My first attempt to write this article in the airport in Rochester NY seems to have been lost in that never-never land of cyber space, so I am writing another.

Neal and I had the pleasure and excitement of watching our 17-year-old granddaughter from AZ play in a women’s ice hockey tournament. Her team won the championship and she got one of the goals.

Jane Casden spent the summer months on the beach in South Jersey enjoying the quiet and reading lots of books. Her time with her family was precious to her and she looks forward to this every year. Marty Phillips spent some time there also, but had the chance to visit with his children in NY as well.

Laurie Wohl has been busy getting her house in order as she has settled into her new life here in Aberdeen. Just in case she isn’t kept busy enough with the fitness center, the aquatic center and canasta, Laurie is a valued volunteer at a local hospital as well as serving on a special community project with the PB Sheriff’s Dept. Oh, by the way, she also is a card-carrying member of The Lion’s Club and has been instrumental in rejuvenating that local group. Welcome to Ashford, Laurie. What did we do without you!

Marilyn and Stan Gilman celebrated their 50th anniversary this summer up at the Cape.

We are noticing lots of landscaping projects going on in our community as newer residents create their dream gardens. As you drive through the community, take a look.

At this writing, we have a new president elect. Let’s not let this recent political campaign and its results divide us.

By: Leah Keitz

Spring has definitely arrived with colorful flowers blooming throughout the community. Everyone is taking part in making Ashford the most attractive and well-kept village in Aberdeen. Thank you all for caring.

Several residents have already gone to their summer homes and left on their “world tours.” We wish them all a safe and enjoyable time away from Ashford. We look forward to welcoming you back.

We welcomed new residents to Ashford in 2016: Frederick and Frances Grossman, Bruce and Sharon Sussman and Laurie Wohl. This will be a busy summer for many of us as we celebrate happy family events. Stan and Marilyn Gilman will celebrate in MA in May on the occasion of their granddaughter’s bat mitzvah as well as their 50th Anniversary. In June, they will travel to Philadelphia to enjoy the bar mitzvah of their grandson.

Neal and I will be traveling later this summer from one end of the country to the other to celebrate with our grandchildren who will become bar and bat mitzvah, respectively.

The pool area at Ashford and Ashford Green has been refurbished from top to bottom and end to end, including the new blacktopping of the parking lot. The Ashford Maintenance Board is responsible for this beautification and we all appreciate its efforts. It has also updated security devices at our entrance gates. F

YI: Old and unused medication should never be thrown in the trash or flushed away. The proper disposal of medications is an important issue and protects us all from substances that are harmful if they get into our water supply. The nearest official DEA disposal site is: Ocean Ridge Police Department, 6450 N. Ocean Blvd., Boynton Beach, FL 33435. The green collection box inside the door to the right is open 24/7.

Have a happy and safe summer!

Spring has sprung here in Ashford. Everyone seems to be tending to their landscaping and our community is looking like a botanical garden.

We welcome our newest residents: Frederick and Frances Grossman, Sarah Levy, Marcia Feinblatt, Louise and Marilyn Gross, Seymour and Ellen Orlinsky, Gilbert and Donna Covey, Bruce and Sharon Sussman and Laurie Wohl.

Shirley Scarf’s house will be put on the market shortly. If you know anyone who would like to join us here in Ashford let me know. By the time this issue goes to print, the house will be available.

Millie Schultz became a great grandmother for the 6th time with the birth of Addison Golynsky. Two of our residents recently travelled to attend the bar mitzvah’s of their grandsons. Jane Casden and Marty Phillips, flew to Huntingdon Valley, PA and Ellen and Butch Melstein to Israel. “Mazel Tov” to all!

Our “Dancing With the Stars” Alice Jay wowed the audience with her superb performance recently. Judi Hirsh writes: “Thank you to our Ashford board for doing a great job this year. Our community has never been run better or looked better. Keep up the good work everyone! We all appreciate the time and energy you put into it.”

Neal and I will be traveling west later in May to visit our daughter and family in Scottsdale, AZ.

Please remember to send your news to me @ LLKONE@aol.com.

Editor’s Note: Welcome aboard Leah Keit Keitz. Leah and Sylvia Shaw shared last month’s Ashford App column. Now that Sylvia has moved to Sheffield, she and yours truly, will be sharing the Sheffield column.

Transition from one editor to another can be challenging. As the new volunteer editor, I apologize, in advance, for a limited entry to the April Aberdeen Times.

It is with much sadness that we report the passing of long time resident, Shirley Scarf.

Most important is our welcoming our newest residents: Marcia Feinblatt and Laurie S. Whol. Kim and Scott Schneider are renting the home of Don and Helen Comer.

As for the established residents:
Jane Casden just returned from celebrating her daughter, Stacy’s, special birthday and her grandson Jake’s 15th.

Her next trip north will be to attend the bar mitzvah of Grandson, Dylan. Mazel Tov in advance, Jane.

Jane, as our landscape chair, has requested that Ashford residents be patient as we continue our efforts to refurbish and upgrade our common landscape.

As for this editor, the last of our winter season guests is flying out tomorrow (first week of March) and the first of our Spring visitors will arrive at the end of March and will be here when this issue is published. It is a delight to be able to share our paradise with family and friends.

As tax season nears, Neal Keitz will be heading north to see his clients. When he returns, we will begin our season of travel.

Please send your tidbits and news about your life in paradise by the first of every month. LLKONE@ AOL.com.

As I sit down to write this, my final Ashford App, I would like to thank all of you who have read my column over the past few years, and also for the lovely comments many of you have given to me about it. I’ve really enjoyed sharing both my news and that of your neighbors. It’s been an absolute honor and a pleasure. I wish Leah all the best as she takes over from me, and I know I’m going to enjoy reading her contributions every month.

Our house here was sold much sooner than we anticipated, and by the time you read this, Chris and I will have moved into our half-finished home in Sheffield. Much work has already gone into the renovations, but there’s still a lot more to do, and for a while we won’t have a kitchen, which some women might consider a blessing. I guess I’m about to find out the joys of not slaving over a hot stove. Anyway, as long as I have my bedroom, laundry, and bathroom, complete with hair dryer, I think I’ll cope for a short while at least. I’ll probably be spending my days shoveling sawdust and passing tools up to the ‘worker.’

I’m looking out of my window at Mr. A our resident alligator, sunbathing in his reserved spot over at Waterford. He seems recently to have been joined in the lake by 2 other pals, one of whom just cruised past whilst we were eating lunch in the lanai. I’m really going to miss seeing these prehistoric creatures on an everyday basis and also the bevy of beautiful birds who often show up for a photo shoot. Miss Rosy Spoonbill arrived here for the season, flaunting her gorgeous pink outfit. She looked a bit lonely and even shy at first, but soon made friends with the Ibis family and had a long chat with Woody Wood Stork, probably about club rules. In fact the other day, there was a big bird convention with literally dozens of birds all congregated on the lawn. Maybe they were holding elections for Mayor of Ashford. I’d say there was no contest at all. Mr. GBH, great blue heron, was sure to win, as he’s obviously the boss around here.

The Color War dinner was a lot of fun, and I was very honored to be asked to play piano for the Gold Team’s song. Well done to them for winning, and congratulations to the Black Team for winning overall and taking the cup. The spirit of sportsmanship and camaraderie here at Aberdeen is really wonderful. I couldn’t think of a better place to live. We’re all so very fortunate.

Thank you all for your good wishes as we move over to Sheffield. It’s going to be a rather challenging period, as our son and family arrive to stay for 4 nights the weekend before we have to move out on the Thursday. They’d already booked their tickets before our house was sold, and plan to go on to Disney as a birthday treat for little Max who turns 5 on Feb. 15th. I’m trying to stay cool, calm and collected as I methodically go through our belongings, deciding what to pack in boxes and what can be donated to the VVA. It’s quite a task, as I’m sure you all know from past experience, but we all get through it.

I received this e-mail from Leah Keitz, your new News Reporter:

“Hello Ashford:

As Sylvia and Chris leave our wonderful village shortly to settle into another, we wish them the best of life in their new home. Of course we are sad that they are leaving here but know that we will still see them in our Aberdeen community. Good luck Sylvia and Chris.

Though a hard act to follow, Sylvia passes the baton on to me as the Ashford reporter for the Aberdeen Times.

My email is llkone@aol.com. Feel free to send your news as of Mar. 1 for inclusion in the April issue.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Leah Keitz”

Congratulations to George and Lillian Spiro who celebrated their 73rd anniversary with friends and family on Feb. 7th. George was 19 and Lil was just 18 when they were married in 1943. George went into active service soon after, and the newlyweds were apart for 2 years. When I said that I’d never known anyone who’d been married for so many years, George replied. “Oh yeah, and we’re still shooting for a few more.” That’s the spirit! I’m sure that we all wish this lovely couple lots of good health and happiness for many more years together.

The new owners of 7215 Ashford Lane are Bruce and Sharon Sussman from Westchester County NY, and we wish them much happiness in their new home.

We congratulate our Board of Directors Committees for 2016, and thank them all for the excellent job that they do to keep Ashford running so smoothly and to such a high standard.

Well all that remains is for me to sign off and say that it’s been wonderful to be part of the Ashford community. Almost 5 years ago, you welcomed Chris and myself with open arms as ‘sunbirds’ from South Africa, in spite of our strange accent. We’ve had some really fun times together and made many good friends. Fortunately, we won’t be far away and I know we’ll see many of you at the club from time to time. Thank you so much for all for the kindness shown to us whilst we’ve been living here. I’ll never forget dear Irving Breiter who was president at the time, calling round to welcome us to Ashford on the day we moved in, bearing the traditional Jewish housewarming gift of bread, salt, sugar and a few coins. I’m still using the salt. As my parting shot, here’s a quote from Miss Amelia Earhart, “A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions and the roots spring up and make new trees.” The Nobel Laureate, Isaac Bashevis Singer, who was a resident of Surfside, FL, also had something to say on this important subject, “Kindness I’ve discovered, is everything in life.” Such true and wise words. Have a great month of March!