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SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | NOVEMBER 2026 13 BILLIARDS WINNERS By Suzette Strauss, Resident It's great to live in a neighborhood, or even on a street, where you know all, or most, of your neighbors. We have a few streets like this in Solera Diamond Valley, and our community offers so many avenues to get involved. It is not hard to make connections. These connections can become relationships, and these relationships can become a sort of safety net. I know on my street, I have had my neighbor alert me that my garage was open longer than usual, and it turned out it was an oversight. Thank you, Benita! I, too knocked on another's door later in the evening regarding their garage door being open. To me, this oversight turned into a moment of gratitude for the kindness and caring of my neighbors. Taking this to the next level could result in initiating a Neighborhood Watch group. There was a time that we had quite a few streets that participated in our community Neighborhood Watch, thanks to former resident Steve Day, and more recent leadership of current resident, Joe Wood. Thank you, Joe! Early colonial Americans patrolled settlements as night watchmen, but by the 1960s, safety concerns had greatly escalated to require so much police involvement with rising burglary rates that communities needed more. Jane Jacobs' ideas of "keeping eyes on the streets" put pressure on law enforcement to partner with the public. In 1972, the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA) launched the national Neighborhood Watch program. Now, sharing information with police and local sheriffs regarding thefts and burglaries, along with other suspicious characters, is more structured for citizens. Also, apps like Nextdoor are widely used for neighbor-to-neighbor warnings. We, at SDV, also use our Community Blast for warnings of quite a variety of potential dangers, from coyotes on the paseo, to e-bikes, to suspicious people where they don't belong. I have personally followed cars that seemed to be "cruising" our streets, until they became uncomfortable and sped up to leave. Once they exited, I stayed in a position of safety, and yet where they could see that "I'm watching you!" was happening. After they were out of sight, I went on my way. Let's all keep our eyes on the streets and watch over each other. Perhaps we could re-up our block captains and Neighborhood Watch street gatherings throughout SDV. I mean, we can't all live on Camino Hidalgo, where they still have an annual block party. In the meantime, I've got your back… have you got mine? Sherrie Vollaire & Randy Daniels Millie Varia & Rhoda Hollingquest Sherrie Vollaire & Pat Sivalingam Jona Jetter & Rich Burgett Diana Carofano & Jona Jetter Who's Watching Who?

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