What a great year working as a member of the Heritage Heights Community Association this year! I looked through pictures of all of the events (I attended almost all of them) and witnessed so many smiling, happy neighbors and friends in each. Our first event, starting last fall, was the Packer Game in the Park Membership Picnic. It was well attended with 70 attendants despite the rain! Then, we moved onto the first Holiday Party with Santa for the neighborhood and openly invited Rolling Meadows NA to join. Over 35 children along with their parents and grandparents joined in on the fun. I have many warm memories of children on Santa’s lap sharing their Christmas wishes. We had a couple movies in the park, one with over 40 people on a chilly night! Then, we planned the first Spring Fling for the HHCA. Next came a busy spring with an Earth Day Park Clean-up, a Weed Warrior Weed Pull in the Sanctuary, a fun Easter Egg Hunt and an Annual Meeting that filled the upstairs meeting room of the Great Dane Restaurant! Not to mention an uptick in the annual garage sales with over 30 sales. I had a great time this year being part! I appreciate every moment of it.
Aside from holding social events, I’ve spent a lot of time at Rolling Meadows Shopping Center, now a regular stop in my newsletter delivery territory. I am very sad to see the Sentry store close its doors and if you are at all on Nextdoor Heritage Heights, you know my viewpoint on this. I have learned that many in Heritage Heights have gradually chosen to shop out of the area for shopping and services. And why not? We have a great Eastside Mall, a beautiful new Monona Drive, a $3M upgrade to our local Wal-Mart off of Stoughton Rd, a newer Woodman’s, Costco and soon a movie theatre in Sun Prairie! While I support the freedom to choose, I can also see how these decisions are affecting us locally, especially on Cottage Grove Rd. Now that I drive by an empty and quickly overgrown grocery store each day, I am reminded of how progress can change things. I also believe that residents of Heritage Heights and the surrounding communities really care and want to know how they can update their neighborhoods and local resources. My plan this year with the help of our district alder, the shopping mall owners and tenants and other city resources is to start a conversation on where we are going in this “transition”. Please refer to Alder Cnare’s story on page 8.
Also a number of neighbors have asked us to improve our neighborhood entry signs.
I believe that this is also necessary and I will work get things started. If need be, we will contact several professional sign companies and ask their opinion on improvements. Perhaps we will run a fundraiser for new signs and offer a separate donation fund for this.
As always I encourage you to get involved. Please attend our monthly meetings or choose an event that you would like to attend.
Aside from holding social events, I’ve spent a lot of time at Rolling Meadows Shopping Center, now a regular stop in my newsletter delivery territory. I am very sad to see the Sentry store close its doors and if you are at all on Nextdoor Heritage Heights, you know my viewpoint on this. I have learned that many in Heritage Heights have gradually chosen to shop out of the area for shopping and services. And why not? We have a great Eastside Mall, a beautiful new Monona Drive, a $3M upgrade to our local Wal-Mart off of Stoughton Rd, a newer Woodman’s, Costco and soon a movie theatre in Sun Prairie! While I support the freedom to choose, I can also see how these decisions are affecting us locally, especially on Cottage Grove Rd. Now that I drive by an empty and quickly overgrown grocery store each day, I am reminded of how progress can change things. I also believe that residents of Heritage Heights and the surrounding communities really care and want to know how they can update their neighborhoods and local resources. My plan this year with the help of our district alder, the shopping mall owners and tenants and other city resources is to start a conversation on where we are going in this “transition”. Please refer to Alder Cnare’s story on page 8.
Also a number of neighbors have asked us to improve our neighborhood entry signs.
I believe that this is also necessary and I will work get things started. If need be, we will contact several professional sign companies and ask their opinion on improvements. Perhaps we will run a fundraiser for new signs and offer a separate donation fund for this.
As always I encourage you to get involved. Please attend our monthly meetings or choose an event that you would like to attend.