Thanks to a tremendous show of support at the Aug. 18th kick-off meeting, we are on the brink of being ready to get rolling. Officer Leta Krieger will provide me, by mid week, a 3'x4' poster-sized layout of Salem Woods on which we can "plot" our Block Captains and zones. She is also providing me with 1100 of the basic NW brochure published by the VBPD. Thanks to Tim Dishaw, I also have the foundation of an introductory letter which will explain the program and "Block Watcher" commitments. These two documents will be left with each household visited by the Block Captains.
The structure of the organization will be as previously planned with approximately 50-55 Block Captains and 5 Zone Captains, though I think I'd like to see 7 Zones if possible in order to disperse responsibility and ease communication. Thus, the organization is still be developed numbers-wise, but the basic structure is set.
I will hold a meeting of Block & Zone Captains probably around Sept. 15th in order to let everyone get their kids settled in during the first week of school. Block Captains will then be able to do their door-to-door visits the latter half of September and hopefully we can have a comprehensive list of at least 750-800 "Block Watchers" by the beginning of October.
It appears that we still need Block Captains for areas in the north side of Revere (the stretch along Ferrell Parkway) and the eastern end of the area (toward Salem Road). If anyone can step up from those areas, it will be a huge help because the whole concept encourages blocks to have captains who live right in their vicinity. Remember that this program is not strictly an SWCA program - it is for every resident and you do not need to be a SWCA member in order to help provide essential leadership!
As always, if you have any questions, you may e-mail me or call at 495-2237. Note that everyone has been "bcc'd" on this in order to respect e-mail privacy. I encourage each of you to visit the Salem Woods website at "www.salemwoods.us" for additional information.
Thanks for your continued support. As with any start-up, there will be a few challenges but my deepest appreciation goes toward those of you who are the keys to the solutions!!
Skip Heyman, SWCA NW Coordinator