As I’ve written before my Sun City experience stated at the very beginning so I can unequivocally say I’m emotionally attached to the slogan City of Volunteers. As a small kid in the back seat driving to very remote Sun City it meant we were finally close to Grandma’s house. I’m personally very happy to see the signs up again. That said, there has been some angst about The Original Fun City (I was not a fan but unfortunately it might be more accurate today). Not to cause an uproar over the old sign but if you look at the history of volunteerism in the community we are just way behind where we were in the past. Later/working retirements, Covid, the me first folks, labor shortages, we could list a hundred reasons but the fact is we must do better to earn the slogan on the new signs or when those fade out so will we. Why is this important to everyone? If we continue the current path and don’t increase the number of volunteers our cost of living will certainly increase. One example; Maricopa county does not budget enough funds to keep our public spaces as neat and tidy as we’re become used to with our PRIDES. The reason for this post is Cheri Marchio is looking for creative ideas to increase volunteering in the community, please assist her. Thoughts?
I am delighted to hear your support for the City of Volunteers signage. It was our identity and the one significant factor that set Sun City apart from all of the others (with the exception of SCW). We were built around an infrastructure that depended on support from the community. Newer smaller communities simply sold houses and had one organization that did it all. The move away from it to Sun City The Original Fun City was done while i was on the board. I wasn't a fan either but the general manager used it as her paradigm shift to become a wholly different kind of community. The reason this has taken on a heated perspective is simply because there is a new general manager and we have board members willing to listen. Restore the checks and balances in the community documents, help shape a sense of community/ownership and Sun City has the potential to become far better than it is today. I was delighted to see the turnout today at the SCHOA Sheriff's meeting. They had seating for 600 and had to add more chairs. Recreating neighborhood watches would be a great starting point. Getting to know your neighbors and paying attention to what is going on around you starts to change it all at a grass roots level. If we know nothing else from our history, it all starts with those living here.
