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New Year - more challenges! I know many of us are ready to leave 2020 behind and are looking forward to prosperous times in 2021. As I stated last month, many things in our lives have had to be adjusted or eliminated due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and added to this, high winds, power outages, canceled meetings, and new challenges. We are all doing what we can to carry on and make the best of the cards dealt to us. Difficult times can also bring out the creativity and fortitude deep inside each and every one of us. To review the history, especially for residents new to Four Seasons, an Ad Hoc Committee was put in place by the Board in September 2018 to create the processes, guidelines, rules, forms and charter for an off-leash area dog park. They had planned on building the park in a location in the gas company easement near the Crooked Creek gate area. The plans for the gas company easement fell through. A previously protected watershed area was deeded to the HOA in early 2020. In keeping with existing federal guidelines at the time, this area, known as "Lot A", was deeded to the HOA without landscaping. It was later determined that it could and should be landscaped. This requirement fell on the HOA as it now owned the area. It was determined by the Board to place the Canine Corral on this lot, and an anonymous donor put in the fencing that we now see near the Breckenridge gate. The Board approved the new facility and the Canine Corral was approved as a new, self-funded amenity in mid-February 2020. The Canine Corral Council was created by the Board in March 2020. We set goals for fund- raising and plans to determine the steps required to be able to open our off-leash dog park facility. We had to be creative and come up with "safe" ways to raise the money needed to open our off-leash area. Since we couldn't hold any events or social gatherings, our fund-raising team came up with selling Honor Plaques and Honor Benches. (By the time of this publication, we may have had a winner in our $500 Honor Plaque drawing. Tickets were being sold at the front desk for $10 each. We will only sell 50 tickets so this opportunity may still be available.) Winter winds and chill set in, and more "in-person" restrictions were imposed, and we had to postpone our Four Seasons Canine Corral Afternoons at The Lodge events. We also had to forego our plans to have a "soft opening" in January. Our Landscape Committee has had the plans approved for Lot A and this work should be starting soon. Much gratitude for our residents and local businesses who have shown their support for this important amenity! Our dog-owners are wanting to get in and try out the new park, but we will all have to wait a little longer. You can still contribute! If sponsoring an Honor Plaque or Honor Bench is not for you, then you can send donations of any amount to our account: "Four Seasons HOA, memo: Canine Corral." Every dollar will help. Fees from membership applications will also go towards improving and maintaining the facility, so get your applications in now. Our Council is prepared to process applications before we open so we will have members ready-to-go for the opening when we will see dogs and residents enjoying this new amenity. Your membership will be valid for one year from the date you first use the facility, so you do not have to wait to apply. We held our first member seminars in December. We heard that residents are interested in attending our seminars to learn more about the Corral, so all sessions are open for "audit." If you are interested in "attending," Zoom log-in information will be available. This is such a great opportunity for the dog owners in this community. Let's all help to make it happen. You can still order plaques and benches from Teri. Email her at teridimarino@gmail.com. The Council meets the first and third Thursday of each month at 10am on zoom, and we have space for more Council members. ~ Sandra Butler-Roberts, sandirae@icloud.com FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | JANUARY 2021 27 Canine Corral Council Check with your committee chair to confirm meeting place, date, and time.

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