Happy Valley Pride: July 16, 2008

There is a lot going on in Happy Valley so I will try to get it all in this article. All three items will have an impact on the future of Happy Valley so keep this article and place it where you will remember and attend. Growth and building have slowed down in Shasta County. Now is the time to let your community and political leaders know how you envision the future growth in our community.

Saturday July 22 from 8:00 to 9:30 am to assess the walkability of Happy Valley. We will meet at the Happy Valley Elementary School be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen, hat and water.

Children under 18 are welcome put must be with an adult.

Assessments will be used to help create a vision for the future growth of Happy Valley. Just a thought. It would be nice to also talk about horse trails.

Saturday, Aug. 6, 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. “Community Design Matters: Building Walkable, Healthy, Livable Communities,” presented by Paul Zykofsky with the Local Government Commission. The meeting will be held at West Valley High School, although the room number has yet to be announced.

A workshop to create future community visions for Happy Valley, Sept. 18, 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. and on Sept. 20, a joint session with Cottonwood at 8 a.m.-1 p.m. For more information contact Barbara Jackson at 378-6060.

The Cottonwood Creek Watershed Group, CCWG, is making an effort to organize small farmers to “Maintain the rural and agricultural nature of the Cottonwood Creek Watershed.”

Because there is so much information on this project and I have limited space, I would encourage you to give Jan Lopez, CCWG president, a call at 396-2685. I have read the project summary and I feel this may help keep Happy Valley a rural area. However, it will take all of us getting involved.

So now the question becomes this: Are you going to get involved or are you going to let outside interest change your community? I came from a place where outsiders changed the look of my community. Don’t let it happen here. Get involved! I don’t want to hear complaints years from now that “no one listens.” I have learned from experience that if enough of us get involved, the decision makers will listen! After all, we voted them in to office and we can just as easily vote them out.

Next week I’ll share with you my July 4 experiences. Volunteer, pray for our firefighters and troops, do something positive and look for that silver lining.