StoneBridge Village News - August 2007

General Manager’s Report

Darrell Ransdell (335-7869 ex. 1756)

Welcome to StoneBridge – It’s hard to believe August is here already. Many of us are having a busy summer with guests visiting and summer activities in full swing. Just keeping up with the grass is a challenge with the plentiful rainfall. By the end of the month there will be only four shopping months until Christmas. StoneBridge is part of a busy community with golf, tennis, swimming, cards, parties, shopping and fishing nearby; not to mention all the places to eat and the extraordinary talent we get to enjoy. We are truly blessed to live with the beauty and variety of activities available in this community. We are having fun and truly the time flies.

Thanks to Employees – Your POA owns, operates and maintains the LedgeStone Country Club, which includes the golf course, clubhouse, tennis courts, clubhouse pool, common grounds and limited common grounds in StoneBridge Village. Other entities on property contribute greatly including Escapes!, StoneBridge Resort and the COA’s, but this is directed to POA employees. Our employees include office personnel who keep member accounts up-to-date, handle billing, pay the bills, keep our accounting records, administer Architectural Control Committee business, put out the newsletter, handle payroll and insurances, update the member directory and handle many questions and interactions with our members. We organize and plan activities including parties, games and events for young and old, members and guests, to educate, entertain and enhance our enjoyment of the community. Our Pro Shop employees handle the tee sheet for golf and tennis; order, stock and sell merchandise; provide golf instruction; interact with many visitor questions and concerns in person or by phone; collect, clean and provide range balls; clean and manage availability of golf carts; clean, store and retrieve golf bags from storage; and service both incoming and departing guests of the course. The golf course maintenance personnel handle the mowing, trimming, fertilizing, chemical applications, irrigation and maintenance of the irrigation system, fix divots, aerate and top dress greens, plant grass, flowers, bushes and trees. Knowing what is required and when, is big part of successful course management. Mother Nature both aids and hinders the golf course operation. The clubhouse maintenance people clean, wash windows, maintain and service bathrooms, vacuum and clean floors, service the meeting rooms as needed and maintain utility services including water, electric, sewer and heating/air conditioning systems. The pool, tennis courts and outside walks and paths around the clubhouse receive attention daily and as needed. Our crews mow, trim, plant, weed, spray, snow plow and shovel, spread salt and gravel, pick up litter and maintain our roadways and POA property throughout the village. The gates are manned day and night all year providing security at the village gates, giving directions, welcoming guests, answering questions, monitoring parking and property rules, securing our buildings and touring the properties as a deterrent to unwanted activity.

The above is just the surface of jobs performed on our behalf in preserving, enhancing and operating the properties of the POA. We have trained professionals, full time, part-time and seasonal employees. There are no unimportant jobs and every employee contributes to the success of the operation. We work with our primary priorities first to safety and next to customer service. Each of us strives to improve, but my message is to publicly recognize each one and say… Thanks!

Activities Director

Denise Needham (417.335.7869 ext. 1754 Cell: 417.263.1741)

“Mahalo” In the Hawaiian Language means: thanks, gratitude; to thank.. So...many Mahalo’s to the 95 people that attended our first Hawaiian Luau. It was a true blessing that we missed the bad weather and enjoyed the island get-away party. The dinner buffet was delicious and the voice of Aloha; David Lomand and family were very entertaining. Especially, Alohi Lomond, award-winning hula performer; wasn’t she Great!

Casino Night: Mark Your Calendars for August 23 and join us for another Fun Filled night of Black Jack, Texas Hold em, Roulette and Craps. Bob Anderson will make a guest star performing appearance and bring us all Good Luck! At the door you will receive $20,000 in fun money & chips. If you sign up early, you will receive an extra $5,000. There is no cost to play and prizes will be given. Volunteer dealers are Needed! If you don’t want to play, we will need volunteer greeters, roamers, prize people, etc. Remember if you work the event your dinner is free and you still have chances to win prizes. You don’t want to miss this! There will be a training session for the Dealers and any Helpers at the clubhouse Par Room on Friday, August 17th from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. only. Please call or email Denise if you’re interested..
Come learn how to play all these games and have some Fun!
• When: Thursday, August 23
• Time: 6:00 p.m.—9:00 p.m.
• Where: LedgeStone Grille
• Cost: No Cost to play
• Food: Optional Pizza Buffet with Salad-$10.00 per person, serving at 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. only.
• Drinks: Cash Bar
• Sign up by: Monday, August 20th

Mear’s Floral Open House: Let’s travel together!
Mear’s Floral shop in Springfield will have their Fall and Holiday open house Saturday, August 25 and Sunday August 26. They will offer beautiful pre-designed floral arrangements, centerpieces and design items at unbelievable prices, and the designers will demonstrate how to make your own festive arrangements and centerpieces.
• When: Saturday, August 25th
• Where: 1222 S. Senic, Springfield 417-862-4394
• Time: 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (Shopping anytime with discount on store items and Dock sales)
• Evening Show: 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (more formal)
• Food: Free Heavy Hors D O’euvres

• When: Sunday, August 26th • Where: 1222 S. Senic, Springfield 417-862-4394 • Time: 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. (Shopping anytime with discount on store items and Dock sales) • How To Shows: 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. & 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. • Food: Free Lunch
Any questions please call or email me. Let me know if you’re interested in traveling together by Tuesday, August 21st. I can reserve the StoneBridge Resort Van.

Craft Workshop/Handwork Group: The second Wednesday of every month.
Ladies have the option of bringing their own handwork (knitting, crochet, sewing quilting, etc.) or creating the monthly craft project. Either way it will be a great opportunity to enjoy great company and even make new friends.
We will be repeating the decorating Wicker Baskets for August due to popular demand; make a birthday basket, for that someone special or a colorful sunflower basket that will brighten any room. The wicker baskets are decorated with colorful paper napkins, bows and silk flowers. Once you learn the technique, you can decorate a basket for any occasion. You must see to believe! Stop by the POA office to see examples. In September, we will decorate bulletin boards for your study, kitchen, garage or wherever the “honey do list” is posted or use them as serving trays.
• When: Wednesday, August 8th
• Time: 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Where: Clubhouse Par Room
• Sign up by: Monday, August 6th

Materials for Baskets:
You bring paper napkins with the design you want to use. You can bring your own white wicker basket (spray paint white if needed) or purchase one of mine. There will be a cost for the materials (sponge brushes, mod podge, etc) to complete your basket.

Cost for Baskets:
• 7” basket- $12.00 per finished basket (including basket)
• 9 1/2” basket- $14.00 per finished basket (including basket)
• Materials only- $8.00 per basket

Kids Swimming Pool Games: Bring the kids for some fun pool games. We will play Pool Pac Man, Wet T-shirt Relay, Gator Eggs, Treasure Hunt and more. Prizes will be given. No lifeguard present. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
• Thursday, August 2nd & 9th
• 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• StoneBridge Clubhouse Swimming Pool
• No Cost
• Sign up Wednesday before the event

Kids Craft-Pool Side: Let’s make some cool Craft Balls. Making these craft balls is so quick and easy. They are pre-cut pieces of foam and all you have to do is twist them into the golf ball holes. It’s that easy! This makes it simple enough to complete and fun enough to play.
• Tuesday, August 7th
• 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
• Pool Side at StoneBridge Clubhouse Swimming Pool
• Cost is $5.00 each
• Sign up the Monday before the event

Monthly Members Mixer with Taco Buffet: Please plan to attend every month for the Members Monthly Social. This event is for members only... to eat, drink and visit with each other. We encourage new owners to attend, so we can welcome you to our community.
• Tuesday, August 28th at 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
• LedgeStone Grille
• Cost will be $10.00 per person
• Sign up by Wednesday, August 22nd

Fitness Orientation: Every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. in the clubhouse fitness room. Learn how the various fitness machines and weights operate. No advance sign-up is needed.

SkipBo Invitation: If you like to play cards, come join us for SkipBo. It’s an easy game to learn and we play the 2nd, 4th & 5th Monday of each month at 10:00 a.m. in the Clubhouse. If you have any questions, please call Sandy Copperstone at 332-2688 or email sgcopperstone@aol.com. Everyone is invited!

Mah Jongg: Meets the 1st & 3rd Monday of each month at 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Clubhouse. If you have any questions, please call JoAnn Mitchell at 337-8319.

Remember, please sign up for all events that have a sign up deadline by calling Denise in the POA office at 335-7869, ext. 1754 or 263-1741. If you have any questions about an activity or want to discuss some new events, email me at denise@sbvpoa.org.

Golf Course Superintendent

Jim Pyle (417.339.2130)

The heat is here and with August, comes our yearly bout with grub worms. They can do considerable damage to your lawns as infestation spreads and the grubs grow in size. In the past years, along with white grubs, come the grubs that are to be Japanese beetles the following year. They love to reproduce in soft areas such as the mulch in and around your flower beds. If they are not bad enough, your friends the armadillos, skunks, foxes and a few other varmints love them as a steady fall diet. So my best advice is to start treating those areas now to get rid of as many of the grubs as possible to minimize the damage.

As always enjoy your Golf
Jim Pyle

Golf Pro

Bill Hasler (417.335.8187)

Rules Quiz

True or False
A ball is lost if a player has played a provisional ball from a point nearer the hole from where the original ball is likely to be.

Last month’s answer: Neil and Bill are 1 up.

Putting:
Lee Travino once observed that if a player is putting badly, then one of four things is wrong: A bad stroke, a bad system for reading putts, a bad attitutde or a bad putter. Whatever the case, if you are putting badly, there are a few elements of overall putting technique that a majority of touring and teaching professionals support. Check the following to improve your putting:

1. Eye line directly over the ball.
2. Set the clubface square to the target.
3. Position the ball forward of center.
4. Keep body motion limited.
5. Use an accelerating stroke.
6. Hit the putters "sweet spot".
7. Be comfortable

With August here, it will be quite a month for tournaments. August the 9th we will be having the highly anticipated Member/Employee Scramble. Beginning the second full week in August, we will be running the Skaggs Classic at LedgeStone. The event will close the golf course in the mornings the entire week. It should be a big event and an exciting week for all parties involved. Other notable tournaments this month are: The Red Cross, DARE, Meeks and the State Senior Amateur.

All men have until the 14th of August to complete the first round of the match play championship. The dates for the LLGA Invitational and the Men’s Member Guest are also in place. The LLGA Invitational is full and we are accepting applications for the Men’s Member Guest.

I would like to thank all of the members and businesses who contributed to the Sticks & Stones Foundation. The Junior Golf Clinic was held in early July and was a hit with the kids. The LedgeStone Ladies Golf Association (LLGA) and Missouri Partners Inc. (MPI) donated substantially to the cause and have made it possible for an area student to receive a $2,000 college scholarship in the year 2008.

Please sign up for the Labor Day Scramble. This year’s event will be a Couples Scramble with stableford scoring. You may sign up as a couple and will be paired by the Pro Shop based on ability.

Finance Committee

The Net Income for June was $76,000, $42,000 under our plan of $118,000. For the six months, net income was $258,000 compared to our budget of $345,000, or a negative variance of $87,000. Following is a discussion of the reasons for these results.

Operating Income results for June were below budget by $39,000. Our budget estimated total income to be $298,000 the actual was only $259,000. This was due to golf course revenue being under budget by $10,000, road impact fees (the POA gets $1,000 every time a housing unit starts construction and fewer were started than planned) were under budget by $21,000. Accordingly, ACC permit fees were under budget by $9,000.

For the six-month period ending June 30th, operating income was $1,201,000 compared to a budget of $1,290,000 resulting in income being $89,000 under budget. Golf course revenue was under budget by $67,000. As Darrell mentioned in the June newsletter, bad weather and less play because LedgeStone is now private is the primary cause for this variance. June’s results reflected this too. Road impact fees for the six months were less than budget by $33,000.

Total expenses are basically right on plan, although between departments there are variances. For the Pro Shop operations, the month of June is right on, but for the six months, expenses (wages) are $35,000 under their budget. The restaurant expenses are as planned except for maintenance cost to the air conditioners. This cost resulted in being over budget in June by $4,000 and the six months being over budget by $10,000. The golf course expenses were over budget by $3,000 for June, due mostly to wages. For the six months, expenses were over budget by $32,000, again due mainly to wages being over budget by $26,000.

A.C.C. (Architectural Control Committee) Report – Larry Moffitt (417.334.0636)

 Stonebridge Village is still under development and there are construction sites throughout. This means a lot of activity in and around these sites. Please be patient with the workers at these sites while they are loading or offloading equipment, delivering or removing building material, etc. We require that they not restrict or block the street any longer than necessary. We require the homeowner or builder to park their equipment only on one side of the street. Some of our streets are very narrow so please slow down, be cautious and courteous near these work sites. The last thing we want is anyone injured. Thanks for your cooperation.

The only signs allowed on private property in Stonebridge Village are For Sale by Owner and Realtor signs. These signs cannot be larger than 144 square inches. Only one sign maybe placed on the property in the front and off the street right of way. Property adjoining the golf course may have a sign in front and one in the back. There are no other signs allowed. Security or P.O.A. representatives will remove all other signs. Please pick up a revised Rules and Regulations packet at the P.O.A. office for a complete explanation on signage.

The storing of equipment, vehicles, building materials and/or landscaping material on private property, where there is no building permit issued, is not allowed. Property owners cannot grant permission for anyone to store equipment, vehicles, building materials and/or landscaping material on their property unless the A.C.C. has issued a building permit for that specific property. Violators will be fined $50 per day per violation until the material is removed and the lot condition restored to the approval of the A.C.C.

Property owners should contact the P.O.A. or the A.C.C. before performing any exterior changes to their property. This will avoid the possibility of fines and/or the A.C.C. requiring the changes be removed.

LedgeStone Grille & Nicol’s fine Dining– Bob Nicol (417.239.0445)

I guess by now everyone realizes we discontinued our Sunday brunch. We tried it for three months and it just did not work out. We will most likely try this again next season. We will still offer brunch on Thanksgiving, Easter and Mother’s Day.

Is anyone planning a party? If so, please give us a call as our calendar is filling up fast. We have several weddings booked and are starting to reserve dates for Christmas parties.

I hope the rain lets up some in August as I miss our Thursday couples dinners. I would appreciate everyone indicating on the sign-up sheet in the Pro Shop if they plan on attending the dinner. It really helps us with scheduling and food preparation.

I really enjoy the following recipe for macaroni salad. It is quite basic and simple, but many good recipes are. I think this is one we used at the Wooden Nickel many years ago on our salad bar.

Macaroni Salad

Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper


1/2 lb. macaroni, cooked and drained
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
1/2 cup chopped red peppers
1/2 cup chopped green onions

1. Combine dressing ingredients
2. Stir into remaining ingredients
3. Cover and chill

LLGA (LedgeStone Ladies Golf Association) -

Tuesday play in the LLGA 18-hole league begins now at 8:00. We are trying to beat the heat as well as the rain. There was no report in last month's newsletter; here is the summary of our activities:
Our Scramble/luncheon is on the first Tuesday of each month. In June, there were 19 players and the winning team was Gae Redford, Kay Russell, Bonnie Suomi, and Bonnie Ransdell (nicknamed Gae, Kay, and the two Bon-Bons!). On July 3rd, 19 players posed in red, white, and blue for a group picture before the scramble. The winning team was Barb Thompson, Annavee Duncan, Jolene Richards and Betty Alexander. Each day we had a lovely lunch after golf, following by a business meeting led by President Kay Russell. We are in the midst of planning September's Invitational; Shirley Douglas is our Vice-President and in charge of the event.

We were rained out once in June, and only got nine holes in another day. Here are the games, winners, and birdies:
May 22nd - Blind Partners - only 9 holes played before the rain hit! Winning pair was Kay Russell and Shannon Hunt. Second place was Annavee Duncan and Vicki Wratten. Jane Julian had a birdie on #3.

May 29 - Only even holes counted toward the day's game - all holes count toward our computer and ringer scores. Patty Lund won 1st place, with Shirley Douglas 2nd and Vicki Wratten 3rd. Marilyn Sassman had a birdie on #5, and Annavee had one on #15.

June 19 - the Game was low net - Kay Russell won 1st place, Mary Gillespie 2nd, and Jeri Smith and Vicki Wratten tied for third. Closest to the pin winners were Mary Gillespie for #5 and #15, and Gae Redford on #3.

June 25 - Only holes beginning with F and T counted toward the winning scores today. 1st place was Barb Thompson who shot a 79! Susan Warner won 2nd place, and Jeri Smith 3rd. There were 3 birdies today: Marilyn Sassman on #8, Gae Redford, #9, and Barb Thompson #14.

July 10 - Odd holes counted today, and Jody Jennett was the 1st place winner. Shirley Douglas came in second and Carol Van Meter third. Birdies today were Betty Alexander and Sandy Copperstone on #14 and Carol Van Meter on #15. This week is also the Sticks and Stones Junior Golf Clinic. The LLGA sponsored eight of the 65 participants. We are proud to help with this outstanding endeavor.

submitted by LLGA Publicity Chair, Marilyn Sassman

Delinquent Assessments

August Meeting Schedule

StoneBridge Village

Board of Directors

POA Committee Members: