We really feel settled in our new home , now celebrating our second Christmas at OceanTowers. I have mentioned before that we have great neighbours on the 7th floor. Shortly after settling in to the condo, we invited them in for a drink and nibbles, starting a trend where we each take it in turns to host our neighbours at least once a year. Through Women’s Newcomers Sheila met three other women in the complex, the nucleus of a growing neighbourhood coffee klatch. Norm has volunteered to be in charge of fobs for the front door and garage, and the keys for the bike room, storage room etc. as well as being the “keeper” of the bike rooms and being admin for the strata council web site. In these various capacities, he has come to know quite a number of people in the two apartment towers, each of which has 48 units. One of the Newcomer ladies is married to someone whom Norm works with on strata council matters. As a result we have become good friends with Carolyn and Barry who live on the ground floor of our building.
There is much to like about Ocean Park Towers, but there is one drawback - we cannot barbeque on the balconies. There have been three attempts to change the by-law, all of which failed. This year we mounted a serious campaign to allow barbequing - unfortunately, the result was the same, but much closer than in the previous attempts. 57% voted in favour of the change, but we needed to get 75%. Our heavy involvement in this campaign was another means of us getting to know more residents.
