Town Crier Articles

If you are one of many New Town residents operating a home-based business, we'd like to hear from you? Drop is a line at NTRATown.crier@gmail.com and tell us about you and your business. If you like send pics or a link to your website! We'd like to feature our local entrepreneurs in upcoming issues.

Earth Day this year is scheduled for Thursday April 22 and the NTRA Activities Committee will be conducting a New Town Earth Day Cleanup in our neighborhoods.  The Activities Committee will have trash bags available for pick up to fill as well as guidance on areas that are accessible and those that are either not safe or not NTRA property where trespassing would be permitted. Safety for COVID purposes and use of gloves, grabbers, etc is recommended. Children should be supervised in this family friendly activity. More details will be communicated via email blast to all residents. 

 

 

 

Pick up some litter – James City County has a limited number of litter loan kits available.  Option 1 includes litter grabbers, trash collection bags, orange safety vests and gloves.  Option 2 includes all the above plus a should bags.  For more information, please contact Peg Boarman at (757) 565 0032 or the Office of Sustainability at (757) 259 5375.  

 

Buy a bag for Life – plastic bags are posing a huge threat to wildlife, especially marine wildlife.

 

Go meat-free for a day or a week and expand your cooking repertoire – our love of meat, especially beef, uses up a lot of land, water and produces greenhouse gases. Switching to a meat-free option for a short and frequent period may help.   

 

Go microbead-free – microbeads are tiny beads of plastic that are in many cosmetics, face washes and toothpaste that end up in the oceans and enter the foodchain. Next time you buy cosmetics, check the label first.

 

Walk or ride a bike rather than take the car. Walking and cycling is good for your health as well as the environment.  

 

Give up chewing gum – It is made from synthetic rubber and 100,000 tonnes of this plastic is thrown away every year.  Reducing or cutting out chewing gum altogether will make a difference.  

 

Shop at local farmers markets – it’s a great way to support local businesses and support the environment.  They tend to use less packaging and products are grown or made locally so transport distances are short.

 

Buy a reusable water bottle– billions of plastic bottles are sold every year, so re-using a bottle means we can reduce the amount of plastic we throw away.

 

Make the switch from using plastic straws – bamboo, silicone or even metal straws are a good alternative to the plastic option.  

 

Spread the word – These are just some starter ideas, so if you have good suggestions, why not share them in the comments section.

 

Most of us have a Lift Master garage door system or Wayne Dalton system installed by Virginia Door.  Life expectancy of the system is 10 years but more likely 5 to 6. The owner’s manual has limited DIY maintenance suggestions. Does your garage door (doors) make a lot of grinding or squeaking noise when you open or close the door? It may be time for some DIY maintenance or a call to a reliable garage door service business.  Speaking from experience, don’t wait until its too late and that large spring cable can break. But thankfully there are a lot of safety features built in so the cable doesn’t spin off the bar. It makes a very loud noise and then of course your door won’t close. 

   

Ever stand so close to an Apollo space capsule that you can envision opening its hatch in 1969 and joining astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean on the surface of the moon?

           

At its March 2021 meeting the Board of Directors revisited the convoluted history of mailbox maintenance in New Town. Since the last policy on maintenance was adopted in 2019 (see May 2019 Crier article), the Association obtained cost information for repairs but had not funded this maintenance. Given the anticipated expense of this work, the Board has returned to the original 2011 NTRA policy position on mailboxes.

     

This past January and for the 8th year in a row, a UK nonprofit organization begun by Jane Land and Matthew Glover promoted veganism, a lifestyle which refrains from eating animals and animal products for humane and environmental reasons, by encouraging people to follow a vegan lifestyle just for the month of January. They term the event Veganuary, a portmanteau of “vegan” and “January,” and more than 1 million people have completed the challenge since the campaign began in 2014. Harvard statistics deem the impact to be 103,840 tons of CO2eq negated and more than 3.4 million animals spared.  Whether or not the environment or animal suffering is your concern or living a cleaner health style is your desire, veganism is becoming a force in today’s world.  Stock in plant-based companies, like Beyond Meat, Impossible Burger, and Follow Your Heart, is skyrocketing, and the younger generation has made the causes behind these enterprises their own, especially the call for the end of Speciesism, the assumption of human superiority leading to the exploitation of animals.

 

Vegan restaurants and vegan fare are not new to New Town or Williamsburg, but the trend is picking up momentum and now includes even fast food chains that are offering vegan options on their menus. Veganism may once have had an eccentric reputation, suffering the onslaught of jokes and angry protestations—but the times they are a changin’.  Here’s a modest vegan travel log of restaurants in and around New Town with a brief sample of vegan fare at each eatery. Internet menus will offer greater detail and a quick call to each establishment will give you up-to-date info on additions and specials.

 

Did we miss one of your local favorites? Add it in the comments section below, let's share those healthy and tasty tips!

 

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program of James City County (JCC) educates citizens about emergency preparedness and trains them in basic emergency response skills that can be used at home, in the community, at work or anyplace an emergency may occur. 

There is no charge for CERT training and it is and open to residents of JCC 18 years and older. The training is given in a lecture and hands-on format of nine 3-hour sessions. During the pandemic, face-to-face evening CERT training is being conducted at the JCC Fire Department Training Center on John Tyler Highway. Classes are limited to twelve students and are conducted following COVID-19 protocols.

 

 

New Town's neighborhoods comprise 350 acres. That's a lot of ground to cover! This year, the Landscape Advisory Committee (LAC) is working to improve the appearance of the turf that comprises a large portion of our community landscape. The New Town Residential Association Board of Directors approved a request from the committee to conduct a pilot of warm weather grasses, or WWGP for short. Varieties of these grasses, which are better suited to this environment, can be found in nearby communities, including the historic area in Colonial Williamsburg.

 

This pilot will test three types of grasses: Bermuda seed, Zoysia seed, and Zoysia sod. A 70’ x 25‘ marked area located opposite the Village Walk Clock Tower along Casey Boulevard will be designated for this purpose. Village Walk was selected as the location for this pilot because of its elevation, sun exposure, and availability of irrigation. Planting will commence in May with the observation period extending through the summer and fall.  The LAC, Town Management, and Virginia Lawn and Landscape will monitor the performance of each selection.  A five-year turf restoration plan will be developed based on the results of this study.

 

Community members are encouraged to observe the progress throughout the course of this pilot.  Comments or suggestions may be submitted to the LAC through the Report an Issue ticket process on the NTRA website.

 

 

 

If you are one of many New Town residents operating a home-based business, we'd like to hear from you? Drop is a line at ntratown.crier@gmail.com and tell us about you and your business. If you like send pics or a link to your website! We'd like to feature our local entrepreneurs in upcoming issues

 

 

 

Earth Day this year is scheduled for Thursday April 22 and NTRA Activities Committee will be conducting  a New Town Earth Day Cleanup in our neighborhoods.  The Activities Committee will have trash bags available for pick up to fill as well as guidance on areas that are accessible and those that are either not safe or not NTRA property where trespassing would be permitted. Safety for COVID purposes and use of gloves, grabbers, etc is recommended. Children should be supervised in this family friendly activity. More details will be communicated via email blast to all residents. 

 

 

April may be our time to turn our focus to the environment with Earth day observed on 22 April.  It’s a good time to do your bit as well as to involve the family in how they can make a difference too.  Earth Day is an annual event celebrated around the world to demonstrate support for environmental protection.  Founded in 1970, it is the largest secular observance in the world and is marked by a billion people every year as a day of action.  

 

 

Pick up some litter – James City County has a limited number of litter loan kits available.  Option 1 includes litter grabbers, trash collection bags, orange safety vests and gloves.  Option 2 includes all the above plus a should bags.  For more information, please contact Peg Boarman at (757) 565 0032 or the Office of Sustainability at (757) 259 5375.  

 

Buy a bag for Life – plastic bags are posing a huge threat to wildlife, especially marine wildlife.

 

Go meat-free for a day or a week and expand your cooking repertoire – our love of meat, especially beef, uses up a lot of land, water and produces greenhouse gases. Switching to a meat-free option for a short and frequent period may help.   

 

Go microbead-free – microbeads are tiny beads of plastic that are in many cosmetics, face washes and toothpaste that end up in the oceans and enter the foodchain. Next time you buy cosmetics, check the label first.

 

Walk or ride a bike rather than take the car. Walking and cycling is good for your health as well as the environment.  

 

Give up chewing gum – It is made from synthetic rubber and 100,000 tonnes of this plastic is thrown away every year.  Reducing or cutting out chewing gum altogether will make a difference.  

 

Shop at local farmers markets – it’s a great way to support local businesses and support the environment.  They tend to use less packaging and products are grown or made locally so transport distances are short.

 

Buy a reusable water bottle– billions of plastic bottles are sold every year, so re-using a bottle means we can reduce the amount of plastic we throw away.

 

Make the switch from using plastic straws – bamboo, silicone or even metal straws are a good alternative to the plastic option.  

 

Spread the word – These are just some starter ideas, so if you have good suggestions, why not share them in the comments section.

 

 

 

Most of us have a Lift Master system or Wayne Dalton system installed by Virginia Door.  Life expectancy of the system is 10 years but more likely 5 to 6. The owner’s manual has limited DIY maintenance suggestions. Does your garage door (doors) make a lot of grinding or squeaking noise when you open or close the door? It may be time for some DIY maintenance or a call to a reliable garage door service business.  Speaking from experience, don’t wait until its too late and that large spring cable can break. But thankfully there are a lot of safety features built in so the cable doesn’t spin off the bar. It makes a very loud noise and then of course your door won’t close.