Kilmer Pond Homeowners Association - Annual Meeting

Location: 1631 Melrose Ave. So  

Attended by Jim Shimota, Treasurer, Lynn Scott, Editor of Newsletter, Wolt Hood, President, Susan McArdle Hood, Vice President and 5 neighbors Jean Giere, Beverly Fricke, Chris Gabrielson, Bob Shorten and David Nelson.

We met at Wolt’s house to discuss what activities, we should continue with and which ones we should drop. Essentially, we want to continue a Spring Fling at the pond or park, Halloween Horse Wagon ride for the children, and a Back to School Activity. We discussed reforming the Kilmer Pond Garden Club and have activities with other garden clubs such as Diggers of Golden Valley. In addition, we want to pursue having a neighborhood art crawl with an Open House function for those that wish to show their remodeling completed and the results.

We discussed that the newsletter will be on the internet and the address is www.kilmerpondnews.blogspot.com We want all homeowners to register so that way we can communicate any issues directly to you.

We still need volunteers to take charge of an activity and arrange whatever is needed. Spring fling we usually have desserts with ice cream and activities for the kids. Facepainting, balloons, etc. Sign up on the website and let us know what you want to do. 

We talked about having a neighborhood bike club and then having outings. We have a neighbor Chuck Leighton who volunteered to have a class on bike safety and teach about bike maintenance. We could have family bike tours and adult tours with longer distances.

Tentatively, we should be looking at a schedule with the following times:  

April

• Pond Cleanup
• Bike Safety Course and Bike Maintenance
• Garden meeting with speaker from Bachmans or Diggers garden club

May   

• Spring Fling- Pie and Ice Cream for the kids at the Pond. We invite the fire dept and police. We need someone to manage this and set it up.

                         

June   

• Bike trip to the Westwood Hills Nature Center. We will need a volunteer to lead the group. 
• Adult Bike Tour from Kilmer Pond to Downtown Mpls and back. We need a volunteer to lead the group.
• Painting Class for children-Susan McArdle Hood Basic Watercolor 

                        

July

• Landscaping Judging of Front and Back Yards by the KPHA Garden Committee.

August             

• National Crime Out Observance. Each Block organizes their own BBQ and each neighbor brings a dish.

          

September      

• Back to School BBQ

October           

• KPHA Halloween Ride for the kids-Trick or Treats on the Horse and Wagon by Bunker Hills Stables.

Fall Update

by Wolt Hood, President

(Halloween Hay Ride with Bunker Park Stables)

Hey Kilmer Pond Homeowners:

We are in the process of getting modern and having some fun with the neighborhood and going out to meet other neighborhoods and seeing what they do.

1.We are trying to start a KPHA Bike Club and have a neighbor who would try to teach bike maintenance and bike safety when riding. We need you to step forward and call Charles Leighton 952-412-0760 and talk about biking the trails. We could have neighborhood bike outs with a picnic or we could learn all about the current trails. Our son, Sean took us out on a ride and we ended up in downtown Mpls and we were amazed how quick it was. He said we were not speedy. It was fun for all. We could form a KPHA bike team and enter fundraising events as a group. We could have a team for almost any worthy cause.

2. For those of you who are in love with gardens, we are attempting to reform the KPHA Garden club. Our neighborhood used to have annual plant sales that brought people from all over. We need some volunteers for a committee to determine what things we would like to do. Plant Sales or swaps. Social events with other Twin City Garden Clubs. Have KPHA awards for the best gardens front and back yards. We need volunteer judges so we can nominate and award the winners. So far, we have a few interested. Did you know KPHA used to have a garden club called Lakeview Garden Club. Looking at our archives, we have been involved with the Minnesota Horticulture Society and the U of Mn Arboretum.

3. KPHA Remodeling Open House. For you newcomers or oldtimers that never got the remodeling bug, we want to have an Open House afternoon where all neighbors who have done remodeling want to show their neighbors how projects have turned out. What an opportunity to learn the do’s and don’ts of remodeling projects.

4. Kilmer Pond Art Crawl: We have artists that own homes in Kilmer and we want to have an annual art crawl where artists open up their homes as studios to show their work and offer refreshments and treats. We have many talented neighbors representing different media as artists. If you are an artist, you should let us know or volunteer to organize this event every year.

5. Due to popular request, we reserved our Halloween ride with the Bunker Park Stables and we met at the intersection of Lancaster and Melrose. They had two beautiful Belgian draft horses with a large wagon with hay . They were setup at 6:00 P.M. and it was amazing how many people showed up. It was great to see how the parents dressed their children in some elaborate costumes. We had atleast 50 people show up. They took us for a ride for about two hours and stopped multiple times for the ghosts and goblins to get treats from the homes. It was fun to see the homes that went with the theme and had decorated their front yards. In particular, on Lancaster there is a cemetery which improves every year getting to be larger with more decorations of skeletons, tombstones, and ghosts.

For your information, we have already reserved them for next year so we have to make sure it is in our budget for the kids.

Haunted Houses

Spring/Summer 2010

By Wolt Hood, President

As we look around we see familiar signs of what we Minnesotans love the most and that is our four seasons. As the gray hair becomes more pronounced, winter is becoming less desirable to me. It is wonderful to see the KPHA neighbors out running, biking, or just walking their favorite pooch. And to see all in their front yards nurturing our flower beds seeing who will have the first tulips. I think Bill and Betty Hardacher had the first early ones with other neighbors close behind.

For any of you new neighbors that moved in over the winter, you are part of our organization and we are looking for volunteers who can help with our four or five activities during the year.

FINANCIAL NEWS

Susan McArdle Hood filled out the neighborhood grant proposal for the year 2010. We filed for $1725.00 for all the events. We were approved for $1525.00 which is great. Jim Shimota, our treasurer, stated we had approximately $400.00 in our checking account not including any city grant money. For those of you not familiar you have to spend the money and have the event , then turn in a voucher to be reimbursed. We have to provide receipts.
We have spent about $300.00 to date including the following:
1. Flowers etc at Kilmer Pond Entrance $100.00
2. Garage Sale= Advertize in Mpls Star and printing $200.00
3. Computer Consulting for Homepage $200.00

We cited the following events our KPHA neighborhood will participate in during 2010:

EVENTS

Spring Clean Up

We walk the common areas (Kilmer Pond and the islands) and pick up all trash and dead limbs. We help Be Phan if he wants maintaining the Kilmer Rose Garden at the Pond. KPHA furnishes coffee and rolls or donuts.

Date: Not completed

Kilmer Pond Garage Sales

Historically it has been quite large with up to 30-5- homes participating. If the demand is there, KPHA will pay for the advertisements in the paper. We have the garage sale signs for directing to the garage sales. Volunteers needed. We had this event this year and there was minimal participation so next year we are thinking about only having a one day sale if any. We paid for an advertisement and made up directions signs by Jean Giere.

Date: June 2010

Summer BBQ at the Pond

We have games for the kids, facepainting, and usually visitors from the St. Louis Park Fire Dept. and the St. Louis Pak Police Departments. The kids love to crawl into the vehicles. Hot dogs and chips with non alcoholic beverages.

Date: July 2010

National Night Out

It is a national event and we will have block parties on each street. Furnish your grills and get to know your neighbors. Each block provides their own grub!

Date: August 3rd, 2010

Back to School Ice Cream Social

KPHA furnishes ice cream and pie for all as we settle in for fall and the coming winter solstice. We would love to have back to school door prizes if any of you have connections.

Date: August 28th, 2010

Halloween Hayride

(Ghosts and Goblins) A favorite event where we hire Bunker Hills Stables and they bring out two horses an a hay wagon. They take the kids all around our neighborhood for two hours. Parents must sign a disclaimer and accompany their child to assure good behavior.

Date: October 31st, 2010

ONLINE NEWS

The new website is up and running -

www.kilmerpondnews.blogspot.com

We are joining the green generation and not printing the newsletter unless you don't have a computer or the desire to use it. Please send us your email address so you will receive our infrequent newsletter and learn about any issues that affect us as neighbors.

Send your email to lmkscott@msn.com to be included in future online updates.

REAL ESTATE ACTIVITY IN KILMER POND AREA

Active Home Sales

1604 Kilmer Ave S (5BR/2BA/2.5 car garage) $279,000

1400 Jordan Ave S (3BR/1BA/1 car garage)

REMINDERS FOR DOG OWNERS

In St. Louis Park, all dogs are required to be on a leash. You are responsible for picking up any fecal deposits left by your dog. I carry the plastic bags given us by the newspaper and they work great.

NEW COMMITTEES

KPHA Bike Club

Charles Leighton has agreed to help our group by working with any people interested in biking. He has agreed to offer bike classes on maintenance and biking safety. From there depending upon the interest, we can have biking trips to downtown Minneapolis or wherever. His phone number is 952-546-1013. He lives at 1300 Kilmer Avenue.

KPHA Garden Club

Due to walking my dog, Buster, I have had the opportunity of viewing some beautiful yards and getting to know the neighbors. We really have some green thumbs, For those of you newcomers, KPHA used to be well known for its garden club which would have plant sales on an annual basis. A neighbor, Andrea Heier and her husband have green thumbs and want to join the garden group. We are looking for people to join up in the committees. Andrea’s phone number is 952-593-0672. Lets get organized and have plant swaps and interact with other garden clubs in the Metro Area.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Ideally we would like one KPHA member to take responsibility for an event and then get volunteers to help from the area. For example, Spring clean up is simply, we walk the pond and pick up all the winter trash left and haul any old branches or limbs to the curb for city pickup. KPHA provides coffee and donuts.

We also need volunteers for block captains. Each block captain takes responsibility for approximately 20 homes and keeps a current list. You deliver welcome to the neighborhood packets. You may also be requested to deliver the KPHA Newsletter which comes out usually quarterly.

We need volunteers to think of new events for our children such as during the holiday season or maybe an Easter Egg Hunt at Kilmer Pond.

Or volunteers with any ideas to make the KPHA a better place to live? For example, an Open House for Kilmer where we show off what we have done to our homes. It would really help the newcomers and confirm they bought great houses in a superb neighborhood.

Finally, we need a volunteer to keep us posted on any educational issues for the school district that could affect us. We would want you to write articles which we would publish.

Any interest in volunteering contact:

Wolly Hood or Susan McArdle/Hood @ 612-281-6781 or 612-281-6791

KPHA ANNUAL MEETING

At Wolt and Susan Hood's house at 1631 Melrose Ave S. All newcomers are welcome and no experience required. What a chance to meet some new neighbors.

July 18th, 2010 @ 7pm