Charles Town, WV

Avon Bend is a beautiful neighborhood near Charles Town, WV nestled in a curve of the meandering Shenandoah River. I'm partial to the place: I have lived there almost 15 years and am currently the homeowner association president.

We had our annual community picnic on Saturday. Couldn't have asked for better weather, and with about 100 people attending, we all got to meet new neighbors and visit with old friends.

A moonbounce, 3-Legged Races, horseshoes, a 50/50 raffle and doorprizes, not to mention all the wonderful potluck food, made this event one to remember!

Good friend to Avon Bend and 2nd VP of the association, our Debbie W. spearheads the picnic every year. From shopping, cleaning and planning to making sure everyone gets doorprize tickets, a big plate of food and then cleaning up after the shindig is through, she makes it all happen! Many thanks Deb!

(That's her in the white top in the middle, calling out winning doorprize ticket numbers)

We all know how lucky we are to live in this great community. It features 6 acres of private river-access property and a wonderful playground with a swingset, basketball half-court, horseshoe pit and bath house.

Across a small footbridge over the Bullskin Run, we have a large pavilion and firepit. Use of these areas is available to all our residents.

The association offers other events throughout the year, including an Easter Egg Hunt and outdoor movie nights in the summer.

All this and would you believe our homeowner association dues are a mere $30 per YEAR!?!

Yeah, I know I'm the president of the association, but I think its money well spent!

To find out more about our community, visit:

www.avonbend.org

Maybe next year you'll be attending the community picnic as our newest resident!

This morning we were invited to a breakfast meeting and tour of the model home at Huntfield by Carrington Homes. Below is the picture of the Elm Hollow Model:

Karen Leier, the sales representative:

She treated us to pastries, juice and coffee. She even gave us goodie bags! We were thrilled to find CHOCOLATES!

Huntfield is the only West Virginia project for Carrington, though they have other projects in Northern Virginia and Maryland. This is a large neighborhood which will eventually offer single family, townhome and active adult residences plus a retail area. Common area parks, totlots and a pool and clubhouse are in the plans as well.

Carrington has some very nice models to choose from, all except one come with a 2 car garage standard, base prices as low as $199,900! Some other standard features include 9'ceilings on the main level, recessed lighting, basements and 42" maple kitchen cabinetry.

Huntfield is well located in Charles Town, Jefferson County on the south end near the new Washington High School, only about 5 miles or so from Route 7 in Northern Virginia (great neighborhood for those commuting to the metro area.) Our office is just around the corner and we are quite familiar with the subdivision. Now we have this builder's information at our fingertips ready to share with our clients.

Many thanks to Karen at Carrington Homes for an enjoyable and informative morning!

So its been about 2 weeks since I've written a blog post or a comment. Well, see, I had a nasty cold that kicked my a** for over a week. By the time I got back to work, things had predictably piled up on my desk. I've gotten pretty much caught up, so back to the Rain!

I have a couple of new projects: Chairing the Education Committee for our Board and taking over the helm of our homeowner's association.

Just call me Madame President.

Ok, you don't have to.

I'm honored to be involved with both organizations. I'll talk more about the Ed. Comm. in later blogs, but right now I have to brag on my neighborhood. Avon Bend on the Shenandoah is a pretty community located next to the Shenandoah River, which actually curves around our community. Its beautiful. The Blue Ridge Mountains hover over us providing a gorgeous vista throughout the year.

Last night we got some heavy, wet snow. I took these very unprofessional shots from my deck this morning:

Both of these shots are from west to east. Mr. Sunshine puts on a pretty spectacular show almost every morning.

I know this isn't really about REAL ESTATE, but who cares? And I probably should have waited to post on "Wordless Wednesday," but remaining wordless isn't my strong suit...

American Military University (AMU), an accredited online university located in Charles Town WV, has been named one of the Top 20 Military-Friendly Colleges and Universities in America in 2008 by Military Advanced Education (MAE). MAE made this determination by evaluating each school's significance in military education, including number of military contracts, number of military students served, financial aid and scholarship programs available and more "military-friendly" qualities. Founded in 1991 by a former Marine Corps officer to address the educational needs of the very mobile military, AMU was one of the first online universities. Its educational system is only one of many great reasons to consider living in Charles Town.