Kinnelon's Stonybrook Highlands Neighborhood

At the end of the school year, Emma was invited to her friend's birthday party, which took place in Kinnelon's Stonybrook Highlands at the "community pool." I thought I had misunderstood. After all, Kinnelon is all about community lakes and beaches. Isn't it? Not, as you will discover in Mary Beth Grybowski's story titled "My Neighborhood".

My Neighborhood

Wow, look at the date! It is already August 15, 2011! Where has the time gone?

You might think that I am talking about this Summer passing by too quickly. Well, that is partially true, but for me, today marks the 5 year anniversary of our move to Kinnelon.

Now, you might be wondering where I live. If so, I’ll give some hints and see if you can guess. I don’t live within the 5,000 acres behind a gate, or within the area known as Kinnelon Estates. I have seen many a wild turkey in my yard, but I don’t live within Pheasant Run. In fact, during the last heat wave, there was a mama wild turkey drinking from the water feature in the Koi pond while her little ones looked on. My street and driveway are quite steep, but I don’t live in Round Hill Estates. There is something secluded deep in the woods behind my house, but I don’t live in Hidden Acres. I can take a cool dip nearby during the Summer, but I don’t live within Fayson Lakes or Lake Reality.

OK, can you guess where I live? If so, can you also guess what is hidden in my neighborhood? Since my younger siblings call me ‘the blabbermouth’, I will have to tell you, because I am terrible at keeping a secret. I live in a community called Stonybrook Highlands. Our secret is that we have a swimming pool on a piece of land that is approximately 5 acres. It is a homeowners association, so we each own a little piece of this property and we pay yearly dues on it. There are usually a few openings to the pool each Summer, but you must be recommended by someone in the neighborhood. Stonybrook Highlands is made up of the houses on Highlands Drive, Misty Ridge Circle, Galloway Terrace, Chilhowie Drive and just a few houses on Boonton Avenue.

We have several meetings a year, to discuss the budget and planned activities. We have an Autumn and Spring cleanup at the pool, a Halloween Parade the Sunday afternoon before the festival of ghouls. There is a BBQ and a camp out on the grounds in Summer. But in Winter, the pool area hibernates, much like the local black bears.

Our neighborhood association even has officers. Tom is our President, Ellen is our Secretary, Anne is our Treasurer, Kim is our Social Director, and Tony takes care of running the pool facilities. A few other people deserve a little recognition. John keeps our directory up to date with addresses and phone numbers. Cliff recently stepped up to lend a hand with the taxes for the association.

I hope I don’t get in trouble with the neighbors by telling you our BIG secret. Actually, if our neighborhood had a website or blog, you would have known all about it already.

One final word of warning : Don’t try to sneak into the pool off-hours. One of the officers has a ‘Bird’s Eye View’ of the pool property and he is a very fast runner.

Mary Beth Grybowski

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Thank you, Mary Beth!

Did you know about Kinnelon's Stonybrook Highlands neighborhood and its lovely community pool? I bet the campout is great fun and that Halloween Parade is perfectly ghoulish!