UPDATE on REVITALIZATION

	Village of Devon WELCOME Milford, Connecticut

The American Red Cross is sponsoring a national "Holiday Mail for Heroes" campaign to receive and distribute holiday cards to service members and veterans both in the United States and abroad. Holiday Mail for Heroes, which began Tuesday, Veterans Day, is a follow-up to the 2007 effort that resulted in the collection and distribution of more than 600,000 cards to hospitalized service members. This year's program will expand its reach to not only wounded service members but also veterans and their families. The goal is to collect and distribute 1 million pieces of holiday mail. "As we enter this holiday season-a time to celebrate with family and friends-it's important to remember the thousands of men and women who serve our nation in harm's way and those who are recovering in military and veterans hospitals," said Army Col. Norvell V. Coots, commander, Walter Reed Health Care System. "The Holiday Mail for Heroes program is a wonderful outreach effort and a great way to acknowledge the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform."

Holiday cards should be mailed to:
Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD. 20791-5456

All cards must be postmarked no later than Dec. 10. Cards should not be mailed or delivered to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. For more information, visit www.wramc.amedd.army.mil or www.redcross.org/holidaymail for Holiday Mail for Heroes program guidelines

UPDATE on REVITALIZATION:

On Monday morning the revitalization committee met with the Community Development Director to discuss the revitalization of the access to the beach at the end of Naugatuck Avenue. This included making the gazebo, that was built and donated by the Island View Condo group to the City, more visible to the public. Don Mathiesen, who lives in the condos, submitted a suggested sketch and written suggestions. I submitted pictures of the area to show how the gazebo is hidden such as to imply ownership of the condos rather than the city and the current beach access.

Click on picture to enlarge

Tom Ivers, Community Block Grant coordinator and an integral part of the Community Development office (CDO) will research property lines from city survey maps and also signage to show where the public access to the beach is.

The CDO will also initiate talks with the architectural firm Milone & McBroom ( the firm involved in the redevelopment of Devon) for possible development of a plan for revitalization of the area.

Funds previously set aside for this, by the previous WBA board, will be used to initiate this project.

I have attached some pictures of the area to be upgraded.

We must be ever moving on the revitalization of our neighborhood. With the mixed-use project started at the former shopping center, it is in our best interest to show signs of improvement to future residents.

To quickly change the subject, just a reminder that Sunday 26 June @ 5 p.m. there is a festival meeting at my house. ALL volunteers are encouraged to attend this meeting to finalize the plans for this years' festival.

Have a GREAT New England Day!! and please share this correspondence with your neighbors who are not on the WBA e-mailing list.

Rich Coda, President

WBA