The “Tiger has stirred”…!

The Japanese admiral, Yamamoto, at the start of the attacks upon the United States on December 7, 1942, warned his staff that it was ill advised to, “wake the sleeping tiger”.  For the sake of this report, let’s regard ALL of you “Lake Foresters” who have recently given so much of your time and support for the efforts of the new Improvement Committee, as our “Very Own Sleeping Tiger”… we ALL have definitely, “stirred”, and a new wave of change is taking place in the “Forest”. 

Our Lake Forest Garden Club has stepped up and overwhelmingly joined forces with the new committee, Roger Davidson’s new “Adopt a Median”, and the “Neighborhood Watch” programs.  There is an enormous change in the cleanliness of our median along Ridgewood and Bay View Drives!  Our efforts, along with the planned improvements on the part of the City of Daphne, promise to make our “Forest” a delightfully new and more attractive place to live.  There are even rumors of a walking path along these routes.  A “Neighborhood Watch” is being implemented to insure that this scenic new vista is kept up to the new higher standards. If you’d like to become involved with this new and energetic step forward, call Roger Davidson at 447-0092. 

Ken Eslava, Daphne’s Public Works Director, a Lake Forest resident, attended our August meeting.   Ken is not only a personable supporter, but also an energetic participant in our new Improvement campaign.  In my recent meetings with both Ken and Mayor Small, there is a conviction that positive new horizons for our lovely Lake Forest are among the top priorities “downtown”!  We are the largest such community in the state of Alabama and our new mayor and council are taking notice.  

Among the other points of business discussed at the August Improvement Committee meeting, was the appointment of Michael J. “Capt. Mike” Sager as co-chair of the Committee and Joe Myers to head up the “Welcoming Committee”.  Joe is an old jazz guitarist, and no stranger to meeting folks and making them feel at home.  The committee fell back to the one “standby” that gets EVERY situation out of gridlock, “Let’s Have A Party!”  With the overwhelming numbers of newcomers to the “Forest”, the committee has MONTHLY parties planned.  They are for EVERYONE in the “Forest”, and will be family friendly, so BRING THE LITTLE ONES!  Each month we’ll honor all of our newcomers and have a GREAT way for us to meet them and they meet each other.   This will make them feel welcome and at home from the start.  Later in the meeting we recruited some folks who were willing to shoulder some of the “nuts and bolts” sort of the everyday happenings. 

A valid question for some may be, “How are you so certain that all of these marvelous “Changes” are in fact taking place in our community?”  Anyone who happened to have been down at the Yacht Club for karaoke on the 5^th would have noticed that with the 100 or so folks who attended, it may, in the future, become necessary to open up the extra room to accommodate the crowd!

It‘s just so exciting to see an entire community come alive, and I’m proud to be a part of it all!  The oddest part is that not many of these ideas are “new” ones.  In fact, many of them had been in place years ago, and for whatever reasons had faded away.  Perhaps our new “Improvement Committee” is misnamed… With all of the enthusiasm that is showing a better name for us might very well be, “The Pep Squad”.  The Improvement Committee has really just sparked a “glimmer”   We’ve lit a fire under ALL of your wonderful ideas, and made you believe once again, that they are ALL possible.  I like to think of us all as a bunch of folks who love our community, one another, and who would like to share all of the very best things in live with our friends and neighbors. 

Michael J. “Capt. Mike” Sager

Co-Chair, Lake Forest Improvement Committee