IFA Halloween Party October 31

On Halloween night (October 31 at 5 PM) there will be a costume party for Inverness residents, young and old, with or without kids.  Everyone is invited.

Cybel Wigle provided the following details about the event:

I would like to clarify a miss conception about the Halloween party that will take place in the 8100 block of IRR, at 5pm [on Oct 31]. 
After talking to several people in the neighborhood, it seems that many understood that the party was only for parents and kids. That is totally INCORRECT. 
Everyone in our community is WELCOME. People with or WITHOUT kids, couples, singles, friends, and all are welcome. You can also to dress-up or not. We are highly encouraging dressing up to make of this day a more festive one. 
We apologize for the confusion and hope to see everybody on Halloween day :-)
Please pass the word for those who cant reach this page.
Hoping to see ALL our community together on Halloween day :-)

Harvey

iftblog@gmail.com

Saving Money on Environmental Improvements

Sabine Dohrn, former IFA board member and environmental expert, asked me to post her email about how to take advantage of rebates offered by various sources.  Taking advantage of all possible rebates might save you over 60% of the cost of environmentally friendly upgrades to your house.

Here is Sabine's email:

With climate change, raising energy prices and financial uncertainty looming, it seems like a good idea to look into the rebates being offered by Montgomery County, Maryland and PEPCO for home improvements that are energy efficient.  One can simultaneously take advantage of all of them and can save over 60% on the cost.  If you need to replace your furnace, are planning to insulate your attic or buy a new appliance, you may want to check these websites out.  Be careful though to make sure to hire an approved auditor if you are planning to do for example envelope improvements, i.e. wall or attic insulation or duct sealing etc.. The cost for the audit is $100 which is reimbursed by Maryland. 

For MEA (Maryland Energy Administration), instructions can be found at the link below. 

These funds will soon run out.  

http://www.energy.state.md.us/homeperformance/documents/CustomerChecklist3-29-11.pdf

Montgomery County  requests that the homeowner submit the rebate application on-line:

http://www.mcenergyfunding.com/ResidentialRebates/

Pepco rebates are applied for by the contractor, after all work has been performed.

http://homeenergysavings.pepco.com/md/home-energy-savings/home-performance-audit

One should really take advantage as one can save up to 70%, taking into account 

rebates from these three sources plus federal tax income credits.

Harvey

iftblog@gmail.com

Crime Reported in Inverness Forest

As a followup to the Sept. 30, 2011 blog post on burglaries in Potomac, here is a report of vandalism and possible theft in Inverness Forest.

Sandra Gaddy asked the president of IFA, Sharlene Shugarman, to inform the community about the vandalism. Here is her email:

"I just want to report that my gas tank cover was torn off my car lastnight. Gas tank covers were also tapered with on two other cars.None of us are sure how much gas was in our tanks but we think gas wassiphoned. We reported the matter to the police and thought you mightwant to alert the community to be vigilant.
Sandra Gaddy"

If you have a comment or additional information, please post it here or on the Inverness Forest Group at Facebook.

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If you look to the right sidebar, you will see that my Inverness Forest Today blog has had over 11,000 page views since its inception in 2008.  I appreciate all the interest and the positive comments over the years.  I intend to continue posting to this blog after I leave the board in a few days.  I appreciate your emails on topics or questions you'd like to see addressed.

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, "A New Community Communication Resource" (Oct 7, 2011), the new Inverness Forest Facebook Group is a very good way to directly connect with other residents in our community.  The group already has 21 members and is growing rapidly.  I hope you'll take advantage of this resource and join the group.  That way you can see what other residents are saying and perhaps add to the discussion yourself.

Harvey

iftblog@gmail.com

A New Community Communication Resource

I'm happy to inform you that we have a new communication resource for Inverness Forest.  Thanks to the efforts of Renzo Bejarano, we now have a Facebook Group called "Inverness Forest".  This group is not sponsored or affiliated with the Inverness Forest Association (the board).  Any posts or comments on the group's page are the views of individual residents.  Of course board members may view the posts, add comments, and create their own posts if they wish.  

Although I will continue to actively blog here on Inverness Forest Today after I leave the board next week, there are many reasons for you to join the new Facebook group.  One is that we shouldn't be dependent on just one person (me) to handle the communications with residents.  Things happen and we might find ourselves without my blog if I were to move away or otherwise be unable to continue to write my blog.

Another reason is that, while I try to be fair and reasonable, what I put on this blog is based solely on my judgement.  Inevitably, I have to exclude some things that I don't consider useful to communicate but which others might think should be brought to the attention of the community.  We really shouldn't have me or anyone else as a "gatekeeper"; everyone should have a way to raise issues and provide information to the community.  That is what the Facebook group does.

Anyone who joins the Facebook group can create a post on the group page that can be seen by all group members when they visit the Facebook group's site.  Posting and adding a comment to someone else's post is easy.  There is a box on the page that says, "Write Something ..."  Just type into the box and hit return.

Although just started a few days ago, the group already has 12 members (As of October 9, membership has climbed to 21).  The more residents that join this group, the more useful it will be to everyone.  Any Facebook user can find the group by typing "Inverness Forest" into the Facebook search box.  Once on the group page, you can request admission to the group.

Harvey

iftblog@gmail.com

Request for Recommendations

Shaowei Li is asking for a contractor recommendation to work on her kitchen and bathrooms remodeling.  So many people have helped residents with their recommendations in the past. I hope that this will continue.  Shaowei would also like to have some recommendations on contractors who do roof replacement/repairs.

Here is Shaowei's email:

Dear Harvey, We want to have our kitchen and bathrooms remodeling. Do you know any good company? 

Thanks! Shaowei Li 

301-299-8877

Harvey