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6 | Four Seasons Hemet Herald | JANUARY 2024 | Library Committee We are gearing up for another year of serving our friends and neighbors. e library is a resource for all to enjoy and help to keep growing and current. So many books and puzzles are being donated aer the holidays that we're busily brainstorming ways to find more and better means of organizing and displaying them. While we can't bump out the back wall or add a second story to provide more space, we are examining current space to see if there are ways to add more shelves. If you have any creative suggestions, please drop them in our Suggestion Box. One way we handle the space dilemma is revising the copyright date ranges for the books. e 2014 hardcover fiction and 2019 paperbacks are being removed to make room for newer publications. Duplicate hardcover books are removed when space is tight. Puzzles have multiplied. Older ones are being given to other people and places in Hemet and beyond. Perjeah Dhevun is the library's current Puzzle Lady who oversees these efforts. Fall and holiday puzzles are retired to special cabinets to make room for upcoming seasonal and general puzzles. e library has at least twice as many puzzles as you see on the visible shelves. Puzzles are popular! Current magazines are always in demand. Please donate yours aer enjoying them. We display the current three months for monthly publications and one month for weekly issues. en there are the Nonfiction, Biographies, Large Print, Classic, Religion, and a few Health books behind the gold labeled doors beneath the paperback fiction under the wall mural. We are discussing ways to make residents more aware of these books. e Suggestion Box is waiting for your ideas. e picture above provides a glimpse of some of the treasures just waiting for you to notice them. Finally, planning is ongoing for resident Authors' Talks in 2024. If you're a resident writer, poet, composer, or another type of artist with a story to share, please identify yourself to me (Betty Crase). Your neighbors enjoy hearing about the why's and how's of others' experiences developing their creative talents. e library is an exciting place. Visit oen and keep those donations of current materials coming in. We plan to do our best in 2024 to keep the library a friendly and well-organized community resource. ~ Betty Crase On behalf of the Landscape Committee, we wish you a very Happy New Year and the best for 2024. Here's a recap for 2023 and a peek ahead to 2024. New Volunteers: e volunteers who joined us in 2023, Patty Gaudreau, Carol Ferber, and Linda Vargas, have been busy with their new assignments, and making an impact for our community. Facilities Partnership: What started in 2022 has been a great partnership with the Facilities Committee. Our liaison, Pam Hayter, has coordinated with us to identify where areas of water runoff have damaged roads within the community. With our contractor, Artistic Maintenance, we have identified the areas with the most damage and will prioritize re-landscaping to minimize runoff. Recently, at the corner of Crooked Cat and Carnoustie, some sod was removed and a rock barrier installed. Look for additional small relandscaping projects to address irrigation runoff in 2024. Paseo Project: One of the largest projects in 2023 was the conversion of turf grass to a waterwise landscape along the paseos in the East Legends. We were able to obtain rebates to offset most of the cost of this project. is project remains a work in progress. We continue to evaluate the need for additional plantings and hardscape to enhance the walkway's current landscape. In spring, we will have a much better idea for making landscaping recommendations to the Board. Legends SBA Concerns: We participated in a Board meeting with the Legend homeowners to address resident's concerns. It was informative to hear their issues and suggestions. We hope to have another meeting in 2024 as well as additional coordination and communication with residents about their landscaping. Expanded Plant Palette: In November 2023, several committee members went to a local nursery to see if there could be additional plants added to our plant palette. We hope to "pilot" some of the new plants we found. Gratitude: We extend our appreciation to our HOA Board of Directors who have listened to our challenges in overseeing a mature landscape of 20 years. e issues we face today are vastly different than when we started as a new community with "baby" trees, immature hedges and plants, and analog irrigation technology. Lastly, we thank the Four Seasons community for continued support and volunteerism! Landscape Committee