WELCOME to the first edition of Hunter’s Lake News! Our plan is to publish a quarterly newsletter to keep everyone up to date with neighborhood news, activities going on in the neighborhood in addition to any information that you might find useful.

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Message from Jim Gavula, HLCA President
So, there is an old saying that goes something like “better late than never”. So, please keep that in mind as you read this heart-felt but certainly “late” thank you note and review of our “not-so-recent-anymore” Hunters Lake Civic Association (HLCA) meeting.
For all of you who were able to attend the meeting held at Bill Ptak’s house on September 22 (wow, that long ago now, huh?), thank you for taking time out of your evening to attend. And, Bill, thank you for allowing us to invade your house even though you were not able to be there. You do a wonderful job of making your guests feel welcome. And, by the way, your beautiful home has been duly selected as the designated meeting place for all future events from this time forward. Just kidding!
Oh yeah, one more thank you regarding the meeting itself, Ken and Nancy Bachor, thank you for coordinating the meeting with Bill and organizing it all at Bill’s house.
The purpose of the meeting was to bring people together to discuss how we can move the Hunters Lake Civic Association forward. Over the past number of years, the association has seen a substantial drop-off in involvement and scheduled events. Historically, the HLCA was an active organization with many, if not all, residents of the neighborhood involved as members and with a number of events and parties planned every year. In addition to the annual Christmas party, still taking place every year in December, the neighborhood held a Halloween party and parade, a spring neighborhood garage sale followed by a spring fling party with ‘white elephant’ exchange, regular get-togethers (we still try to hold the regular driveway get-togethers) and other events.

At the meeting, we filled some open positions on the executive board, namely Vice President and Secretary and discussed the past use and need for a board of directors. Roy Murray volunteered to hold the position of Vice President of the civic association and all in attendance we in agreement. Allison Poff offered her services to take notes/minutes at upcoming meetings as Secre-tary. Rob Ross will continue as Treasurer.
One of the most important roles that we needed to fill was that of a social coordinator since we truly are a civic association with a main charge of planning and running social events. This need was not lost on Roy Murray, as he will also take on this vital job. In help and support of the social coordinator’s efforts, we created a social committee and the volunteers that will sit on this committee are Mike Trocke, Emily Harrison, and Jennifer Cancio. Thanks to all who volunteered!
Many of you may never have noticed that on the cover or your annual directory, the neighborhood is divided into four (4) areas. Take a look at your directory cover and try to find the small area numbers listed. The neighborhood has a total of 76 houses, so we are able to evenly divide it into four areas of 19 houses each. With this in mind, the topic of area representatives was discussed and we even took volunteers to hold the area representative positions. Those people are Emily Harrison (Area 1), Jim Gavula (Area 2), Mike Trocke (Area 3) and Monica Mirza (Area 4). In the upcoming months, we will try to define the exact role and responsibilities of this position and how it may work in conjunction with the board of directors. Will these people actually hold board of director positions? What are the responsibilities of the area representatives and the members of the board of directors? Is a true board of directors really necessary today? The board of directors was originally defined in the HLCA Articles of Incorporation and may no longer be required in today’s association.
As can be expected, a discussion of property maintenance and vacant properties also came to the forefront at the September meeting. All I want to say on this topic is to please take pride in your property and try to keep it maintained as best as you can to the high quality standards we all want our neighborhood to present. Let’s make Hunters Lake the best and best looking neighborhood in Tampa.
If you took the time to read this newsletter, thank Ken and Nancy Bachor for their efforts. They offered to produce the neighborhood newsletter so that we can share important and interesting news with everyone. Roy has also been working on creating and hosting a website for the neighborhood so that information will be readily available online. The website host would also be used as an email engine to provide a centralized location from which emails will be distributed. See more information on this will be coming hopefully in the near future.
Thank you to all who have taken on important roles and positions for the HLCA. I look forward to working with everyone in the future and to making Hunters Lake the neighborhood that everyone else wishes they lived in.

The annual Hunter’s Lake Holiday Party will be held Sunday, December 20th at 4 PM in the Hollyhock Cul-de-Sac. Please have your homes decorated in time!
All current and 2015 dues paying residents are invited….. Dues for 2016 can be given to Rob Ross at the party or at 3315 Foxridge, payable to Hunter’s Lake Civic Association. Our association dues are $35/household and help host our neighborhood events and the printed directories.
The Association will provide water, soda, beer, wine and dessert. For every 2 adults, please bring a favorite dish to share. Guests are welcome, but please bring extra food to compensate. Also, please pitch in after-wards to help clean up the area.
Santa will arrive at 4:45 PM. Horse drawn hay ride starts at 6 PM… Gifts from Santa should be brought to Bill’s at 3401 Hollyhock Way the afternoon of December 20th by 2 PM. Gifts should be under $20 and wrapped with the child’s name on it.
A Bounce House will be available compliments of Bill Ptak!

Needed: Volunteers to Help Decorate the Front Entrance
Please lend a hand on Saturday, December 5th at 10 AM. With your help, we will be done before Noon.

The neighborhood luminary display will be on December 24th. The rain date alternative is December 25th. Volunteers are needed Christmas Eve at NOON to help prepare/distribute luminaries at the Harrison’s, 3201 Heatherbrook Way.
Please light the luminaries in front of your home at dusk, or ask a neighbor if you are unable to do so. Remember—we get lots of traffic coming through in December, so let’s give them a good show!