Picture a huge room filled with booths representing more than sixty SaddleBrooke clubs. Imagine hundreds of SaddleBrooke residents jamming the aisles, engaged in animated conversation with club representatives, searching for their favorites from this vast smorgasbord of alternatives. Consider the thousands of conversations which took place, the many commitments made, the new windows of opportunity opened for personal enjoyment and satisfaction.
This was the reality at the HOA2 Recreation and Activities Fair, held at MountainView this past Saturday morning. Looking over the scene, I could not help but perceive it as the epitome of everything we are trying to achieve in the United SaddleBrooke Club: making SaddleBrooke One Big Happy Family. As I toured the aisles, I was not conscious of any distinction between HOA1 clubs and HOA2 clubs. They were merely clubs, serving all SaddleBrookers. Is there no more felicitous nor pleasing model for the community of SaddleBrooke as a whole?
Your United SaddleBrooke occupied booth #57, manned by four club members. It was a very busy three hours. Literally several hundred people stopped by our booth, and we engaged every single one in conversation about the club and its mission. There was no time to catch one’s breath. As soon as one fairgoer left, another arrived to take their place.
An extraordinary aspect of these interactions was the unanimity with which fairgoers reacted to our message. A typical encounter proceeded in this manner: Fairgoer approaches. We hand our literature to them. They wear a dubious look. We announce that we are promoting the merger of the two SaddleBrooke HOAs. Their faces brighten. They smile. “It’s about time!” they exclaim. Or “What a great idea!”
We can honestly state that we met only person who did not buy into our message. And this individual did not think that a merger shouldn’t happen, but only that it couldn’t happen. Of course, we beg to differ. All the other hundreds of fairgoers we talked to were supportive of our efforts, with reactions ranging from mild hopefulness to rabid endorsement. It’s rare to see such a uniformity of opinion on a public issue. Clearly, SaddleBrookers want change, and United SaddleBrooke has come along at a good time to pursue it.
I am proud to say that we signed up many new members, and that we now have more than 100 total members. We are approaching 300 e-mail subscribers as well. Most of those were garnered in only the last four weeks. We are probably the fastest growing club in SaddleBrooke, and now one of the larger ones. We thank all those who stopped by our booth and shared their thoughts and concerns. Your enthusiasm will make us redouble our efforts to advance the cause of unification. Vires in Numeris (Strength in Numbers)!
We wish to thank the HOA2 Fitness Wellness and Recreation Committee for conducting such a well-planned event, and for the opportunity afforded our club to relay our message to the community at large. We’ll be back next year, for sure.
Bill Bengen, President
United SaddleBrooke Club
