The Grove at Huntley Meadows Homeowners Association was named Community Association of the Year in the Medium Category. They are managed by Cardinal Management Group. This is the essay submitted with the community’s application.
By Heidie Rothschild, HOA President
The Grove is a vibrant, thriving community in Alexandria, comprised of 285 townhomes and single-family homes. The Association’s grounds are rich with flora and fauna due to being nestled along the edge of Huntley Meadows Park. The Grove offers four beautiful playgrounds, a wading pool, and a large swimming pool for our residents’ enjoyment.
The Grove’s active residents support our many committees to include Communications, Social, Covenants, Architectural Review (ARC), Pool, and Neighborhood Watch. Our committees are the key to the Association’s success and work hand-in-hand with the Board. The Social Committee excels at planning/hosting community events including (in the past) our Easter egg hunt, pool party, National Night Out, block party, dog swim, Halloween pumpkin painting, chili cook-off, Christmas caroling, and wine parties.
Unfortunately, due to COVID, this year is very different. Instead of pool and wine parties, we’ve had food and ice cream trucks, neighborhood cleanup days, and food drives for the neighboring community. Planning safe activities for the community is paramount to keeping our residents protected during these trying times. Friday nights we enjoyed our Virtual Trivia Night. Many residents participated and enjoyed the fun challenges and camaraderie while staying safe in their homes. In September the Grove will sponsor the fall neighborhood clean-up followed by a two hour “free” ice cream truck. October 6th we will participate in National Night Out with ice cream to go. Open communication is one of our main objectives ensuring our residents stay informed as to how the Board is moving forward and keeping the community safe during this pandemic.
A quarterly full color newsletter with community news, events, and updates helps keep Grove residents informed. The Grove’s new website offers residents direct access to Board members and the management company as well as access to documents, updates, bulletins, and newsletters. Our new Covenants and ARC website offers a seamless transition for our committee chairs for updating the Board and management company along with streamlining the ARC approval process to under 7 days. Our goal is to quickly support our residents’ needs and help with their concerns whenever possible.
Though this year has been unusual, we have grown closer and more connected as a neighborhood and community and in our support for each other. I believe this to be the silver-lining for the Grove at Huntley Meadows for 2020.
