VOL. 22 NO. 7
Community web site: http://hggcc.com
Community Channels: 901 and 902 on TV
JULY 2024
Important Changes To The Heron Newspaper
The Dog Days Of Summer
By Becky Gignac, Newspaper Coordinator, Herons Glen Yes, changes are coming to our Herons Glen community newspaper, The Heron. The newspaper staff wanted to share with the residents the sequence of events for this change. Our delivery coordinators, Rick and Pat Scharf, needed to retire. We have been unsuccessful in our attempts to replace them. Our only alternative was to obtain the necessary approvals to place hard copies of the newspaper in strategic locations around the community and communicate this as soon as possible. The locations are as follows: • HOA Office (table outside) • HGRD Office • Pro Shop • Library – Card Room B • Fitness Center During this period, our publisher, Seabreeze, informed us that they were under new ownership and changes would be forthcoming to The Heron. A conversation with the new owner revealed that they were in the process of moving to a new online-only,
By Candace Huetteman, Herons Glen What and when are the Dog Days of Summer? According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the Dog Days are the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11. This is soon after the summer solstice in late June. They are usually the hottest and most unbearable days of the season. Some think it’s a reference to the hot, sultry days that are “not fit for a dog,” and others suggest that it’s the time of the year when the extreme heat drives dogs mad.
user-friendly/interactive magazine format, not a PDF file. There is no firm start date, but Seabreeze indicated it to be sometime this fall (September – November). Seabreeze has always provided our newspaper for free with a four-page limitation. Seabreeze profits by selling advertisements/flyer insertions. The HOA allows us to purchase extra pages for our newspaper near the end of the peak season in April and May when we have more articles than usual. However, with this new online magazine format, we will have unlimited space for free. The new 8½ x 11-inch format can be easily printed. We will keep the community updated as we know more about this new magazine. For now, pick up a newspaper at any of the five locations to keep informed about what is going on in our community. Or go to the HOA site for an electronic copy at http://hggcc.com/ hghoa/files/newspaper.htm. We realize some of our residents are not online, so please share this information with your neighbors and friends here in Herons Glen. For further inquiries, please send an email to hgnewspaper@gmail.com.
Model Sailing In The Glen By Thomas Myers, Herons Glen Sailing in the Glen began in September 2012 when the Board approved the sailing activity with all rights. Pictured is the first class of RC boat we sailed called Victoria, sail number 37, and our most recent addition, a Dragon Flite 95, sail number 88. In the beginning, we had permission to sail and a location but no radio-controlled boats. We knew to be successful we needed to build boats for members. Few members were willing to buy a kit and build a ready-to-sail boat, so we started to build Victoria kits. We built some for inventory and some on demand for a total of 26. The Victoria class boat is 30 inches long, weighs 4.5 pounds, and is an older design but a popular boat in the radio control sport. T h e Vi c k i t is “bare bones,” requiring buying and building servo and holders, replacing the heavy aluminum mast and booms, and revising all the rigging. It took about 20 hours to complete the build to upgrade the sailing performance. Seven years ago, we noticed the Naples Club was building a fleet of a new class of boats called Dragon
Flite (DF) 95. They had a fleet of 30 boats and were adding boats each month. The DF95 is 38 inches long, weighs 5.5 pounds, and is an excellent sailing boat. We bought two DF95 kits to see how they compared to our Vics. While the Vic build was fairly extensive, the DF95 kit required only assembly, no building or buying parts, and about four hours to complete. We were impressed with the sailing performance and assembly time. We asked the club members if they would be interested in a new class of boat, and 12 said yes. We bought a dozen DF95 kits, reserved a craft room, and had a good time assembling all the boats and celebrated a new class of boats to the pond. The introduction of DF95s left some Vics idle, and the resale market was poor. We continue to sail a few Vics, but the majority prefer the sailing performance of the DF95. New members can buy and assemble DF95 kits, or if they prefer, the club will sell assembled kits when available. Come visit us at the pond. We sail Monday and Thursday from 10 a.m. until noon. Spectators are always welcome.
Like most things, there are numerous theories and superstitions surrounding the Dog Days. In Ancient Greece and Rome, the Dog Days were believed to be a time of drought, bad luck, war, disaster, and unrest. It was when dogs and men alike would be driven mad by the extreme heat. This period of sweltering weather coincides with when Sirius, the Dog Star, rises at sunrise. Sirius is part of the constellation Canis Majoris. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky, not including our sun. The rising of super-bright Sirius and our sun was thought to be the cause of these extreme temperatures. The name “Sirius” even stems from the Ancient Greek seirios, meaning “scorching.” But, unlike the Greeks who dreaded Sirius’ appearance, the ancient Egyptians welcomed the dawn rising of Sirius (to them known as Sothis). Each year the Nile flooded, usually beginning in late June. The people welcomed this event, called “Inundation,” because the floodwaters brought rich soil needed to grow crops in what was otherwise a desert. Of course, we know today that the dawn rising of Sirius does not actually affect weather here on Earth, but its appearance during the hottest time of the year ensures that the myths surrounding the star live on today. Scanning the globe and seeing all of the wildfires, tornadoes, floods, droughts, and earthquakes that we are experiencing worldwide, should we anticipate a time when we will no longer refer to “The Days of Summer,” but to “The Dog Days of Climate Change”?