Westridge Swim & Racquet Club was named Community Association of the Year in the Very Large Category. They are managed by Legum & Norman, Inc., AAMC. This is the essay submitted with the community’s application.
By Tom Burrell, Westridge Homeowner, Westridge Swim and Racquet Club, Inc.
I lived in Westridge for 21 years and still own a home there. When we moved, we kept the home so that I could stay involved in the community I love. After 20+ years in the Army, Westridge is the first place we lived where we could “put down roots” and call the community our home. Westridge had everything to offer us – a beautiful community, tremendous neighbors, and unarguably the best amenities in that portion of Prince William County. But most of all, it gives everyone a sense of place. Westridge has always been a great place to live and our byline of “The Natural Place To Be” lives up to its promise. Our Home page states, “Welcome Home” not because it’s the home page but because Westridge is home. We have beautiful landscaped common areas, playgrounds, two pools, walking paths between neighborhoods and through the woods, a centrally located pond with catch and release fishing, wildlife galore with turtles, frogs, snakes, herons, eagles, owls and deer. We also have a beautiful, freshly renovated clubhouse with a 75 inch TV suitable for internal events or rental. All these make the community attractive from a realtor’s perspective, but what about the residents? This is where some activism and pride in community comes into play.
Our reactivated Social Committee has held Open Mike Nights, Karaoke events, a Chili Cook-Off, Pool Parties, with many more events planned for the fall and holiday season. We have two organized community clean-up events per year offering trash collection, shredding, and recycling. We have partnered with Westridge Elementary School on several events for community outreach. We have an active Pool Committee that monitors pool operation, rules, equipment, and makes suggestions to the board. Our award winning swim team, the Westridge Waves, is an integral part of the community and has an excellent relationship with the board.
We use an architectural review board to entertain change requests, have an active property inspection program, a covenants committee for dispute resolution, and have employed a tree service to proactively monitor the hundreds of trees in the common areas. We have conducted two community brainstorm sessions for improvement recommendations and have brought together the neighborhood boards to share their experiences. We have a lot of people who care.
We have an active and concerned Board of Trustees trained and acutely aware of their roles and responsibilities. I’ve had the privilege of having served on the Board for 15+ years. I’ve seen a lot of board members come and go but each new board member is committed to improving the quality of life in Westridge. They act fairly and compassionately.
When I moved to Westridge 31 years ago it was the newest and most beautiful residential development in the area. Today, it remains the same. Hundreds of homes have been built around us. But we remain the new, fresh, beautiful community we were 30 years ago. Come visit us and you will quickly agree, Westridge is “The Natural Place To Be.”
