From the Editor

By Stephen Sapp

Among many other things that we can say about spring, it is unquestionably a time of change, and this spring many of those changes are especially welcome. Most immediately noticeable is the long-awaited and much-appreciated change from winter to spring, with the appearance of all the beauty we now see everywhere around us, the longer days, and the end of cold weather. And of course the continued and accelerating rollout of coronavirus vaccines brings the promise of the change we have most longed for over the past thirteen months: a return to some semblance of the life we knew pre-pandemic, including the social interactions we have so missed. If you have not yet received your vaccination, please do so as soon as you can, primarily for your own sake but also for the rest of us (see the article in this issue about expanded eligibility and the new sign-up procedure for appointments).

I want to highlight another significant change: With this issue we say “good-bye” to Chuck Foster as chair of the Neighborhood Watch Committee. For the past four years, Chuck has diligently shepherded this important community effort, provided wise counsel to the Board about security-related issues, and contributed informative and useful articles for this newsletter (and he was almost always the first person to submit a contribution each quarter!). Lakeport Cluster owes Chuck a deep debt of gratitude for all his hard work on our behalf. We are very pleased to let you know that James Pan has assumed the chair of the committee; please be sure to welcome James to his new responsibility when you see him out and about watching the neighborhood! And remember, Neighborhood Watch is a community undertaking that requires all of us to be alert to anything suspicious in Lakeport. To paraphrase a slogan from World War II—“Loose lips sink ships”—we can say, “Open eyes contribute to crime’s demise”!

Lakeport is experiencing a number of other changes this spring (bidding farewell to some long-time residents and welcoming new neighbors, repaving of all our streets and repairs to sidewalks and driveways, landscape enhancements, and more), some of which you can learn more about in the articles in this issue. Enjoy this wonderful season and stay safe.

As always, feel free to send any feedback or suggestions you have for our community newsletter to ssapp@miami.edu. We would be especially interested in submissions of your favorite recipes for our “Ripples Recipe” feature.