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In 1996, I moved to Vanderheyden, a new single-family
community built on the back lot of the former Vanderheyden
Hall orphanage. The site offered new houses at a good
price with a little bit of the country nestled within
the city limits.
At that time there were only two other families living
here. Everyone knew each other and every family that
moved in was welcomed into the fold.
I remember how bright the stars were back in the beginning,
before the many other houses were built and their outside
lights illuminated the night sky. The animals that lived
in the neighborhood would make daily appearances in
our yards. Over time we would see them less and less
frequently, but they still make occasional appearances.
People were attracted to this community for various
reasons. Many people have moved here because of the
concentration of children in the neighborhood. We have
a couple that built their retirement home here. A number
of people moved here because they grew up in Troy. Others
moved here to be near family members already residing
here.
The neighborhood is culturally diverse and represents
a cross section of today's America. Many races and religions
are represented. We have more than a few immigrants
to this land as well. We enjoy the benefit of living
ten minutes from downtown Troy and Albany while living
in a suburban community. Many yards are bordered by
large old mature trees. These provide a beautiful panorama
in the fall and a lush green buffer from the outside
world in the summer.
Today there are more than 80 houses and counting. The
original builder (Pace Communities of Clifton Park)
is still building houses. A deal pending between Pace
Communities and Galarneau Builders of Saratoga would
bring a second construction company into our neighborhood
to develop "Phase 5" of the Vanderheyden community.
I have joined together with my neighbors to clean the
common area at the entrance to the neighborhood. There
have been neighborhood parties in the summer and cookie
swaps during the winter holiday season. We have created
a neighborhood directory that is given to each family
that lives in our community. All of these activities
were the pre-cursors to a formal civic association.
They served to bring people together to accomplish something
for all of us and in the process they brought us closer
together as neighbors.
Mid- to late summer of 2002 was the beginning of a disturbing
new trend in our neighborhood. Crime! A car was stolen
from a driveway on our street. Bikes were stolen from
our garages. Wallets/purses were stolen from our cars.
The people that learned about these crimes became upset.
Others who were not aware remained targets for the thieves.
We needed to organize ourselves, inform each other and
prevent any more crimes from taking place. Jim Jones
(a neighbor) and I decided to start a web-site for the
community at www.wynantskillway.com. We would use this
site to shed the light of day on the crimes that were
occurring in the neighborhood.
In addition to the web-site, newsletters are emailed
to residents as appropriate. Volunteers will then print
off the newsletter and distribute to a handful of people
close to their home. This system helps everyone stay
informed and involves more residents in helping their
community.
As a result of the crime, residents wanted to form a
neighborhood watch. Michelle Pyan volunteered to become
our first neighborhood watch coordinator. She researched
what was needed to form a watch and how to go about
doing it. We used the web-site to explain the concept
of the neighborhood watch as well as announcing the
planned meetings and reporting the minutes from them
afterwards. We held our first neighborhood watch meeting
on Jan. 22, 2003. We invited officers Sam Carello and
Mark Millington of the Community Police Department to
attend. At the meeting we shared with the police our
concerns and learned from them how to combat the crime
that we face. Officer Carello suggested that we draft
some by-laws and hold elections for our Civic Association
and Neighborhood Watch.
A draft of the bylaws were developed and discussed in
an open forum at our second meeting on March 19. Many
changes were suggested, voted on and accepted. This
resulted in the second draft of the by-laws which has
been posted on the web-site for all to read and comment
on. The final draft will be voted on at our next meeting.
We will also hold elections for officers of the Vanderheyden
Civic Association executive board as well.
Anyone interested in the Vanderheyden S.A.F.E. Neighborhood
Watch should call Michelle Pyan.
Nominations are open for all positions in the Vanderheyden
Civic Association. This includes president, vice president,
secretary, neighborhood watch coordinator, and treasurer.
We currently have no volunteers for vice president and
treasurer. Please call Mike Myers at 273-4087 if you
are interested in helping out.
We are looking for volunteers for our Earth Day cleanup
effort on April 26 as well as anyone interested in participating
in our neighborhood-wide garage sale. Please call our
Social Activities Coordinator, Anna Gabriel, at 274-3255.
For more information on all of these please see the
web-site at www.wynantskillway.com.
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