Author: Wwhoa

From the desk of Anthony Riley – October

Posted on by Wwhoa

There is a moment in what the rest of the country calls Fall, that you find yourself outside in Florida early in the morning or late at night and like a fever, you feel the heat break. A certain chill takes the air. Like me and Sandy that one Summer Night. And just like that Summer is over. Never mind the temperature will be in the 90’s again the next day, the season has passed in a moment. Time for football and the countdown to the holidays and the New Year. Already.

Things are hopping in the neighborhood. If you get this newsletter and read it quickly, you might hear about the Neighborhood Night Out on October 3rd. Special shoutout to Daniel for making this all happen. A lot of people never deal with a third or late shift. It is amazing how much of normal depends on that heroic and usually not requested shift. Now most of our neighbors will have already experienced the event by the time these words get to their eyes and was it not a blast? Were you not entertained? And no rain this year! The food trucks were amazing. We had mini golf again. We decided against the teen tattoo artist, but we might have had balloon animals (but probably not) but by golly, that bounce house held its own even when Ed (a full-grown man) got inside and tested the boundaries of physics and good taste. You go Ed.

We had a special guest speaker at the September HOA Meeting. Jon C. Martin is the new code enforcement manager for the Board of County Commissioners. This follows the shifting of the Code Enforcement responsibility from the Sheriff’s Office to the County’s Development Services Department. Jon emphasized the need for solution-based enforcement as opposed to fines and harassment for violators. We hope to have a broader presentation where all interested will come and hear what Jon is offering and how it can help support our neighborhood and keep the property values where we all want to maintain.

The General Membership Meeting is October 8th. While Winter Woods residents are welcome at every board meeting, this one is special – this is one time of the year when you get to participate in the HOA Board Meeting should you have business for the board. We will commence at 7:00 pm on Thursday, October 8th at South Seminole Church of Christ on Lake Howell Rd or online via zoom. I dare you to participate! If you can’t come in person, we always have Zook available. Just email winterwoodshoa@gmail.com and we’ll send you the Zoom link.

The legendary Winter Woods Fall Garage Sale will be on November 7th . If we can get the same turn out as those Candy Zombies (trick or treaters) we will have a fantastic sale.

Speaking of Zombies, this year we are spreading some happy haunting this Halloween season! We’ve kicked things off and delivered several “boo baskets” throughout the neighborhood – help us keep it going all the way to Halloween! Some instructions are on our Facebook group and printed copies of the flyer are available in the book box at the corner of Poinciana and Sussex.

I have not mentioned this in a while, but paying your meager $25 Dues is a good thing. You may have door knockers asking why the charm of the newsletters and the hope of community has not been validated by you the homeowners, but like Halloween, you will be surprised. Knock, knock. Unlike the change of seasons, you should always feel the neighborhood come together. Enjoy Fall!

From the desk of Anthony Riley – July 2026

Posted on by Wwhoa

From the Desk of Anthony Riley

Congratulations all readers! You have found our place in the digital age we live in. This month and next, the newsletter will only be virtual, like that NFT property I bought in the metaverse. We’ll be back to print in a couple of months, and ink will flow and the power of the press will be in full display.

I’m writing this on Father’s Day and a shout out to my Dad who will hit 91 around Labor Day. And he will. I told him earlier that God must be mad at him for making him hang out down here. He won’t read this, but Mom will.

Speaking of longevity, how about 250 years of U.S.A.? That is a long time. When I hear that number, I think that’s about how long before I pay off my student loan. You know what a wise man in debt is? Me neither.

All seems to be relatively quiet around the neighborhood. As they say, no news can be good news. I’ve seen speed racers and absolute daredevils risking a lot on 3 inches of tread. Remember the Moped? Not an E-bike. And don’t forget 1973 scooters in Quadrophenia. Who?

We have a write-up in this newsletter about how you can support local schools. They need it, and the kids of our neighbors go to these schools. The kids are also neighbors. And alright, speaking of neighbors, I see the Bones have gone fishing.

As far as neighborhood events go, there is not much happening during the SPF Warning months aka Summer. Looking to the fall, we will have our annual Neighborhood Night Out in October. This promises to be another fun event for the kids and the kids at heart. And the old people too. We will also host our Winter Woods Fall Garage Sale and I’m looking for jewelry!

This article is AI free. While I’m not afraid of AI, those data farms are daunting. And unavoidable. Maybe this will all pass like a fad, like driverless taxis did. Not likely.

Recently I had a project that required a working age temp employee and I asked her to log her time to the nearest quarter hour for ease of calculation. Well, that caused a cog to turn. At the end of the project she reached for her phone to calculate total time earned. I said, “I’ll add up the time…” to which she replied, “in your head?”. This young workforce agent said, “I was going to use Chat GPT”.

If you didn’t receive a copy of this newsletter via email, tell us at WinterWoodsHOA@gmail.com and we will add you to the list. The good list.

Watch out for that heat, it is definitely not AI generated. Not exactly anyway.