The high season is in full swing here at SunBird, and the weather has been terrific! We are so glad to have and welcome back many residents who have been away for the summer. Welcome back! During the month of November, we have had many activities, including a wonderful Veterans Day service, community garage sale, SunBird’s 25th Community Day, the “Flannel Fest” outdoor concert and festival with ax throwing, and much more.
The Piano Men (cover band for Elton John and Billy Joel) performed a live concert before a sold-out crowd at SunBird in November. The show was absolutely fantastic! “The show must go on” became a true test, as these performers were in their tour bus heading home from a show and were involved in an accident with another vehicle driving the wrong way on the freeway at 80 mph. Some of the band members were seriously injured, with two still in the hospital recovering. This accident ended fatally for the driver of the vehicle going the wrong way. This accident was 10 days prior to the show scheduled in SunBird, which was sold out. Due to the seriousness of the accident and injuries, we were not sure if the concert should be canceled. Three days after the accident, the band sent a message to SunBird that “the show must go on.” During the show, they took a moment to share this experience with the audience. They expressed their gratitude to be alive and how precious life can be.
This past month, the City of Chandler Police Department made a presentation at SunBird on crime prevention tips and scam avoidance. This was mainly in direct response to the four home break-ins this past summer. Each of the four homes broken into was left vacant for the summer months, and all are within a location of about a 10-home distance from the intersection of Oakmont and Kerby Farms Drive. Three of the homes that were broken into were discovered at various times, as different caretakers made routine checks on these homes within the week of Aug. 14 to Aug. 18, and one was discovered when the owners returned back to SunBird recently. The crime prevention presentation offered some good practices we all should be more actively involved with and are posted on the SunBird website for reference.
Living in a gated community sometimes brings a false sense of security and causes some to become a little less cautious with our awareness. SunBird Patrol has noted some concerns observed at the vehicle and pedestrian gates. Pedestrian gates leading outside of SunBird have been often noted as left propped open. Please allow the gates to close, or make sure they are closed when entering or leaving SunBird. Another observation has been regarding the use of the remote-control devices and keypad codes to open the vehicle gates. The keypad codes to the gates should only be shared with family and/or trusted emergency providers. If anyone feels their code has been shared or compromised with someone or would like to have it updated, please contact the SunBird office. The remote-control devices that open the vehicle gates are for residents only and family emergency purposes. If someone has lost one of these devices or has given it away, please contact the SunBird office so that we can update or disable these devices in the gate control system. These are some additional small tips to help deter crime from the community.
Scams are rampant almost everywhere and throughout every means of communication possible, including postal mail, telephone calls, text messages, emails, and in person. It is far too often that it is learned that someone in our community has been scammed. As technology advances, so do the efforts of scamming. Never give out personal information, including social security numbers and bank or other account numbers, or allow access to someone remotely to your computer if you are not absolutely confident. Sometimes it is very difficult to decipher a scam message received via text message or email from a bank, government, business, or even a family member. If a message is received that it is difficult to decide whether or not to respond to and is a company or someone normally communicated with, contact them by way of telephone with another telephone number other than the number provided by the potential scam message. Further, it’s a good idea to have a friend or family member review the message. It is unfortunate that business names, logos, and names of familiar people are used in scam messages that appear completely legitimate. Please use good judgment and caution with all solicited communications.
Over the past several months, the Rules Compliance Committee with a Traffic Safety Task Force has been reviewing and discussing ways to promote traffic safety within SunBird. The challenge is creating an awareness of the safety concerns and requesting voluntary compliance with the general rules of the road. At the intersection of Championship and Waterview Drive, each of the stop signs has flashing red lights, and prior to the white stop bar, several red and white reflectors have been installed on the road. These new traffic awareness measures are being monitored and will be reviewed for their effectiveness and for additional future steps. Please remember that this is our community and our neighbors. If we join together in driving a little more cautiously, being more aware, and following the traffic signs, we can make SunBird a safer place to live.
SunBird is a large, active community and has several facets to its operations. We appreciate all the staff who work extra hard to keep the facilities, services, and amenities in good order. Last, but definitely not least, we truly appreciate SunBird’s many volunteers who serve on the board, committees, clubs, groups, and individuals who also dedicate many hours with the goal of making SunBird a great place to live. Thank you. We wish everyone a happy holiday season and a healthy new year.