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We have a new way to live, learn and laugh as a neighborhood!This digital publication has been established to build community and connect our neighbors along with supporting our greater community in the Madison area. We recognized that without a community gathering space or town square we needed to look to multiple means to connect each other as neighbors and collectively work to build our community. The Birchwood-Oaks Neighborhood Association was established to do just that! Please feel free to forward this publication and encourage neighbors to sign up to become a member of this association using this form. |
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What’s happened around our neighborhood recently? "You’ve Been Thank’d"
We saw lots of “Thank’d” signs throughout the neighborhood. Thank you to everyone who participated and Thank’d your neighbors. We look forward to doing this again next November. |
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If you have suggestions for our next party or want to volunteer, please email us at BirchwoodOaksNA@gmail.com |
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What’s coming up in our neighborhood? |
Holiday Lights Porch Decorating Contest |
We’ll be hosting our Annual Holiday Lights Porch Decorating contest this month! Please fill out this form to participate: https://forms.gle/jgnuyjbceqzWqBQz6 The participation fee is $20, and you need to be a member of the NA. There will be three prize winners awarded a portion of the money, with the remainder being contributed to our NA fund. We are excited to continue building our fund to host additional events in the future! We are also looking for 5 - 7 people to serve on the judging committee! The Judges will need to be available on Wednesday, December 28th 2021 at 6:00 PM for in person judging as we walk through the community looking at all the wonderful decorations! A note on payment: Our Treasurer, Heather Reinke, has worked with UWCU to associate her Venmo Account with the Birchwood-Oaks bank accounts. If planning to pay by Venmo, please include a note with the $20 donation specifying Holiday Lights so we can accurately track it. In addition, cash and check (made payable to the Birchwood-Oaks Neighborhood Association) can be dropped off at Heather's home at 9627 Summer Willow Lane. Please feel free to call or text to coordinate a drop off time: 716.818.3356 |
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How to Light Your Home for Christmas Outdoor Christmas lights are fun, festive and … flummoxing. If you want to decorate your home with outdoor lights for the holidays, but you’re not sure where or how to start, you’re in the right place. Don’t let broken light bulbs and a lack of extension cords stress you out this year. This article shares some useful tips. Below articles also share some ideas how to set up the outdoor lights: |
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Christmas and Holiday season |
WISCONSIN — Christmas trees, twinkling red and green lights, the smell of cookies in the oven, snow falling gently out the window and holiday tunes on the radio. Nothing beats the sights, smells and sounds of the holidays. To help get you further into the holiday spirit, here’s a list of fun, family-friendly events happening around the state. Your guide to family-friendly holiday events around Wisconsin There are so many great places to celebrate the holiday season in the Madison area. Take your pick of tree lightings and parades happening in neighboring towns. Or head to our shopping districts, zoo or even the Wisconsin State Capitol to get your festive fill. You’ll discover charming neighborhoods, cozy restaurants and sweet boutiques along the way. Find kid-friendly events here or in the below link, and visit throughout the season to enjoy holiday lights and snap some photos. MADISON AREA HOLIDAY LIGHTS & TREE LIGHTING GUIDE 2022 |
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Kids Corner We’d love to spotlight our many neighborhood kiddos’ joy or duties; promote entrepreneurial items like lemonade stands, yard work, snow removal, etc. If you have an item to share, please complete this form and we will follow up for details. |
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Family Profile - Getting to know your neighbors We would like to feature a neighborhood family and get to know a little about each other in this neighborhood profile. Submit pictures, answer a questionnaire, tell us a little bit about each of these highlighted families in our neighborhood. If you would be willing and able to be a featured family please email jeremy.schlitz@gmail.com and we will get you featured. |
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PET PROFILE Decembers Pet: Pearl
Meet Pearl! Pearl is an 8-year-old Golden Doodle who lives on Sugar Maple Road. Pearl’s parents got her when she was a 10-week-old puppy. Pearl’s Likes: Walks, sniffing, and more walks. Pearl’s Dislikes: Loud noises, thunder, fireworks, all but very specific treats - she is a bit picky. If you see Pearlie walking, she might bark at you or your dog or sometimes your kids because she is on her leash and can get a little reactive. But she means no harm and will try to cross the street and pass by as quickly as possible. |
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If you’d like your pet/s to be featured, please send their profile and pictures to tiayuan3@gmail.com. |
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Diversity matters in our neighborhood |
We live in a neighborhood with diversity. We added this section with the mission to educate, advocate, celebrate and empower all of us to create an inclusive, equitable, and diverse environment. We encourage you to learn about all the diverse dates and events this month. December Diversity Calendar12/1 – World AIDS Day: helps raise awareness of HIV/AIDs and money to cure it 12/3 – International Day of Persons with Disabilities (United Nations): raises awareness for the rights and well-being of those with disabilities 12/10 – International Human Rights Day (United Nations): adopted by the UN in 1948, celebrates the day it the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 12/16-12/24 – Las Posadas (Mexican): religious festival in Mexico and some parts of the U.S. (primarily those with Mexican-Americans) of the Christmas season 12/18-12/26 – Hanukkah (Jewish): celebrates the Jews triumphing over the Syrian Greeks for their independence 12/21 – Winter Solstice/Yule: the winter sabbat according to the Pagan and Wiccan faiths 12/25 – Christmas (Christian): holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ 12/26 – Kwanzaa (Black): 8-day holiday inspired by African harvest celebrations Discover more with our December 2022 Diversity Calendar
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Contributing to Fire Station 12 Do you want to make a meal for our firefighters? Or do you have any other ideas on how to show our appreciation for them? Please email us at BirchwoodOaksNA@gmail.com if you’re interested in contributing. |
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What do you like about our neighborhood? We would like to hear your stories or a short note of what you like or what would expect to improve in the neighborhood and why you chose to live in our neighborhood. Please send your stories and notes to tiayuan3@gmail.com. We will post it in next month's newsletter! Please note that we would use your name unless you state you’d prefer to be anonymous. Request/Offer help corner: Do you need help or want to offer help for neighbors with shoveling, cutting lawn, etc.? Please send your requests/offers to tiayuan3@gmail.com. We will post it in next month's newsletter! Please note that we would use your name and contact information (email or phone). |
Milestones We also would like to feature birth/death/anniversary/graduation and other milestone announcements. Please submit via this recognition form what you’d like to be announced next month. Housekeeping Is your Newsletter getting lost in your Gmail account? You may want to check your “Promotions” tab. If you find the Newsletter there, you can add the NA's email (BirchwoodOaksNA@gmail.com) to your Google contacts and explicitly move that email to your inbox. Ideally, this should teach Gmail to send future Newsletters to your main inbox. |
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Community Events and Resources |
Your guide to the holidays in Madison Cheery. Bright. Quite a delight. The holidays in Madison, Wisconsin are handcrafted with love from the makers supplying local boutiques to the ornaments lining the Capitol tree made by students from across the state. Whether here for a girls weekend of shopping or a family getaway, Madison is a holiday wonderland. Downtown ice skating, dining in domes and a Miracle on King Street await. And don't forget about all the dazzling holiday light displays. Check out the list here for the fun activities. 20 THINGS TO DO THIS WINTER IN MADISON
Property Tax Relief Credits Please check out here to see if you are qualified to apply for the credits like Lottery and Gaming Credit, and First Dollar Credit to save your property tax bills. What property tax credits are available in Wisconsin? What credits are directly applied to my property tax bill? What credits can I claim on my income tax return? Are there other programs that help with paying property taxes?
Sugar Maple Park - Dog Request Status The City of Madison Board of Park Commissioners made no firm decisions on the status of the park at their November 9th meeting. The issue has been turned over to the Long-Range Planning Board to revisit the entire dog-free/friendly policies. When we hear more, we’ll let everyone know.
Streets Division Updates:
Brush collection is over. Do not set out more brush for pickup at this time. Take your brush to a drop-off site (www.cityofmadison.com/DropOffSites) Yard waste & leaf collection starts is underway. Get the dates when you should set out your leaves and yard waste for pickup at www.cityofmadison.com/YardWaste The food scraps recycling drop-off is coming to a close of October 25. To learn more about where you can take food scraps, and the hours and locations of the farmer’s market drop-off sites, visit www.cityofmadison.com/FoodScraps
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Submitted articles: Please consider penning an article or repurposing something you created and want to share with your neighbors |
If you would like to submit an item for this Monthly magazine, please email jeremy.schlitz@gmail.com |
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Sponsors of our Association |
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As our community and membership continue to grow, we recognize the importance of supporting local and family owned businesses right here in Birchwood-Oaks. We'd love to feature your Business Ad in an upcoming newsletter! Please contact us at birchwoodoaksna@gmail.com, and include your name, business name, location, phone number, website, email address and applicable logo and/or pictures! |
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*Please continue to let your neighbors know about the NA and encourage them to sign up to receive info and updates to build our community If you would like to donate to the neighborhood association please donate to:
Heather Reinke Venmo
Ali Reinhard – President
Kayla Julius - Secretary
Heather Reinke - Treasurer
Bridget Boyer – Community Events Coordinator |
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