Content

• “Tis the Season” for resident events
• Holiday trash collection
• Winter Yard-of-the-Month
• Guest policy reminder
• Refer-A-Friend Program
• Leaf removal schedule
• Fire Safety tips for the holidays
• Have you heard about Randolph Pointe?
• Cold weather tips – let the faucet drip
• Only Rain in the Storm Drain
• Corvias employees give back
• How many different reasons to celebrate this month?
• Green corner
• Want to know what is happening in your neighborhood?

“Tis the Season” for resident events

Corvias Military Living will host our annual “Tis the Season” resident event at three locations in December.

• Hammond Hills Community Center: Dec. 4 from 2 to 6 p.m.
• Ardennes/Bataan Community Center: Dec. 10 from 2 to 6 p.m.
• The Lodge at Linden Oaks: Dec. 18 from 2 to 6 p.m.

Families can have their photos taken Santa or join story time with Mrs. Claus. Other activities include arts and crafts, small snacks, a holiday hay ride, and much more.  We look forward to seeing families at the event.  As usual, our resident events are free. 

Additionally, each community is getting in the spirit of the season too. The community centers are hosting activities and giveaways. Check out your community calendar for the activities in your Community Center. Happy Holidays!

Holiday Trash Schedules and Christmas Tree Disposal

Waste Management will operate on a holiday schedule for the week of Christmas with pickups moved to the following days:

• Thursday, Dec. 25 – collection on Friday, December 26.
• Friday, Dec. 26 – collection on Saturday, December 27.
• No changes for the week of New Year’s Day – Trash will be collected on the normal collection day.

Christmas trees will be collected on your normal bulk trash day from Friday, Dec.26, through Friday, Jan 16. Please remove all decorations; including lights, ornaments and tinsel from the discarded trees. This will help protect the tree grinding equipment. On the day of your household and bulk trash pickup, place the tree on the curb a few feet away from your other household trash.

Winter Yard-of-the-Month contest

It is not too late to take part in the Yard-of-the-Month contest in December. The Yard-of-the-Month Program will reward those who make a special effort to improve their yard and beautify their home, while remaining in compliance with housing and post regulations. ­These regulations include Fort Bragg’s lawn watering guidelines as well as the regulations outlined in Corvias Military Living’s Resident Responsibility Guide. Please contact your Community Office for a copy of this guide.

One winner will be named per community in December. Each Yard-of-the-Month winner will receive a ­ recognition letter from the Fort Bragg Garrison Commander, a Yard-of-the-Month sign to be displayed in front of the home, and gift certificates.

Judging and Rules:

1. Judging will be conducted on December 10. The Directorate of Public Works (DPW) will perform the judging and select winners. No Corvias employees will take part in judging.
2. To be eligible to participate, yards must be in full compliance with requirements set forth in the Corvias Military Living Resident Responsibility Guide.
3. Winners will be notified in the same month as recognition. A resident may win only once during the 2014 Yard of the Month program, from summer until winter.

Guest policy reminder

Please remember to contact your Community Office should any house guest stay in your home for longer than seven days. You can then register them as an official house guest.

Registered guests are welcome to visit for no longer than 30 consecutive days. Guests are not allowed to stay in the home if they have been barred from the installation.

Refer-A-Friend Program

Get rewarded for telling your friends about the benefits of living on post.

Refer a friend who meets on-post residency requirements for any home type and when he/she signs a 12-month lease and moves into a Fort Bragg home, you will receive a referral reward of $150 for the first referral.  A second referral will receive $200 and for a third referral you will receive $250.   After the third referral, the cycle will start over.

This referral program is now applicable to all ranks and home types.

New applicants must list the name and contact information (phone and permanent mailing address) of his or her referral source on the applicable paperwork at the time of application.  He/she may also provide the name and contact information of the referral source upon first visit or call to a Corvias Community or Leasing Center.  

Previous Corvias residents are not eligible to be referred at this time. Additional restrictions may apply.  For more information about our Refer-A-Friend Program, please contact your Corvias Community Office.

Leaf removal schedule

The Brickman Group, Corvias Military Living’s landscape provider, will be coming through the communities in December and early January to remove leaves. The schedule is available on your community calendar. Please note that Brickman Group employees are off Dec. 24 and Dec. 25.

Fire safety tips for the holidays

The National Fire Protection Association and the U.S. Fire Administration estimate holiday decorations cause almost 400 home fires each year, resulting in many losses of life as well as millions in property damage. Following a few simple tips will ensure a happy and fire-safe holiday season.

Holiday decorating:

• Be careful with holiday decorations. Choose decorations that are flame resistant or flame retardant.
• Keep lit candles away from decorations and other things that can burn.
• Some lights are only for indoor or outdoor use, but not both.
• Replace any string of lights with worn or broken cords or loose bulb connections. Connect no more than three strands of mini light sets and a maximum of 50 bulbs for screw-in bulbs. Read manufacturer’s instructions for number of LED strands to connect.
• Use clips, not nails, to hang lights so the cords do not get damaged.
• Keep decorations away from windows and doors.

Holiday entertaining:

• Test your smoke alarms and tell guests about your home fire escape plan.
• If you do no cook often, check your oven and stove before cooking a large holiday meal.
• Keep children and pets away from lit candles.
• Keep matches and lighters up high in a locked cabinet.
• Stay in the kitchen when cooking on the stovetop.
• Ask smokers to smoke outside. Remind smokers to keep their smoking materials with them so young children do not touch them.
• Provide large, deep ashtrays for smokers. Wet cigarette butts with water before discarding.
• And remember to blow out lit candles when you leave the room or go to bed. Turn off all light strings and decorations before leaving home or going to bed.

As we are all aware, fires can start any time of year. There is an increased risk during the holiday season. Please be safe and have a wonderful holiday season.

Have you heard about Randolph Pointe?

Randolph Pointe is Fort Bragg’s only on-post apartment community for single and unaccompanied Senior NCOs and Officers. It is located near the North Post Commissary and PX on the corner of Randolph and Souter Streets at 2850 Compass Court. For more information or to schedule a tour for your single or unaccompanied service members, visit randolphpointe.com or call (910) 764-5008.

Cold weather tips – let the faucet drip

Keeping your pipes from freezing in the winter is easy and can save you from having a soggy season. If the temperatures are expected to fall below freezing let your faucets drip and open the cabinets beneath kitchen and bathroom sinks.

Pipes under sinks may not be insulated. Opening the cabinets circulates warm air from your home and helps prevent pipe bursts. Be sure to relocate any hazardous cleaning materials out of reach from small children.

Turn off and drain your outside hose faucets. Leaving a hose connected to a spigot can result in water freezing the pipes inside your walls. When the exterior hose faucets are turned on, they will attempt to push water through and past any frozen sections, leading to an inevitable breaking of the pipes or hose and flooding inside your walls.

If you are traveling for the holidays remember to keep the heat on. The weather may be nice when you leave, but can quickly change while you are gone. Please leave your thermostat set between 60 and 65 degrees to prevent pipes from freezing while you are away.

Also, we encourage you to consider registering your home for House Watch with your Community Office if you are going out of town. When you register your home, the Community team will make a routine check of the property and can take appropriate actions as needed.

Rain in the Storm Drain

A common misconception about storm sewers is that they are connected to a waste- water treatment plant. This is not the case. Storm sewers are a completely separate system from the sanitary sewer system. The storm sewer carries stormwater (rain and melting snow) to the nearest river, lake, stream or wetland.

Stormwater often contains materials found on streets, driveways, and parking lots such as oil, antifreeze, gasoline, soil, litter, pet wastes, fertilizers, pesticides, leaves and grass clippings. When these materials enter lakes and streams, they become pollutants with the potential to contaminate drinking water supplies, harm wildlife and even lead to the closure of lakes and beaches.

Storm water originating on Fort Bragg flows through our creeks and rivers to either Fayetteville or Harnett County Public Works to be treated and then becomes both Fort Bragg and the surrounding communities’ drinking water. What you dump in the storm drain today may be what you are drinking tomorrow. Do your part to help keep our stormwater clean by practicing the following:

• Do not allow soil, leaves or grass clippings to accumulate on your driveway, sidewalk or in the street.
• Sweep (do not wash) grass clippings and soil off driveways and walkways onto the lawn to prevent debris accumulating on paved areas from being washed into the nearest storm sewer during the next rainfall.
• Do not use the storm sewer for disposing of motor oil, fertilizers, antifreeze, pesticides, paints, solvents, or other harmful materials.
• Dispose of pet wastes by flushing them down the toilet or bag it and place in the trash.

For further information contact Fort Bragg Water Management Branch at 396-2301 or visit the website: www.bragg.army.mil/directorates/dpw/envdiv/WMB

Corvias Employees Give Back

In partnership with Corvias Foundation, Corvias employees are the backbone of the Foundation’s Adopt-A-Charity program. It begins with employees volunteering their time and selecting a local charity to support. The charity guides the scope of work to be accomplished during one or more work days, and the volunteer committee makes it happen.

These efforts take place outside of work hours and are entirely a volunteer commitment. The Corvias volunteer team from Fort Bragg spent three Saturdays during October working at the Warrior Transition Battalion Tranquility Garden (located across from the Soldier Support Center). From weeding and spreading new mulch, to building picnic tables and securing more shade cover for the large outdoor space, Team Bragg poured their heart and soul into the job.

Corvias Foundation is proud to partner with these employees as they demonstrate Corvias Group’s commitment to generously give back to the communities in which we live and serve.

How many different reasons to celebrate this month?

December is a month of many holiday celebrations crossing a variety of cultures, nationalities, and beliefs. Here’s a quick snapshot of what people celebrate, and why:

• Hanukkah. This Jewish holiday begins in 2014 on Dec. 16 (at sundown) and lasts through Dec. 24. Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem after the Jewish victory over the Maccabees in 165 B.C. Each night, families light one candle on the menorah, observing the traditional story of how the oil for the temple’s eternal flame burned for eight days.
• Christmas. Observed on Dec. 25, this Christian holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus, probably between the years 7 and 2 B.C. The 25th may have been chosen to correspond with the winter solstice or to coincide with a Roman holiday honoring the sun during the same period. Christmas became a federal holiday in the United States in 1870.
• Kwanzaa. A seven-day celebration of African heritage and culture, Kwanzaa is observed from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. Activist Ron Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 to emphasize African-Americans’ shared history and experience. The name Kwanzaais derived from “matunda ya kwanza,” a Swahili phrase meaning “first fruits.”

Green Corner                                                            

Replace your old holiday lights with Light-Emitting Diode (LED) light strings. Although they cost more initially, LEDs use a fraction of the energy of traditional holiday lights. Plus, they last up to 20 years.

Want to know what is happening in your neighborhood?

Your community calendar can help you stay up-to-date on trash, recycling, lawn care, resident events and community activities.

You can even sync your community calendar with a personal Google calendar by clicking on the +Google button on the bottom right-hand corner of the calendar.

Upcoming events and important dates

• Dec. 4: Annual Christmas Tree Lighting, Main Post Parade Field, 5 to 7 p.m.
• Dec. 5: Trees for Troops, starting at 9 a.m. at Smith Lake
• Dec. 23: Holiday Movie at the Library, Throckmorton Library, 2 p.m.
• Dec. 24: Community Offices open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Dec. 25: All offices closed
• Jan. 1: All offices closed