THE SeptemberвЂ“October 2014 LODGE LOG B L U E L A K E S P R I N G S H O M E O W N E R S вЂ™ A S S O C I AT I O N Halloween Costume/Casino Party Saturday, October 25, 2014 Please wear costumes. Haunted House Contests Scary, Surprising Entertainment Doors open at 5:30 p.m. $24.00 per person Includes House drinks, wine, soda, and coffee вЂў Appetizers, Dinner, Dessert For BLS Members and Guests Only Call 209-795-2357 for reservations. Cancellation of a reservation must be made at least 24 hours before the date of the event for a refund to be given per Policy #1300-2. Hosts: Ed & Michele Stahlberg The Lodge Log1 2014 Calendar of Events Tuesday Evening Bridge: Every Tuesday at 7 p.m. вЂў Bev Vasquez 795-1356 вЂў Marilyn Szukalski 795-3811 Thursday Morning Duplicate Bridge: Second Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. Bev Vasquez 795-1356 Friday Morning Bridge: Every Friday at 9:30 a.m. вЂў Bobbie Neely 795-7815 Mahjong: First and Second Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. вЂў Leni Salayko 795-7166 Mahjong: (May 2014 through October 2014) вЂў Every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. вЂў Sandy Stowe 795-2914 Potluck: Second Wednesdays at 5:30В p.m. вЂў (September 2014 through May 2015) вЂў Linda Penney 795-0514 вЂў Maureen Dinnocenzo 795-3226 Texas HoldвЂ™em: Second Thursdays at 2:00 p.m. вЂў (September 2014 through May 2015) вЂў Cathy Fitzpatrick 795-4806 вЂў Louise Cooke 795-4657 PresidentвЂ™s Message Dear Members, What a great summer it has been at Blue Lake Springs. The facilities are in great shape thanks to our outstanding maintenance staff. Our members have enjoyed a multitude of activities, two beautiful lakes, the swimming pool, a new BBQ area and friendships that will last forever. Judith and Vickie have provided a wonderful program for all to enjoy. In addition, hundreds of people have had the opportunity to visit our restaurant and partake of some outstanding dishes served by Chef Marc, not to mention the specialty desserts provided by Karen. If you havenвЂ™t had the pleasure of dining at Snowflake Lodge, let me tell you that it is the best deal in town. Where else can you bring your own wine without paying a fee? The past two months have not been without some challenges, but the Blue Lake Springs Team has pulled together to make sure that everything continued to run smoothly. Blue Lake Springs is happy to introduce our new Lodge Manager. Amber Sitter joined us on August 12th. Amber is from San Francisco, spending many years with B JвЂ™s restaurant and most recently with the Monroe Hotel. We are happy to have her as our new Lodge Manager. Please introduce yourself and welcome her when you visit the restaurant or Lodge. Member Issues: I would like to preface the following remarks with the acknowledgement that all of BLSHOA members have the right to bring issues to вЂ”continued on page 3 Labor Day Barbecue: Saturday, August 30 at 6:00 p.m. Monte Carlo Halloween Party: Saturday, October 25 Holiday Brunch: Sunday, November 30 New YearвЂ™s Eve Party: Wednesday, December 31 2 The Lodge Log the Board of Directors including petitions for elections by the membership. As you are aware, in May, the Board received a petition from 72 members (102 signatures) asking that the membership vote вЂњyes or noвЂќ on the renewal of the C.C. &Rs. The Board, in its due diligence, researched, as well as contacted the HOA attorney and it was confirmed by the attorney that the C.C.&R.s automatically renew every 20 years from the date of January, 1994. Therefore, the C.C.&R.s had already renewed on January, 2014. The petition from these members was for an unnecessary (unlawful) purpose and therefore denied. The Board notified the petitioners as well as the entire membership of the BoardвЂ™s ruling. At this date, there has been a cost of over $9,000.00 to the membership which includes two mailings to the membership, postage, labor and attorney fees. Unfortunately, the petitioners do not agree with the date of January, 2014, calling the ruling вЂњarbitrary and fallaciousвЂќ and they have continued to send the HOA correspondence calling for an election by the membership. This continues to cost the membership money. Personally, I find that it is morally wrong as well as irresponsible for any of our members to cause the association to expend funds for purposes which are purely self-serving and unnecessary. BLS funds are expended for the benefit of the membership. The actions of these petitioners are not benefitting the membership. I would hope that all our members would make themselves aware of ALL facts before signing petitions or letters. The office is always available to answer any questions or to gather any information a member may need before making a decision on a particular issue. вЂ”Bev Vasquez, President, BLSHOA If there is any member who knows of someone who may need a sympathy card, please call the Sunshine Lady, Joan Shawver at 209-795-5619. Save the Date The Blue Lake Springs Holiday Brunch will be held Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 30th 11:00 a.m. Hosted Refreshments вЂў 11:30 a.m. Brunch Buffet More information will be proved at a future date. The Lodge Log3 Arnold 4th of July Parade Entry Approximately 100 Blue Lake Springs HomeownersвЂ™ Association members and their guests participated in our entry for the annual Arnold 4th of July parade. The first part of our entry focused on our armed service veterans. Our veterans that participated marched and rode behind a large banner, вЂњHONOR OUR VETERANS,вЂќ and an Honor Guard carried an American flag and the flags of our armed services. The second part of our entry concentrated on our Cal-Fire Volunteers in Protection (VIP) fire safety inspection program. This part started with a вЂњDefensible SpaceвЂќ banner and Nancy Longmore, the Cal-Fire Prevention Officer for Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties, drove a CalFire vehicle and provided additional fire safety banners. A number of our members marched wearing their Cal-Fire VIP shirts and one member VIP rode his decorated motorcycle. The third and last part of our entry was a large number of members and their guests outfitted in вЂњred, white, and blue,вЂќ with American flags, marching and riding in decorated vehicles. Again, Blue Lake Springs showed its community support by having, by far, the largest entry in the parade. For our efforts, our entry was awarded two first place trophies by the Greater Arnold Business Association which sponsors the parade. Thanks to our parade committee, Jim and Louise Cooke, Pete and Joanne Padelford, Guy and Sue Pollak, and Peter and Denee Berliner. Also, thanks to Ron Boles, our photographer and to all those members that marched and/or provided decorated vehicles. вЂ”Michele and Ed Stahlberg Chairpersons Arnold: 209-795-3491 www.pioneerelectric.info HOME IMPROVEMENT/SERVICE WORK REPLACING WALLHEATERS, CHANGING LIGHT FIXTURES. CEILING FAN INSTALLATION, EXTERIOR LIGHTING, ROOM ADDITION GUARDIAN GENERATORS-HOME, COMMERCIAL EMERSON CEILING FANS, SEA GULL LIGHT FIXTURES LET US BID YOUR NEXT PROJECT 4 The Lodge Log ManagerвЂ™s Report By the time you read this issue of the Lodge Log, the summer program will be ending. It seems to have ended so fast. It has been a great summer with every department putting out a 110%. I would like to thank each one of them for all the hard work and dedication that they have shown. This year many of you may have noticed the many improvements that were accomplished. The staff hopes that you have enjoyed all of them. The planning for 2015 has already begun. Some of the improvements that we are looking at is possibly removing the silt build-up from Fly-in-Lake and Lodge Lake bottoms. Over the years the silt has built up to a point that now requires attention. Removal of silt from both lakes will help the lakes with the water quality, swimmers itch, pond weed and water capacity for fire danger. An additional project is the improvements to the current restrooms at Fly-In-Lake. They are over 40 years old and there are concerns with the septic system. There is a lot of work to be done and the Board of Directors and Staff are currently working on plans to accomplish each project. In each issue of the Lodge Log, we will keep the membership updated on the progress of these projects. SECURITY & COMMUNICATIONS, INC. Randy Fox 908 Moran Road P.O. Box 3293 вЂў Arnold, CA 95223 Tel: 209-795-8103 вЂў Fax 209-795-8162 Alarm License# ACB 5306 вЂў Contractors License# 669741 www.foxsecurityinc.com Welcome Back Potluck!! Beginning Wednesday September 10th You are all invited to join us for our first Potluck of the season on Wednesday, September 10th at Snowflake Lodge. Join your friends and neighbors for tasty food and exciting Bingo on the second Wednesday of each month. Social time and appetizers begin at 5:30 p.m. Then enjoy a sit down dinner with dessert at 6:15 p.m. The fun continues with 5 games of lively Bingo after dinner. If you would like to be added to the Potluck calling list, please contact Linda Penney at 795-0514. The Lodge Log5 Texas HoldвЂ™em Monthly Texas HoldвЂ™em tournaments will begin Thursday, September 11. Check-in: 1:30 p.m. Play Time: 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Entrance Fee: $5.00 All prizes are gift certificates to the restaurant The monthly games will be held on the second Thursdays of the month. Snowflake Lodge members must accompany their guests. (Members are allowed up to 6 guests.) To reserve your seat and a seat for your guestsвЂ¦ send an email to Louise Cooke at lcooke11@yahoo.com and include the names of any guests. If you need to cancel, email as soon as possible. Type вЂњTexas HoldвЂ™emвЂќ in the subject line. This year we are offering lessons on rules and strategy just before play from 12:30 to 1:30. Just come on into the lodge, sit back and have some fun learning this unique game! The end of the season 6th annual вЂњTexas HoldвЂ™em TournamentвЂќ will be held May 14, 2015. To qualify for the tournament you must have played in at least 2 of the 7 monthly games. вЂњKnow when to holdвЂ™em, know when to foldвЂ™em!вЂќ 6 The Lodge Log VIP We are in the middle of our highest Fire Danger time of the year when you read this. As I write (August 3rd) we have been in High and Very High Fire Danger rating, locally, for a month. There are many fires from just above Sacramento to the California/Oregon border right now. One of our past CAL FIRE Battalion Chiefs told me that we have had so many fires already this year that these fires we are having now will be exhausting to our fire fighting force. These men and woman working on the fire lines are going to be tired by the time you read this article and we face more fires to come. The local picture is that we have AGAIN dodged several bullets already this year as I write and we are just starting the worst part of the Fire Season. My hope is that ALL BLS homeowners understand how serious this is and respond accordingly in the cleaning of your properties to ALL the CAL FIRE PRC4291 Rules. A very large number of you get it and have done a great job getting your properties PRC4291 compliant, some have not. We wrote 887 Inspection Notices of non compliance this year on our first inspection May 28th and 29th. I have since written 14 additional Notices making it 901. We were more critical this year than ever about work that needed to be done on your properties mostly because our Inspectors have become better at their job from the better training we have provided. On the follow-up second Inspection 25% of those 887 cited on the first Inspection did not complete the work they were asked to take care of, they did not pass Inspection. No one should have a problem understanding how serious the Fire Danger is, they tell you on the news on your TV every day. I can only try to pass on to you in every way I have available to me what you need to do with your properties. It has been proven to me in the workshops I attend and training I receive each year that the PRC4291 Rules do work in a Wild Land Fire (WLF). Everyone needs to believe this if you want your homes to have the best chance to survive a WLF. I and your VIP Inspectors do this Fire Prevention Program Inspection work to help ALL of you and ourselves to be prepared for a WLF. We all would love to use the time we spend doing this volunteer work to play Golf or whatever else that would be more fun, but we all know how important this work is. We are asking you, the other 25%, to please step up and complete ALL the work shown you on your Inspection Notice that needs to be done. You know who you are because you know that you did not do everything that was checked off on that Notice. Please remember, it is not if we are going to have a WLF, it is WHEN and that is the race we are in, folks, in getting our properties PRC4291 compliant. Thank you to the numerous members that e-mailed me to find out exactly what you needed to do on your property. I met about 200 great homeowners since the first of May. I have answered well over 250 e-mails. Ninety-nine and a half percent of these were all positive. We are looking so much better than we were in 2011 when I took over this job and I believe we are very close to being able to save the homes in BLS in a WLF. This has been accomplished by working together and that part of this job has been fun for me. Thank you to all that have responded in a positive manner to our Fire Prevention Program. вЂ”Pete Padelford, your CAL FIRE VIP Coordinator The Lodge Log7 Welcome New Homeowners Noel & Samantha Howard Unit 2 Paul & Aileen Koslosky Unit 2 William & Michelle Tallon Unit 2 Friedrich & Ann Guerr Unit 3 John Ciapponi Unit 7 Eric & Deborah Miller Unit 7 Tracy & David Debus Unit 10 Justin & Yana Dollar Unit 10 Jerry & Mary Black Unit 11 Alan Nevin & Tracy Sutton Unit 12 Robert & Christine Reichle Unit 12 Anthony Daniels Unit 13 Kathleen & Mark Fidler Unit 13 Mark & Michele McQuillan Unit 13 8 The Lodge Log Rec Ramblings We have had a great summer and saw many new faces enjoying our improvements to the facility. Make sure you take the time to thank the maintenance staff, General Manager and Board. Our camps and classes were well attended and we are already planning for next year. We have added a suggestion box near the Recreation Office and look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for the generous donations of money, craft items, books, and bingo prizes. We sincerely appreciate your donations and suggestions and we are constantly working to improve our summer recreation offerings. AndвЂ¦ Thank you to the entire Recreation Staff for a great year; your dedication and commitment to BLS has not gone unnoticed. Blue Lake Springs HomeownersвЂ™ Association Office Hours Tuesday вЂ“ Saturday вЂў 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Snowflake Lodge Restaurant Hours Friday & Saturday 5:30 p.m. вЂ“ 8:30 p.m. Call for Reservations (209) 795-2357 Board Meetings: HomeownersвЂ™ Association: Third Saturday, 9:00 a.m. Water Company: Second Saturday, 9:00 a.m. Office Phone: 209-795-2357 вЂў Fax: 209-795-4438 Recreation Phone: 209-795-4009 E-mail: blsoffice@caltel.com Web Site: www.blsha.com Your Association welcomes letters from members and will publish them in the Lodge Log on a space available basis. If necessary, they will be edited for style and shortened to 200В words. Letters will not be returned to senders. Formal policy is on file at the Association. Members should request the Formal Policy if they are considering publishing a member to member letter. And to our members; thank you for the support and feedback. Have a great year, stay safe and it was a pleasure to serve you. вЂ”Judith A. Anderson, Director of Summer Recreation Board of Directors: President, Bev Vasquez Vice President, Pete Padelford Treasurer, Kevin Andel Secretary, Mike McAtee Director, Doug Nunes Director, Linda Penney Director, Michele Stahlberg вЂ¦ Administration General Manager, Tony Abila Assistant General Manager, Marsha Hampton Snowflake Lodge Snowflake Lodge Manager, Amber Sitter Snowflake Lodge Chef, Marc Kirby Facilities Facilities Manager, Mark Owens Summer Recreation Summer Recreation Director, Judith Anderson Assistant Summer Recreation Director, Vicky Bray-Johnson Security Security Officer, Vernon Nicholson The Lodge Log is published by the Blue Lake Springs HomeownersвЂ™ Association in accordance with the By-Laws of the Association. Publication is bi-monthly with additional issues from time to time. Manager: Tony Abila Production: Foothill Printing & Graphics The Lodge Log9