Riddle #1: What is something every individual, every family, every organization, every civilization, and every neighborhood newsletter has in common? Answer (at least one that works for me): the need for a calendar. Yes, calendars, along with clocks and watches, are among the most basic of life’s seemingly indispensible aids. But ubiquitous indispensability does not necessarily imply homogeneity of scheme and style, a maxim especially apropos for calendars—which, as we all know, run the gamut from solar, lunar, zodiac, and religious to academic, fiscal, sports, and civic—just for starters. So what kind of calendar works best for BWNA? There are three.
The first of these calendars is just to the right of this column—our newsletter calendar, the nondescriptive-titled “BWNA Calendar.” If the list of entries seems a bit on the lean side, it was intended that way. Purposely limited in scope, the focus of this calendar is on events and activities that provide opportunities for residents to become involved in BWNA—e.g., serving on the Board, attending BWNA meetings and events, and submitting items for publication in the newsletter. An example of the efficacy of this approach is evident in the story underlying my collaboration with B-W resident Nan Lipton on “Preparing for the Really Big One” in this issue. Provided with dates for the upcoming Board meeting as well as the newsletter article/ad submission deadline, Nan and her husband Alan were able to plan ahead to attend the meeting, air their concerns about earthquake preparedness to the Board, and submit Nan’s article to me for fine-tuning and eventual co-authorship.
Our “compact” calendar also pays dividends in freeing up precious space for articles and ads. Still, we do include non-BWNA-affiliated activities from time to time, provided they occur inside the neighborhood and/or relate to an article.
But what about those local activities of interest to our residents that take place outside the Beaumont-Wilshire boundaries, like meetings and events sponsored by surrounding neighborhood and business associations? No problem. Dates and addresses for such activities are just a “Calendar” click away on both the BWNA website (www.bwna.us) and the Central Northeast Neighbors (CNN) website (www.cnncoalition.org). This second of BWNA’s three calendars is publicized on multiple websites by CNN—our area’s neighborhood association coalition umbrella organization—which, for a nominal yearly service fee, posts neighborhood activities first on the CNN calendar, then on website calendars of participating associations.
Riddle #2: What is the third kind of BWNA calendar? It is a very peculiar one indeed. Neither published in print nor referred to by a particular name, it is nonetheless internalized by every BWNA Board member. Venture a guess? Well, I’m referring to a kind of experiential seasonal calendar, akin to an agricultural calendar, but instead of a time to plant and a time to sow, it’s a time to organize and a time to revitalize. The BWNA “revitalizing” phase takes place in the spring, when new Board members are elected at April’s Taste of Beaumont General Meeting, followed by the Board Retreat in May or June. Then the “organizing” phase kicks in with July’s Movie in the Park and August’s all-neighborhood National Night Out Picnic, followed by fall and winter events, including alternating monthly Board and General meetings. Come April, it’s Taste of Beaumont, new elections, and BWNA’s seasonal calendar cycle begins anew.
As for our newsletter, no riddle to this formula: Every other month, season to season, a color version online and hard copies delivered to B-W homes and businesses.