Let's Watch Out for Each Other

 

The Valleyist Papers

A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS

WRITTEN IN FAVOUR OF THE IMPROVEMENT OF STEPHENS VALLEY

Author – William Ray

 

Edition 2. Issue 4.

 

Let’s Watch Out for Each Other

 

Nashville changed this week. It is certain that we all want to help heal everyone around us, but as Norman Maclean observed in his novel A River Runs Through It, “So it is,” he said, using an old homiletic transition, “that we can seldom help anybody. Either we don’t know what part to give or maybe we don’t like to give any part of ourselves. Then, more often than not, the part that is needed is not wanted. And even more often, we do not have the part that is needed.” But maybe we should still try. Maybe we should talk about Neighborhood Watch during this time. That seems like a plausible idea.

Several months ago, we had a neighborhood meeting with members of the Williamson County Sheriff Department relative to concerns about “visitors” who were cruising the alleys and checking out cars and other possessions. They gave us some really good advice about how we can lock arms and defend ourselves by employing team “my brother’s keeper” tactics. Their recommendations were not complicated. They just suggested that we get to know those around us. They said we should notice unusual things going on and unknown vehicles that might be parked nearby. They said we should talk to each other more and keep each other posted about planned absences and other changes around our homes. They said we should be prepared to call them when something seems amiss, even on each other’s behalf.

When you think about those recommendations, it becomes clear that what the WCSO recommends is also what we should all be doing to bring ourselves closer together and form an increasing bond with our neighbors. As we’ve discussed before in The Valleyist, and as evidenced by the recent annual “HOA” meeting, no one is going to bring us closer together unless we do it ourselves. While clear answers to our questions are still difficult to obtain from the developer, we can certainly provide clear and concise information for each other, and we can sincerely care for one another.

Thanks to a group of volunteers, we have a neighborhood directory of names, physical addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. One way you are getting The Valleyist is through the email list created from your cooperation with this volunteer group (chaired by Sage Nozko) in providing the directory information. We all owe her and her volunteers a great big thank you for doing this work! But we also owe them thanks for spearheading the initiative to get everyone on Slack, which facilitates communications which are far more efficient and effective than email. The more the SV owners utilize Slack, the more effective we are at uniting and becoming one.

One of the most powerful features of Slack is the ability to create special channels for groups that share specific interests. For example, there is a channel called “#the-valleyist” and you can find current, and archived, copies of this newsletter there. Even more powerful and on-point with the Neighborhood Watch recommendations are channels like “#webster-street-alley.” Sage created this one in direct response the WCSO recommendations. This channel unites a segment of SV that shares a common alley (and those of you without an alley can unite around where you pick up your mail). Residents of that alley sought out their neighbors and urged them to join the Webster Alley channel and they mostly have. So, now anyone in that group can announce upcoming absences, lost/found items, odd vehicle presences, and such. We can even alert each other if the lighting over their garage doors is non-functioning so the lighting can be repaired.

Every alley group, or mailbox group, needs to replicate this effort! All it takes is someone in each group to become an activist and get their group organized. Walk around your group and collect the home addresses, then go to the SV Directory to convert those addresses to names. Give your proposed group a name and ask Sage (860-462-9466 sagenozko@gmail.com) to create a channel with that name. Then start inviting your neighbors, using their names, to join the new channel. If you cannot find them on Slack to invite them, then use the SV directory and email them a plea to join Slack and join the new group channel. After you have a channel populated, start using it to watch out for each other. Use it to offer congratulations to fellow channel members whose family did something cool. Use it to create impromptu gatherings and eat left-overs! Smell a natural gas leak? Use the alley group to see if others smell it too!

This is how we build community and lasting friendships. WCSO says it is also the way we lock arms to help enhance the security of our neighborhood. It seems logical that we should all make an effort to accomplish these simple tasks to form a more perfect community. Perhaps if we are able to do this, simply because we respect each other and want to be more united, we might even earn respect from the developer, and maybe that new respect will result in more transparency, and more responsiveness in the way our neighborhood operates. Norman Maclean also observed, “Help,” he said, “is giving part of yourself to somebody who comes to accept it willingly and needs it badly.”