NEW PLANTS ON THEIR WAY

The rains certainly here, and management has stated that the "plantings" shall follow.

Reportedly a street by street approach to replacing dead plants has begun. It will start in the front of our development and circle .round the community. It might be a good idea to male sure your name is on the list.

Think green !

JERSEY TOWN RENAMES STREET

Hey, is there anyone out there who is from Newark, New Jersey? How about the general area.

Can you remember back 50 years ago? Well here is a story that might take you back to those "good old days."

The story starts near Branch Brook Park on Newark's North side. Just outside the park were a few bars that often had entertainment. One bar was known, but not that well known, for featuring a local group called "The Four Lovers." They appeared on the Ed Sullivan show once, then quickly went nowhere.

History tell us that they auditioned for a "gig" at the "Golden Branch Room" located inside a popular bowling alley in Union, N.J. The place was across the highway from the well known "Flagship" on US 22. The "Four Lovers" did not get the job. Dejected they sat in the parking lot of the bowling alley, and finally decided to start over and use a new name. They chose the name of the bowling alley - The Four Seasons. Needless to say the name changed worked.

Fifty years later the singing group "The Four Seasons" are legends. The old bowling alley is gone. It is but a memory and part of history. The land that it once stood on is now home to Costco. How things change.

Another change occurred a couple of weeks ago. It seems West Chestnut Street where the bowling alley was located no longer exists. A few weeks ago the Municipal Council authorized a name change. In tribute to the singing group it has now been named "Four Seasons Lane."

V.W. Resident got this information from his "Jersey Connections" and thought it interesting enough to share.

WATERWAYS LOOKING GOOD

Remember a couple of months ago V.W. Resident hired this expert to look at the waterways? He paid for a New York consultant to look over the situation from top to bottom and issue a report. That report has finally been released.

It was a fair number of pages. It discussed hydraulics, depth finders, the moon, and seasonal inputs. It also had some real nice graphics. The bottom line was: "Expect water levels to rise the more the rain comes down." That sounds pretty scientific.

The rain meter was checked and rechecked. In addition V.W. peeked out at the actual waterway and it absolutely looks great. That lady friend suggested a picture and provided this cute kid who is visiting the "Grandma." She did a good job dressing up the picture.

EMERGENCY VEHICLES

As noted earlier in this blog the police throughout Florida ran a week long campaign to educate drivers to pull over for "Emergency Vehicles." The event ran from June 23 to June 29.

Over 10,000 warnings were given out, and an additional 4500 people received a formal citation. That projects to be close to 60,000 incidents per month. That is a staggering number.

Our contributing source belives no citations were issued here in "The Walk" which is good. Lets keep doing a good job.

THOMAS JEFFERSON HELPS WITH BABY SITTING

Wow, another day of rain here in "The Walk." That's good for the canals. They sure look good. Well guess what? My Lady friend just stopped by with her grand kids. She wanted to know if V.W. Resident could help her out. It seems she needed a "volunteer" to tell the kids about our history and founding fathers. This neighbor lady actually thought my memory goes back that far! I knew this much: She wanted to go out shopping for a while.

Well I thought it was "amusement time." I always tell these kids stories, and sometime get the facts right. Today I told the kids about George Washinghands (kid language). He was our number one hero. He had a big White Horse, a Row Boat, and a Mission to accomplish.

I told the kids that Gen. Georgie had a job to do. It was simple: Go beat up Charlie Cornwallis; and tell Betsy Ross to "Start sewing a flag." Georgie was successful. He was so successful our leaders decided to do something to always remember his great contributions to our country. They placed his picture on the One Dollar Bill. Now when ever we see a dollar we always remember our "number one" hero.

V.W. thought that was a pretty good story as the kids were interested. Too interested! One of them asked "Who was the number two hero?" I started praying that my lady friend would finish shopping soon. I tried to suppress the kids desire to hear another yarn, but I yielded to their demands.

I told them about "Tommy" Jefferson and how he was also a big hero. My memory is not clear on all those things he did so I "winged it." I told the kids that Tommy " Jay" was also a good guy, but, unlike George, he didn't have a boat or a horse. Tom had only one item of value - An H/P desktop computer. It was fully equipped with word processing and lots of storage.

Using his writing skills Tommie wrote about all sorts of things (God, I don't remember them). I think he did the "Bill of Rights," and a couple other books. While doing this he got a couple of people very angry with him. They argued, and argued, and argued. Eventually most of them found common ground and united for a common good.

Tom didn't always agree with his contemporaries, but he valued opposing opinions and truly understood the value of debate. Driven by a desire to appear on our currency, He entered the line below into his book entitled "Cool Sayings:"

"The freedom of opinion and the reasonable maintenance of it is not a crime and ought not to occasion injury." --Thomas Jefferson , 1801.

TJ's plan worked. Jefferson got his picture on the Two Dollar Bill. Those kids fell asleep, and that lady is in my driveway. Hope the kids like the story especially the one who contributed the name "Washinghands."

THE GREAT BAMBINO

Only a few of our "heros" are known to the "kids" of today. Here is a name that people still talk about: The Great Bambino. His full name was George Herman "Babe" Ruth.

He started his career on this date in 1914 as a member of the Red Sox as a pitcher. If memory serves this V. W. Contributor correct: The Red Sox played, their cross town rivals, the Boston Braves, in the World Series that year.

Now you got some "trivia" for the kids.

SWEET 16 BIRTHDAY IN VERONAWALK

Wow, How time flies when your having fun.

This young lady is 29 years old today. That is 29 using V.W.R's, patent pending, method of calculating.

In using this calculation method one must remember to just forget the starting number or d.o.b. This way the number on the bottom line can be 29 or whatever fits the need.

Well the "young lass" is taking a few minutes from "playing Jane" in some jungle to hear those "special words" that come around every year - HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Today, July 11, is her special day. She will be pleased with a card or call from those "kids" of hers. V.W. couldn't find a picture with all her tribe of five, so three of the tribe will have to do.

How will she spend the day. Maybe sail down the Nile; or catch a turtle for dinner; or a Gondola ride on Verona Lake enjoyed with a fine glass of wine. Sad to say there is no gondola, but the wine sounds fine. Happy Birthday LOIS.