Olde Forge / Surrey Square. The most wonderful neighbors live here.

The Olde Forge - Surrey Square Neighborhood

 

I was elected treasurer at the May annual meeting. I would like to report our financial situation to our members. You may recall that last year, we requested donations in addition to our low $10 dues, and the Civic Association and Pool purchased new sign boards. We also conducted the Cleanup day without the benefit of the County providing dumpsters at the pool (which turned into two days of work for the volunteers, to drive everything to the dump). We ended the year with a lower cash balance than it began, despite significant donations (which were essential).

We are now at 194 paid members, and I am confident that we can end up with at least as many members as we had last year. Unfortunately, dues alone won’t cover our planned expenses this year!
We want to do the events we usually do: Easter egg hunt, Graduations, 4th of July, National Night Out, Fall Festival, etc., distribute paper newsletters to those who want them, and support Neighborhood Watch. We also plan to produce a directory this year. But the big kahoona is the Cleanup Day.

John Firsching and the board have investigated a number of options for the Cleanup. The challenge is that quotes are difficult to nail down when we can’t exactly predict how much capacity we will need, and gasoline and rental prices are higher than before. Their best judgment is that we need two rental trucks and two to three dumpsters at the pool.

The end result is that we need all the members we can get, AND additional donations in order to break even for the year. The hard truth is that we can’t spend money we don’t have in the bank. We are projecting roughly a $1400 shortfall. If you would like to see us do the Cleanup, please consider making an additional donation if you are able. $25 to $50 would really help out, and earlier rather than at the last minute so that we can plan how many trucks and dumpsters we can afford. We probably need to increase dues for 2023 if the County doesn’t resume providing dumpsters for Cleanup Day.

You can pay your dues and make donations at https://www.forgesquare.com, or make your check payable to the Olde Forge – Surrey Square Civic Association and drop it off in the mailbox at the pool. Please use a membership form if you want your information included in the directory (I just added a donation line on the form). Thank you!

Dorothy Firsching
Membership and Treasurer