For the neighborhood kids growing up in the late 60’s, the fort was a representation of both our independence and ingenuity. We had a place to call home on those beautiful and endless summer evenings where it stayed light until well past 9 p.m., signaling we would not be called back home until darkness fell. Summer meant no school and an extra hour or two with our friends swapping stories. More important, we designed and built the BoGaKoTeZa sanctuary with our own hands. What a pleasurable reminder this was of our early team building efforts.

Growing up on The Hill, as it was commonly referred to, was an exercise in youthful utopia. In the 1950’s, many young married couples pushed slightly westward in the Chicago suburbs to secure an affordable home with a small piece of land. Most of the homes were similar tidy brick ranch structures with 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, a family room, and a 1 car garage positioned on a quarter-acre (or less) of land. The very rare split-level would occasionally interrupt the sea of small ranch homes. Situated behind the houses on our block were sloping dense woods where we would walk, play, and socialize for hours. Kids ruled the neighborhood. It seems that nearly all the parents were in their middle to late 20s, of Bohemian or Polish ancestry, and had several kids in tow. The neighbors at the end of our block had 6 children, and our next door neighbors – the “Za” in the name of our fort — ultimately had 8 children. We were the exception — Irish Catholic with a relatively paltry 4 children.

This was a period when kids went outdoors and played. Perhaps in the spirit of pre-video game suburbia, kids were forced to congregate, play sports, communicate, and learn from each other. Our backyard, like that of all the neighbors, and in stark contradiction to Robert Frost’s admonition that “good fences make good neighbors”, was devoid of a fence and represented an open invitation of friendship. The backyard, meanwhile, was never an appropriate advertisement for Scot’s Turf Builder. Instead, our backyard was an active child’s paradise, simultaneously torn up to construct a mini golf course, beaten down in straight lines where we frequently ran the bases, or shredded completely to accommodate a lawn hockey game complete with homemade nets constructed of wood and chicken wire. Perhaps the greatest news was that our parents would either help in the construction of the various backyard games or, at the very least, enjoy having all the neighborhood kids visit and play. Except when we would inadvertently destroy the same sapling that my dad tried to plant, year after year.

The Hill was not only a haven for kids. For some relatively strange reason (strange by today’s standards anyway), the parents all got along seemingly well, too. They were part of bowling leagues, social clubs, invitees for each other’s parties, and communal workers when the water well needed to be repaired. This was a group of young people who rarely had two nickels to rub together, but who always helped each other and pulled together in time of need. These neighbors never moved. To this day, 50 plus years later, there remains a handful of the old guard still living on The Hill. Our 40-year home tenure was probably the norm.

The Hill was also a place of great experimentation. Most of the neighbor kids had their first communal taste of alcohol or nicotine, represented in the form of a beer or pack of cigarettes surreptitiously pilfered from someone’s house. And many more kids had that first kiss with the neighbor girl. With the assistance of my best neighborhood friend, a girl with whom I enjoyed that first kiss, I even unintentionally lit my first and only forest fire. It certainly didn’t help matters that as the fire started to spread, we tried to “smother” the conflagration with dried leaves to the horror of the volunteer fire department. That’s a story for another time.

From a child’s perspective, we were engaging in exciting yet debaucherous and sinful activities that might forever condemn us to hell. Forty years later, it is obvious that these were innocent and perhaps even necessary steps in our adolescent development.

Fort BoGaKoTeZa lasted a couple of summers and in the end was torn down or died of neglect as we grew older. I can’t remember which. But I do remember the pride in its construction and the joy we all felt hanging out there. These were simpler days, forever gone, only to be pulled from our memories. I miss The Hill.

http://www.dailyharangue.com

The Daily Harangue was started by a group of friends who had much to say, but agreed on little. These candid discussions on topics ranging from politics to music, nature to art, life, love, and the human condition have always been a free flow of ideas that serve to strengthen, rather than to destroy, the bonds of our friendship.

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But first, let me tell you a little story. I know a single mother who was looking for a house. Her main requirement was that it had to be safe for her children. After months of looking she found the perfect house on a cul-de-sac in a great neighborhood and the price was right, too. After moving in one of her neighbors stopped in to welcome her to the neighborhood. One comment from the neighbor got her attention, though. She said she really admired her bravery.

Naturally my friend was curious what that meant. After pressing the neighbor she told her that her new next door neighbor was registered sex offender. That’s why the house had been priced so low – because nobody wanted to buy it because of the sex offender. And that’s why the previous owner was desperate to sell. And apparently the the offender really liked young children.

Needless to say my friend was frightened. She couldn’t turn right around and sell the house so she ended up installing a new fence and alarm system. And her kids never left the house without her. That’s no way to live. And it’s a shame because it is so easy to perform a sex offender search. And it doesn’t cost anything.

Thanks to the internet and the need for people to be aware of their surroundings the government has made it much easier to find out if offenders are lurking in your neighborhood or wherever you may be moving. And it will tell you exactly where they live and include photos. I know my wife was shocked the first time she did a search to find out how many offenders were near us. Of course this is for information purposes only, it does not give you the right to camp out on their lawn or otherwise harass them. You may want to but it is against the law.

Not all details are included on the sites. It won’t necessarily tell you their exact crime but will give you a good idea of what they may have done. And having this information could have saved my friend a lot of grief and money. So how do you search? It really is easy.

Go to Google or your favorite search engine and search for “Sex offenders in [your state]“. This should show you the state site where you can find everything you need.
Do you really know who’s living next to you?

David Lemon is the owner of TDL People Search. You can visit his site at http://www.tdl-people-search.com where you can search for anyone you’d like to find as well as perform background checks.

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On a Sunday morning in November the snow started falling in my hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan. With our close proximity to Lake Michigan, we are also the beneficiaries of lake effect snow, which occurs when arctic air forms over the Great Lakes, picking up heat and moisture and depositing a “bonus” amount of snow over our region.

Within two days Lake Michigan graced us with a record-breaking total of 24 inches of the white powdery stuff. My 11-year-old son had gone out early that morning to shovel, but by nightfall there was no sign that any dent had ever been made in the snow. With my weak back, and my older daughter sick with a cold, I decided that any more snow removal efforts could wait until morning. We were just finishing dinner when my son Carman heard a noise outside and opened the door to investigate. There at the bottom of our steps, in the freezing cold, was our neighbor from across the street just finishing up from shoveling our driveway, sidewalk and porch. I was barely done with my profuse thank you’s to this young father when another neighbor walked over and began shoveling snow out from behind my car.

It’s rare that I do any baking, but coincidentally this day I had just happened to bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I quickly sent my son out with two bags full of cookies for my kindhearted neighbors. Later, while resting on my couch, I had time to reflect, and was filled with a strong feeling of nostalgia. I was musing about how years ago neighbors used to always watch out for each other, bring casseroles when someone was sick, and take turns watching each other’s children.

And then I realized that those days aren’t gone. There are still people helping out their neighbors, like my Shoveling Angels did. However, sometimes now our “neighbors” and friends are those we have met on the Internet, and there is some wonderful, miraculous help being given via this online world. The neighborhoods may have changed, but people’s hearts have not. We have just created a neighborhood unrestricted by sidewalks and street signs.

Our friends and “neighbors” live in all different parts of this country and the world, and they do what neighbors have always done. Our inboxes have become our backyard fence, and we share our lives and laughter with each other, send our prayers, offer encouragement, and provide a virtual shoulder to lean on when needed. I’ve learned that love and friendship can come across a computer cable just as easily as across a shaded street. I am blessed and thankful for all my neighbors – the ones who live next door to me, and the ones online who live next door in my heart.

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Robert Frost claimed that, “good fences make good neighbors”- but if you have intentions to create a happy and safe neighborhood, then forget the fences, walls and barriers and instead, think about what you can do to contribute and lead by example. After all, being part of a community is directly related to a sense of well-being – so, why not start close to home, in your very own neighborhood.

There are some simple steps you can follow, that may seem self-evident. But every little bit will count as you forge toward creating a great sense of community in your neighborhood. Begin by the simplest of greetings and when you have the chance to say, “Hi” to a neighbor passing by, then by all means do so. You need to encourage the openness to get to know the people in your neighborhood. Once you start the trend, hopefully others will follow and more spontaneous meetings will occur.

Organize a block, or street party. Creating social opportunities that are just for your neighborhood, offer a fabulous way to get people together and chatting. The wonderful thing about these gathering is that you can learn more about the people who surround you, and begin to tune into what sorts of issues and concerns, hopes and dreams others might have for the area. These sorts of events may seem scary to dive into. But someone needs to be the first to extend an open invitation, so why not make it yourself? Likewise, if you’re relatively new to the area, these sorts of gatherings can be a great way to learn the inside scoop on the community. You might also become acquainted with other neighborhood newbies – this can be a great way to start a lasting friendship.

If you have a concern about a particular issue that’s affecting your neighborhood, chances are others are also concerned. Organize an informal gathering to discuss issues that concern you – anything from crime, new development to city maintenance, or whatever you feel will improve your area. Having a collective vision as a neighborhood will only strengthen the neighborhood’s sense of community and work to make for a better quality of living.

If you can, offering your services to someone in need will promote some of the best in old fashioned community ethics. Maybe you notice a family gearing up to head out for a holiday – can you offer to do some watering for them, or to just keep an eye on the house? In many cases folks have already arranged for such things, but by being the neighbor who offers a helping hand you’re truly promoting “neighborly” behavior.

Promoting the creation of a neighborhood watch programs is yet another healthy way to create a safer neighborhood, but also to get people together on a regular basis. The most important aspect in creating a better neighborhood, is to promote such social interaction.

Another idea is to create a neighborhood fundraiser for a charity or for other neighborhoods in need. This is a wonderful way to get people thinking about all the positive aspects of their neighborhood, that might otherwise be taken for granted – to reflect on what you have and not to complain about what you haven’t. When people can get together with a focus on other people, the best of the human spirit shines through.

On this note, an idea might be to create a fruit tree gleaning group in which homeowners volunteer excess fruit on their trees and neighborhood volunteers get together to pick the fruit. The fruit can then be donated to local food charities. Such an event brings neighbors together in the spirit of giving, and makes everyone feel like their neighborhood has contributed to the well-being of the entire community. And, so they have!

About the Author

Christian Jacobsen

When moving your family into in a new house, there are a lot of concerns you have to think about. If you have little children, the yard is very important. Having a safe yard is really important when you are a parent. One way to create a safe yard is to use Plano fencing company to put a boundary around the outside. A Plano fence company will help give you some security and ensure that your backyard is safe. When looking for someone to install a fence, Plano has a lot of options. However, fencing is not the only aspect of finding the perfect house with a safe yard for the young ones in your family.

When looking into finding a safe place to move with your family, you will want to do some research about the areas you are considering moving into. Of course crime rate is going to be something that you want to look into. Make sure that you are getting your facts about crime rates from a reliable source so you are not being mislead. The crime rate is not the only factor that contributes to the safety in the area, but it should give you a good idea.

Once you have decided on an area to look in, you will want to decide on the type of area you will want to move into. An apartment complex is a nice option if you have a smaller family, but you do not always get the same community in an apartment building, and with so many people coming in and out of the building it may not be as safe. Living in a neighborhood might create an added sense of security. Typically there are less people coming in and out of a neighborhood, which in comparison to an apartment building is less risk of someone strange coming in. Especially if you choose to move into a neighborhood with a gate or some sort of security system in place.

If you decide to move into a neighborhood, there are a few steps you should take to make sure that you create a safe home for your loved ones. Getting to know your neighbors is one way to make sure your family is safe. Once you have created a bond with your neighbors, it makes a sort of agreement that you will look after each others children. It makes it easy because you can always call over to a neighbors house to ask them to send your kids home or to watch them if you need to run an errand.

You also should look into if there is some sort of neighborhood watch in your subdivision. By joining a neighborhood watch, you are actively taking a part in make your neighborhood more secure. You might also want to see if your neighborhood is patrolled by the local law enforcement. This is definitely an added sense of security and it really does help to keep your neighborhood safe from vandals or other criminals.

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Some neighborhoods have very well organized groups and some don’t. You will soon find out which you are in if you just moved to a new area. An organized group will be on top of many issues and pretty well connected to local law enforcement and other groups of interest. If you are a pioneer and have purchased a fixer upper in an old neighborhood then you need community support. The move closer to your city center has a ton of charm and beauty and some other issues that you don’t want to deal with alone. If you can band together with your neighbors you will get a sense of safety, hope and community togetherness.

Get out and talk to people to see if there is any type of neighborhood association. If you want to improve the area you just invested in, you can’t do it alone. Most likely you will run into a lot of other people that are doing the same thing. They are tired of the driving from the suburbs and sick of strip malls and boring houses. Those old neighborhoods have interesting and charming houses. The streets are wide with huge old oaks and other established growth. If you have a group of homeowners that are fixing up houses you can swap stories and advice.

One way to get people wore involved is by giving yourself an identity. If you do have a neglected neighborhood organization they will probably be happy for the fresh interest. Get a little paper started with info and articles. Create a logo that includes your area name. Most neighborhoods have names. You can start using that name on some promotional products. The first issue of your newsletter will be hand delivered and hung at each house. Put an application to join the association or club inside. Have your association website listed so that people can join up online. You get them to pay a small amount of yearly dues and they can go on the online information network. This is the best neighborhood watch ever. It is instant information.

The newsletter will generate a little more money by the sale of ads for local businesses. That will keep it going and could possibly cover the initial cost of a new promotional shirt that bears the community logo and name. You could include a t-shirt in the cost of yearly dues as an option. If someone has clothing that is claiming the neighborhood it gives them pride. You also want to cover any website costs. The idea of being able to contact your neighbors any time through e-mail is really good. If someones dog gets loose they can tell people to keep an eye out. If someone was seen jumping the fence at another house then the whole neighborhood can know about it too.

All of these things together will begin to build a lovely connected community that will feel like home. It is up to you and your neighbors to make your association work for the community.

About the Author

Kris A Ann