The Highlander

As we head to the end of 2022, we want to wish all of you the happiest of holidays. We hope you are all healthy, safe, happy, and excited to see what 2023 will bring our way. We couldn’t have done the things in our small little neighborhood without the help of the following people – AHCA Board members – Vorry Moon, Hank Salman, Andi Graves, Christy Jones, Megan Johnson, Erin Bieniek, Susie Lewis, Kathy Walker & Sandy Schell. Also, thanks to all the neighbors that have volunteered for our AHCA events & activities in 2022. They can’t happen without your help.

A special note from the Board:
This is going to be short, sweet, and to the point. We need people from our neighborhood to step up to the plate and help preserve the character and culture of our community. For the past three years, a small, dedicated group of your neighbors have worked to hold Arapahoe Highlands Civic Association together. They need to be encouraged by others helping. We together help set the standards to have a safe place to raise our families. We need your help to continue our association’s plans and projects. We will have our first AHCA Neighborhood meeting of 2023 on February 21st @ 7:00 pm, location TBD to form a new guiding team to encourage our neighborhood. Please come be a part of the association’s guiding team.

SAVE THE DATE – Saturday, December 17th

• 10:00 am Visit from Santa – drop off any gifts you would like Santa to bring to your kiddos to is helper Hank Salman @ 1697 E Jamison Pl prior to Saturday morning – please label with names & addresses
• Deliver Luminaire bags – contact Santa’s helper if you would like 25 white bags to light up on Christmas Eve – our neighborhood looks great when this happens
• Food Drive – Pick up any non-perishable food donations in box or bags, leave boxes or bags by mailbox
  We could use 2-3 helpers for the morning activity
• 6:00-9:00 pm Holiday Party (adults only) – Candace & Vorry Moon @ 1757 E Jamison Ave – bring a heavy hor’douevers to share and BYOB – Can’t wait to see you there, use the AHCA Directory to book your babysitter NOW

SNOW TIP – Shovel snow from driveways & sidewalks onto front or side yards of your house. This helps keep large amounts of snow off our streets that freeze and make it difficult to drive on. With less snow on the streets, the snow can melt faster and make driving our neighborhood streets easier. This also helps to water grassy or planted areas of your yard.

LOCAL HAPPENINGS

• December 5 – Colorado Gives Day – chance to donate to wide-range of organizations all in one day
• November-December – Holiday lights
  • A Hudson Christmas – Extravaganza of Lights – Select Dates through December 31 – Our lighted forest of towering trees will enchant guest of all ages. Sing & dance to some of your favorite holiday songs, stroll through our grove of dancing Christmas trees, say ‘hello’ to our giant snowmen and glowing reindeer, walk through our holiday tunnel and grab a cup of hot cocoa. For tickets, see the link – https://www.hudsongardens.org/enjoy/christmas-lights/.
  • Denver Zoo Lights – https://denverzoo.org/events/zoolights/
  • Blossoms of Lights – Denver Botanic Gardens – https://www.botanicgardens.org/events/special-events/blossoms-light
• December 11th – The Friends of the Littleton Library and Museum (FOLM) and the Littleton Museum present Holiday’s Evening on Sunday, December 11, 2022 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm at the Littleton Museum
• December 23-January 9 – Littleton Public Schools Holiday break
• December/January – local 5K, 10K and more holiday races throughout the Front Range – https://runningintheusa.com/race/list/co/december

AHCA Business

Minutes from November 15, 2022, Board meeting –7:00 pm – Schell residence

• ATTENDEES – Hank Salmans (President), Sandy Schell (Treasurer), Christy Jones (Hospitality), Susie Lewis (Hospitality), Erin Bieniek (Board Member), Reneen Salmans
• Last Meeting follow-up – Holiday Events – ALL on Saturday, December 17th
• Holiday Party planning – December 17th, time will be 6-9pm, Christy will contact neighbor who offered to host (since Andi is gone) and see what she’s thinking with budget of $75. Adults only. Please look in the Directory under babysitters if you need one. Everyone is being asked to bring a heavy appetizer to share and BYOB.
• Santa Claus visit to Arapahoe Highlands – Santa will ride in on his sleigh with the help of his elves on Saturday, December 17th at 10 am. If you have a gift that you’d like him to deliver, please take it to Hank Salmans’ home (Santa’s helper) by December 16th with your Child’s first and last name AND your address
• Annual Holiday Food Drive- Please help us support local families in need and give them a great holiday too by donating non perishable items or a gift card (King Soopers, Visa etc) to our food drive. You may leave these at your mailbox on December 17th and Santa will pick them up for you!
• Luminaries- luminary bags will be handed out during Santa’s visit for those that have requested them from Santa’s helper. You can place them around your sidewalk & driveway on Christmas Eve. Battery-operated votives/tea lights are suggested

New Business

• Motion was made to increase the yearly AHCA dues to $75 due to increased costs of all events (Dumpster/Chipper, food, items or rentals/supplies for neighborhood events, etc) We will put this to a vote at the February meeting and will announce this 10 days prior to meeting in flyer, email & website to the meeting so the neighborhood is aware this will be voted on.
• Treasurer’s report – current AHCA Key Bank balance- $3346.56
• Seasonal decor for neighborhood entrances- we are purchasing several strands of white solar lights to make it more festive as the old decorations are being retired.
• NEXT MEETING’s AGENDA – February 2023 meeting- election for Board Volunteers! We need you, we can’t continue to put on events in the neighborhood unless we have our community’s help. Please email Christy Jones at carpenter1978@gmail.com and Sandy Schell at edsslw@ecentral.com if you can help us with anything in 2023.

Neighborhood Needs in 2023:

• Membership Drive (Feb/March 2023) -volunteers to stuff envelopes and mail to neighbors
• Neighborhood Entrance Clean Up (May)- volunteers to prune, trim and clean up at both entrances
• Directory – use membership forms and online members to update Directory, get someone to review, print and handout Directory
• Dumpster/Chipper (June)- set-up with vendors, volunteers to staff the tables during that weekend, make & handout flyers
• Bob Stephens Memorial/Summer party (June)- volunteers to send out notices, make & hand out flyers, get main dish (hot dogs/burgers/etc) together – Suggestion to change name of this event
• 4th of July Parade – volunteers to organize – time, reach out to sheriff and/or fire dept, make & hand out flyers
• Ice Cream Social (July)- volunteers to get ice cream bars, coordinate balloon guy, make & hand out flyers
• Fall Festival (Oct)- volunteers to help set up/tear down, help with equipment and tables, make & hand out flyers
• Holiday party (Dec)- finding host, make & hand out flyers which will have other activity details
• Santa Visit & Food Drive & Luminaries (Dec) – find volunteers to help plan and organize the activities, make sets of bags to hand out to neighbors