REGENCY PARK PARTNERSHIP – SECOND HALF 2022 REVIEW

 

To Our Friends, Registered Users, Supporters and Affiliates,

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The second half of 2022 was an exciting time and a period of unprecedented growth for your Regency Park Partnership.

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First, we welcomed Roberto Tirado as our Fuquay Varina Community Volunteer. Robert is an Air Force Veteran and real estate broker with Anne Powell Real Estate. And joining us as our Community Volunteer in Garner was Sarah West, proprietor of Sarah West Designs and a volunteer with the Garner Grows Community Garden. We also welcomed Monte Blumenfeld, an Army Veteran and a real estate broker with Choice Residential. Monte replaced our relocating Community Volunteer in the Leesville area of Raleigh. 

 

Thanks to their generous contributions, we are now able to reach out to more than 160,000 of our Nextdoor Neighbors in 4 counties.

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Our interviews continue to be our most sought-after and well-read offerings. The second half of 2022 brought an interview with Deborah Fowler of Wake County’s Sandy Pines Preserve. This interview is just one in a continuing series with the superintendent of each Wake County park.  Additionally, Blake Johnson of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Jordan Lake talked with Doc Ellen Tinsley, a leading Bald Eagle advocate in our area. The interview cast light on her journey from life as a veterinarian to her devotion to the eagles and other wildlife of Jordan Lake.

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Perhaps our most recognized interviewee was Patrick Dougherty, the “Stick Wizard’ of North Carolina.  For those of you who are not yet familiar with his creations, I suggest that you visit him at http://www.stickwork.net.  Jenny Thompson, our Raleigh-Crabtree Valley volunteer, who has already visited 3 of Patrick’s sites in North Carolina, was excited to be able to conduct this interview.

 

I also had the privilege of personally interviewing the Turtle Rescue Team of NC State University in Raleigh. During the course of this interview, I learned why turtles try to cross the road, and I discovered how we can help them get to the other side.

 

Of course, not all of our attempts to present you with interesting and informative content are successful.  Some of you knew we had been working on our Trails of the Museum interview at the NC Museum of Art.  We now regret to report that we withdrew from this project for administrative reasons.  We also withdrew from an interview with a different unit of the Museum of Art when it became apparent that the project could not rise to the high standards we set for ourselves and our readers.

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I also want to tell you about our Ask the Expert program that was launched in the second half of 2022.  In this program, area service professionals provide answers to many of the questions that our Nextdoor Neighbors have about wildlife removal, termites, radon, home-security systems, and home inspections.  We are pleased to tell you that we just added a section on heating and air conditioning, compliments of the Maynor Service Company in Raleigh.

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In addition, we added a Safe Swap Spots page on our website, accessible from the main menu. There you can learn how to safely sell or exchange goods and merchandise with someone you do not know.  Another addition was an approved Wake County Parks portal page that helps one decide what parks to visit and where these are located.

 

Coming in 2023

We are pleased to have just published an outstanding interview with the staff of the Prairie Ridge Ecostation, a unit of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. This 40-acre nature wonderland is located close to PNC Arena and Carter-Finley Stadium. Many of you may pass it by on your way to work or to one of these venues. I think you will enjoy this interview, and I hope you will visit Prairie Ridge, which includes something for everyone.

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We are also looking forward to completing our interview with the team at the New Hope Audubon Society, and we are working on another interview about Harris Lake County Park. This will be the next project in our Wake County Parks series.  

 

We have two more forthcoming interviews with units of Wake Technical Community College that we hope to begin work on soon, and we have an interview with the nonprofit Garner Grows Community Garden on our schedule.  Lastly, an interview with a unit of NC State University is in the planning stages and will be scheduled for publication later this year.

 

Finally, we are looking forward to controlled expansion in 2023 as we search for dependable community volunteers to help make our web content available to a wider range of readers.

 

Thank you again for your continued support.

 

Joe Ragone