting for results. Seated in front, Cathy Leach and Candidate Margaret Fitzgerald. Seated in next row, Dorothy Schips and Robin Mastrocola. Further back, Finance and Planning Chair Mark Davis and Chris Texal. Board Directors going over the agenda. L. to R. Directors, John Cress, Joe Miller, Bob Lauri
Opinion
By Buz Whelan
So there they were. Joe Olall, David Pope, and Renae Skubish, along with their candidate Donald Glasgow, forming their usual gauntlet of outrage. And there were the handouts screaming about the latest horrible and extreme changes about to be foisted on an innocent, unsuspecting membership. Ah, but luckily these saviors of the status quo were there to sound the alarm. “Old is good, new is bad,” they verily chanted to those arriving at the school entrance. Thinking is dangerous to these folks; misinformation is the weapon of choice to protect voters from anything that might move the association forward. And when they aren’t peddling misinformation, they promote absurd points of view. Here’s an example of their way of thinking: their tract states in boldface that they are particularly excised over the wording that would change the requirements for removal of a director from “with or without cause” to “for malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance…” They correctly point out that under the existing bylaws the burden is on the director to show why he/she should not be removed. In other words, a director is guilty until proven innocent. It’s an interesting concept. Hey, it works for China and North Korea. Why not Emerald Lakes? The whole concept of American justice is based on the principal of innocent until proven guilty. Maybe these folks would like to change that, too.
Incredibly, new lows were reached. Normally we have to get to the substance of debate, say a dues increase, before the fighting begins. But here we were, listening to the instructions for voting when up to the microphone marches Renae Skubish to protest. Yes, protest. She didn’t like the instructions, specifically regarding the necessity to place votes for candidates in one box and votes on bylaw revisions in another. Ever slow to grasp even the simplest reality, she wanted to be able to put votes wherever she pleased and she made a motion to that effect. Evidently, keeping votes separate because they would go to two separate counting rooms and because mixing them would only add a step of separating them immediately after the voting, and further because this process would create more opportunities for error was all too complicated for poor Renae to process. So she made her out-of-order motion to change the process to one she could more easily understand. You cannot make this stuff up.
Later, when the floor was opened to comments on the revisions and amendments this same person came forward to point out if the Consumer Price Index reached the maximum cap or beyond every year for the next twenty it would cost over $10,000 per property. This is about as realistic as saying if it rains every day for the next year, the dams won’t hold and we’ll all be flooded out. Hey, it could happen, right? Considering that we haven’t hit a 4% CPI even once in the last 10 years, it’s more than a bit of a stretch to suppose we’ll do so every one of the next 20. Yet here come the cheers from the slow learner section, all pumped up over this ‘clever’ observation. Whew. What a close call. We almost lost the opportunities to have vicious debates between association leaders who recognize a need for a dues increase and members who have never so much as glanced at an association budget. Thanks, Dave. Thanks, Joe. Thanks, Renae. All credit to you.
Virtually every claim made in this absurd document – the one they were handing out at the entrance to the meeting place – is based on a misunderstanding of the language used in the revision documents, or worse, on deliberate distortion. Beyond that, it is a cowardly attempt at manipulating the voters. For the entire time of its existence, since November of 2009, the Committee to Revise the Bylaws has been completely transparent. They have reported their progress at almost every single monthly open meeting since then. They have taken on additional volunteers. They have had public debates. Yet these pusillanimous disrupters have made no objections at times when they could have been debated. They waited until the Annual Meeting to put out their lies and distortions when time for debate would be past. As long as this small band of malcontents can manage to influence like-minded or low information voters, Emerald Lakes will be held back by its archaic bylaws. Thank you, Dave. Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Renae.
Lola Lauri
Results for the election are below. At the reorganization meeting it was determined that Alex Leslie will remain president, Millie Bishop will remain vice-president, Earl Frank will continue as treasurer, and Carmen Brodnax will remain as secretary. The other directors are John Cress, Daniel Glasgow, and Joe Miller.
Candidate for Director: Votes
Margaret Fitzgerald 62
Bob Leon 60
Joe Miller 84 wins 3 year term
Daniel Glasgow 73 wins 3 year term
Alex Leslie 91 wins 3 year term
140 ballots submitted
2 ballots were declared invalid
The following are the results for the By-Law Amendments
General Amendments 45 Accept 91 Reject
Amendment I 30 Accept 106 Reject
Amendment II 64 Accept 72 Reject
Amendment III 61 Accept 75 Reject
Total Votes cast – 138
Total invalid – 2
Total Valid – 136
Update: (8/21/12): There has been an issue raised about the legality of this agenda based on our Bylaws, Article VIII, Section 6. We will publish an updated agenda if and when we receive one. Also, we would like to remind ELA members that registration for voting is between 9:30 and 11 am and only registered members will be allowed to vote.
August 25, 2012
Welcome to the 36TH Annual Meeting of the Association for 2012
ORDER OF BUSINESS
Running from the Floor? Please bring nominating petitions to the Judge-of-Elections!
1. Call to Order – 11:00 a.m. – Pledge of Allegiance / Introductions (Al Leslie, President of the Board of Directors)
2. Re-state the Annual Meeting agenda – vote for By-Law changes – election of three (3) Directors
3. Approve minutes of August 27, 2011
4. Explanation of ballots – Maryann O’Leary, Chairman of Elections Committee (re-state procedure for running from floor)
5. Meeting Ground Rules:
a. Robert’s Rules of Order and By-Laws govern;
b. Three (3) minutes will be allowed for each Board candidate and candidates running from the floor.
6. Assign Sergeant-at-Arms
7. Intro of Candidates (including from floor candidates) – Dale Wash, Chair, Nominating Comm.
8. Candidates Statement (3 minutes max. each)
9. Explanation of voting instructions – Carmen Brodnax, Judge-of-Elections
10. Opening of polls for Directors & By-Law Changes
11. Voting – Board of Directors & By-Law Changes
12. Manager’s Report (Allen Roth)
13. Financial Report – Earl Frank, Treasurer
14. Raymond Zavada, CPA – annual audit
15. George Hludzik, Esq. – collections
16. Presentation of Awards
17. Q&A – General Membership
a. Voting members must rise, give their name and lot number and be recognized before speaking;
b. Two (2) minutes allotted to each speaker (total of 4 speakers per issue during the Q&A)
18. VOTING Results
19. Announcements / Adjournment
A topnotch WordPress.com site
thoughts on education by Grant Wiggins
"Because you CAN handle the truth."
by Ken Previti
A child is like a butterfly in the wind. Some can fly higher than others, but each one flies the best it can. Why compare one against the other? Each one is different. Each one is special. Each one is beautiful.
Emerald Lakes Free Press 