I Am a Volunteer - The Neighborhood Watch

I am loving our morning walks.  We have been very faithful at hitting the streets in the morning and have been realizing how much we don't see from the car window.  Walking each day allows us to notice little changes that are occurring...like a bush starting to bloom, the fog layer obscuring the entrance into the marina, a house starting renovations and...the fact that someone tampered with our Neighborhood Watch sign!!!

Over a year ago Jay and I decided that our neighborhood could benefit from setting up a Neighborhood Watch Program.  We knew the neighbors on each side of our house and across the street but venture a few doors down and we only waved to strangers.  So thinking small we established a NW program for just our one block.  We went to each door and in the spirit of Mr. Rogers,  asked them "won't you be our neighbor?"  We obtained and circulated the pertinent information on each family that chose to participate (some preferred "not to get involved") and then hosted a simple gathering on our deck to "press the flesh" and introduce each other.  It seemed to be successful and since then we look out for one another...watching to make sure no strange activity is happeneing at each other's homes, picking up newspapers and mail when someone is on vacation, returning trash bins that are left in the street, sharing excess garden produce and returning escaped dogs to their owners.  Westchester/Playa del Rey also has established an email discussion list for Block Captains that circulates information regarding recent criminal activity or scams and we are able to share that with neighbors.

We also took up a collection and set up two Neighborhood Watch signs at each end of our block.  This morning, one of the signs had been twisted so that it faced away from the street.  It was tightly in place so the "perpetrator" had to have used a tool to turn it.  Since it was not defaced nor removed we assume it was a prank, not a malicious act.  When we returned home from our walk, Jay got a step ladder and a screw driver and remedied the situation.  Did I mention that I am the Neighborhood Watch Supervisor and Jay is the Neighborhood Watch Manual Labor?

Jay fixing the NW sign