 Upcoming Summer Picnic: June 14th!
Mark your calendars and dust
off your lawn chairs for this
year’s Summer Picnic:
JUNE 14th at 6PM
2721 OVERHILL CIRCLE.
Along with the traditional location,
thanks again to Becky
Hansmann, we will enjoy much
of the same entertainment
we’ve seen in the past. Just For
Fun and your neighbor Kellie
Vonschipmann will provide an
inflatable play area for the children.
We really appreciate
Kellie offering this feature once
again at no charge to your Association.
An invitation will be
extended to our local Fire and
Police Departments to thank
them for another year of service
to our neighborhood.
We again thank another
neighbor and local businessman,
Barrett Hobbs. Barrett can
usually be found at his bar and
grill, The Scoreboard, at 2416
Music Valley Drive, but a couple
of times a year he works
from home and brings his mobile
smoker to Bluefields to
entertain his
neighbors.
This is an event for the
whole family and is
always a lot of fun. It’s
a perfect opportunity
to meet our many new neighbors and reconnect with
friends who have lived here
much of their lives. This event
is sponsored at no cost to you
by the Bluefields Homeowners
Association but is open to
every resident of the entire
neighborhood to offer a platform
for all of us to meet, greet
and build a sense of community.
— Mark Fox, BHA VPS.
 Greenways and Planes
Our neighborhood is being
both positively and negatively
impacted by Nashville area
projects.
First the good news! The
opening of the Cumberland
River Pedestrian Bridge provides
close access to several
more miles of greenway. The
existing Shelby Bottoms Greenway
is truly a gem in Nashville’s
greenway system. It can now
be accessed by parking at the
Wave Pool parking lot (Two
Rivers Parkway) and walking
across the beautiful new bridge!
The Shelby Bottoms Greenway
runs along the banks of the
Cumberland River all the way
to Shelby Park. It meanders
through fields, forests and wetlands
and has both paved and
natural trails. So, put on your
tennis shoes or get on your
bike and enjoy our new greenway!
Now for the bad news! As
most of you have probably
noticed, we are getting a lot
more air traffic over our
neighborhood lately. This is a
result of two of the airport’s
four major runways being shut
down. Runway 13-31 and 20L are both under reconstruction
for safety updates and FAA
requirements. With both of
these being down, areas both
north and south of the airport
will continue to be affected by
more aircraft traffic.
Unfortunately, these projects
are going to take some time.
Runway 13-31 is scheduled to
be back up by September. Runway
2R-20L is scheduled to
come up in October.
So, it looks like a noisy summer!
— Mark Fox, BHA VPS.
Spring Update
2008 is shaping up to be a
very active year for Bluefields.
I wanted to touch on some of
the upcoming events for you
to keep in mind.
To start, I want to thank all of
you neighbors who participated
in this year’s Spring
Clean Up
held a few
weeks ago.
We had a
great turnout
and
accomplished
more than
ever this
year because of your time and
effort. I also want to thank
everyone who has returned a
Neighbor Survey this year to
help provide input for your
Homeowners Association.
The Home Tour will take
place towards the last quarter
of this year and tie in with the
Christmas Season. I’m glad
we can open our homes and
neighborhood to help benefit
the Buchanan Log House,
especially during the year of
its 200th Anniversary. We’ve
had a great response from
neighbors willing to show
their homes and there’s still
time to add your home to the
schedule if you’ve been considering
it. Please contact
Glenda Paulk, BHA Secretary
at gpaulk@gafundraising.com
or 391-3656 if you are interested.
Our Summer Picnic is scheduled
for Saturday June 14th at
6pm at 2721 Overhill Circle.
I’d like to thank Becky for
opening her backyard to everyone
once again. This event
is open to all residents of
Bluefields and Bluefield Square
regardless of membership in
the BHA and I hope everyone
can attend.
Based on the survey results,
the BHA is searching for
other membership rewards to
replace the trees we’ve used
in the past. We are currently
looking into mailboxes and
house/street numbers as potential
options. We will try
and meet the wants of the
neighborhood as best we can
with the budget we have.
Speaking of budget, we won’t
frown if you were too caught
up in your taxes to remember
to remit your 2008 dues until
now. Remember, this year
we’re offering a discount to
all members 65 and over with
a reduced rate of $35.00 a
year. The rest of us still enjoy
the low rate of $50.00 until
those Golden Years arrive.
— Jason Holmes
BHA President
Summer Crime Prevention Tips
With warmer weather on the
way, now is a good time to
make sure you are doing all you
can to help protect your home
and car from petty theft! Here
are just a few tips to think
about.
Most burglars enter homes
through open or unlocked windows
and doors. Be sure when
you are not at home that all
your windows and doors are
locked. To determine how
secure your home is, think like
a robber. If you locked yourself
out of your house could
you easily break in? Do you
have any objects in your yard that might assist a would-be
thief? A ladder beside a garage
could offer easy access to a
second floor. Tools left outside
could be used to break a
window or pry open a door.
Lighting is a great deterrent for
burglars. Indoor lighting lets the
robber know that someone is
home, while outdoor lighting
diminishes places to hide.
Don’t hide your keys in a
“secret place.” Instead, make a
duplicate key and let a neighbor
have it in case you lock yourself
out.
When you go on vacation, neighbor to keep an eye on
your house and pick up your
mail and newspapers while you
are gone. Use light timers that
will automatically turn lights on
and off at specific times.
Lock your car and don’t leave
any valuables inside that will
tempt a thief.
Report any suspicious activity
to the police at 862-8600 and
our Neighborhood Watch
Captain, Jamison Mitchell, who
can be e-mailed at Jamison-Mitchell@comcast.net
— Glenda Paulk
 Planting Tips for Spring & Summer
Iris: When they finish blooming,
break the stalk that the blooms
were on off at the ground. Removing
a piece or two of foliage is
also fine. This will encourage more
beautiful blooms next year. Replant
or thin irises from July
through September. After blooming
and thinning, irises appreciate a
6-12-12 granular fertilizer. Reblooming
irises should be fertilized
after they finish the spring bloom -
do not wait until July. Reblooming
irises will usually bloom again between
August and November
unless a cold snap gets them.
Roses: Roses love lots of WATER.
The more you water without
drowning them and leaving them
with “wet feet” the better the
blooms will be. If it is not a rainy
week, then each plant will need at
least a gallon of water weekly and
if conditions are dry you might
need to water more often. In June,
the Japanese beetles will be back.
Beetles love the yellow, pink and
white roses the most. Do not
crush beetles when removing
them, as they emit an odor that attracts other Japanese beetles to
them. Instead, pick them
off and put them in a jar
of soapy water, or spray
with Sevin. Do not purchase
the “bag” for catching
Japanese beetles as
they actually attract more
Japanese beetles.
Peonies: Ants help the
plant open the flower, so
do not remove them
unless you are cutting the
flowers to display inside.
— Ginny Russell |
