By RICHARD PARKER / Community Columnist

Earlier this year, the Board of Directors of Riverchase Residential Association decided to make an effort to engage and interest residents in refreshing and revitalizing their community.

The Riverchase area started to develop over three decades ago and much of it is now at the age when typical neighborhoods either start to show signs of questionable upkeep or they rebound, fix up and revitalize.

Board member Sue Doleys put together a subcommittee to launch a campaign that would persuade residents to become interested and active in refreshing their homes and community. Response and cooperation has been substantial and rewarding.

Sue and representatives of her committee, Kelly Landess and Lynne Cooper, explained how five simple tasks each resident could accomplish would make a considerable difference in the overall appeal of Riverchase. Residents were asked to consider helping as follows:

-Refresh and repaint mail boxes at the curb and keep trash cans out of sight.

-Get rid of weeds and trim hedges.

-Raise the canopy of trees by trimming lower limbs to allow grass to grow.

-Refresh mulch and get rid of old pine straw and debris.

-Edge lawn at the street and around natural areas.

When Riverchase was developed it was done so with a goal of keeping as many trees as possible and creating a bird sanctuary. These features have helped the community evolve into a charming place to live while offering great convenience. To be sure, Riverchase has experienced its share of recent foreclosure actions, but there is evidence that younger families are moving in and reconditioning some of these homes, thereby improving the area.

“We want to see Riverchase continue to thrive,” said Kelly Landess.

The committee members hope that the upcoming holiday season with all of the traditional decorating, will bring with it a desire to refresh those mail boxes before decorating them, paint that window trim before decorating the windows, trim shrubs before placing lights on them and other such related activities.

Much more information is available at Rchase.net or on Facebook at Refresh.Restore.Rejuvenate Riverchase.

 

Richard Parker can be reached by email at rbp1941@gmail.com.