Town Crier Articles

 

The New Town Community Pool is set to open May 27th for the 2023 season. Your Pool Committee is excited to bring you a number of terrific improvements this year, in addition to continuing the very successful key card system, put into place last year. 

 

Through year-round efforts, the pool committee is happy to share that 10 brand new loungers have been added this year and the NTRA Board negotiated for additional lifeguards on weekends and holidays. In response to pool patrons’ feedback, the Committee has secured the NTRA's approval for a beverage vending machine at the pool this year and is working hard to get that in place prior to the pool opening this season. 

 

2023 Pool Rules and information has been sent via eblast to NTRA homeowners and is posted on the NTRA website’s Pool & Clubs page. May 11th is the target date for submission of the appropriate documents to Chesapeake Bay Management, whether you need to get your pool passes reactivated, or you’re a new pool pass user in 2023. You will find all of the instructions and documents here.  

 

An opportunity for new Residential Association owners to pick up passes (after appropriate document submission) at the pool is scheduled for Thursday, May 18th from 4:00-7:00pm. (Condo owners and renters in the New Town Commercial Association need to contact their own management companies to obtain or reactivate passes.)

 

Some new signage at the pool this year will help to keep the pool area secure and safe, while also informing residents of hours and events. Stay tuned for several events planned by the NTRA Activities Committee at the pool. A lot of effort, dedication and time goes into the three months of safe and fun pool days for the residents of New Town. Many thanks go to the friends and neighbors who serve on the committees and Boards to make this all possible! We look forward to seeing you at the pool throughout the season! 

 

 

Join your friends and neighbors at the Chelsea Green Park (intersection Lydias Drive and Discovery Park Boulevard) for a potluck celebrating Cinco de Mayo, a key event in Mexico’s drive for independence. 

 

The NTRA Activities Committee will set up games, break a piñata and raffle off a gift card, complements of the New Town Commercial Association.  Everyone in New Town is invited.

 

We will provide tacos and fixings and water and juice. 

 

 

 

Rain Date:  Saturday, May 6, 5:30  

Laughter rang out across Abbey Commons on several Sundays this April as neighbors from across New Town gathered to play cornhole in the late afternoon.  While a few of the players were experienced, the novice bean bag players, adults and children, found to their delight that if you can toss a light bean bag, anyone can play cornhole.   And you can score a point if your bag just lands on the board.  Residents enjoyed meeting new people and catching up with friends.   

 

We have more cornhole Sundays scheduled for May 7 and 21 at 3:30 at Lydias Park in Abbey Commons (corner of Town Creek and Lydias). Note: date change to 1st and 3rd Sundays of May.

 

Also check out volleyball and badminton on other Sundays in May to be announced at Chelsea Green (corner of Discovery Park Blvd. and Lydias.)

 

Everyone, New Towners and their friends and family are welcome.

 

     

By Pat Bright and Liz Fones-Wolf, Activities Committee

 

 

New Town residents broke the winter blues by cheering on the College of William and Mary’s women’s and men’s basketball teams at January and February games in Kaplan Arena. 

 

At the January 29th women’s game against the University of Delaware, New Towners were part of a lively crowd supporting William and Mary’s celebration of National Girl’s and Women’s Sports Day.  Residents saw an exciting game in which William and Mary Tribe lost a large lead and fought back with a buzzer beating win.   

 

The February 25th men’s game was on a particularly dreary day with steady cold rain, but nothing deterred us from attending. That Saturday, 33 residents of New Town enjoyed another great game that ended with a decisive win against the Monmouth Hawks. 

 

Before the game, we enjoyed a pizza party in the Wightman Cup Room. Four neighborhoods of New Town were represented at this event: Abbey Commons, Charlotte Park, Shirley Park, and Village Walk. It was a nice, relaxing time to sit and visit, enjoy pizza, veggies, and cookies, and experience the game together. The eight children who wanted to sit together after the game added energy, humor, and excitement to the experience!

 

We are looking forward to seeing you all at our next event. We are currently planning our annual calendar with input from several of our neighbors! Join in on the fun!

 

 

     

 

 

A CALL TO ARMS!    

 

If little things like knowing what your HOA is doing with your money, what developer projects are being launched, what new requests of you are being made by CBM or our landscape contractor, what homeowner challenges are being experienced by your neighbors, what fun activities are being planned for the community, what necessary restrictions—temporary or permanent—are being levied upon the residents of New Town, then perhaps you see the need for a healthy and active Communications Committee.  Knowledge is power.  Without a Communications Committee, we are all blinded to what is happening around us—and which we may, with any given topic, need to question or challenge.  It is very much like exercising your right to vote.  If you care about who is in authority and in what way your life is being managed, you get out and vote.  Same deal, here.  If you want to be informed and made knowledgeable about how your New Town residency is being managed, then you need to actively support an NTRA Communications Committee to be able to see what’s coming and what needs to be questioned or addressed.  

 

Yes. It will take a small sacrifice of your time.  But what is that compared to knowing and making known what is happening next with your money and neighborhood? Please consider joining us in making New Town a community of informed and happy residents who are knowledgeable about life in their neighborhood--and beyond--and who are empowered by that knowledge to question and even change things when necessary. Reach out today by clicking this link and joining New Town’s Communications Committee:  The Few, The Proud, The Necessary.

 

Valentine Riddle:   What did the pickle say to his Valentine?

 

Interesting Valentine Happening:  Alexander Graham Bell applied for a telephone patent on Valentine’s Day in 1876.  On that day, Bell, via his lawyer, filed his telephone patent application with the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C., just hours before the attorney for Elisha Gray filed his version of a telephone. Presented with both applications, the Patent Office ultimately decided to issue the first patent for a telephone, United States Patent No. 174,465, to Bell. The legal wrangling between Bell and Gray lasted for years.

 

Valentine Fun Facts:   

• The first Valentine's Day celebration occurred in Paris;

• 145 million greeting cards are exchanged every year for Valentine's Day;

• About 20 percent of pet owners give Valentine's Day gifts to their pets; and

• Candy hearts were originally medical lozenges.

 

POEM: "Today I Got a Valentine"  by Kenn Nesbitt

 

Today I got a Valentine from everyone but Kay. But that’s alright… I never liked her that much anyway.   She never trades her Oreos. She isn’t good at catch. She doesn’t like my favorite bands. Her socks don’t often match.   She doesn’t play computer games. She wears her hair in braids. She’s something of a teacher’s pet and always gets good grades

She dots her i’s with little hearts. She’s always reading books. Whenever I’m around, she gives me such confusing looks.   But, oh my goodness, here comes Kay, and what is this I see? It seems she has an extra special Valentine for me.   It’s big and red has the words “Will you be mine today?” I always said there’s no one else I like as much as Kay.

 

Valentine Fun:  Candy Heart Valentine Bouquet—Fill a clear glass vase to the brim with Valentine candy hearts, place cloth or real red roses into the hearts, and tie a pink ribbon around the vase.  TA DA!  A Valentine bouquet! 

 

Ladybug Cupcake Hack! Any iced store-bought cupcake will do! Simply half a fresh strawberry, place it on the cupcake, and with chocolate piping, create the illusion of wings and ladybug markings.  Add a Rolo or other fudge-like candy to create the ladybug’s head.

 

 

Pet Care:  Valentine conversation hearts can sometimes contain Xylitol (not that real sugar is better for your pet). Small amounts of Xylitol can be deadly for pets and lead to the over-release of insulin, kidney failure, or worse.

 

Riddle Answer:  You mean a great dill to me

 

Maybe it’s just me, but outside of Valentine’s Day, February has never been a very exciting month. Too cold. Too wet. Too far from the beauty of Spring. I don‘t ski, snowboard, ice skate. If making round trips from the couch to the refrigerator were an Olympic event, I’d be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, waving my ham sandwich proudly.

 

But enough about me. Here’s a couple of February things in the region to view and listen to.

 

• William & Mary’s Ewell Concert Series continues on Feb. 10 at the Williamsburg Regional Library theater. Featured artist is Kadencia, a 13-piece, Puerto Rican-founded orchestra of professional musicians who have traveled the world performing. Doors open at 6:30, the program starts at 7, and is free and open to the public.

• The Kitchen Witches, Smithfield Little Theater. Isobel Lomax and Dolly Biddle are two “mature” cable-access cooking show hostesses who have hated each other for thirty years, ever since Larry Biddle dated one and married the other. Circumstances put them together on a TV show called The Kitchen Witches, which somehow becomes a smash hit, probably because the insults are tastier than the food. The show runs Feb. 10-12, 17-19, and 24-26. The theater is located at 210 N. Church Street in Smithfield. Tickets are $20. For more information, visit https://www.smithfieldlittletheatre.org/all-public-events.html.

 

• Dancing With the Williamsburg Stars. This 14th annual charity event will be staged on Feb. 25, 7 p.m., at Crosswalk Church – 7575 Richmond Road. Proceeds go to Big Brothers Big Sisters and Literacy for Life. Tickets, which have been on sale since Jan. 20, start at $45 and may be purchased at www.williamsburgstars.com.

 

Kaplan Arena

 

 

 

 

William and Mary is reserving a section of seats for New Towners.  Your discount link below will automatically put you in this location. 

 

BUT WE'VE ADDED A SPECIAL TREAT...

Before the game join neighbors for FREE pizza, dessert, and drinks in the Wightman Cup Room at 1:00 PM. (The Wightman Cup Room is around the corner to the left - beyond the game entrance area.)  Come out and meet your fellow new Town basketball fans.

 

Buy your ticket ($8) for a reserved seat in advance at this link:  New Town Day Special Offer

or

 

New Town - Keep showing that Tribe Pride!