All In - Page 4

When people discuss the spirit of the Greenmeadow community, one name recurs often: Jack Hamilton, who lived in Greenmeadow with his wife, Myllicent, from 1968 to 2009, and did more than anyone, folks say, to unify the neighborhood.

"He was just a gregarious, outgoing, dedicated community member and wanted to welcome people and share the joy of our neighborhood with them," says Sigrid.

Jack was a teacher, a psychological counselor, and later a mediator and author of a book on resolving conflict. In Greenmeadow, he served on the association board, among other tasks, and edited the Meadowlark.

"I took on the job of writing a profile of new neighbors," Jack says. "I met a lot of people over the years that way."

"To get new owners more integrated into the community, we started around-the-living-room discussions," he says. "About once a month one owner would host. We would invite new owners for about an hour and a half. The hostess would provide cookies and coffee. We'd go around the circle, people would introduce themselves, tell us who they are."

Over the years Jack helped the neighborhood deal with crises that could have damaged its cohesiveness. The first of these came in the late 1960s, he says, when it became clear that not enough Greenmeadow residents were joining the association to support the pool or its other activities.

In 1968 the Greenmeadow board delved into "exploration of membership expansion," according to an agenda in the neighborhood's archive.

What resulted were two initiatives: Allowing people who were not residents of Greenmeadow to become pool members, and expanding the boundaries of the neighborhood itself by taking in an adjacent, much small and later Eichler tract.

It was a bold plan. Just 13 years after battling Eichler to keep non-residents out of the park and pool, the board proposed to let non-residents join as 'associate members' to pull in needed dues. Many people objected.

"The concern was, if enough associate members got together, they could amend the bylaws to favor associate members. That would be a sad day," Jack says. The bylaws were amended in 1971 to allow 'outside families' to join and use the pool, but only "after all the residents are given the opportunity to join," according to a meeting agenda.

In order to keep the Greenmeadow Association a true neighborhood group, and not just a body to run recreation facilities open to all, the board came up with a plan: "Associate members can't serve on the board or vote at the quarterly meetings," Jack summarizes.

"It was a tie vote," Jack says. "The president at the time was allowed to vote to break the tie."

The other effort, to add an adjacent Eichler tract of 27 homes from 1962 to the Greenmeadow association, came to pass in 1970, thus providing more people to take part in association activities.