President's Page

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I hope all of you were able to spend enjoyable time with family and

friends during this holiday season. Now we are moving into the heart of

winter – at least for the next couple of months. 

By the way, Happy New Year – it’s 2026. 

The Christmas Dinner event was a great success. More than 80 residents came to BPC and shared delicious food and great entertainment courtesy of the Silver Tappers dance group. Our own Santa Claus (Pete Cook) was a big hit with the youngsters. I very much appreciate all who worked to plan and facilitate this annual event.

Now that we are in the new year, I trust everyone is setting some goals/ resolutions – both personal and professional. Here is a suggestion for 2026 goal Number One: join the civic league. In this month’s edition of the Lake Smith Ripples you will find a copy of an information letter with membership form, and a pre-addressed envelope. I truly hope every household will clip and complete the form, write a check for $20, and

mail it back to the civic league. It’s that simple and all that is needed to support our very active civic league. We work on behalf of this neighborhood every day. Your support is both welcome and needed. The larger our member base, the more programs we can field to benefit this community. We constantly strive to defend our neighborhood from harmful activity. 

Most recently we have held off the installation of the traffic signal at Paul Revere and Independence for over five years. The city is pushing forward at this time and has scheduled the installation to be completed by this summer. I suspect they want to finish this project before its chief sponsor, Councilman Joash Schulman’s term ends in

December. 

If you are a member of the Civic League, and receive our email broadcasts on this subject, you are also aware of our move to petition the city manager to close the Paul Revere intersection at Independence. This has all been brought about by the city’s insistence on spending (wasting) $1.1 million to install a traffic light at that

intersection. A much less expensive solution to their perceived safety concerns could have been achieved by installing a ‘RIGHT TURN ONLY’ on the Wakefield Rd side. Unfortunately, our District 9 councilman, a Thoroughgood resident, preferred a traffic light with totally unnecessary pedestrian crosswalks. We know the traffic signal

light will serve to increase cut-through traffic in our neighborhood. Our second line of defense is to request a cul-de-sac on Paul Revere at Independence. That is being pursued through a petition drive headed by Doug and Megan Earlenbaugh.

I hope goal Number Two is to strive to attend the monthly Civic League meetings. 

We meet in the fellowship hall at Bayside Presbyterian Church at 7:00 PM on the Third Tuesday of each month – January to May, and September to November. Write this information on a 3 x 5 card and tape it on your bathroom mirror. It’s a good reminder

and you see it every day. This month our main program being presented

by the President of the Virginia Beach/Princess Anne Historical Society.

The topic is HAUNTED VIRGINIA BEACH. Sounds good - you don’t want to miss it!

John Eason, President