PRESIDENT'S CORNER
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Hello Neighbors!
It’s been a fantastic year for the RCNA, and we’re quickly nearing its end. The Fall Garage Sale and Bulk Pick Up are over, and our Winter Holiday event is approaching. We’ve grown leaps and bounds over the last 12 months, and are at the highest point in our membership for at least the last 7 years. This is all due to the tremendous support we’ve received from the residents during this big rebuilding phase for us, coming out of the pandemic.
Please keep an eye out for a couple of important emails coming from us very soon. Once again this year, our members will be able to sign up to visit Santa at the Winter Holiday event in advance. We’re also launching some really exciting firehouse tours, and our members will have priority sign up access for those as well. We should be emailing out those sign-up links within the next week or two.
Speaking of Jollyville Fire Dept, Chief Landi is our newest newsletter contributor and we’re so happy to have him on board. In upcoming newsletters, watch for his seasonal safety tips as well as other firehouse news.
I’m so excited to see what we’ll all accomplish together in the coming year.
And as always, I hope to see you out and about in the neighborhood!
Christine Newman, RCNA President
Winter Holiday in Rattan Park
December 11th, 3-6pm
Please join the RCNA at this Christmas/winter holiday celebration in Rattan Creek Park. Santa will be there for free photo ops. And we will also be featuring neighborhood craftspeople in our gift bazaar, once again this year.
Be sure to watch for the Santa sign up link in an email soon.
We would also very much like to highlight other winter and cultural holidays, in addition to Christmas. So if you have something from your family’s traditions that you would like to share with your neighbors- a food, story, craft, game, etc- please message the RCNA or Christine Newman. We’d be thrilled to make that happen with you.
And if you are a neighborhood craftsperson who makes items that would be a good fit for our gift bazaar, or you have a small business selling gift items, message us as well!
Hope to see everyone there!
*In the event of rain, we will move as much of this as we can accommodate into the community center. *
A word from Jollyville Fire Dept.
Candles are Beautiful, But Dangerous!
In the last decade, candles have made a real comeback as aesthetically pleasing decorations, subdued mood lighting and as air fresheners for all rooms of the home. During adult public fire education classes, one of the points that surprises most people is how dangerous candles really are. With their increase in popularity, candles have advanced to the third most common cause of residential structure fires in the nation. Why are these little bundles of happiness so dangerous? Well, just like we teach all new firefighters, all big fires start with a tiny, little flame and that’s just what a candle is.
In most situations, problems with candles are due to human error. The most common candle error is to use improper candle holders or to fail to use them altogether. Cheap, thin glass bases, paper plates or any other type of flammable candle holder is going to cause a problem. Once the candle burns all the way down, that tiny, little flame comes in contact with its flammable holder and that’s when we get a call. If there’s no holder and that tiny, little flame comes in contact with a table, night stand, or window sill, again, you have a problem.
Another common error is candle placement. Even when using a proper holder, if you place the candle too close to a flammable object, you once again will be reminded that the tiny, little flame is indeed still fire. In my thirty years in the fire service, I have personally seen fires started when a candle was placed too close to a television, a stereo speaker, a kitchen cabinet, window blinds, a bookshelf, a headboard, a lamp shade, a nightstand and these are just the ones I can remember…
Pets are also a problem when it comes to candles. Cats are attracted to the flickering motion and light and anything a cat’s attracted to, they end up playing with. And for you dog lovers out there, dogs can be just as bad. They won’t play with lit candles, but their powerful wagging tails can knock them across a room. Growing up, my parents had two labs and their tails could sweep clean any nightstand or coffee table!
As with anything that is dangerous, make use of candles wisely. Use proper holders, don’t place them near anything flammable and, just like cooking, don’t ever leave them unattended, even for a minute. Once you forget about them, these tiny, little flames will have a chance to give you an ugly reminder of how big fires start.
Jollyville Fire Education Tours are here!
We’re pleased to announce that the Jollyville Fire Department, in conjunction with the RCNA, is going to begin offering free organized firehouse tours to our neighbors. The first set of specialized tours has been scheduled and sign-ups will be available very soon.
Be sure to watch for the RCNA email within the next week, with the link to sign up! Registration will be required, to control the head count for each tour. Members and Friends of RCNA will be getting priority access to sign ups!
Be sure to save the date for the tour you would like to attend:
December 3rd, 11am: Family Tours
(Everyone and all ages welcome)
December 6th, 10:30am: Toddler and Home School tours
(geared to little ones with shorter attention spans, but all welcome)
January 8th, 4pm: Adult home safety education and tour
(this one is limited to adults- they will be going more in depth on home safety and may let us get our hands on some of their wonderful gear!)
MEMBER PAYPAL TRANSITION
MEMBER PAYPAL TRANSITION
MEMBER PAYPAL TRANSITION
Attention, once again:
Members who have signed up with Paypal recurring memberships!
With our new membership management system, we are transitioning away from using Paypal to process memberships. If you are a recurring member who currently pays through Paypal, we can use your help in moving everyone over to this new system and a new payment method.
Here are the steps we need you to take, as soon as you are able:
Fill out and submit the “become a member” form using the payment method of your choice to create an RCNA member account
At:
https://rattancreek.org/membership-account/membership-checkout/
2. Send an email to webmaster@rattancreek.org with the email you used *for your PayPal membership* and the *email you used for your new RCNA account*
Once we have received your email and confirmed payment, we will cancel your PayPal membership for you and send you an email confirmation.
Step 2 allows for people to use a different email address than they used for Paypal. This new email should be where you would like to receive future communications, including the newsletters, from the RCNA.
If you would like to do this now, we can extend your membership by 12 months from whenever you sign up on our website. You may also wait until your current Paypal membership expires, but please turn off the auto-renew.
If you have any questions at all, please contact us.
PET CORNER
by Leighann Hurley
8 Service Dog Facts
Leighann Hurley, CPDT-KA
September is National Service Dog month! Here are eight facts to help you sort through what can be a confusing topic.
#1: Service dogs help people with both visible and invisible disabilities.
Some examples include: guide dogs, hearing dogs, mobility dogs, psychiatric service dogs, allergen detection dogs, autism service dogs, seizure alert dogs and more.
#2: Service dogs are specially trained to perform tasks that mitigate their handler’s disability.
These tasks may include guiding, item retrieval, medication reminder, deep pressure therapy, crowd control, alert to smoke alarm, find an exit, get help, open doors, etc.
#3: Service dogs can be any breed.
Although Labradors and Golden Retrievers are often used by large organizations, there is no official breed requirement or restriction.
#4: Service Dogs do not need to be registered or certified to be legitimate.
Although some organizations certify their graduating teams, there is no requirement to register or certify a Service Dog.
#5: Service Dogs do not have to wear a vest in public.
Many dogs do wear vests, bandanas, leash sleeves, or other special equipment in public, but this is not required by law.
#6: Service Dog teams have public access rights.
Just as a wheelchair user isn’t expected to leave their chair in the car, a Service Dog user isn’t expected to leave their dog outside while visiting a store, theater, restaurant, rideshare, airport, etc.
#7: If a business is uncertain whether a dog is a Service Dog, staff is legally allowed to ask two specific questions.
Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?
#8: The dog’s presence is not a recognized task.
Although the dog’s company is comforting, if that’s the only thing the dog does for his handler, he is not a Service Dog.
BOY SCOUTS
BOY SCOUTS
BOY SCOUTS
The Scouting movement in Rattan Creek is alive and well, even through times of COVID-19. Scouting is a great opportunity for our neighborhood youth, both male and female of almost all ages, to participate in a social activity with their peers to learn life lessons and build leadership capabilities. There are several opportunities for various ages in our neighborhood:
Cub Scout Pack 159 – Chartered on October 1, 1971, Pack 159 is one of the older and more established Cub Scout packs in the Northwest Austin area. Many of our scouts attend Pond Springs Elementary or Jollyville Elementary. We welcome scouts and families from all different backgrounds. Pack 159 is open to boys and girls in Kindergarten through 5th grade.
Online: pack159.org | Facebook: facebook.com/pack159tx
Scouts BSA Troop 259 – Troop 259 serves male youth aged from 11 to 17. Many of our Scouts attend from junior high schools such as Deerpark, Grisham, Canyon Vista, Pearson Ranch, and Cedar Valley along with high schools such as McNeil or Westwood. We meet weekly, camp monthly, and attend summer and high adventure camps annually. We are firm believers in giving back to our community through service. You will likely find our Scouts involved in local school and neighborhood activities.
Online: scout259.org | Facebook: facebook.com/scout259
We were lucky enough to get copies of all the old RCNA newsletters! Every month we’ll include something that was in a past newsletter in the same month or time of year. Enjoy the history lessons!
This month we are combing the old newsletter and the cooking piece again to bring you a delicious recipe from November 2000!
HELPFUL LINKS TO NEIGHBORHOOD INFO
HELPFUL LINKS TO NEIGHBORHOOD INFO
HELPFUL LINKS TO NEIGHBORHOOD INFO
- North Austin MUD 1: https://northaustinmud1.org/
- Rattan Creek Neighborhood Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RattanCreekNeighborhood
- Rattan Creek Neighborhood Buy Sell Trade Give: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RCNBuySellTrade
- Rattan Creek Buy Nothing: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bnplosindioshunterschaserattancreek
- Rattan Creek Tots Playgroup: https://www.facebook.com/groups/766011216785046
- Rattan Creek Pokemon Go: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1378225265618880
- Rattan Creek Women’s Book Club: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rcwomensbookclub