December 2020 Newsletter

About North College Park Neighborhood Association

NCPNA is a neighborhood association and, unlike a homeowner's association, we do not have any authority over anyone’s property. We sponsor activities and projects to help make our neighborhood a more pleasant and safe place to live. Volunteers are always needed, and we look forward to hearing about new ways to achieve our collective goals.

Contact Robert Grinsfelder at rmgrins@aol.com if you can help with any of these activities.

North College Park Neighborhood Facebook Group

NCPNA has an active private Facebook group. One of the administrators will quickly approve your admision to the group. Click here to go to the group page: facebook.com/groups/ncpna

You Be The Judge Contest

This year, we thought we would do the holiday decorating contest a little different. We’d like for your family to help us judge the holiday decorations around North College Park, so here’s how: Go out with your family or friends and check out the decorations on each street starting December 15th. We’d like you to judge based on originality and best decorations, then write down the address of the one you like best, and turn in your choice the ballot box on the porch at 1004 Rainbow Drive, or you can email your choice to d1004free@aol.com. Then the Yard of the Month Committee will tally up the votes and award the prizes to first place and runner up. Contest ends on December 20th at 8:00 p.m., so please get your choice in by then.

Final Call, for the Family Fundraiser

There are a few final sessions available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays in December or Sunday 12/20. The cost is $125 per package which includes a 20 minute mini-photography session with Valarie Dawn Photography (VDP), a CD with 15-20 edited digital images, an entry into an end of the month drawing for a free Spring 2021 mini session, and a 20% donation from all sessions will be donated to the Network of Community Ministries to aid in their mission to serve the North Dallas/Richardson/Garland community. Please email April Anderson at adawn0105@gmail.com to set-up a session. All sessions can be easily done outdoors and/or socially distanced.

You can view Valarie Dawn Photography’s work here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/855977194836543/?ref=share You can read more about The Network of Community Ministries wonderful organization here: https://thenetwork.org/about-us/

Monthly Book Club

We’re on hiatus through the holidays, but we’ll resume in January 2021 with meetings on the last Tuesday of every month at 7:30pm (location TBD). You can join any time by emailing April Anderson and adawn0105@gmail.com. For January we’re reading “What Alice Forgot” by Liane Moriarty and we have free books for loan from the library until 12/31 for the community if anyone needs a copy!

Membership Drive / Flag Program

This is the time of year when we have our annual membership drive. The annual membership is $25 per year. The money is used to fund the various projects taken on by the North College Park Neighborhood Association.

Again in 2021 we are partnering with the Rotary Club to place flags in the neighborhood. For an additioinal $30, you will be enrolled in the flag program through the Rotary Club five times a year: President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day plus 9/11 Patriot’s Day, and Veteran’s Day. This is discounted from the normal $40 per year for the flag program alone. Flags are placed in the parkway on the Saturday before the holiday and remain until the following Saturday.

Renewal is easy, just go to our website and select the option you want and pay by credit card. ncpna.org/join If you wish to mail a check made out NCPNA, send it to:
NCPNA
P.O. Box 850012
Richardson, TX. 75085-0012

Crime Patrol Report

We’re excited to share that Richardson has been awarded FIRST PLACE in the nation for the 2020 National Night Out – Category 2 Awards. Category 2 is for cities with populations between 100,000 and 300,000. The award is given based on citizen participation, law enforcement involvement and event organization and quality. We congratulate our residents on an outstanding showing in a challenging year, demonstrating we stand united in our fight against crime!

This is the time of year when we see an increase in theft of packages from porches. Make it a point to watch for the delivery and minimize the time packages are not protected. Enlist a neighbor to pick up packages if you won’t be available. If you see suspicious activity in the neighborhood, call 911 and report what you saw.

We had a whole month with no crime reported in the neighborhood. We have more patrollers than the nearby neighborhoods and this is making a difference. Thanks to all of our patrollers.

House Number Project

For several years NCPNA has volunteers who make house number signs for the rear of houses. The city requires this as an aid for emergency services and it also helps the crime patrol identify a house. This a free service, all you need do is to contact Doug Freeman at d1004free@aol.com to arrange for it to be installed.

Crime Watch Patrol

Neighbors have asked how someone can join the North College Park Crime Watch Patrol. So, here goes. The first step is to go to this City of Richardson Police web address and check out the program. https://www.richardsonpolice.net/i-want-to/sign-up-for/crime-watch-patrol As noted on their web page: “In the Richardson Heights neighborhood, we initially saw an 83% decrease in residential burglaries.” The program works. Then apply, Richardson Police will do a confidential background check. When completed, you will be invited to attend a training class, which is normally a 2 hour class, taught by a RPD officer to volunteers from all over the city. They will contact Doug Freeman at d1004free@aol.com when the class is completed and he will reach out to explain how our North College Park Crime Watch Patrol functions. You can participate in many ways by patrolling:

  1. In your car
  2. Walking the Dog
  3. Walking for exercise

COVID-19

Families continue to struggle with the financial and social impact of COVID-19. Don’t forget even if you can’t be as social you have in the past, we can still have activities and function as a community. We just have to be more careful. Keep checking on your neighbors, particularly those who live alone.

The Network of Community Ministries is looking for food donations. More information

Welcome Baskets

Vicki Bean leads a team who assemble and deliver welcome baskets to new residents.

If you know of someone new, let Vicki know and be sure they are aware of the association, newsletter and website. Vicki can be reached at V.Bean@att.net.

Newsletter

If you did not receive this newsletter in your email, you can easily sign up to receive your very own copy. Our goal this year is to send out newsletters once each month. We will send out special emails when warranted. We promise to not share your email address and we won’t drown you in emails. Go to http://ncpna.org/enews and fill out the form. Be sure and look for the confirmation email and confirm the subscription.

John Slaughter
NCPNA Newsletter Editor