Blairstone Forest
Firefly
Spring & Summer 2015
Upcoming HOA Board Meetings
for 2015 Thursday, August 6 Thursday, October 1 Thursday, December 3 Time: 6:00 pm
Greetings, friends! We hope this issue of the Firefly finds you well. There are many exciting new developments happening in the forest in the coming months and there has never been a better time to live in our wonderful neighborhood. If you wish to
Location: Jack McLean Community Center 700 Paul Russell Rd, Tallahassee, FL 32301.
share an announcement, a story ,or a photo with the community, please feel free to forward them to either of the Firefly editors, Gwen Harrison at gjharrison49@gmail.com or Kiki Gregg at khgregg@gmail.com. We hope you have a great summer!
All homeowners are welcomed and encouraged to attend.
ANNOUNCEMENTS New Website
Community Wide Yard Sale
Covenants Reminder
Blairstone Forest has a new website! Please visit www.BlairstoneForestHOA .com for the latest and most up to date information regarding our neighborhood.
Our Fall Forest Yard Sale will be held on Saturday, August 22. All neighbors are welcome to participate in what is sure to be a great success! Please visit Nextdoor for more information. Thank you to Suzanne Green for coordinating this event!
Dog walkers must pick up pet waste in the Forest, whether from a neighbor’s yard or from common land. Thank you for helping keep our forest a great place to live!
In Loving Memory Ellen Kay Peyton
Debra DeBack-Wright
Ellen Kay Peyton died at home on January 25, 2015, after a courageous 20-year battle with breast cancer. Born in Berlin, Germany, on January 19, 1938, Ellen, her late parents, Walter and Vera Loebl, and her maternal grandmother fled to Shanghai, China, where they survived the Holocaust as prisoners of the Japanese.
On July 16, 2015, I started my journey from here to there.
Emigrating to the U.S. in 1947, they eventually settled in Denver, Colorado, where Ellen graduated from East High School in 1956 and from Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado) in 1966. Rich, her husband, was her college humanities teacher. They were married on December 17, 1966, within a week of her graduation. They just celebrated their 48th anniversary.
After graduate school I returned to Tallahassee to take a position at Tallahassee Pain and Stress Management Institute and this started my career as a psychotherapist/ ARNP.
Moving with their daughter, Michelle, to Tallahassee in 1969 so that Rich could attend F.S.U., Ellen taught first grade for several years at Apalachee Elementary and then worked at the Department of Education, retiring in 2000. Later, Ellen became an enthusiastic and active member of P.E.O.and the First Presbyterian Church, where she converted to Christianity and was baptized 2 ½ years ago. She treasured her membership in various church groups, especially Together-In-Service (sewing circle) and the Congregational Care Council. She was an accomplished water colorist and was fond of reading, traveling, gardening, cooking, sewing, and quilting.
I was born the youngest of four sisters, in West Allis Wisconsin, in 1952. I graduated with a Nursing Degree from UW-Milwaukee and received a Masters in Psychiatric Nursing from Emory University.
In 1984 I met the love of my life Stephen Wright and true soulmate, we married in 1986 and stayed madly in love for 31 years. Since 1990 we have had a psychotherapy practice together and our lives were an elegant combination of love, work, art, and adventure. Art was my second love; stained glass, baskets, knitting, weaving and especially oil painting filled my life with creative energy. In 2012 I was diagnosed with ALS and since then I have been witness to love in action. I have been humbled and grateful to be able to receive many declarations about the difference I have made in people's lives. Because my funeral has lasted three years I see no reason for repetition, but ask that you raise a glass and dance to your favorite song.
Loved by many, Ellen was courageous, resilient, generous, compassionate, faithful, intelligent, creative, and responsible. She was likewise a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
I am survived by 3 sisters, Cheri (Jim) Apthorp, Judith (George) Waits, Jacqueline (Dennis) Levans and countless nieces and nephews in the houses of Boyd, Kirby, Hay, Thomas, Pearce, Jaskolski, Stafford, and Von Gries.
She is survived by her husband, Rich, daughter, Michelle Chason of Tallahassee, son, Andrew Peyton (Sonya) of Waynesboro, PA; grandchildren, Christopher Chason of Tallahassee, Amanda Kaufman (Charlie) of Crawfordville, Brendan, Lainey and Cole Peyton of Waynesboro, PA; great-grandchildren, Antonio Chason and Maya Kaufman of Crawfordville, and Christopher Chason of Tallahassee; sister Daisy Sedalnick of Westminster, CO, several nieces, nephews and cousins.
Also my fur babies Rhona and Chicka. Waiting for me in some form or another, are my mom and dad, Bud and Ruth DeBack, brother in-laws Bill Boyd and George Von Gries and nephew Joel. ……..and I still don't know if I am an eagle, a storm, or a great song. Rilke
Animal Stories A FRIEND REMEMBERED by Sue Dinges It will soon be seven years since we lost Henrietta, our resident duck, to all probability to a fox while defending her nest under my deck steps. I just wanted to remember her because she was a feathered friend that I saw and fed everyday and sometimes twice a day for over two years and I still miss her. There were a few that thought she was a nuisance that made messes, but I disagree. I can testify that she was on my deck on a daily basis and only on two occasions in the very beginning did she ever make a mess. She was even housebroken to a degree. When she arrived for some of her meals, if I had returned into the house to fetch her ground corn and her water bowl, leaving the door ajar, she would waltz into my house on my dining room carpet just to say “hello” and look around. She was never afraid of my dogs and they never bothered her. She therefore never felt the need to scold them to not invade her space. The only people or dogs she scolded were those who came too near her when she was nesting. Even my husband was on the receiving end when she was nesting and did not want anyone to be near her with the exception of me. She would allow him to feed her if I was not at home, but she would fuss at him the whole time she was eating. She would always come home when I called her name. Many were the times she would be standing on the railing of the walkway to the gazebo when I called her and she would take off flying around the island and land on my deck railing. Henrietta seemed to know just who her friends were and would run to greet them whenever she saw them walking around the lake. She was no the least but afraid of me and would even allow me to pick her up. I had to do that once when it became evident that she was ill and remained in the same spot on the
island for two days and did not move at all. I carried her to the veterinarian and he had to give her antibiotics. I had to keep her confined in our garage for a week in order to give her twice daily doses of medicine. That was quite an experience. I miss so many things about her. No more seeing her on the deck railing watching tv or just sitting on the railing as I sat on the deck and having her “talk” to me. No more of her walking up the steps of the deck or hoping down the same steps as she sometimes did when finishing her visit. No more watching her “wag her tail” when you spoke her name or letting me scratch her back which she
seemed to enjoy. No more seeing her fly upon the roof of my house or if I was not prompt enough getting her meal, she would then fly over the house, land in the front yard and walk into our garage and wait to be fed. Whenever I think of this very special bird that just flew in one day and adopted Blairstone Forest as her home and me as her friend, I feel privileged. Maybe one day I will get the chance to “socialize” and befriend another duck so that all may enjoy and observe another of God’s creatures on a very close basis. After all, isn’t that why most of us chose to live here? Photo by Karen Willes
Beavers in the Blairstone Pond
An excerpt from Dr. McGlynn’s June 2015 Pond Maintenance Report Beavers are now in your Blairstone Ponds. Two have been seen together, but usually they appear singly. Beavers are mostly reclusive and nocturnal; they are not aggressive or known to harbor any health threats to humans. Beavers are nature’s architects and are responsible for much of the productive natural wetland habitat in our country. So far the beavers have not killed any mature trees. All the larger trees, where they have gnawed on the bark,
are Sweet Gums, (Gum Ball trees), these are the second most undesirable tree in your forest. The Water and Laurel Oaks are worse, but so far the beavers have shown no appetite for them. The beavers have not killed any mature trees; they are chewing on the bark, which is food for them. The beavers have removed almost all the saplings, baby trees less that come up by themselves on the shoreline, these are immature trees, usually less than one inch in diameter. This is actually saving you money. We had to physically remove those trees. We have to use herbicides to remove these sapling trees, and it is more ecofriendly for the beavers to do it naturally. The beavers were formally just visitors at the ponds, now they appear to be building homes (possibly vacation homes). They were not in your ponds for years, being excluded by the wooden gates on the overflows. Now there is one hutch on the island and another on the boardwalk at the bridge (on the landward side). Both hutches are under bushy, dying, Wax Myrtles, which are currently falling into the water. These trees are marked and were scheduled for removal this year. I think that if I removed them, it would remove the beavers cover, and they would leave. I would recommend delaying this, because the beavers
Meet Karen Willes, Blairstone Forest Resident & Photographer Karen Willes is a recently retired musician. Before her retirement in August 2014, she was Organist at East Hill Baptist Church from 1972-2005 and Minister of Music from 2005-2014. In addition, she taught Choral Music in Grades K-12 at Maclay School during 28 of those years -- 1977-2005. She holds degrees in music from Stetson University (B.M.) and Florida State University (M.M). In addition to her career as a musician, Karen enjoys spending time photographing wildlife, especially birds. Her images have been published by
The Nature Conservancy, Florida Wildlife Federation, St. Marks NWR, Operation Migration, International Crane Foundation, St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, Camp Denali, & The MILEPOST. Karen has volunteered with St. Marks NWR, Operation Migration, & Florida Wildlife Federation. Last May she received a Community Leadership Award from Apalachee Audubon Society for her education efforts and protection of Whooping Cranes 11-09 & 15-09 that have become known
as the "Cow Pond Cranes." With the help of Apalachee Audubon Society members and others, she has documented these two cranes twice daily during their overwinter months for the last two years. This year, blog articles about her "citizen scientist" work with the cranes were written by Sue Cerulean and Kathlin Sickel. Karen has donated the use of her images to Florida Wildlife Federation for three sets of notecards including the images in the newly-published 2015 Spring Cards.
No Fishing Notice The Board has reviewed the attached information from Warees Smith, prior BFCA Board President regarding the Board’s decision in 2009 and Dr. Sean McGlynn, PhD with McGlynn Laboratories, Inc., regarding the status of our pond. The Board has determined that the prior Board made a sound decision based on input from professionals to stop fishing in the pond. Notice was provided through the Neighborhood watch block captains and the minutes from the April 23, 2009 and June 18, 2009 Board meetings were posted on the website. Based on this information and the urging of Dr. McGlynn, the Board has decided that the No Fishing policy is valid and will remain in place. The information below was sent out on May 28, 2009 to the Neighborhood Watch Captains to be communicated to their neighbors. The decision re: no fishing remains in place. Bill Walter President Blairstone Forest Homeowners Association. July 3, 2015
Dear Neighbors, Our pond has been over-fished in recent months. Based on the pond's limited size, seasonal importance to our neighborhood, need for algae control, wildlife damage and net fishing, some of the proposed solutions have been adopted as of the last board meeting. We have recently installed "no fishing" signs at various entry points along the pond. There are more to come. When confronting trespassers, please contact the Tallahassee Police Department and for trespassers caught fishing, please refer to the incident number on the signs provided to us by TPD. TPD has been made aware that the most often used excuse of "visiting" Blairstone Forest homeowners is not acceptable. There is no fishing of any kind. Please share this with your neighbors; thank you for your continued volunteer work, feel free to contact the board with any questions comments or concerns.
Warees Smith President Blairstone Forest Homeowner's Association Tallahassee, FL Date: May 28, 2009 at 11:37:56 AM EDT