Do you love baseball? Do you like to learn and teach the ins and outs of the game? Have you ever thought you'd like to learn to coach a team but didn't know where to start?

Then the Haverford Athletic Club is the place for you.

The Haverford AC has been the baseball league for our neighborhood for over 35 years. They have 3 levels of play: t-ball, machine-pitch, and baseball (divided into Minors and Majors). The baseball level has the kids pitching and includes almost all the rules of full baseball, with a few modifications for the kids. The baseball teams are looking for assistant coaches to teach skills, organize practices, and help the coaches and players during the games. You do not have to have coaching experience. You just need some knowledge of the game.

The next monthly SABA meeting with be this Thursday, March 10. As usual, we will meet at the house at Normandy Park from 7:30 to 9:00 pm. Agenda items to discuss include:

1. Spring Park Planting and Easter Egg Hunt -
In hopes of having better planting conditions, it has been suggested that we have the planting event and egg hunt on the same day, as in the past, on the Saturday before Easter, which is 4/16.
Coordinators of each the planting and the egg hunt are still needed.

2. Spring newsletter -
We are seeking contributions to the newsletter now since we will want to get it out soon to promote spring and summer events.

3. Haverford Township Free Library -
Christine Faris, the new Library Director, is interested in attending a SABA meeting to get to know our group and to present information about the library and its resources. What would we like her to showcase in her presentation to our community?

4. Elwell Field playground structure -

Just prior to the 2010 4th of July Event an inspection revealed unrepairable damage to the playground piece at Elwell Park in the background of this photo. It was quickly removed by the Haverford Township Parks and Recreation Department. The Township is planning to work with the Community to select a replacement piece to be installed in late summer early fall 2011. The South Ardmore Betterment Alliance is forming a committee to not only provide input into the process of selecting a replacement piece, but to also raise additional funds to assist with this project. Information on how to donate to this important project will be posted in the near future.

For the last 2 years, our first event of the year was the Easter Egg Hunt, held on the weekend before Easter. The timing of Easter (and therefore the Egg Hunt) was appropriate for also having our spring park clean-up and planting event at Normandy Park on the same day. This year, Easter is much later (April 24). We should think about:

1. When should we have the Easter Egg Hunt? Maybe April 16 with April 17th as a rain date?

2. Who will help organize the egg hunt, including getting the supplies? What age groups should we have for the kids to hunt? Last year the groups were 0-2, 3-5, and 6-8. How does that sound?

3. Can we count on the Easter Bunny to make an appearance again?

4. When should we have the spring clean-up and planting event? Having it on the same day as the egg hunt might bring out more people but the weather might allow us to plant and clean-up the park even before the event.

I attended a Celebration of Community tonight on behalf of S.A.B.A. held by the Six:Eight Community of Faith. I greatly appreciated the invitation and enjoyed the event. Six:Eight has been a tremendous asset in providing volunteers for SABA events for couple years now. I did not know what to expect, but that associa...ted nervousness vanished immediately at first greeting. I felt very welcome and enjoyed the event very much. I received a snap shot into the Community of Faith, and learned about all the groups in the community that they have also been providing volunteer assistance. Thank you members of 6:8, Stef Austinat, and of course Pastor Jason Guynes.

We have a sign that spring is just around the corner - Baseball Sign Ups!!!

The Haverford Athletic Club (aka Haverford AC or HAC) is the little league for our neighborhood and the games are played on our local fields (Normandy Park, Chestnutwold Elementary, and Elwell Field).

They have scheduled two walk-in sign up days:

* Wednesday January 12, 2011 7:00 to 8:30 PM at Chestnutwold Elementary School
* Saturday January 22, 2011 10:00 AM to 12:00 noon at Chestnutwold Elementary School

HAC also accepts sign ups via the mail. Sign Up/Registration Form, Information Sheet, and Sign Up Flyer can be downloaded from the Haverford AC website. http://eteamz.active.com/haverfordac

HAC also has made three exciting changes for 2011:
1. The divisions were re-named: T-Ball (formerly Bronco), Machine Pitch (formerly Pony), Minors Baseball, and Majors Baseball (formerly Mustang)

As we watch our first significant snowfall of the season, I encourage everyone to be thoughtful and considerate with how we all have to deal with the snow. We all know that many of the streets in our neighborhood are rather narrow, with many cars parked on one or both sides. This makes it difficult for the township to plow the streets effectively. One of the best things we can all do is to get as many cars off the street so the plows can clear the streets easily and completely.

I know some houses do not have a driveway and many people share driveway, making it complicated to get cars off the street. I believe that with a little consideration and a willingness to share driveway space with neighbors, we can ensure that the streets are cleared effectively. Once the snow has been plowed, there should be little difficulty with parking on the street again.

WE DECIDED TO KEEP HIM SINCE NO ONE SEEMED TO BE MISSING HIM --- HE'S VERY CONTENT! Anyone missing a loving, talkative cat? Very affectionate, looks to be about a year old, white with gray/black markings. Please contact me at 484-431-4812 if you know anything about her(?) ---

I recently received information about an incident of vandalism against one of our neighbors. She had paint splashed all across the bumper of her car while it was parked outside her house. This was the second time this occurred to her. Understandably, she is furious about this but even more concerning is that she said this makes her not feel safe. She feels these incidents are politically motivated since she has political stickers on her car. She also had other items vandalized on her property, including election yard signs.

The annual Luminaria Night, a celebration of light on the shortest day of the year, will be on December 21. Supplies (candles and bags) will be available for purchase at the Cookies, Cider, and Caroling Party on 12/11/10