Staff Spotlight: Meet Jamie!

You may have recently noticed one of our staff members, Jamie, working in your building's hallway. You also may have stopped to ask yourself, 'Is he driving a Zamboni in the hallway?!' Actually he's shampooing the hallway carpets! Jamie has worked for a long time for Condor Corporation and he's always striving to make our communities sparkling for our residents, one building at a time!

The winter months are always tough on the carpeting in our common areas due to the snow and salt that is tracked in by foot traffic. Remember to help keep your community looking top-notch and please wipe your feet on the mats in front of the doors. We all appreciate how everyone works together to make Salem Green Apartments a wonderful place to live.

Keep up your hard work Jamie!

Jamie's thinking a Zamboni would cover ten times the area and be that much faster!

Jamie shampooing our carpets one building at a time to make this place sparkling for our residents!

Electronics Recycling Available At Best Buy

Modern life is filled with electronic gadgets, from iPods to large flat screen TVs. What are you to do with it all when it stops working? Certainly don't put it into the trash, that only fills up our landfills with all kinds of things that could be recycled! One convenient way to recycle electronic items is to drop them off at Best Buy. As an electronics seller Best Buy has a program to accept electronics and send them to a recycling company. Not only does this make recycling electronics super easy, but it's free! They accept nearly everything electronic, including tube TVs and monitors up to 32", flat-panel TVs and monitors up to 60", peripherals, DVD players, home and car audio, cell phones, fans, vacuums, MP3 players, and cables, appliances and desktop or laptop computers. To learn more about Best Buy's program or to check which items they accept for recycling, click here.

Making Weekend Plans: Check Out The Orchids At Como!

A special and brief showing of orchids is planned for this coming weekend at the Como Park Conservatory as a part of the Winter Carnival. The Orchid family is widely diverse in flower sizes and colors. Biologically they are among the most evolved flowers, having complex systems for reproduction, which gives the orchid flower its unique structure. We've re-posted the information from Como Conservatory's website below, and for directions or more information you can find the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory website here.

Winter Carnival Orchid Show
January 28-29, 10:00AM to 4:00PM. Special Admission Fee: $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 3-12 ($1 off admission with Winter Carnival button)

Hundreds of orchid plants owned by the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory, individuals, & commercial orchid growers transform the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory into a tropical wonderland where instead of King Boreas, orchids rule during the Orchid Society of Minnesota’s Winter Carnival Orchid Show.

Slick Deals On Ice Skating!

Has the winter kept you indoors for days on end and you think you're coming down with cabin fever? Here's a chance for you to get out and move around! The Inver Grove Heights Community Center is sponsoring several ice skating events for people of all ages and skating ability!

Skate School
This program is designed to turn everyone into an ice skater! There are a variety of classes which teach the fundamentals of skating to anyone ages 3 to adult. Classes meet on Tuesdays and Saturdays for 30 minutes, along with 30 minutes of practice time. The class fee includes four open skate passes for participants to use during public open skate times. Participants in the Learn to Skate program will also have the opportunity to be in the ice show on Friday, April 27!

Winter Sessions:
Tuesdays, Jan. 17-Feb. 21
Saturdays, Jan. 21-Feb. 25

Veterans Memorial Community Center
8055 Barbara Avenue, Inver Grove Heights, MN 55077
Visit their Open Skate and Hockey Hours page to find out more information on open skate times.

Free Hockey Day Minnesota
Enjoy Hockey Day MN at Skyview Park! You can jam with some tunes, try your luck in the hockey skills contests and enjoy hot chocolate and treats in this FREE event! No skate rental is available.

Saturday, January 21, 1:00 PM
Skyview Park
6765 Dawn Way, Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076

Super Skate
For all ages with adult
Dress up as your favorite football team and enjoy a night with your family on the rink! Skate to music, play some games and enjoy a treat! A great way to get geared up for Super Bowl Sunday!

 Saturday, February 4, 6:00 PM -7:30 PM
Veterans Memorial Community Center
8055 Barbara Avenue, Inver Grove Heights, MN 55077

Check Out The Winter E-Newsletter!

Our winter newsletter is now available on our website. Stay up to date on what is happening around your apartment community and check out the helpful reminders. The Salem Green newsletter can be found here.

Elevator Maintenance Requires One Day Closure Of Elevator.

Next week, from Monday, January 23 to Friday, January 27, you'll see some maintenance work on the elevator in your building. We're making maintenance repairs in each building at Salem Green, one building at a time. This means that one day during the week your building's elevator will be closed and unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you while we undergo this necessary maintenance. Please check out the schedule below for the day that your building's elevator will be out of service.

1475 Building: Monday Jan 23rd 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM

1465 Building: Tuesday Jan 24th 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM

1405 Building: Wednesday Jan 25th 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM

1445 Building: Thursday Jan 26th 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM

1455 Building: Friday Jan 27th 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM

How Cute! Susan With Her Twin Granddaughters.

We got this wonderful photo of one of our staffers that we just have to share with you! Susan and her beautiful twin granddaughters Pacey and Kennadi! Susan has worked for us for about 8 years now. Her twin granddaughters were born on Sept. 26th!

Susan holding her twin granddaughters, Pacey and Kennadi.

Dakota County Offers Emergency Alerts Via Phone.

You can get emergency alerts on your phone.

Ever wonder where those emergency vehicles are going and if it will affect your day? Well now you can know. The Dakota County Communications center is offering emergency alerts on a “Mass Telephone Notification System”. So if there is a public emergency that may affect the health, safety or welfare of the community, you can elect to receive a notice to your home, work or cell phone.

Emergency Alerts Include:
Pandemic outbreaks, chemical spills, building evacuations and other threats to public safety

Residents with “land-line” telephone numbers most likely were automatically entered into the notification system. Residents may provide alternate phone numbers or an email address to ensure you receive all messages.  To confirm your number or to register your phone number visit www.mn-dcc.org (look for Mass Telephone Notification System” or call 651-322-8644 for more information.

The contact information provided for the Mass Telephone Notification System will not be sold or made public.

January: National Blood Donor Month

From National Blood Donor Month to National Kazoo Day, January is packed with unique commemorative designations and holidays and they range from the important to the silly.

One of the more important designations for January is National Blood Donor Month. January typically sees blood donations drop since the wintery month is cold, dark and situated right after the holidays. All of these factors make it more likely that donors will struggle to make their appointments during this month. Thus January has been given a special designation in hopes that people like you will step forward to donate during the first month of the year!

Nearly 10 million people donate blood every year; this month especially the American Red Cross wants you to be one of the 10 million. When you donate blood you are saving lives. Every two seconds someone is in need of donated blood. To keep up with that kind of demand 38,000 donations are needed every day. With only one pint of blood you can save up to three lives!

Here is a local place that you can donate blood:

Memorial Blood Centers (Premier Bank Building)

500 W 98^th St.

Bloomington, MN 55420

Phone: 612-871-3300

While the blood drive effort lasts all month long, there are also some very interesting holidays during January.

January 18

• Winnie the Pooh Day which was created to celebrate the birth of the author of Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne on January 18, 1882. Celebrate today by reading some of your favorite storybooks of the adventures of Winnie the Pooh!

January 19

• Edgar Allan Poe’s Birthday (1/19/1809 – 10/7/1849) Edgar Allan Poe was an author, poet, editor and literary critic. One of his famous works is “The Raven” which was published in 1845 which made him a household name. 

January 23

• Chinese New Year is the longest and most important event in the Chinese calendar.  Chinese months are determined by the lunar calendar.  In China, people will take weeks off from work to prepare for this celebration. Legend says that Buddha asked all of the animals to meet him on the Chinese New Year, when only 12 animals showed up Buddha named a year after each of them. It is said that someone who is born in the year of a particular animal will have traits like that animal. 2012 is the year of the dragon and it is said that those born in the year of the dragon are said to be brave, innovative and passionate.
• January 23 is also National Pie Day! According to a 2004 survey Apple pie is the most popular pie followed by Pumpkin pie and Sweet Potato pie. 

January 25 

• Opposite Day.

January 27

• Fun at work Day. Have a blast everyone!
• Holocaust Memorial Day. This day to remember the victims of the holocaust. This day of remembrance began in 2001 and is held on the anniversary of the liberation of the Aushwitz concentration camp by the Soviet Union in 1945.
• Also sharing January 27 is Chocolate Cake Day. Who says cake is just for birthdays?  Let there be cake!

January 28

• Christa McAuliffe Day (11/2/1948 – 1/28/1986) Christa was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. She was a teacher who took part in the NASA Teacher in Space Project founded by President Ronald Reagan. Christa was selected from among 11,000 applicants to participate in a program designed to increase the public’s interest in the shuttle program and remind Americans the important role that teachers serve in their country. On Jan.28, 2986 the space shuttle disintegrated just 73 seconds after being launched. Since the death of Christa McAuliffe many schools and scholarships have been named in Christa’s honor.
• January 28 is also National Kazoo Day.

Happy Birthday Peyton!

Happy Birthday Peyton, one of our Salem Green Apartments residents! She just celebrated her first birthday on Jan 10th in our party room and it sure looks like she had fun with that cake!

Happy Birthday Peyton!

Now the party has started!