Greetings from the Board – December 2022

Greetings from the Board

For many if not most, the holiday season is about recalling old and creating new family memories. Food plays a large role in creating memories and traditions. VCA board members would like to share with you some of our favorite holiday recipes.

Wishing you all a safe, healthy, and happy holiday.

Gayle Lopez, VCA President – Every year when we put up our Christmas Tree, Mom would serve eggnog and cookies.  This tradition has been passed down to the next generation. 

Eggnog Ingredients
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups milk
• 2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened 

Directions
 1. In a medium bowl, beat 3 eggs with a hand mixer until fluffy. You could also use a blender.
 2. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar.
 3. Mix in 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 4 cups milk.
 4. Blend in 2 cups softened vanilla ice cream.
 5. Place eggnog into cups. (Adults – add a shot of rum)
 6. Garnish with nutmeg, and or whipped cream or whipped topping.

Dan Sturmon, VCA Secretary – Below is a recipe for Chicken Chili for the holidays.  Everyone in our household enjoyed the chili for its lightness rather than a heavy beef chili recipe.  Of course, corn bread was served with it.  It was considered a “break” from all the bulky holiday meals usually served.

White Chili Ingredients
•	2 lbs boneless chicken breasts or tenders 
•	1 Tbsp olive oil 
•	2 medium onions chopped 
•	4 cloves garlic – minced 
•	2 (4oz) cans chopped green chilies 
•	2 tsp ground cumin 
•	1 tsp dried oregano 
•	¼ tsp ground cloves 
•	¼ tsp ground red pepper 
•	3 (15.8) great Northern Beans 
•	4-6 cups chicken broth 
•	12 oz shredded Monterey jack – divided

Directions
1. Place chicken in large saucepan. Add cold water to cover. 
2. Simmer – cooking approx. 15-20 minutes. 
3. Remove chicken and discard water. Dice chicken in to ½ inch cubes. 
4. Using same pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion.
5. Cook 4 minutes. 
6. Stir in garlic, chilies, cumin, red pepper, oregano, and cloves.
7. Sauté 2-3 minutes. 
8. Add chicken, beans, broth and 8 oz cheese. 
9. Simmer 15 minutes. 
10. Ladle into bowls – top with remaining cheese.

Robert Feltes, VCA Commercial Director – The Feltes Family loves Spritz cookies. Every year we pull out the ‘Old Christmas Cookie Press’, handed down from three generations and make dozens.

Spritz Cookie Ingredients
• 1 Cup butter, soft
• 1/2 Cup sugar
• 2 1/4 Cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• food coloring, if desired

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until creamy. Stir in flour, salt and egg. Add food color if desired (a few drops at a time). 
3. Place cookie dough in a cookie press. Form desired shapes onto un-greased cookie sheet. Decorate with sprinkles or colored sugar. 
4. Bake for 5-8 minutes or until set but not brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool.

Ted Dan, VCA Other-Than-Single-Family Director – We like to keep things simple around the holidays, but like to add some holiday spirit to our brownies.

Grand Marnier Brownie Ingredients
• Ghirardelli dark brownie mix
• Grand Marnier
• Vanilla yogurt
• Walnuts
• Dark chocolate frosting

Directions
Substitute 1/4 cup water with Grand Marnier. Substitute 1/3 cup vanilla yogurt for 1/3 cup oil and add a few walnuts. Dark chocolate frosting.

Snapshot – December 2022

In case you missed the December 8, 2022 Board of Directors meeting, below is a “snapshot” of the General Manager’s report to the community.  The entire report begins on page ten in the Meeting Resident Info Packet on the VCA website calendar under December 8, 2022.  

Park Furniture Replacement
• Park furniture for Big Wash, Sunset Ridge, Wildlife Ridge Parks and Lost Coyote & Woodshade Trails should be delivered by the end of October. Removal of the old and installation of the new furniture and

Shade Sails
• The shade sails for Wildlife Ridge and Hohokam Park are scheduled to be installed the week of October 17. Sunset Ridge Park, two out of the three have been installed. At Torreno Park, one of the shades was sent back for resizing.

Onsite Office
• On November 30 the new office was inspected and found that the flooring, molding, lighting and painting of accent walls were not completed.
• The move in date has been pushed out to January 5, 2023.
• The office desks and chairs are on order.

Wildlife Fencing Project – Update from the Town of Oro Valley
• Masonry work has started. The gate company has indicated there may be a delay in getting the steel for the fabrication of the gates. Anticipated completion date for this project is December 2, 2022.

Call For Candidates
• The call for candidates’ postcard mailing is scheduled to go out on December 14, 2022.
• There will be five open board positions and consist of the following voting categories: 3 single family, 1 other than single family and 1 commercial.
• Applications are available on the website.

Park Vandalism
• Due to an escalation of vandalism at Hohokam and Wildlife Parks, the restroom codes for all three parks have been changed.
• Members were notified to contact the VCA office to get the new codes if interested.

Meet Your Neighbor – Rob Feltes

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Meet your neighbor Rob Feltes

We couldn’t have chosen a more perfect December “Meet Your Neighbor” than Rob Feltes, National Sales Manager with MasterPieces Puzzle Company, a manufacturer of jigsaw puzzles, games, toys and wood craft kits. With headquarters right here in Rancho Vistoso, MasterPieces has been in business for over 25 years and sells their products globally through a variety of retailers, from small specialty shops to large big box stores such as Walmart and Target. MasterPieces products can also be purchased online through their corporate website.

MasterPieces started out primarily as a jigsaw puzzle company specializing in souvenir puzzles. Over the years it has grown to offering specialty puzzles for sports fans (they have licenses with the NFL, MLB, NHL, and most larger universities), national parks fans, and even movie fans. They also offer a wide variety of educational puzzles and toys for children of all ages. MasterPieces continues to grow and is always looking to add local talent to the MasterPieces team.

Rob and his family moved from Milwaukee, WI 12 years ago and Rob has been with MasterPieces for the past 7 years. Rob and his wife Laura were looking for a community to raise their small son, Nicholas. They wanted a place that had real neighborhoods with sidewalks, good schools, and a strong sense of community. To be able to live and work in Rancho Vistoso has been a perfect fit for their family.

Nicholas attended Amphi schools and is currently a freshman at the University of Arizona. Rob and Nicholas were involved in Oro Valley Little League and club baseball for many years. Eventually the two of them became avid tennis players, playing at Hohokum Park and El Conquistador. Laura is currently the administrative assistant at Painted Sky Elementary School and takes advantage of the many walking trails throughout Rancho Vistoso.

Rob fully embraces all that living in Rancho Vistoso offers and one of his favorite places to hike is in the Catalina Mountains. In fact, a few years ago Rob and Nicholas did a strenuous nine-hour hike, from the top of Mt. Lemon down to the parking lot at Catalina State Park.

Along with Rob’s sales director position, tennis playing and hiking, Rob currently holds the Commercial Director position on the VCA Board of Directors. Although Rob was involved with the VCA for three years prior, being a voting board member allows him to be more instrumental in helping make decisions and implementing changes.

If you’re not familiar with MasterPieces products or are still looking for some great holiday gifts, take a look at their website at masterpiecesinc.com. Rob and MasterPieces would like to show their appreciation to the entire community by offering a discount code for any purchases made in December.

20% discount code
Rancho20

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Do you have a neighbor we should meet? Please tell us at [email protected] why you think they would be good to meet and supply the neighbor’s phone number and email address. Also, be sure to let your neighbor know that you referred them to us.

Holiday Lights Reminder

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What’s Happening in December Around Rancho Vistoso?

Tis the season to check out some holiday lights and Tucson has no shortage of spectacular holiday illuminations.  Check out Tucson Christmas Lights 2022-2023

Check out what Oro Valley has going on.  Events and Meetings Calendar – Oro Valley | it’s in our nature (orovalleyaz.gov)

To find out what’s up in the greater Tucson area – https://thisistucson.com/