Andover Glen’s Family Hawaiian Block Party – Take 2 on Sept 6th!

By Debra Jones

Our bizarre August rain and cold spell threw us a curve, but we’re going to try this again, and with fall and winter around the corner we hope you are looking forward to attending. The location is easy – follow Dillon Street or Layton Drive until you run into the barricades (but please don’t actually hit the barricades!)

We will be offering Hawaiian wings and grilled pineapple, soda pop and bottled water. We are unable to offer alcoholic beverages, but you are allowed to bring your own.  We would like to ask the homeowners with odd house numbers to bring your favorite finger food and the homeowners with even numbers to bring your favorite dessert. We will have tables set up for the food. Paper plates, silverware and napkins will be provided, and don’t forget to wear your favorite Hawaiian shirt, dress or grass skirt!!

We will have a best drink contest, karaoke contest and the best Hawaiian outfit contest.  If you would like to enter the best drink contest, you will need to bring all of your substances to make the drink.  Your drink can be made with alcohol or non-alcoholic substance. The winners of each contest will receive a

$10.00 gift card.  You do not need to bring a food dish or dress Hawaiian to come to the party. 

If you have any questions, please call Debra at 303-690-9459 or e-mail me at debsew79@msn.com. ~

Andover Annual Meeting, voting for new AG Board Members set for Monday, September 15^th.

By Randy Simpson

Mark Monday September 15^th on your calendar and plan to attend the Annual Meeting for Andover Glen to be held at Shalom Park, where there promises to be lots of interesting things to talk about, including a recap of all the year’s events in the Glen, as well as an election new Board Members (see tentative agenda on next page).

The meeting begins at 7 p.m., and just prior, at 6:30 p.m. there will be an Ice Cream Social in the lobby area at Shalom Park. Hope to see you there! ~

Uncle Sam says, “Participate in your local democratic process by attending the Annual Meeting of your neighborhood or else you’ve got no right to complain later!”

a)    Parker Road Project

b)    Community Garden

c)    Recent Vandalism

Note: While this agenda is believed accurate at the time of printing, it is tentative and may change on up to the night of the meeting as situations warrant. A final agenda will be distributed at the beginning of the meeting.

Great improvements in the Glen this summer…

By Royal Shields

There’s been amazing changes in Andover Glen these past few months relating to home and landscaping improvements. As your Chairman of the Architectural Control Committee, I sure do want to thank each and everyone of you who took the time to research just how it needs to done through our website and submit the proper forms, details of what was requested to be done, examples of materials, drawings, etc. Because of that, all requests were handled quickly and approved in a timely manner.

This summer has been arguably, one of the hottest summers and, of course, driest, on record and through it all, the residents of Andover Glen persevered and the neighborhood shows it. So, congratulations to all of you for really working hard to keep up the appearance of where we live and the pride shows it.

As always, should you ever have questions, please call me at 303-617-1307. For those of you who have never gone through this procedure, simply go to Andoverglen.org, click on forms and click on ACC Request Form, fill it out and get it to me. This pertains to any improvement to the exterior of the structure and landscaping.

So, again, thank you for making the Glen look so good! ~

Join Common Grounds Coffee Club for a tasty and neighborly good time…

The Common Grounds Coffee Club meets around the Glen monthly and offers a great chance to relax and enjoy pleasant conversation and share some laughs with your neighbors. It will next meet on Sept. 26 at 10 a.m. at Penny Loman’s, 4843 S. Crystal St. Please RSVP to ML Hanson at MLHanson-consultant@comcast.net. Hope to see you there!

Top 10 Home Theater Mistakes and Home to Avoid Them

Submitted by Donna Foerster, GRI

Keller Williams Action Realty, LLC

This article was written by Robert Silva, About.com.

You spend a ton of money and time setting up your new home theater system, but something doesn’t seem right.  Did you make any mistakes? Check out this list of common mistakes many of us make when trying to put together a home theater environment.

1.  Buying the Wrong Size Television

A large TV is not always best for a particular size room or viewing distance.  A good rule of thumb to follow is that the minimum optimum viewing distance from the viewer to the TV screen should be about 2 – 2 ½ times the width of the television screen. 

2.  The Room Has Windows

Most TVs do fine in a semi-lit room – however, darker is better, especially for video projectors.  Never place your TV on a wall opposite windows

3.  Buying Cheap Speakers

Some spend a small fortune on audio/video components, but don’t give enough thought on the quality of the loudspeakers and subwoofer. 

4.  Unbalanced Speaker Levels

You’ve connected and placed the speakers, turned everything on, but nothing sounds right.; the subwoofer overwhelms the room, dialog can’t be heard over the rest of the soundtrack, the surround sound effect is too low.  This is easily solved.  Most Home Theater receivers have a setup menu that allows you to note the size, as well as the distance of the speakers from the prime listening position.

5.  Not Reading the User Manuals

You think you know how to put it all together do you?  No matter how easy it looks, it is always a good idea to read the owner’s manual for your components, even before you take them out of the box.

6.  Not Buying a Service Plan on an Expensive or Large TV

Although service plans are not needed for all items, if you are buying a large screen or a flat panel LCD or Plasma Television, it is something to consider because house calls are costly when paid out of pocket and if you have a problem with a Plasma or LCD screen, you cannot repair the individual defect, you will most likely have to replace the entire screen-which probably means the entire set.

7.  Buying by Brand or Price, Instead of What You Really Want

Although considering by brand is a good starting point, it does not guarantee that the “top” brand for a particular item is right for you.  When shopping, make sure you consider a variety of brands, models, and prices into consideration.

8.  Cable Mess

We are all guilty of this.  Every time a new component is added to our home theater, we add more and more cables. Here are two tips: Make sure the cable runs are not too long and lLabel your cables using colored tape or other marking so you know what is going where.

9.  Using Cheap Cables

There is constant debate on whether it is necessary to purchase very high priced cables for a basic home theater system.  However, one thing to consider is that the thin, cheaply constructed cables that come with many DVD players, VCRs, etc…probably should be replaced by something that is a little more heavy-duty.

10.  Not Getting Professional Help When You Need It

Consider calling a professional installer to assess your needs. You might have to swallow your pride and pay $100 or more for the house call, but that investment can salvage a home theater disaster and turn it into home theater gold! ~

Dumpster Days and Free Document Shredding Coming in October

By Debra Jones

The next Dumpster Day will be October 4^th & 5^th.  We are also offering “Document Shredding” on Saturday, October 4^th from 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.  This is a safe, fast and easy way to destroy your unwanted documents and protect your identity. You may not realize it, but Identity Theft the fastest growing crime in the world. Every year, it cost individuals and corporations hundreds of billions of dollars, and affects us all by adding extra costs to everything we purchase. Professional shredding, such as that offered by the company we are using, destroys all paper, paper clips, staples, film, CD’s, checks, checkbook registers and old tax forms. There is absolutely nothing left for any would-be criminal to gather information from. Remember, no cardboard please.  As a special bonus to AG residents, there is no charge for this service this year. The truck will be located next to the dumpster. For more information call Debra at 303-690-9459 or e-mail me at debsew79@msn.com. ~

Hazardous household chemicals recycled at free event

Drop off your household chemicals for free during this important pollution prevention event. The 16^th annual Household Chemical Roundup will take place Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 13645 E. Ellsworth Ave. This event is open to Aurora residents only, so please bring a driver’s license, voter registration or water bill as proof of residency.  Only household items, no business waste.

Safety First! Report Crime When it Happens

·         Always report a crime or suspicious activity. To report a crime, call the Aurora Police Department at 303-739-6000. In an emergency, dial 911.

If you have an ad you’d like to place in the Gazette or even an informative article, please contact Randy Simpson at rgatess@yahoo.com