Tidbit Tuesdays - Edisto Island Serpentarium

Have you been looking for your next adventure with your children or grandchildren? The Edisto Island Serpentarium may be the place to go. There are snake shows and alligator feedings daily (closed Sunday) along with turtle and lizard exhibits. If you go on Thursday you can see venom extractions from snakes!

Diana Baugus clued us into the serpentarium and took these great pictures of the facility.  She visited with their grandsons recently.  "They loved everything including the gift shop.  Had a shaded snack stand with several types of beverages & snacks.  Plus, Edisto Beach Park is just a bit farther up the road.  Several restaurants & a grocery store for your convenience." 

There are currently brochures on the bulletin boards if you wish to take a look!

Ticket Prices

Adult (13 and up)	$14.95
Senior (65 and older)	$13.95
Children (4-12)	$10.95
3 and under FREE
Specials Rates 10% off Admission forValid AAA Card and Active Military

Quarterly Board Meeting - TOMORROW

The quarterly board meeting is TOMORROW, Thursday, July 17th, at 5:30 pm. A pot luck dinner will immediately follow (approximately 6:30 pm) with the HOA providing hotdogs and hamburgers. Bring along a side dish or dessert to share and your drink of choice.

See you there! 

Quarterly Board Meeting

Please mark  your calendars for the quarterly board meeting next Thursday, July 17th, at 5:30 pm. A pot luck dinner will immediately follow (approximately 6:30 pm) with the HOA providing hotdogs and hamburgers. Bring along a side dish or dessert to share and your drink of choice.

Can't make it to the board meeting, but would like to come to the pot luck? That is absolutely fine! Bring your neighbors, owners or renters, to the dinner portion!

4th of July Reminders

Retreat Owners, Residents, and Guests:

As you are planning your 4^th of July celebrations both here at The Retreat and in the Charleston community, we would like to take this moment to provide a few reminders to ensure your holiday is enjoyable and stress free!

FIREWORKS ARE NOT TO BE SET OFF INSIDE OF THE COMMUNITY. There are going to be beautiful shows throughout the Charleston area. Please refrain from demonstrating your own pyrotechnic talents at The Retreat.

Pool Rules and Reminders:

• There should be no glass inside of the pool gates. This includes within your coolers. Please purchase cans or pour your drink of choice into a plastic cup for your enjoyment poolside. There are normally plastic cups available in the clubhouse if you forgot one. 

IF glass breaks in the pool area, the pool must be drained and cleaned before use again. We do not want to have a dry pool on the 4^th of July…

• The pool will be crowded this weekend. Please be considerate of other guests and only reserve chairs that you and your party need. Keep music at personal hearing levels or use ear buds. Keep children (and chasing adults) from running around the pool or jumping into the pool.  As a courtesy to others around you, please refrain from smoking while in the pool.  Consider taking your smoke break in a less crowded area as not to impose on those around you.   

• Proper attire is required. No thongs. No naked children. Only swim diapers for non-potty trained infants.

Remember that accidents in the pool require a 24 hour treatment and pool closure… Again, let us not have an empty pool on the 4^th of July.

• ONLY use the pool house bathrooms if you are wet. The floors in the clubhouse are slick when wet. In addition, the clubhouse furniture doesn’t respond well to wet bathing suits. Please protect yourself and your community property by using the pool house restrooms while enjoying to pool. If you, or your children, are wet, do not go into the clubhouse.

• Pool hours are dawn to dusk. While a midnight swim sounds very enjoyable this time of year, the police will be called, and you will be charged with trespassing.

Clubhouse:

• Gym rules still apply. While the gym equipment does look like a fun jungle gym to your children, they can get fingers and toes pinched. Please do not let them in the gym room unsupervised, without shoes, or wet. (See above comments about being wet in the clubhouse.)

• Communal party at the clubhouse. The clubhouse is open for everyone to use on the 4^th of July, and if history repeats itself, a lot of people will be using the grill and the pool deck this weekend. Please remember to be neighborly and share the space.

Finally, please remember the importance of 4^th of July, and take a moment out of your day to thank the service men and women who still protect our freedoms 365 days of the year.

Tropical Storm Arthur

Welcome to the Summer 2014 Hurricane Season, brought to you by the warm Atlantic Ocean waters and currents! 

Our first visitor of the year is Tropical Storm Arthur, who seems to be passing by our coast sometime on Thursday. His effects should be restricted to some thunderstorms and higher than normal tides in the Charleston area. While we do not expect to have issues at The Retreat, please continue to follow the local weather forecasts and stay alert during poor conditions.

The National Hurricane Center  has some great maps and information about the storm's path and potential effects if you are interested!

Tidbit Tuesdays - Removing Sidewalk Trip Hazards

Here at The Retreat, we are always looking for small improvements that can be made to the community. This post will detail the process that resulted in severe trip hazards being removed from the community sidewalks.

Over time, tree roots and ground settling cause sidewalks to become uneven and produce trip hazards. We had several severe trip hazards around the community, and our maintenance committee worked with the board of directors to replace these sidewalk sections.

First, sections that were significantly raised, causing a severe trip hazard, were identified (approximately a two inch raise between sidewalk concrete slabs). Then, bids were sought for the replacement.

Now this may seem like a simple decision. However, there are a couple of options for sidewalk repairs. You can remove the slab completely and pour a new slab of concrete (our eventual choice) or you can have the concrete ground down to remove the hazard. Grinding is a cheaper option, but the slab has visible marks from the work, has reduced strength because of the removed thickness, and doesn't attempt to correct the underlying problem (removing any uplifting roots underneath). While more expensive presently, it was decided to completely replace the slabs, to prevent future repairs at these locations in the near future.

Once this was decided, bids were sought and a company hired to do the replacement. You can see in the above pictures of the repair process in front of Building 800, where one of the worst hazards was located. The board would like to thank everyone for complying with the parking restrictions around these work areas during this process, and hope you enjoy the safer sidewalks around the community.