LHA President Letter

Dear Lake Hills Members,

I hope you and your loved ones are well despite the tumult in the world around us. 2020 is a year we will be happy to see the end of. A global pandemic, a tropical storm leaving thousands without power or a cliffhanger of an election would have made it into the history books all by themselves. To have them all occur in the space of little over six months seems like something out of a bad movie script. But even horrible years end. As a return to normalcy seems tantalizingly close, it is a good time to take stock of the year that was. Despite its setbacks, 2020 includes surprisingly many things to be thankful for.

I will start with a thank you to Lake Hills and the larger Fairfield community for following the necessary common-sense precautions needed to keep everyone safe. This was essential in letting us keep the lake and beaches open through the summer, providing a safe space for families to enjoy the outdoors. The financial support of the membership meant that we were able to accommodate residents affected by the economic consequences of the pandemic while keeping a full schedule of lifeguards, maintenance, and community activities on the roster. Many of these activities like the Easter Bunny Tour, Memorial Day Parade and Santa's tour were inspired by pandemic restrictions but are events we hope to continue in years to come. And it wasn't just fun and games. The community organized not one but two food drives in quick succession to help neighboring food banks in the holiday season. LHA volunteers worked tirelessly cleaning up the aftermath of the tropical storm Isaias, and in ensuring the continued safety and operability of the dam and LHA beaches. These are all things we can be thankful for, and a true reflection of how the LHA community spirit perseveres through times good and bad.

This is possible only because of the unceasing efforts of the volunteer committees and board members that have stepped up to preserve LHA traditions and start exciting new ones. It has been a privilege to serve as Lake Hills President for the last two years. The executive team and I are grateful for the tremendous help we have had in fulfilling our duties. I am continually impressed by how generously members give of their time, energies, and resources and as a new executive team and board takes over stewardship of the lake in January, they will continue to count on this unstinting support. While the change of guard is traditionally done at the annual meeting, the need for social distancing and limited indoor gatherings may make holding an in person meeting unviable. To allow wide participation while keeping the community safe, the board has made arrangements for an online meeting via zoom that will replace the in-person meeting. You can register for this meeting with your LHA tag number at https://forms.gle/AFsyvp9EfpTSMJUv8. The link for registration will also be available on the LHA Facebook Page and lakehillsfairfield.com.

The annual meeting will be held on January 22nd at 7:30 pm. The meeting agenda and zoom dial in info will be provided to meeting registrants as we approach the meeting date. As in past years we will go over the work done by the LHA board in 2020 and our plans for 2021. We will also elect a new executive team and LHA board. To ensure smooth conduct of the online meeting, if you have specific questions you would like addressed in the meeting you can submit them in the registration form or reach out to me at lakehillspresident@gmail.com.

And while we await news of vaccines and turnarounds, I conclude my last letter to you as President with the fervent wish that 2021 is as filled with miracles as 2020 was with disasters. I look forward to "seeing" you at the annual meeting, until then I wish you an incredible joyful holiday season and a great New Year to come.

With sincere thanks and gratitude,

Sudhi Balan

Lake Hills President