April 2016 Volume 39, Number 5s

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

GRAY POWER, which started last Fall, is not an exclusive club with a secret handshake. It is simply a way for men and women in our community, who are willing, to volunteer their time to do needed maintenance items for our community. No special skills are required. The group provides an opportunity for both old and new shareholders to contribute, meet new people, and enjoy the camaraderie of working

with others, while saving our community money. We plan to work no more than 2 hours each day. Everyone is welcome, so if you would like to “try it out”, come to the lounge at 8:00AM on Fridays, have some coffee and conversation, then we will “go to work”.

Rex Jones, Director Volunteers, like the phrase, Never enough coffee or donuts! As of this writing, volunteers have worked 516 hours and according to my calculations that equates to over 18,000 dollars, and that directly saves us (you and I) money out of our pockets.

When asked why they are volunteering I get the feedback, I feel like I'm helping my neighbor or the pride some take in a job well done. An example would be the sliding doors in the Game Room as these have

been cleaned to where you can now open them up with one finger and they are clear enough to see through! Another great example of work completed was the clearing and prepping for our new mailbox area. A definite asset to us all!

Our volunteers never say no or I can't when asked to do something. They use their personal experiences and many years of doing things and share their gifts freely and without question. Thank you to all our volunteers for saving us money and making our lives better. Volunteers are our asset, part of our Alameda family. So, if you see

someone working in the park say Thanks! John Esposito, President

In This Issue Board of Directors Needles & Leaves

Social Club

Women's Club Boat Club

Important Notice Bike Club

Veterans Club

Pine Park Picnic Follow-up

Important Dates

Final Shareholder Coffee for the Season

Mon., April 4th 9 a.m., Assembly Hall

Board of Directors Work Group Meeting

Monday, April 4th 10 a.m., Lounge

Board of Directors Monthly Meeting

Monday, April 18th 9 a.m. Assembly Hall

April 1, 2016 New Budget Implemented

Remaining $177 mo.

AI Office Contact: Phone: 941-474-5079

Fax: 941-474-9631

Email Janet: alamedamanager@mgmt.tv

Email Amanda: secretaryalameda@mgmt.tv

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PINE PARK - Needles and Leaves

Gene Hite, Park Ranger

Pine Park Picnic was a huge success! Our 50/50 drawing passed winning to three lucky winners! This added $444.50 to the Pine Park account! Aluminum can collecting added $80.50 as well to our account. This will go toward purchase of new picnic tables. Thank you one and all. Park Rangers have accomplished much this year:

Moved brown storage shed Built new barrel/storage pen Built new aluminum recycling pens Cleaned and acid washed concrete pad for the picnic tables.

Removed three old shrubs and planted one new one Cabinets & storage racks installed in new game equipment shed Installed racks for tools in two storage sheds Park walking path has been repaired Wood shop has rebuilt our wood plane - so be careful! A new vacuum unit installed for table saw

For the woodshop; please be mindful of the collection bags of all equipment. When the bags are near full, empty them!! Please!! failure to do so plugs up the blowers and they burn up - very costly to replace. Our Park Rangers consist of many individuals & groups. My heartfelt Thank You to each one and all. (Photo by Ken Flora)

SOCIAL CLUB

Steve and Joan West

We cannot believe that the season is just about over for all the snowbirds. Joan and I wants to thank all that attended the Broadway palm show on March 3rd and we hope you enjoyed the show as much as we did. We will try to do this again next year. The Pine Park Picnic was a great time as always. Leona and her committee put on a fantastic meal and we cannot believe we ran out of beer again. We want to thank Leona and Sepp for chairing this event the last few years and thank Roger and Judy Kent for taking over next year.

The St Patrick’s Day themed Dance was a super time and a lot of

fun had by all. Mary and Bill Pattison and their group did a great job.

We had to cancel Bocci for 3 weeks in a row and we feel bad for those who love their Bocci. Sometimes there are scheduling conflicts and something has to suffer. Next year we hope that some of our avid players will step up and take over Bocci. If you are interested please see us. We wish everyone a Happy, Healthy, Safe summer. See you in the Fall

WOMEN'S CLUB Linda Hendzel, 681-2174

The Women’s Club had their Spring Luncheon on 3/10/2016. Thank you to Nancy Morse, Maureen Beall, Linda Kirker and Lori DeWire for a great job. The luncheon was wonderful and the entertainment by the Venice High School Drama Club was fabulous. A donation of $200 was presented to the Drama Club. A donation was also made to the Pine Park Picnic for $215.86 to cover the cost of the popcorn, popcorn bags, popcorn machine and basketball game.

For Shareholders that will be celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2017 and would like us to celebrate with you, please add your name to the sign-up sheet that is on the bulletin board. The celebration will be on 2/26/2017.

The Women’s Club Board of Directors would like to wish everyone a wonderful summer. For those of you who roam, safe travels.

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BOAT CLUB

Bob Steen---Commodore

The next meeting is Wednesday, April 6th at 7p.m. in the Assembly Hall. Our next event is the Don Pedro Boat Club picnic. The Club is providing grilling of hot dogs and burgers. Bring your own beverages, snacks and

a dish to pass. Since the dock space is limited, we think it would be best to start boating before 9 a.m. Shuttle service will be available from the land side of Don Pedro State Park. The club will handle the fee as a group. My thanks to Ken Vanderberg, our past Commodore,

for a great year.

At the March meeting Paul Vanderberg showed us how to build wooden boats. We may be building one or two boats with his guidance and materials next year.

IMPORTANT NOTICE - AVOID HIGH COSTS

SPRINKLER SYSTEMS/HANDRAILS/GUARDRAILS ~ FLORIDA STATUTE 719.1055(5) AND 719.1055(6)

At the March 21, 2016 Board Meeting Manager Janet Cordova presented the following important notice:

It has recently come to our attention that tucked away in Chapter 719 of the Florida Statues is a requirement

that all cooperatives must retrofit the common facilities AND individual units with a fire sprinkler system and

handrails and guardrails UNLESS the unit owners vote to forego this retrofitting. The intended purpose of

these sprinkler systems and rails is for high rise buildings however, there is not a distinction in the Florida Statutes for mobile home cooperatives as opposed to high rise cooperatives. We must as a Community vote to forego or waive the requirements or both the Association AND each individual unit owner may be forced to incur substantial costs involved in this retrofitting.

This vote can be done by execution of written consent submitted to the Association. To forego the retrofitting of sprinkler systems for the common facilities AND individual units requires a vote of at least a majority of all voting members. To forego the retrofitting of handrails and guardrails for the common facilities AND individual units requires a vote of at least 2/3 of all voting members. This vote to forego this retrofitting will be effective upon recording a certificate attesting to the vote in the public records of Sarasota County.

A written consent has now been provided to all in the Association. It is imperative that every voting member execute and submit the consent to waive retrofitting back to the office. This is extremely important to avoid substantial costs to all shareholders collectively AND individually.

BIKE CLUB BIG NEWS

The Bike Club delivered five bikes, helmets, bells and locks to Englewood Elementary School. Al Leslie worked with Gary and Melody of Real Bikes on this project. The presentation was made on March 17, 2016 to five smiling special

children that were selected by the staff of the Englewood Elementary School. These donations are possible due to residents that support our Alameda Isles clubs.

We are currently planning a member only pool party/dinner for April 15th. Further details will be posted on the bulletin board.

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VETERANS CLUB Neil Buchanan, Commander

The next meeting of the Veteran's Club will be on April 5th at 7 p.m. in the Assembly Hall. A good time was had by several Veterans that had the opportunity to attend the Snowbird Classic, baseball game (Michigan State University and Illinois State University).

The trip to the 2016 Airfest at McDill Air Force Base was very well attended, another great time was had by all. Bob Soucy would like to thank everyone that help make the event a success. April will be the last meeting of

the Veterans Club until November. We hope that everyone will have a healthy and safe summer and look forward to your return next season.

“We Be Jammin” Leona Fortenbacher

Thank you to the Pine Park Picnic Crew…that means anyone and everyone who helped make this 22nd annual picnic a success!! This year 413 tickets were sold. Many new Shareholders attended and volunteered. The weather was excellent as was the music provided by “our” Banjo Buddies! The Grand Prize this year was awarded to a very excited Ed Derbyshire! (photo by Leona) I heard compliments on the menu…. that should make the Ladies who worked hours making hamburger patties and our men who slaved hours over the grill.. Very Happy… Again, thank you all!

A list of merchants who donated gift certificates is posted on our bulletin board. Please mention Alameda Isles and share our appreciation when you next visit their establishment.

Last but not least… I think we all owe a big Thank you to the Alameda Isles Social Club who sponsors this event each year. Steve West is the current club President. He and his committee not only sponsor and find Chairpersons for this annual Picnic but also many other activities including our monthly dances, Pancake Breakfast, annual Christmas Caroling, and various social outings. The Social Club holds its meeting the 3rd Saturday of each month. You will hear about these and many more activities, reported on by the various club representatives, at the meeting. I encourage anyone who has not attended a Social Club meeting to put the 3rd Saturday on your calendar. It is an informative, fun, and entertaining meeting, and we all need that!!

Sepp & Leona Fortenbacher / Roger and Judy Kent ~ Co-Chair - 2016 Pine Park Picnic

Photos By: Ken Flora