Summary of 1^st Quarter 2013 WGNA meeting 1/25/13 Ken Agee

The first quarter meeting of the West Garland Neighborhood Association (WGNA) met on 1/24/13. The main topic was the election of President, which per our charter is limited to one 2-year term at a time. Doris Lafayette stepped out from a term that included successful events like “Texas Trash Bash”, “Neighborhood Night Out”, and arranging for several informative presentations at our meetings. She even presented all of the Yard of the Month awards during her term!

Ricardo Rocha was elected the new WGNA President by unanimous vote. Ricardo is a native of Garland, a graduate of A&M College, and also brings to the table lots of innovative ideas for improving our neighborhood. He will preside over our next meeting (April 25^th), so please come out and welcome him in his new role.

In other news, we discussed it, and decided to participate again this year with Garland’s “Texas Trash Bash”. We are still waiting to learn the actual date of the event, but expect that it will be on a Saturday morning in April. We currently have about ten volunteers who plan to show up and help pick up trash at a pre-determined location in our neighborhood (West Garland, Council District 6). Everyone who participated in the past will be returning to help again this year. Last time we cleaned up the drainage area behind the Walgreens at Jupiter & Walnut, but we have yet to decide on the location this year.

Also, we have tentatively decided to set forth another Neighborhood Night Out event this fall (probably in October). This is a tradition that started a few years ago at the national level to encourage neighbors to come out and meet other neighbors. Most of the Country holds this event in August, but it’s too hot here in Texas, so we typically have ours in October.