One of the lovely aspects of living in the Deercreek Country Club Community is ease with which one can walk around the community. Deercreek has miles of sidewalks that meander through along all of the streets in the neighborhood, giving residents the opportunity to enjoy leisurely walks with the family, a casual jog, or even daily training for the various races that Jacksonville hosts throughout the year. These sidewalks are a community treasure, and, like most treasures, need to be maintained to be fully appreciated.

If you have spent any time walking the by-ways of Deercreek, you have surely noticed that the sidewalks cross both common areas and the front yards of many of our neighbors. As you might expect, the association is responsible for maintaining the sidewalks in the common areas. What you might not realize is that the individual homeowners are responsible for maintaining the sidewalks that cross their property.

What does maintaining the sidewalks mean? As far as the sidewalk itself goes, it means making sure the sidewalk is not broken and does not present a hazard to walkers. The sidewalk itself, however, is not the only part of the walkway that needs attention. In order to create a truly enjoyable walking experience, the sidewalks need to be clear of any obstructions. The usual culprits for encroaching on the walkways are shrubs and trees. Shrubs need to be trimmed back so that someone walking on the sidewalk can comfortably walk without hitting the bushes. Trees are a real problem. The canopy above the sidewalk needs to be at least eight feet high. The tricky part comes in keeping the branches up. During the dry season, the branches tended to stay high and the sidewalk clearance is not an issue. With the advent of the rainy season, the branches get heavier and tend to hang lower creating a hazard for those walking on the sidewalk. To combat this problem, homeowners need to keep an eye on the sidewalks and trim up any branches that might hit pedestrians. Remember, the height above the sidewalks needs to be at least eight feet.

Well, that's enough about sidewalks for now. All this talk about walking has made me reluctant to spend any more time in front of the keyboard. I think I will go out and enjoy a quiet stroll. Have a wonderful Labor Day!

In case anyone isn't aware, school has started. Please be watchful for children, sleepy eyed parents and school busses. Remember the busses run both morning and afternoon, so anticipate any changes in your normal driving routes. Slow down as necessary.

A thought about safety:

If you are walking, please walk against the traffic and walk single file. If you're biking, please ride with the traffic, single file, and yes, the stop signs apply to you as well as motorized vehicles. Most important, please wear light colored clothing. We get numerous reports of people walking late at night wearing dark clothing. That is very unsafe.

What is the most underutilized asset in Deercreek????

The ponds? The common property areas?

No, not even close. It's the STOP signs. We could easily give 100 citations a month for people running through the stop signs. We're not talking about slowing down a little or almost stopping. We're talking about not even acknowledging they exist. Yes, we did pay a lot for them, but the cost isn't important. The safety they represent is. Even if you look and no one is coming, the word STOP means STOP. Please do so for safety's sake. Next time there maybe someone coming you might not see, like someone on a bicycle.

Pat and Jim Register moved to Deercreek in 2001. They chose this community carefully for their retirement home, and after an extensive search, found their beautiful Bishop Lake home which has been a Deercreek View award winner. When they arrived, Jim and Pat had been married nearly 50 years, both successful Jacksonville business leaders involved in their church and community.

They met in 1948 at Andrew Jackson high school. Jim's family had recently moved to Jacksonville from Tampa and Pat's from the mid-west. They began going steady as Juniors and married the year after graduation.

They were hard workers then as now. Pat rose through levels of responsibility in banking, while Jim enlisted in the Navy and pursued his higher educational goals, culminating in a BS from University of Florida and a Master's Degree from UNF. His career with State Farm Insurance presented ever increasing responsibilities until his retirement in the mid 1990's. Their son, Jim, Jr., a State Farm agent, then called on his father to share his knowledge and work ethic for several years.

Ahead of her time, Pat managed to rise to the positions of Vice President at Atlantic National Bank while balancing motherhood of their boys, Jim, Jr. and Jerry. She retired in 1993 after 40 years in banking.

Pat's financial background has made her a highly qualified Treasurer of Deercreek Home and Garden Club for the past six years. Her first involvement came when she met Dottie Patterson selling luminaries, and she worked in that effort for several years, finally taking responsibility for the management of the sales function as well as collecting and depositing the monies collected, as Treasurer.

Pat's quilt group meets at Deercreek Club to work on the 100+ quilts the 12 members make and give to charity each year. That comes to more than 1000 quilts in the time Pat has lived here. She has also taught quilting workshops in the past.

The Bunco group also depends on Pat to make sure they have the proper number of players each month, and that group has regularly made a day of it by attending Deercreek Home and Garden Club meetings on the afternoons after their games.

Jim Register served Deercreek as President of DCCOA during a crucial time. His experience with a home owners association in their previous Grove Park neighborhood gave him the experience to rally the residents and defeat the developer who wanted to dig an enormous borrow pit just outside our boundaries. This would have jeopardized our security and our water levels. Eventually a bus load of residents plus other individuals appeared to protest the proposal and it was defeated in City Council.

When asked for a comment, Pat said that Deercreek was the best thing that ever happened to them. We think they are one of the best things that ever happened to Deercreek.

Doing Something Positive

Submitted by Len Fritz

People of the Deercreek community are doing something positive about a lingering issue. Men, women, and kids of the community came forward to participate in the first phase of a community improvement project. The project is to bring the area across from the tennis courts and playground on Ashford Crossing up to community standards. This berm area was constructed to hide the golf course equipment maintenance shed. The berm does a fair job of hiding the majority of the building and equipment; but, the berm itself is in poor condition and doesn't measure up to community standards.

Residents of the Heather Lake Court area have been trying off and on for years to get something done about it. These residents have approached the Deercreek Country Club Owners Association (DCCOA) Board of Directors, The Garden Club of Deercreek, and the Deercreek Country Club (a member of the Club Corp family). All with varying degrees of success; but, none were solving the problem. There was, and is, much ado about who owns it and who should take care of it. The ownership is unquestionable. The land belongs to ClubCorp. The problem is, our club does not have money programmed to bring it up to community standards and corporate ClubCorp doesn't either. Yet, something had to be done.

A representative of the Heather Lake Court residents met with the club's newly appointed Director of Operations who is acting as the interim General Manager (GM). The acting GM and resident representative agreed to a community action plan. The plan seeks to improve the looks of the berm immediately; and, through a phased approach, have ClubCorp accept property upkeep permanently. This plan has three phases; clean and clear, plant, and sustain. Phase I started on August 6th when Heather Lake Court homeowners and staff members of Deercreek Country Club joined together to start the project. The pictures here are of the participants in phase I. Present, but camera shy, was a representative from The Deercreek Garden Club.

Plants for phase II are funded through matching contributions by our club to those funds donated from the Heather Lake Court residents.  The Deercreek Garden Club was approached to seek their counsel on what may be viable alternatives in plants and when to plant.  At our community request, the Garden Club has also taken on the responsibility of providing funds oversight for this project.  The garden club has a reputation of success in most every endeavor to improve the beauty and appeal of our community. It is nice to have the support of a proven winning organization. All in all three groups from our community are pulling together and stepping forward to improve a situation.  This situation that has had little success each time the groups have independently tried to solve the problem.  The groups are confident that with pulled resources and focused effort based on a plan this will succeed this time!

more photos on our website>>> 

The View July 2012 

Stannye Baringer and David Marble
10171 Bishop Lake Road W

Sizes: the trees have a trunk diameter of at least 2 inches; all heights are about 10 feet.   

Prices: includes planting and a one-year guarantee. (The prices are the same as in 2008 and 2010!)

Listed below are the trees that we recommend as most appropriate for Deercreek, considering beauty, ease of care, and resistance to pests. Other types and sizes of trees are also available.

• Live Oak: A native that gets wide and magnificent. $220.00
• Laurel Oak: Similar to the Live Oak, but with a more upright habit. $210.00
• Crape Myrtle: Natchez white is native but other colors available $179.00
• Magnolia: It has large white flowers and waxy leaves. $225.00

Placement: according to our agreement with the Architectural Review Board, we must make sure your tree is properly placed to enhance your home and avoid interference with sight lines, paving, or utilities. As soon as you place your order, we will call you to arrange a time to meet and decide on the exact location for planting. We suggest either live oaks or crape myrtles in the area between the sidewalk and the street - we refer to these as street trees.

Use our order form for to place your order  

Deadline: October 15, 2012