ORANJ
Meeting
of the South West
District
September 14, 2006 1:30 pm
The Evergreens
Present: Bill Burns and Gene Landis (Wiley); Bob Crowley (Fountains); Louise Batchelor, Polly Bowen, and Edith Hlesciak (Cadbury), Jerry Chanon, Roger Graham and Dorothy Cook (Evergreens), Helen Vukasin (Medford Leas).
Helen Vukasin opened the meeting and turned it over to Jerry Chanon, who has agreed to serve as Vice-President for the Southwest Region. Helen discussed items from the mid-summer Executive meeting, and passed out a status sheet (alas, discouraging) on state legislative bills of concern to ORANJ members.
We discussed input from two other regional meetings. Most of the time was spent on activities from each CCRC that might give some ideas to the others of actions they might consider.
Cadbury residents had run collection boxes this past year for “heating houses” of those in economic distress, enjoying a recognized Camden County agency to disperse the funds appropriately.
Wiley described their Council as almost fully committed to fund -raising for various activities within the scope of the Wiley Mission programs. They ran 68 fund-raisers this past year, raising $18-20,000; some of this funding goes to aid residents which personal funding has been depleted. Gene Landis runs an individual daily walkathon to raise funds.
Medford Leas has begun an active conservation program and are working with management to employ “green construction” in the new buildings planned for their campus. They also have discovered a safe driving program that goes beyond the AARP courses, and does testing of simulated driving skills on a computer keyboard.
Evergreens has begun a similar conservation program with emphasis on fluorescent lighting. Much of their Council’s activities has been in attempting to work with Management to review planned spending in an attempt to minimize Residents’ fee increases for 2007.
The meeting was adjourned with a reminder that the next State meeting is at Stonebridge, in Stillman, just north of Princeton, on October 18. The next meeting of the SW ORANJ Committee is planned for January 11, 2007 at Cadbury.
Roger Graham, temporary Secretary sent at request of Gary Baldwin
