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I hope everyone had a nice Christmas, got to see your children and hold the Grand Kids, even Great Grand Kids, and that travel was uneventful. This time of year is so special. Love and merriment are everywhere. I’m glad you’re all back or on your way back to Eagle Creek. It’s more special here when we are all present, which brings me back to thinking about next year.

Who can believe that it’s 2008 already, the start of yet another year in our lives? Sometimes I have to ask myself where I am. I’m somewhere between the last curtain call and the end. So what’s that like? Here at Eagle Creek it fantastic. I’m 5 years retired this month and the time has gone by faster than the tread mills in the fitness center.

So I have to stop and think how 2008 is going to change us here at Eagle Creek. We are going to lose some close friends as they move on to a better place. Some will move back to be close to their children and some will stay here with the only family we have left. This is why we are so fortunate here at EC. We are family, we care and we love and we mourn. When members leave us, they are still with us in our minds and thoughts that we share over a drink with our friends and that usually starts us remembering when such and such happened. Which gets me to thinking are there any old friends or associates that maybe I should be contacting this year to say thank you or even I’m sorry or I should have.

Each year our life is filled with change and it’s up to us on how we accept this. The only day that I have is today and it is my goal not to cause any harm and make each encounter as memorable as I can. So I am thankful for all the blessings that we have here at Eagle Creek.

Should you want to sign the Petition below, please contact R. Nedoba at 775-3640

Recently, my wife and I returned to Eagle Creek Golf (and Tennis) Country Club after an absence of eight months. During some of that interval we in Manhattan were kept abreast of activities here, our second home, partly through the intermediary of Creek Chat.

As have many others, we heartily congratulate Mr. Dennis Farley for having created this needed weblog, a useful vehicle for information that complements the somewhat stilted news emanating from the official Eagle Creek website. The nearly 900 entries posted on Creek Chat attest to the blog freedom-of-speech privilege to ventilate, opinionate and flatulate ad lib.

Mr. Farley ----- "Bravo!" again.

After visits to the renovated Club House, we share in the near-unanimous enthusiastic reactions to it. However, "I like it!"/"I don't like it!" evaluations inadvertently trivialize what is a remarkably outstanding achievement with tangible benefits that are beyond cavil.

In point of fact, just from an architectural perspective alone, the new Club House fully embodies and maximizes the prerequisites of light, airiness, space, elegance, comfort, convenience, and functionality.

Can any serious-minded person feel nostalgia for its former gloomy and claustrophobic predecessor? Or, for that matter, dispute that the current design successfully retains (and indeed enhances) the environment of cordiality and conviviality for which the Eagle Creek microcosm community is justifiably renowned?

Long overdue are formal acknowledgment and expressions of appreciation to Messrs. Bruce Merriwether, Dave Robertson, Gary Gilgore, Bill Stoloski, Mike Morrissey, et al.

Our present Club House is the direct harvest of the sagacity, foresight, diligence, and sober planning of these fine individuals. Despite having to contend with the wearisome natterings of pessimists and naysayers, they persevered in their mission, and they triumphed.

Especially, in my view, must the membership accord particular recognition and plaudits for Dr. Gary Gilgore. This dedicated gentleman went to the building site daily and personally oversaw every single detail of construction ---- a selfless, herculean labor.

A high doff of my cap to you, sir!

David C. Schechter, MD

Stonegate M303

The local Boy Scout Troop will conduct a Flag Raising Ceremony 10 am Saturday December 15 at the front entrance. Everyone is encouraged to attend. A new lighted flagpole has been installed at the main entrance, near the Gatehouse, to replace the one damage by Hurricane Wilma. Once the Boy Scouts raise the flag, it will remain in place 24 hours a day since the flagpole is lighted.

The concrete foundation for the South Regional Library has been poured last week. It will take approximately a year to complete the project, which will be a great asset to our community. The Emergency Operation Center is being built adjacent to the library site, and the structural work on this project is nearly completed. Both projects are on Lely Cultural Parkway.

Jim Lackey

I have been trying to think of a Christmas message for us here at Eagle Creek. Today is December 7, 2007

I know there are a lot of us here that were in the service from 1941 to 1945 when the world as we knew it then was at war. Those Christmases from 1941 to 1945 (not to forget Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan) must have been something. They were and are filled with prayers for those serving and the hope that they return safely. The fear of the loss of a loved one was paramount in everyone’s mind. But we gathered up our strength and took time to pray and buckled down for the long haul. We persevered and survived.

All of you here at Eagle Creek that served and are serving, thank you for our freedom. I went on to serve my country in the Navy from 1958 to 1963. There were still Chiefs that had come through the war and even had ships sunk out from under them and they survived. They never complained and they took change in stride. You always knew where you stood with them.

Maybe we should take a moment and think just how important is it when we can complain about an assessment or the Waterfall or things that don’t measure up to our expectation. Let’s look where we have been as individuals and what we have done to improve our lot in life and those around us.

I don’t think any Governor of this club is looking for power or applause. I think they stepped up to the plate to serve this membership and to pass on what they can to improve the Eagle Creek Experience.

We are all lucky to be here and to be healthy. We have been blessed by God to use our talents and have achieved great success through him that bought us here. Each of us has a story that is special and unique. We can reach back and gain strength from those experiences. I wish you would share some of those about your Christmases here at Creek Chat.

We are a small community with a common thread running through us that we did something to earn this place at this time. For that I am thankful.

On this Christmas let’s all think about how we can be of better service to the other members of Eagle Creek. We are only here a short time and we should all leave this place better than when we arrived.

Continuous improvement through constant kindness to each other should be our goal.

A short note to Tony (the serial blogger) Nasralla. For a relatively new Eagle Creek member, You seem to have a very accurate assessment of the ongoing lack of consideration for the likes, desires and needs of many of the members of our wonderful community. We really should institute a system where the members have the ability to convey their feelings and suggestions to "the Board" as well as to the full membership. I really believe an online suggestion box on the official Eagle Creek website would go a long way toward allowing all of us to have a say in how best to improve OUR community. As I have said before, Denis has done a terrific job with this website but apparently the official "powers that be" do not recognize or acknowledge this site. In any event Tony, your blog was great and, I for one, would love to see the opinions of other members get some recognition.

Thanks, Rennie Leone

Much has already been said about the front entrance project so I will not add to that, but I do wish to address the process by which these projects came about in the first place.

The process that was followed and gave us a result that has so many people upset is very worrisome to me. After reading all the minutes verbatim since March, I am beginning to get a picture of how this came down.

Sometime in April the original 951 Ad Hoc Committee chaired by Ron Ruecker, consisting of about 10 other folks, presented their recommendations to the Executive Committee.

At the April 24 Board meeting, the Exec Committee chose to refer the matter to the entire Board, where, in the absence of Ron Ruecker, the chairman, it was presented by Lowell Lam, a member of the 951 committee. After some discussion, Dean Swartzwelter made a long "whereas" motion essentially saying that there were too many alternatives and opinions being offered by owners and it was just too costly to pay for studies for all these alternatives, so they should just design a conceptual survey to determine what the majority of people wanted. That motion was approved. Coincidentally, Swartzwelter just happened to already have such a conceptual survey ready to present to the Board and send to the owners. A motion to send that survey was approved by all except Lam and Knepper who questioned the language of the survey.

At the June 24 meeting, Swartzwelter presented his summary of the results of the survey. Ron Ruecker, disagreed with this summary. After token comments by the Board, Swartzwelter made another "whereas" motion that essentially said the survey had been discussed, but offered no evidence of majority support for the project. It also said the only remaining issues to be explored were the front entrance and property lines. It stated that the Ad Hoc 951 Committee's work was complete, insinuating their input was no longer needed for the entrance and finally the project was passed to Lowell Lam of the Grounds Maintenance Committee.

Discussion followed the motion and, in spite of the opinion of Ron Ruecker that the survey results were "ambiguous because the survey questions were not definitive and did not include costs", the motion passed.

At the July 26 meeting, Lowell Lam presented his plan for the fountain, which was approved by the Board. Strangely, none of the original 11 members of the original 951 Ad Hoc committee are mentioned as assisting Lam to put together a plan.

At the August 28 meeting, Lowell Lam presented a long report outlining all the costs associated with all the 951 projects. He pointed out in his presentation that he was assisted by Lyle Scharenberg and Stu Wolf in addition to Ann Berger and Noah Bess. Again, the question. Why were no members of the original committee included since they were the ones who had spent hours and hours studying the project?

This whole scenario bothers me on several levels.

First, the survey that appears to have been created by one man, Swartzwelter, and used to justify the project was very unscientific and designed to get the result the author already wanted. The Board used the results even though it was pointed out to them that it was flawed and was clearly not a mandate by the owners.

The motion to not accept the recommendations of the original 951 Ad Hoc Committee at the Board meeting when some members, including the chairman, were absent, was clearly a maneuver to blindside the work of the original committee. Unfortunately, it was successful. Why was it not sent back to committee for them to make changes more palatable to the Board
which would have been the professional approach instead of throwing out the baby with the bath water?

Finally, the appearance is that the projects were pushed through by a group of "good ole boys" so they would be completed before most of us returned for the season and could not debate the issue until it was too late. What was the hurry? We could just now be hearing what the owners really want while we have more people here and get the projects done by spring.

All of this has the earmark of a clandestine backdoor action that I find offensive and unprofessional and leaves me with little or no confidence in the members of this Board. In response, I will do everything in my power to see that my representative does not get re-elected in March unless I see some assurance that this type of thing will not happen in the future. I urge others to consider the same action regarding their representatives. We need people representing us that we can trust to be above board and honest with us.

Dr. Randy Van Alstine

You know I'm one of those fifty something Baby Boomers and I've never "blogged" about anything. But I guess there is always a first time. My wife Karen and I purchased a condo in Eagle Creek in 2004, what a great community, fantastic setting and outstanding neighbors! But I've got to tell ya that "The Club" has been and continues to be a considerable frustration. It doesn't have to be, but whose driving this bus?

I can rationalize a lot of things. A $3 million dollar renovation to be competitive (that worked)! Assessments that were needed to cover unanticipated shortfalls, who could have seen that coming when business hours are limited and non-proportional staffing adjustments are not implemented? And the expense of the new entrance? As long as I don't have to look at another assessment.....go for it!

But, let's talk about New Years Eve. We don't get much time at Eagle Creek yet, yea we are still some of those Baby Boomers both working so someday we can enjoy all the community has to offer. We do plan to get the family together that last week of December each year and, we like to go out for New Years Eve.....as a family. We've experienced 3 New Years celebrations at Eagle Creek. 2004 which we affectionately refer to as "the cattle call" where every one is stuffed in to close quarters, served room temperature banquet food on a schedule. 2005, when we were allowed to reserve a private dinner table for our family, and dine at a well prepared buffet at our own pace. Then there was 2006, order "take-out" from the kitchen, which under the circumstances was not so bad. Now that the renovations are complete, the appointments are first class, and our facilities offer few limitations and we finally have options.......WE ARE BACK TO THE CATTLE CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was told that "formal in Florida was wearing shoes to dinner, "The" wants me to wear a tux (ain't that what "formal attire" means?) Hey I own a tux, it's in my closet in PA and that's where it will be spending the holidays! I won't be renting a tux for a 2 hour meal so I can enjoy the food someone else has chosen even less! Not to mention that being limited in the time we can spend at Eagle Creek we like to splurge a bit on New Years to dent our minimum. Selfish? Narrow-minded? Maybe.

Did any one ask about the memberships preference (seems to follow a pattern here). After sharing positive comments after the laid-back, more intimate dinner of 2005, I was told that the majority of members had the same comment. So I'm confused,

are options not a good thing? I think that there should be some in this instance Are you going to tell me cost is a consideration? Since when? How about this? Create some options, price it appropriately and let the members decide if they will support it. There could be some surprises.

So I've done it, I've blogged. Someday, If I ever have the privilege to retire, I will be at the Board meetings and take an active role in discussions and issues. That is provided that when that time comes I can still afford to have an affiliation with Eagle Creek. I sincerely wish the Board all the luck in their efforts, but all the luck in the world can't change basic laws of supply and demand................but that's a whole other blog........oh no! I might unknowingly be a serial blogger!

Tony Nasrall

Jim Lackey:

Thank you for your response regarding the vacancies at the Marketplace. I had heard that Kite was asking too much money.

I don't know how badly we need a Staples here, but it's better than an empty building. And, if I had my "druthers, the coffee would be Dunkin Donuts. But, again, better something than nothing.

Another concern is that there is not enough business at Maples Nails. The place is clean. The rates are reasonable. The staff is pleasant and speaks English. I don't understand why more people seem to be supporting the one at Freedom Square. Crossing over in that traffic is enough to keep me here; and, supporting the few merchants we have.

The Medical Office sounds good. Will it be 24 hour? That would be great!!!

Janet Shemligan

This is a late response to Janet Shemligan's October 29th question about Shops at Eagle Creek "Does anyone have any real information regarding rentals?"

There has been a general feeling that Kite Realty Group is asking too much in the way of rental rates, and for that reason the spaces at Shops at Eagle Creek have been vacant. On November 30th, I received this response from Kite Realty Group "We are working to improve the physical quality of the center and are marketing the spaces to higher quality tenants. The remodel improvements have increased the rent rates."

The remodeling work on the Shops at Eagle Creek will be completed by December 24. Staples will then start their interior construction and they plan to open their store by March 15.

A new family physician's office has signed a lease for space in the center. “Dr’s Walk-in” is run by the Marco Medical Group and will be opening an office in the center.

Kite Realty Group is currently pursing a restaurant or shops to be located in the grass area between Wachovia Bank and driveway entrance from U.S. 41. Kite Realty Group has stated they have strong interest from coffee users, retail shops and sit-down restaurants. At one time Starbucks was reportedly interested in this location.

Jim Lackey