Neighborhood Pride Week

While chatting with a group of people, I remarked, “I’ve lived in Dale City for a quarter of a century!” One of my group said she had only lived here four years, and another told us she’d lived here for 41 years!

No matter how many years are involved, how do you feel about living in Dale City? Are you proud to live here, or do you make disparaging remarks about your community? Do you love living in a small town surrounded by government and history, or are you embarrassed about living in a moderate income community?

When I visited Italy, I was stunned by the age of the properties. Not only the classic architecture like the colosseum and the cathedrals, but private homes that have been standing for hundreds of years. Italians don’t tear down their homes and build new ones. They pride themselves in the continuing occupation of their home for generations. Why don’t we feel that way about our homes in America? Why don’t we feel that way in Dale City? The answer to that question is that most of us do feel that way.

We should and we can feel proud of our community. We worked hard to live here. No matter whether you rent or own, home is where you live. Your home, your neighborhood, your community is a reflection of you. Your surroundings exemplify your commitment to your family and your neighbors. That’s a good reason to get involved in community issues.

This year will be our third Neighborhood Pride Week in Dale City. Our goal is to mow, edge, trim and sweep the two and a half mile parade route, so that Dale Boulevard looks perfect to the nearly 10,000 visitors who view our annual Independence Day parade.

We send a letter to the residents along the parade route, explaining our goal, and fortunately for us, most of those folks already have neighborhood pride! There are some properties, though, that require attention, so those will be our focus. We are willing to help elderly or handicapped residents who can’t afford to trim their overgrown bushes. We’ll edge the walk in front of a vacant house. If someone is storing materials, trash or debris, we’ll ask them to move the items to the landfill or store in a shed.

I’d like to ask you to help us.  We’ll work June 24 through July 3. We strive for teams of four or five people as a group. If you can’t talk four friends into helping you, I’ll make sure you get a spot on another team. Most of the work will be done on the weekends, but any time we have a team during the week, we’ll work a few hours.

We supply you with trash bags, gloves and safety vests. We have enough tools to equip several teams at once, but it will be helpful to have additional edgers, weed whackers and brooms. Please contact me to get on our Neighborhood Pride Week roster.

Help us reflect the pride in our community. Volunteer for a few hours or for several shifts.

Connie Moser: 703-590-6662 or email: moserconnie@hotmail.com