Kingspoint Crier: February 2023
Letter from the KP Presidents
Dear Kingspoint Club Members,
February saw a fun Super Bowl/Chili Cook-Off Party at the clubhouse hosted by our engaging Social Committee. A huge thank you to our hosts and attendees; the clubhouse was packed in spite of the torrential rain that evening!
The board would like to officially announce two changes in our Chairperson leadership. A huge thank you to Dave Stanhope and Gina Flango for their many years of service to the Club. We would like to extend a warm welcome to Sergio Ghio (Facilities Chair) and Meredith Robertson (Membership Chair) and thank them for stepping into these important positions.
2023 KP Club Board:
Co-Presidents: Sarah Huber & Kim Lavach
Treasurer: Jim Gravgaard
Secretary: Anna Thomas
Clubhouse Chair: Denise Koch
Facilities Chair: Sergio Ghio
Membership Chair: Meredith Robertson
Playground Replacement Capital Campaign: A huge thank you to Tara Peters, Tracy Sohoni, Larkin Schmidt, and Danny Schmidt for leading the capital campaign to replace the playground at the clubhouse. A giant thank you to members for your generous donations also. With the help of your donations, they were able to purchase a new playground and install it on February 22. A celebration including cookies-for-all was held on Sunday, February 26 for the neighborhood to enjoy.
Dues: Thank you to members who have already paid their dues. Just a reminder that dues have been increased to $700. Please pay in a timely manner. If you pay dues quarterly, the first payment of $175 is due now. Jim Gravgaard, KP Treasurer, sent electronic invoices to members via email; these invoices contain a link to allow you to pay the invoice electronically. You can also send your dues via a check made out to the Kingspoint Club, Inc., P.O. Box 365, Williamsburg, VA 23187.
Membership Committee Members: Thank you to Meredith Robertson for taking on the role of the Membership Chair. We are actively looking for more committee members to assist her. Please reach out if you would like to help (KPpresidents @gmail.com).
Clubhouse News: Please see the rates for renting the Clubhouse in 2023. Make a plan to book your rental today!
KP Resident Club Member: $50 rental / 1x per calendar year
KP Resident Club Member: $150 half day ( 4 hrs.) /$200 full day (8 hrs.)
Non-KP Resident Club Member: $350 half day (4 hrs.)/ $550 whole day ( 8 hrs.)
Non-Club Members: $400 half day ( 4 hrs)/ $600 whole day (8 hrs.)
Recurring rentals for KP Club members: $25 per hour / 6 mo. contract
Lifeguards: Are you interested in becoming a lifeguard? We want YOU! Please read the following information regarding lifeguarding at the Kingspoint Pool in 2023. Continental has posted training classes in Richmond and VA Beach. Information can be found at Top Lifeguard Training in Southern Virginia | Continental Pools. Continental expects to have more classes posted in Newport News.
As in the past, Continental is giving discounted lifeguard training for their own employees and it is our understanding that if the training is completed by April it will be free. Interested applicants can apply at this Continental Season Lifeguard Form. The pay rate starts at $14 per hour and increases depending on the experience, availability, etc.
Pool Attendants: We plan to hire pool attendants to manage the pool during the swim-at-your-own-risk hours. They will work during these non-guarded times when the pool will be open without a lifeguard and children will need to be supervised by a responsible adult/guardian.
Pool attendants will manage the daily pool responsibilities. We are looking for attendants aged 15 and older. We are open to adults helping out, either for pay or as a volunteer. Pay will be similar to entry level wages.
Pool attendants will have the following responsibilities. They will monitor the entry at the pool. They will monitor/Adjust the pool’s pH levels. They will skim the pool for debris. They will clean and arrange the tables. They will tidy the deck and restrooms.
Please reach out if you or someone you know would like to apply (KPpresidents @gmail.com).
Website: Under construction! We are finalizing our new website. Please share any photos that you have of activities, members, and the natural beauty at the pool, the clubhouse, the green, and the dock with KPpresidents@gmail.com. We would love to highlight the many fun activities that we have enjoyed through the years. We will send out an announcement as soon as our new site is live.
Thank you,
Sarah Huber and Kim Lavach,
Co-Presidents, Kingspoint Club
Kingspoint Neighborhood Association News
Signs of spring are popping out everywhere in Kingspoint this week. Mild temperatures make it feel more like April than February, and it has been beautiful weather for long walks and winter gardening. So many neighbors generously share flowering trees and daffodils in their front yards that there are beautiful spots to enjoy on every street.
We appreciate everyone’s ongoing efforts to keep our community looking beautiful and well maintained. Special thanks to the walkers who pick any litter they may find. Realtors tell us that Kingspoint remains a very desirable community, with some families searching for months to find their new home in Kingspoint. We certainly welcome the many families who have chosen to move to Kingspoint in recent years.
Please welcome our new KPNA Treasurer, Karen Schneider. Karen and her husband Phillip live on Kingspoint Drive. Karen, former Treasurer Brandy Belue and I are preparing the 2023 KPNA membership packets, which you will receive in March. We didn’t send out a 2022 membership appeal last fall, so please watch for this spring appeal and support your Neighborhood Association, and the work we do throughout the year, as generously as you can.
Many thanks to Ann Hobson and Phillip Schneider for their continued work at our neighborhood entrance to renew the mulch, blow fallen leaves, and prepare our trees, shrubs and grass for spring. Tom Mahone and Chris Bonday are continuing their dedicated efforts to keep the grass neatly trimmed. Our daffodils have already started blooming. JCSA still plans to pave the driveway near the pump house when the ground has dried and firmed up enough. If you are willing to join our crew of volunteers to help with maintenance chores at the entrance, please get in touch with Ann at annhobson1010@gmail.com.
Kindly help us keep an eye on the neighborhood street signs as you come and go. If you notice one in need of maintenance, you can report it at kingspointwebmistress@gmail.com. David Miller takes care of our street signs when they need repair.
Please watch for your new 2023 Kingspoint Neighborhood Directory , which will be delivered to you sometime in March. Please plan to save and reuse your plastic cover and the neighborhood maps from your previous directories. Publishing an updated Kingspoint Directory annually is made possible with membership contributions to the Neighborhood Association. We publish the annual directory in hard copy only, and distribute only to neighborhood residents, to protect neighbors’ privacy.
We appreciate Neighborhood Association Secretary Kenita Hill’s many volunteer hours to update neighbors’ contact information in our 2023 directory. Please contact Kenita at arubahill@gmail.com whenever you need to update your listing. You’ll notice a huge number of changes again this year as we continue to welcome new neighbors, see neighbors move house within the community, and sadly lose old friends pass or who move on. We ask neighbors to please shred any old directories you may be discarding, to protect the personal information of our neighbors.
If you are new to the community, or have a new family living near you, please let us know so we can visit with a copy of the Kingspoint Directory and include them in the 2023 listings. Many thanks to Mary Haines, who has joined our team of volunteers, and the KPNA Board, to help greet new families in the neighborhood.
As we prepare for spring indoors and out, we will have an opportunity to discard and recycle many household chemicals and electronics at VPPSA’s next
Household Chemical collection day on April 8 at Warhill High School from 8:00 AM until noon. Please check their website for a list of what they will and won’t accept.
Parking on neighborhood streets has been on ongoing issue in our community for many years. Kingspoint’s developers included a provision in our Covenants requiring off-street parking for at least three vehicles at each home (#8). They were aware that our narrow Kingspoint streets, with no sidewalks, make it difficult to get around sometimes. Just think how much smaller most cars were in the 1960s than they are today! And today, we have frequent deliveries by Fed Ex, UPS and Amazon in addition to routine mail deliveries and trash pickups. It can be very hard for residents and visitors to safely navigate our neighborhood.
Since our streets are public, county streets, parking on the street is legal. However, it is important to make sure that driveways and mailboxes aren’t blocked by contractors and visitors who park on the street. It is also important to make sure that there is room for traffic to flow safely in both directions, and for walkers to get off the street at the approach of traffic, particularly on our main streets through the neighborhood.
The most important consideration is safety. Emergency vehicles MUST be able to get to homes when needed. If you or a guest park on the street, please think about whether you have left enough room for a fire engine to pass if a Kingspoint neighbor is having an emergency. Firefighters and EMS workers have told us, while servicing neighbors on our street, that they have difficulty in Kingspoint, and other older neighborhoods, because of on street parking. Sometimes they can’t even get up to homes where services are needed because of cars parked on narrow streets. Courtesy and consideration for others must always guide how we cooperate with our neighbors so we can enjoy good relationships.
Neighbors organized our informal Neighborhood Watch and began our ‘No Solicitors’ policy in October of 2015, with the help of the JCC police. We learned from police officers that anyone going door to door to do business must have a Peddler’s License and a photo ID. Police do a background check when issuing the Peddler’s License.
We have asked neighborhood residents to decline to do business with door-to-door salespersons, and to inform them of the neighborhood’s ‘No Soliciting’ policy. This effort has been very effective, and now we rarely have anyone cold calling at neighbors’ doors. As you may know, political operatives and religious outreach fall outside of the county statues if these workers aren’t offering a product or service for sale. You can reach the JCC Police dispatcher at the ‘non-emergency’ number (757-566-0112) and ask them to have an officer come and speak with anyone going door to door in the community.
Did you know that James City County offers a huge range of recreational opportunities, facilities, and classes, including at their indoor pool and weight rooms, at the Recreation Center on Longhill Road? Learn more about opportunities and fees here. You may purchase passes for family members for just a few months, or for the entire year. Here is a link to the JCC Winter/Spring 2023 Activity Brochure and information about upcoming programs in local parks.
Please visit our KPNA website for news and useful community links, regular updates and a link to the digital Crier.
Kingspoint Calendar
April 9th — Easter Egg Hunt on Kp clubhouse Green
April 9th — Woman’s Club Wine Reception, 5pm-7pm at KP clubhouse
April 22nd — Progressive Cocktail/Mocktail Party, afternoon at KP Clubhouse (21+ only)
May 29th — Memorial Day Picnic and 3rd Annual 5K Fun Run, afternoon at KP clubhouse
July 4th — Pool Cookout at KP pool
Kingspoint Club Board
President — Sarah Huber and Kim Lavach
kppresidents@gmail.com
Treasurer — Jim Gravgaard
jimgravgaard@gmail.com
Secretary — Anna Thomas
annaweigel100@yahoo.com
Membership — Meredith Robertson
mmrobertson77@gmail.com
Facilities — Sergio Ghio
sergghio@gmail.com
Clubhouse Coordinator — Denise Koch
dwkoch3@gmail.com
Additional Club Contacts
Social Committee Chair — MaryKate Galke
mkgalke@gmail.com
KP Crier Editor — Saskia Mordijck and Pieter Peers
kpcrier@gmail.com
The Kingspoint Club, Inc. oversees our community’s recreational property on Northpoint Drive. This waterfront site includes a beautiful clubhouse, neighborhood pool, picnic area, dock, and a children’s play area. The KP Club operates the pool and clubhouse and organizes neighborhood social events for members. Membership in the Club is optional for residents, and includes use of the pool, boat ramp and dock. Members may also rent the clubhouse and pool for social events. Membership is required to attend some Club sponsored social events. Non- residents may also pay annual dues to use the pool and the clubhouse. For more information or to join, contact Gina Flango, ginaflango@gmail.com.
Kingspoint Women’s Club
The Kingspoint Women’s Club final gathering will be a Wine Reception will all members invited to bring an appetizer for 12. It will be held on Sunday, April 9 at the KP Clubhouse from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.
Kingspoint Women’s Club
The Kingspoint Women’s Club next gathering will be a Movie & Box Lunch at the KP Clubhouse on Tuesday, February 14 at 12:00 noon. More information will follow for that event.
The final gathering will be a Wine Reception will all members invited to bring an appetizer for 12. It will be held on Sunday, April 10 at the KP Clubhouse from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.
Facebook Page
Kingspoint neighborhood has its own Facebook page to add info, photos, items for sale, invite neighbors to a last minute movie or bbq, post last minute updates for swim meets, cancellations, etc. This page is a "Closed Group", so you will have to "request" to be added (this prevents just anyone from joining the group and posting spam). But all residents are encouraged to request an invite!
Here is how you do this: Click to go to the KP Facebook group. It will say it’s a closed group, and then in the upper right corner, under the photo, you click on ‘JOIN GROUP’. The Admin for the group will approve all KP residents!
Little Dolphins
Looking to connect with other parents in the neighborhood? Consider joining the “Little Dolphins” Facebook page. It’s a network of parents in the neighborhood with kids ranging from babies to teenagers. (Just search for "Little Dolphins Kingspoint" on Facebook). It’s a nice way to meet parents in the neighborhood with similarly aged kids. If you aren’t on Facebook, or if you are having problems joining the group, email Tracy Sohoni, tracep@yahoo.com
Great Decisions 2023 Lecture Series
Our Great Decisions leadership team, Don Schilling and Abra Smith, are in the final stages of preparation for for the 2023 program to be held on Tuesday mornings in February and March. As was the case last year, our 2023 program will be hybrid; for each session registrants can choose whether to participate on Zoom or in-person by coming to the Williamsburg Regional Library auditorium. Among the stimulating topics and expert speakers are:
Iran and Gulf States addressed by Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Government and Public Policy at William & Mary, who has had a sterling career in military and government service.
Chinese Foreign Policy featuring Professor Andrew Mertha, Director of the China Studies Program and the China Global Research Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
Energy Geopolitics addressed by Dr. Carolyn Kissane, the Academic Director of the graduate pro- grams in Global Affairs and Global Security, Conflict and Cybercrime at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU and who was named one of Breaking Energy’s Top Ten New York Women in Energy and Top Ten Energy Communicator.
Elections in Latin America with Ambassador Christer Persson, who as a member of the Swedish Foreign Ministry held various positions at the home-office and abroad largely dealing with Latin America.
Registration remains open. For additional information on the program and to register go the League of Women Voters-Williamsburg website (https://www.lwvwilliamsburg.org).
Kingspoint Neighborhood Association
KPNA Board President — Elizabeth McCoy — e.mccoy105@gmail.com
Secretary — Kenita Hill — arubahill@gmail.com
Treasurer — Brandy Belue / Karen Schneider
Members at Large — Ann Hobson, Harvey Manning, Melody Nichols, David Miller
Publishing in the Crier
If you have an event to share with the Kingspoint community or some news to report that you would like to see posted in the Kingspoint Crier, please send your contributions to kpcrier@gmail.com before the 20th of the month. The editors reserve the right to refuse and edit any submissions; the editors will not run any articles that overly or covertly target specific demographics or neighbors.
Subscribing to the Crier
If you know someone who wants to subscribe to the Crier, please ask them to send an email to kpcrier@gmail.com. We cannot add names to the distribution list unless the request is send from the email address itself. Similarly, if you are receiving the Crier and you would like to unsubscribe, please let us know at kpcrier@gmail.com.
Your Photographs in the KP Crier?
It is always great to see beautiful pictures of our neigh- borhood. If you want your photos featured in the Kings- point Crier, then please send them to kpcrier@gmail.com. We cannot guarantee that every photograph will be fea- tured, and we reserve the right to crop and rescale the photographs to limit the file size of the Crier.
Neighborhood Ads
Pet Sitting
Available Daily and Holidays, 4 years experience. Yuko Sato phone: 757-634-5447
Pet Sitting
Haley Elton offers dog walking and pet sitting services. Available daily. Contact her managing agent, Norman Elton, at 757-293-8346.
Baby Sitting and Pet Sitting
Carolyn Clinton is available for baby sitting and pet sit- ting. 757-903-7777. Twins John and Catherine Clinton are also available for baby sitting and pet sitting. John
also mows lawns. Call their mother Susan Clinton @ 757- 903-7205.
Baby Sitting and Pet sitting/walking
Hello all! My name is Lexi. I am a pet sitter and babysit- ter who has attended a CPR class and a training course for babysitting. I have lots of experience with animals of all types and breeds. Some other services I offer are wa- tering plants, collecting mail, or taking care of your house while you are out of town. For reasonable rates and more details call or text 757-298-8798
Daily pet visits, walks, overnight in your home.
Experience with dogs, cats, birds, giving medica- tions. Retired teacher. In business since 2016. Lisa Garber. 757-848-8331 or beastiebestiesofwilliams- burg@gmail.com.
Advertising Policy
The advertising policy for the Kingspoint Crier is as follows: business related ads are $10/ edition for a business card ($100/yr); $25/ edition for quarter page ($260/yr); $50/ edition for half page ($525/yr). We can provide an invoice if necessary. The space will be limited to a rea- sonable size to be determined by the Crier editors and space constraints of each edition; small ads of one, or two sentences, from residents and non-resident club members are free as a community service; non-profit and children’s ads are also free.
