Important Date to Remember in Big Canoe

Dates to Remember in Big Canoe

                Sept. 8^th  Women’s Guild @10 am Chapel

Sept 9^th BC Boys on the Veranda @6:30-9:30

Sept 10^th 8:30 Shotgun Fall Golf Mixer

Sept 10^th Community Coffee @9am Clubhouse

Sept 14^th  BCAR Picnic at Wildcat @5

Sept 14^th  Wines of Italy at Clubhouse

Sept 16 &17^th Fall Member/Member Golf

Sept 18^th  Musica Variata @5pm Chapel

Sept  10^th  Sanderlin’s Neighborhood Party @5pm

Sept  24^th  4:30 Shotgun Monthly Golf Mixer

Sept 28^th  Informed Voters @2pm Chapel

Sept 28^th  Mexican Beer Tasting @6pm Clubhouse

Oct 1^st   Wildcat’s Neighborhood Party

Oct 1&2 Marble Festival , Jasper

Oct 2 Concert on the Green @ 5:30

Oct 5 Rally for the Cure golf event @ 8:30

Oct 8^th  Octoberfest

Wildcat Pool will be opened weekends only thru Oct 2 11am-8pm

What it Takes to be a Candidiate

It used to be said is that all you need is a fat wallet and a thick skin to run for any office.  I agree with that assertion, but have to add that you need so much more today! The average POA campaign costs close to $2000 today, that money mainly comes from the candidates. Sometimes a candidate receives help from a few backers that are willing to donate time and/or money but usually the brunt of the expense is on the candidate and his/her family. Thick skin is a must because once you publically announce, you have opened yourself and everyone you associate with to criticism and rumor. It all goes with the territory and most people realize this before they go into it. I was warned!

• Besides these attribute a candidate must also be organized!  There are many event, meetings, conferences, newsletters and yes, blogs that need to be attended. Big Canoe expects their newly elected officials to be up to speed on the issues facing the community on day one, so each of us is expected to roll up our sleeves and get to know all that is Big Canoe.  This part of the campaign I have really enjoyed! A lot of work and thought goes into every decision that I have listened to and I, frankly, am very impressed with the caliber of intelligence that is on the present Board and Big Canoe staff. We also need to be well versed about all the documents that run our community.... not an easy task!  Have you ever read a legal brief before, strong coffee is advised! Our documents are thoughtfully, precisely, concisely written in all honesty and my hat goes off to all those thankless VOLUNTEERS that have spent countless hours honing our Governances, By-Laws and Covenances.
• A Candidate must have a sense of humor or all is lost! Your time is not your own even at 6:30 am at the Fitness Center! People say, ask, do the darndest things all in the name of free speech or just having an opportunity to have someone that MIGHT care, listen to them! A candidate can't take herself too seriously!
• A candidate must be honest and real. This seems a no brainer, but it is hard to not offend people with almost anything that is said in today's world. EVERYBODY's got an opinion and everybody thinks that they are exactly right in that opinion.  
• Candidates must try to represent the people that are in the community, not  strictly their own views. I don't have a whole lot of hard and fast opinions so I want to listen to what Big Canoe residents think about the great community that we all call home. I think that we live in a pretty wonderful place and I WOULD like to keep it that way.

BUT
If you have a thought, opinion, concern, suggestion or (shudder) criticism ...I want to know!
I can be reached even at 6:30 in the Fitness Center or.....
by email   LindaCarrig4POA@GMail.com
by phone  678-665-9276 (C)
                706-579-5099 (H)
or knock on my door
                2127 Beech Fern Knoll

I think that I have all that it takes to be a Candidate 4 POA and even more so to be a Director of POA.  Oh the wallet isn't as fat as I would like, but when is it??

Off and Running for Big Canoe POA

Linda Carrig
candidiate of POA

The first question on everyone mind when you announce that you are running for an office is...
WHY???
Because everyone knows that it is extremely hard work and take an exorbitant amount of time...something we seem to have less of as we age.
Actually I was called by a Big Canoe Nominating Committee member and asked to run.  Why they called I do not know.  My first response was NO!!! I am not a captain of industry like so many of the past candidates were.  I have no real experience in leading a community. The committee member said that they felt differently and would I consider the opportunity? After carefull consideration, I decided that in fact I did have something to offer Big Canoe.
First: A woman's perspective. Being a woman is just a fluke of nature, but having been in this female skin for so many years, it has taught me to look at life differently than how I see the men I know look at life. I often find myself seeing the humanity in a problem that is not especially "bottom line" important, but none the less very important. I am not going to expound a great deal about the importance of my gender, but everyone know very important women who have had huge impacts on their lives and that should be enough said on the subject.
Second: I am a business person.  I have started a small business during very tough times and that business is still thriving, or at least has not gone under! Starting All Mountain Realty  in an area that is already saturated with nationally known companies has been a rewarding challenge. I have learned, grown and had a terrific time while helping people fill their dream of either coming to or leaving this beautiful place in the North Georgia mountains.
Third:  I am a part of an interesting, challenging family.  I have moved over 10 times in my life and have enjoyed every place that I have lived.  My parents had to overcome huge obstacles to acheive their prosperity and provide such a rich life to my siblings and me. I remember walking in on my dad, his head in his hands at 3 am, not being able to sleep wondering how he was going to pay for three girls in college.  This was during the time that girls did not readily go to college, but of course HIS girls were going to go!  Well, he found the way, albeit on a shoestring, but we all graduated from Ohio State University and went on to carreers not possible even a decade before. Financial planning, strict budgeting and big dollops of hope and love was what I was brought up on, and it didn't matter what part of the country we were living in...the family message was always the same. We made what we had go a little bit further and enjoyed life a little bit more doing so.

So I think that I am very capable of adding to Big Canoe's rich heritage of physical beauty, financial strenght and welcoming, active people.