Thanks to CROA for a fun holiday party on Saturday. Scheduling only allowed us to attend the carols and tree-lighting, but that was enjoyable.
John Baker of JB Creative sent a press release about a new movie about Celebration. John is a filmmaker and Celebration resident.
From the press release:
Celebration is a thriving, diverse and multi-cultural community, set against the backdrop of picturesque homes and public buildings, architecture, nature and scenery.
But to outsiders who visit the town, or read about us in international news reports, there is a common misconception that we live in a pre-fabricated neighborhood, overshadowed by the ominous Walt Disney World and conditioned to live by the rules and regulations of a strict governing home owner’s association.
The Town That Disney Built is a new documentary film that celebrates and honors the Celebration community, with the simple aim: “To document and celebrate the day-to-day lives and times of the residents of Celebration – and to give the community at large a glimpse inside our town, to see what Celebration is truly like – and cut through the mystique, the drama and the misconceptions that exist about our community.”
For more information, and to order, visit www.thetownthatdisneybuilt.com.
This evening we attended an early preview of the annual “Now Snowing” event that runs through most of December in Celebration. There was “ice” skating, NEV train rides, Santa & Mrs Claus, and the snowfall itself (which is actually just soap of some kind).
To set the scene, they put down a layer of snow around dusk:
Before long it looks like this:
The actual snowfall wasn’t easy to capture on camera but you can kind of get the idea:
This year the regular snow falls start on Saturday, November 26 through December 31. There are snow falls every night at 6, 7, 8, and 9 pm. More information can be found on the Celebration Town Center site.
Our homeowners association, CROA, recently completed a community-wide inspection of covenant violations, followed by mailed letters to each owner who had a violation. Some of the owners took to the Front Porch to air their displeasure. I noticed a few interesting behaviors.
Some people acknowledged that they had clear violations but wanted to air grievances anyway. “Yes, I know the yard looks like crap but my something was something and the other thing was happening and…”
Others tried to deflect, as if the HOA only had a limited number of citations to hand out and why was I picked when there are worse houses on the block? “Sure, our porch handrail is a rotted-out eyesore, but WHAT ABOUT THE VACANT HOUSE NEXT DOOR? WHY WEREN’T THEY CITED?”
The people who had a legitimate beef were the ones who have had long-term modifications who weren’t cited before. For example, a non-conforming path to the mailbox. I don’t think these people should necessarily be exempt, but they should be given plenty of time to make the corrections without penalty.
For the record, we were cited for our mailbox, which seems like the default citation if nothing else can be found. In our case, the mailbox is probably borderline, so I’ll fix it without grumbling too much. Of course, I live next door to an abandoned home that looks like hell… 
At what point do we declare this bike forfeit?
Bonus credit if you know where this is without me having to tell you.
Article: Vacation Lodge Maingate fire displaces 231 people
A number of families were displaced by this nearby fire and are at present being attended to by the American Red Cross. Other organizations that have helped include Main Gate Transportation, Chick-fil-a, Flippers Pizza, Celebration High School, CROA, Robert Schwartz, Orange Lake Resorts, McDonalds, the Celebration Foundation, and Publix, as well as several community churches.
Monetary donations to the Red Cross(a) and Second Harvest are appreciated. Community Presbyterian is collecting clothes to be distributed on Friday. Other useful suggestions, taken from a post on the Celebration message board, include:
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If you cannot carry it in one load, they can’t either.
If you have durable bags, suitcases, duffles, backpacks, diaper bags, rolling tote bins or carry-alls, these will be very helpful.
Basic tools are helpful.
Basic school/home office supplies are helpful.
Clothes that could be worn to a job interview or to school are helpful. Only donate clothes that are in season now.
Clean new underwear in packages are helpful.
Clean, unused swimwear is helpful for kids.
If you have more information that you would like posted here, please mail me so I can update.
(a) – A $10 donation to the Red Cross can be made by texting REDCROSS to 90999 from your mobile phone. Donations also accepted at the Mid-Florida Red Cross web site.
Lexin pays for fireworks: Argh why are they destroying the downtown?
Lexin doesn’t pay for fireworks: Remember when we used to have fireworks? Argh why aren’t there fireworks?
CROA pays for fireworks: Argh why are we wasting our money on this? Plus it’s destroying the downtown.
CROA doesn’t pay for fireworks: Remember when Lexin used to pay for fireworks? Argh why aren’t there fireworks?
I can understand some people might not like the crowds, but it’s like building a house next to the airport (landfill) and then complaining about the noise (smell). You had to have some inkling of what you were getting in to.
This was one of our introductions to Celebration. We found this guy crawling along the sidewalk right outside our condo.
You know you live in Florida when…
The 2011 Atlantic hurricane names, from the National Hurricane Center:
Arlene
Bret
Cindy
Don
Emily
Franklin
Gert
Harvey
Irene
Jose
Katia
Lee
Maria
Nate
Ophelia
Philippe
Rina
Sean
Tammy
Vince
Whitney
What does this have to do with Celebration? Hopefully nothing.