You're Capable and Excited and We Need You

Many years ago my father was having a conversation with a guy who happened to be a member of a local hobby club. On finding that my father was a fellow hobbyist, this guy became very excited and espoused all the reasons why my father should join the club.

"We have a fantastic club," he said in his conclusion, "but we're missing one very important thing."

My father took the bait and asked, "What's that?"

"You."

When I think back to when former Harford Park Community Association President Don Mathews invited me to apply to the HPCA's Board of Governors, I remember him giving me a very similar pep talk. The essence of participation and leadership in any volunteer organization: "You're capable and excited about what we do. That means we need you."

Recently I met someone from a nearby community who got very curious when they heard I was an executive of the local association. Immediately after asking me how to find out what his local association was, he asked me what I thought it would take for him to become President. I had been with the HPCA for many years before I wanted to run for an office. I told him so and asked him why he was so interested in having one himself.

He replied, "My next door neighbor is doing all these awful things on their property and I want to make life miserable for them." Now I wouldn't go so far as to say there are "good" and "bad" reasons for wanting to participate in your local community association, but this certainly wasn't the best. I'm sure he was at least half-joking when he said this, but it did remind me of how many residents view their associations as nothing more than a bludgeon against stuff and people they don't like.

In reality there are tons of reasons why every city and county resident relies on their association. Things like county Dumpster Days, neighborhood beautification grants, code enforcement sweeps, and nuisance laws require the action of a neighborhood association with active, dues-paying members. When there are issues of zoning changes or liquor board decisions, a letter from the affected community's association has a significant impact on the opinions (and subsequent decisions) of elected and appointed government officials.

All that stuff comes "free" with having a local association so long as there are enough people willing to come together for a regularly scheduled meeting and do all the rote steps needed keep the organization alive. The tough part is continuously reaching out to all our friends and neighbors and putting in those extra hours to really get an understanding of what the neighborhood wants and needs, and using that knowledge to add value to the community as a whole.

I signed up to help run HPCA mostly because I'm a sucker for weekday evening meetings in basement halls with fold out chairs and percolated decaf coffee brewing on a corner table, some deep nostalgia for the church socials of my childhood. By the second board meeting I realized that keeping a community association relevant and a social hall standing is more than enough work for ten people in their spare time. It's what makes me sidle up to new neighbors and tell them "You're capable and excited and we need you."

And I mean it.

For more information about the Harford Park Community Association, please visit harfordpark.org or our Facebook page at facebook.com/harfordpark. Our general meetings are held on the first Thursday of every month. The next meeting will be held at our hall at 2522 Linwood Road at 7:30 pm on July 7, 2011. We would like to invite you to join us at the next meeting to learn about our exciting events and efforts to connect with our own neighbors and the communities around us.