Branch Manager Promotion

It is our pleasure to announce that Kim Easterling has been promoted to Branch Manager of our Southwest Office. The Branch Manager is responsible for all aspects of the office operations. Kim is a stockholder of the company and has been with us for eleven years. She is a senior instructor in our C.I.A. Services Seminar Series. She brings with her a very detailed work ethic and many years of experience. Congratulations, Kim!

This promotion gives our former Branch Manager, Libby Hodges, additional time to devote to her growing communities and to assist with community manager training and development.

---

Christmas Spirit

The holidays are always bright in Whispering Lakes thanks to Ken & Mary Seynaeve. Each year the Seynaeve's go all out to decorate their home and bring a festive spirit to the community. Mary is a longtime board member in Whispering Lakes and this year offered her home as the perfect backdrop for families to Visit with Santa.

Last year, the Seynaeve home was featured in a TV station contest for best decorated homes in the Houston area! Thank you Ken & Mary for sharing.

New Graduate

We are very pleased to announce that we have another board member who has graduated from the C.I.A. Services Seminar Series: Carol Ledergerber from the Bay Pointe Community Association. Carol completed the last of the seven seminars in the C.I.A. Services seminar series when she attended Contracts, Facilities & Maintenance in November. Carol has served on the Bay Pointe board since 2007 and is currently Vice President. She has been active with the community Crime Watch Committee for several years.

Pictured above are fellow students from a May seminar (from left): Lynn Marie Thompson (Marina Bay Park), Barbara Giordanelli (The Highlands), Debra James (Vicksburg), Al McDonald (The Highlands) and Carol Ledergerber (Bay Pointe).

Congratulations to Carol on her graduation. We know she will enjoy the get-away gift that we give to all graduates.

Our seminar series is on winter break and will resume in February with Understanding Collections and Financial Reports. To view the seminar descriptions and full schedule, click here or visit the Library page of our website.

---

Get Ready for Some Hockey

Football is heading towards the playoffs with two teams still undefeated. And the college bowl games will conclude with the undefeated Texas Longhorns taking on the undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide. The climax of the football season is just ahead of us. But what will become of you once the bowl games and the playoffs are over? Hockey to the rescue! Hockey will be in mid-season form and waiting to entertain you until June.

Our 12th Annual Hockey Night with the Houston Aeros will be held on February 27th when the Aeros take on the 1st place Texas Stars. The Stars are the minor league affiliate of the Dallas Stars so this will become an in-state rivalry (think Texans versus Cowboys). Our 2nd Annual Hockey Night with the San Antonio Rampage will be held on March 27th when the Rampage will take on the Lake Erie Monsters. Currently the Rampage and Monsters are tied with the same numbers of points but both are occupying the cellars of their respective divisions. This is going to be a respect game so you know both teams will be battling hard!

Each year, we invite our community volunteers, employees and friends to join us to watch a fun game. We have lots of door prizes, our collectible cowbells and programs for hockey newcomers. Everyone has a great time watching a fast-paced and really cool game. Click the photos below to see fun from the last few years.

2007	2008
Houston 2009	San Antonio 2009

Personal invitations with more details will be mailed to our community volunteers and board members in January. Until then, mark your calendars for February 27th in Houston and March 27th in San Antonio. However, if you can't wait, feel free to reserve your tickets now by sending an email to HockeyNight@ciaservices.com.

Website Maps

We recently completed filing new management certificates for all of our communities to comply with the change to Texas Property Code chapter 2009.004 passed in the last legislative session. All updated management certificates must be filed by May 1, 2010. Every property owners association must file a management certificate in the public records of the county or counties they are located. The purpose of the certificate is to give public notice of a number of things including how to contact the association.

In some cases we needed to order recorded copies of community plats in order to prepare the certificates. We have posted those plats on our website as a convenience to residents who might find the information helpful. For many of our communities we have also posted a satellite map or other types of maps. Look at the Community Documents page Telfair or Quail Green for samples. Please contact your community manager if you would like additional maps placed on your web pages (there is a small cost for getting the plat maps from the public records).

In Memoriam
Mike Banowsky
03/26/1936 - 11/21/2009

We wish to extend our condolences to the family of Mike Banowsky. Mike peacefully passed away on Saturday, November 21, 2009. He was a friend and dedicated board member. Mike had just been elected to the Sugarwood Board of Directors for a third time. Mike was first elected to the board in 2003. He served first as the Treasurer and later as the Secretary. For a time he also served as the Sugarwood representative to the Associations of First Colony. Mike was never afraid to voice his opinion and always insured every board decision was well discussed before any vote was taken. At the 2009 Annual Meeting, Mike spoke passionately about the perimeter fence replacement project. Mike will be missed by everyone who knew him. We offer our condolences to his family and will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

You may click here to view the obituary.

Community of the Month

We are proud of every one of our communities so it is always hard to find just one to highlight. We start by having each of our Community Managers write a nomination for one of their communities. We then read them and take a vote. Here are our most recent selections:

• December - Kings Lake Forest Homeowners Association
  North Office - Annette Escarenio, Community Manager
• November - Post Wood Civic Association
  North Office - Anna Marron, Community Manager
• October - Plantation at Woodforest Community Association
  North Office - Brenda Ellington, Community Manager

To see the full story on these communities and to see the past winners, visit the Community of the Month page on our web site.

Anniversaries

Every month we appreciate the communities that are celebrating their anniversaries with us. Here are the clients that started with us in December.

• Lincoln Green Estates Community Improvement Assn — 16 years
• Brazos Lakes Property Owners Association — 9 years
• Quail Green South Community Association — 5 years
• The Lakefront Association — 1 year

Our goal has always been to create a positive, long term relationship with all of our client communities. We are very proud to be managing all of these communities.

Employee Spotlight

• Welcome back to Roxanne Bailey. We are very pleased that Roxanne is returning to work at our North Office. Roxanne will be a portfolio manager serving several of our North Office communities.
• Congratulations to Dawna Woods on her 13th anniversary with us. Dawna is a stockholder and Maintenance Coordinator at our North office.
• Thank you to Ed Barnett for conducting our November seminar on Contracts, Facilities & Maintenance.
• Our Houston staff enjoyed a rare heavy snowfall on December 4th. We closed a little early to get home safely and to make angels in the snow..

Roxanne Bailey		Dawna Woods		Ed Barnett

Elsy Merino, Penny Hill, Liz Holliday, Melinda Diaz and Anna Quiroga