GreyHawk Landing residents build a community

GREYHAWK LANDING — Carrie McQueen grew up in a 200-person farming town in Canada, before moving to New York as a child.

“We were always doing things (together),” McQueen says. “You knew everybody. It was the typical small town.”

Her new neighborhood, GreyHawk Landing, isn’t much bigger — about double in size. And, yet, until recently it lacked the sense of community with which McQueen was so familiar — and so desperately craved.

She and a team GreyHawk Landing residents — Lindsey Wilson, Debi Romano, Jeanne Cody, Lorna Smith and Lisa Wolfe — have been working hard to foster that hometown feeling within their development. It seems to be working.

The Facebook page McQueen started received 100 likes within 24 hours and has been a vehicle through which other residents have been able to start running groups and other groups, as well.

And, since May, the group has organized multiple events, including a spring festival, family pool-party nights, adults’ mix-and-mingle events and even a Fourth of July parade.

“We’re trying to reach every aspect of the community,” McQueen says.

She smiles as she describes how thankful neighbors have stopped her in the grocery store.

Romano, who got involved after attending the group’s first event, chimes in.

“It’s great because you get to meet your neighbors,” Romano says. “Where I grew up, you always celebrated with your neighbors.”

SOCIAL HOUR
Although the women have known each other for just a few months, they chat as easily as if they’ve known one another for years.

Their enthusiasm for event planning and for fostering a sense of community within GreyHawk Landing has forged a bond between them.

The ladies meet every Monday night to plan, but they correspond throughout the week, as each member of the group is swept up with the next “big idea.”

The possibilities, they say, are endless.

“Everybody listens,” Romano says. “We think about (the ideas). There’s no (right or wrong thing to do).”
Wilson agrees.

“Everything is a learning curve for us,” she says. “Everything can be tweaked.”

Smith already has been circulating a monthly GreyHawk newsletter, which includes listings for birthdays and anniversaries, social clubs, a recipe of the month and other information.

The bulletin will convert to a digital version in the coming months, but Smith says the committee will make some hard copies for less-computer-savvy residents.

“It brings everybody together,” Smith says of the events. “We’re really excited about the year ahead.”

FINDING A COMMUNITY
Jeanne Cody’s street is close-knit, thanks to one resident who hosted a happy hour at his home every second Friday of the month. Now, residents take turns hosting the event, she says.

“Everyone on our street knows each other,” she says.

But, that scenario is not the norm, and it prompted her to get involved in the newly formed social committee, which resident Bob Bianchi organized in January.

Although Bianchi, the committee’s only male member, has been out of town for events and planning sessions so far, he couldn’t be more excited about what’s happening in the community.

He and his wife, Tina, had organized events in their former neighborhood in Virginia. They purchased a home in GreyHawk Landing in 2005, but did not make it their primary home until 2010.

“It’s a really beautiful facility, but it’s sterile; we’ve got all these amenities but there’s no opportunity to meet your neighbors,” Bianchi says. “We saw what was happening. I said, ‘We need to do something; it’s not right.’”

Bianchi began spreading the word through friends and social media. A moms’ group in GreyHawk took interest.

“They felt the need as well,” Bianchi says. “All these volunteers came together. It’s just been a successful adventure. I was the genesis. They took the ball and ran with it. It’s obvious the community needed this; it’s incredible the number of people who have turned out.”

Bianchi admits he was worried the women may be over-committing themselves when he learned how many events they’d planned, but the women disagree.

“Event planning is kind of in our blood, but it’s never been tapped,” Cody says.

The women say they like the community-wide focus of their social committee, which became affiliated with GreyHawk Landing’s Property Owners Association in late July.

Not only do events give neighbors a chance to meet one another, but they also foster multi-generational relationships, create a sense of stability and make people more aware of what’s happening.

The women also say their efforts would be fruitless without the help of other volunteers and their husbands, who help their vision become a reality.

“The success of this isn’t just us — it’s the community,” McQueen says. “Without the community, it would just be ideas.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].