Community Corner
Rossmoor Highlands Neighbors Gather to Prepare
First of three planned neighbor 4 neighbor events brings together those living at the north end of the tract.
Contagious enthusiasm flowed at a recent neighbor 4 neighbor event in the north section of Rossmoor Highlands as neighbors banded together and pledged to prepare for potential disasters.
Detective Corporal Rick Moore of the Los Alamitos Police Department emphasized the need for citizens to prepare to be their own first responders when a disaster hits because police and fire personnel will not be able to quickly respond to every request for aid.
Pattie Laird was the driving force pulling together interested neighbors to form the organizing committee that produced the three-hour “Meet and Greet” Sunday. Support came from the Los Alamitos Police Department, Orange County Fire Authority, West Orange County CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), Boss Safety Produces, Marx Bros. Fire Extinguisher Sales and Service, and LATV (3) which will be broadcasting a show about the event this week. Ann Busenkell tracked all the plans and acted as the point person.
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“Providing opportunities for our neighborhood to pool talents and resources to increase our chances of withstanding and recovering from a disaster” is the stated intention of neighbor 4 neighbor, according to Laird. “When neighbors pledge to trust each other and work together, amazing things get done.”
Volunteer block captains look after residents on each street, and already those north of Rosssmoor Way are gathering information and setting plans for additional get togethers.
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Information for the upcoming West County CERT basic training course (Oct. 28 & 29, and Nov. 4 & 5) was well received by those wanting to develop additional skills. The course includes basic fire suppression, light search and rescue procedures, disaster medical skills, disaster psychology and the national incident command system. (Interested parties can contact westcountycert@yahoo.com for additional information.)
Boss Safety Products displayed disaster supplies, water purification bottles being the most popular, and Marx Bros. serviced and refilled fire extinguishers as well as selling extinguishers to those who needed them.
The first of three events planned for the closely-knit tract, organizers felt that neighbors getting together to meet and look out for each other was a fitting tribute to honor September 11 and the tragedies of that fateful day.
