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4 SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | MAY 2017 On April 6, Board members Brian Rubin and Tommy Carpenter along with management representative Diana Floyd met with over 50 residents in the Ballroom for the monthly meeting of "Coffee With The Board." This informal meeting allows residents to talk with the Board and management about some of the issues concerning the residents. This was the third meeting of its kind, and with each meeting more members of the community have come down to participate. This meeting covered many issues including but not limited to issues with mailboxes; relationship between Code Enforcement and Security; perimeter lights and sprinklers, pickleball court maintenance, drinking fountain maintenance, the responsibility of homeowners to replace dead trees on the Paseo and parkways and some suggested guidelines for screening in patio covers (Florida room type). Coffee With the Board is a monthly event held from 9 to 10:30 am on the first Thursday of the month in the Lodge Ballroom. Come on down and let the Board and management know how you feel. They're interested and they're listening! Coffee with the Board The Coffee with the Board/Management was the first step. To further establish a good foundation for our community, our Board of Directors wants to get more thorough feedback from the residents/members. Specifically, there is an interest in finding out what is on members' minds, get input on priorities for the SDVCA, and find what, if any, concerns members may have. To facilitate this communication, a community survey will be available to all households either through the SDV website or in paper form from the Lodge desk. So make sure you are signed up on the SDV website. We will send out a blast when the survey is available. BE READY… Coming in late May! By Theresa Rossetti, Resident "Why don't you write something about Mother's Day?" they said. "How about something about taking Mom to Brunch?" they said. Feel free to interpret "they" to mean the men sitting around the table. It wasn't until someone (AKA the other woman in the room) said "unlimited mimosas" that I started paying attention. So here we go… A quick Internet search led me to an article from NPR about Mother's Day Brunch. Women eating in public is considered an early victory of the Women's Rights Movement of the early 20th century. A woman's right to dine outside the home without a chaperone was taboo before that. The large numbers of women beginning to work outside the home in the early 1920s led to the need for women to have somewhere to eat lunch. Brunch started to gain popularity in the 1930s and by the 50s it was considered to be a time saver – combining two meals into one. On average, women of the 50s spent two hours a day cooking and cleaning. Now that statistic is five hours a week. Obviously, since you should remember by now that I rarely cook, I fall very short in that category! Mother's Day Brunch was advertised in the 50s as a chance to treat Mom and give her a break from "domestic chores." Going out to eat certainly beat the kids making pancakes for Mom, leaving a trail of flour in the kitchen that Mom had to clean up later. Personally, I think the idea really caught on because Moms wanted someone else to do the dishes. Mother's Day Brunch is so popular now that reservations need to be made quite some time in advance, and restaurants feel free to increase their brunch price for the privilege of eating at their establishment on that day. As the mother of two boys, I remember many a Mother's Day Brunch at the local IHOP, Howard Johnson's or Bob's Big Boy with gifts of macaroni necklaces, "lovely" costume jewelry and/or Whitman candy samplers. Now that they're adults, and married, they have stepped up their game as far as presents go. Good boys, I taught you well. One definition of Mother is "one who brings up a child with love and affection." So, whether you have given birth to one, adopted one, are a Step, Aunt or Godmother, raised a fur baby, are a Dad with a fur or human baby, or any other description befitting a Mother, I wish you a very Happy Mother's Day! M Mother (paraphrased from Cookie Monster) is for MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! By Alan Siegel, Resident

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