We thought we would introduce you to the Developer of Persimmon Ridge Golf Course and Subdivision. For those of you that haven’t met Lawren Just, she and her late husband Elmore had a dream to build a Championship Golf Course and community where the golf course was open to ANYONE as long as you loved the game of golf.They found the land Persimmon Ridge is built on today (all 765 acres) and started building that dream in the mid 80’s with the golf course opening in 1989 and the first homeowner moving in 1990.
What many of you don’t know is Lawren still lives in Persimmon Ridge with her husband Doug, as do several of her children and grandchildren. As the developer Lawren was out in the trenches doing work that a developer would typically hire out. In fact it wasn’t unusual to see Lawren driving her backhoe doing whatever work needed done. Lawren still has that backhoe and just this past month she helped dig out part of the cart path for the golf course on hole 13 as a favor to the Golf Course.
We plan to include more fun stories in future newsletters that many residents might not know. Stay tuned in a future newsletter for how the streets got their names.
For those that would like to know more about the history of Persimmon Ridge, Lawren has written a book called “Building A Dream” The Persimmon Ridge Story. You can buy it directly from Lawren (email her at prgolfer1@gmail.com). She will even sign it. Or you can purchase it on Amazon (link below). This winter she hopes to have an event at the clubhouse about the History of Persimmon Ridge. Stay tuned.
https://www.amazon.com/Building-Dream-Persimmon-Ridge-Story/dp/B0CHL5KL2H
Please note that this was also mailed out to all residents. If you have any questions, please reach out to Cornerstone at melinda@contactcornerstone.com.
Dear Persimmon Ridge Residents,
We hope this message finds you and your families well and enjoying all that our wonderful community has to offer.
Over the past year, your HOA Board has been working diligently to ensure PersimmonRidge remains the beautiful, welcoming neighborhood we all love to call home. To better plan for the future and reduce the likelihood of unexpected expenses, we partnered with Reserve Design Advantage to complete a comprehensive Reserve Study, which was finalized this fall. This study provides us with a clearer picture of anticipated maintenance costs and capital needs, allowing us to build a more sustainable financial plan for the years ahead.
We know last year’s special assessment and dues increase were challenging for everyone — including Board members — as the changes had to be made late in the year. We took that feedback seriously and have focused our efforts on improving financial planning and transparency so that future adjustments are more predictable and easier for everyone to prepare for.
For many years, our developer, Lawren Just, and her family went above and beyond forPersimmon Ridge — not only creating the wonderful amenities we enjoy today, but also personally handling much of the work that kept costs low. Their dedication allowed our dues to remain significantly lower than those in similar neighborhoods for quite sometime.
As the Homeowners Association has gradually taken on these responsibilities, cost shave naturally increased, especially as our shared spaces and infrastructure have begun to age. The Reserve Study helped us identify what’s needed to maintain these areas responsibly and to keep Persimmon Ridge in great shape for many years to come.
Based on the study’s findings, the Board has determined that dues will need to increase by 18.6% for 2026, bringing the total annual amount to $925. We recognize this is a meaningful change and want to emphasize that the decision was not made lightly. While this increase won’t immediately bring our reserve account to its fully funded level, it places us on a healthy, sustainable path toward long-term financial stability.
To provide context, we’ve included a comparison chart showing how our dues align with similar neighborhoods. As you’ll see, Persimmon Ridge remains on the lower end compared to communities of comparable size, amenities, and property values. We have also included the list that was shared last year of what your dues go to on an annual basis to support the community.
The Reserve Study also recommends planning for approximately a 4% annual increase in future years. This steady, predictable adjustment will help us keep up with inflation, maintain our amenities, and strengthen our reserves without large, unexpected jumps.
If you would like to review the Reserve Study it is available in the “Documents” section under “Community Info” of the Homeowners Portal on the Cornerstone website.(Accessing the portal can be found below in this newsletter under CommunityReminders.)
We understand that any increase can be difficult, and we want you to know that each decision is made thoughtfully, with the best interests of the entire community in mind.Our goal is to protect the value of our homes, preserve the quality of our shared spaces, and ensure Persimmon Ridge remains a place we are all proud to call home.
Thank you for your understanding, support, and continued commitment to our neighborhood.
Warm regards,
The Persimmon Ridge HOA Board
We wanted to take a moment to help explain how holiday lighting decisions are made and why our display may look a bit different from what you see in some other neighborhoods.
In the past, a few homeowners have asked why we don’t fully wrap our very largeBradford pear trees or install more elaborate displays. What many people don’t realize is that fully wrapping a single large Bradford pear tree can cost upwards of $4,000per tree. When you consider how many large trees we have at our entrances, that cost adds up extremely quickly.
To stay responsible with homeowner funds, we decided to take a more balanced approach:
It’s important to us that homeowners understand how we try to balance holiday aesthetics with fiscal responsibility. Sometimes the cost of more elaborate lighting simply doesn’t justify the expense—especially when those funds can be better used in other areas of the neighborhood.
For comparison, Polo Fields spends around $30,000 each year on their holiday lights, which is well beyond what we want (or need) to spend as a community.
We appreciate everyone’s understanding as we continue improving our lighting in a way that looks great and respects our budget. ❤️💡
If you see the colors changing over the next few days, that’s us still testing out the new equipment!
The PR HOA Board wants to give a BIG THANKS to Traci Omlor for taking the lead on our Holiday Lighting this year. She obtained quotes from multiple companies and thenpresented options for the Board to review for our Holiday Lighting!
Traci learned a lot about Holiday lighting (as did the board) and we wanted to share those learnings with everyone in this newsletter!
Thank you Traci for leading this effort and sharing what you learned!
Santa will be arriving at the POOL house in a shiny firetruck promptly at 3:00pm onSunday, December 7.
Start preparing your welcome sign on a poster board now, get creative with your artwork and message. I know Santa is my BFF!
We will start lining up in the cul-de-sac at the end of Arthur Hills Way at 2:50 to prepare for the big guy’s arrival with signs held high.
Share your holiday wishes with Santa and say cheese for the camera.
Grab your scavenger hunt list and go out into the neighborhood and see if you can find everything on the list. Return your completed list back to the pool house and put it in the designated box for a chance to win a $25 gift card.
There’s also a space on the scavenger hunt form to nominate a neighbor’s home for theHoliday Decorating Contest! Make a note of those addresses that caught your eye!
Please note: The Pool House has already been winterized and there will be no restroom facilities available for use. We apologize for any inconvenience.
It’s time to spread joy, sparkle and lights throughout our community with your holidaydecorations!
Get creative and shine bright and you’ll have a chance to win one of three gift cardssponsored by your PR HOA. There will be a prize for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winnersvoted by your neighbors.
Nominate your favorite displays by December 12. Voting will begin on December 13and end on December 18. A Google Form will be provided to submit nominations,unless you participate in the Scavenger Hunt on December 7 and as mentioned above,there will be a spot to nominate your favorite home!
Here is the link to the nomination form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdgR6tzCRv6PnEPEy5X8mJYVMXky_p2nVTZLTJRnk5CWff59g/viewform
Let’s Light Up Persimmon Ridge🎄
Just a friendly reminder to please ask your guests to keep their vehicles fully on the pavement when they visit (and to do the same with your own cars when parking near a neighbor’s yard). Parking on the grass can unintentionally damage someone’s lawn or even their irrigation system. Thanks so much for helping keep everyone’s yards in great shape!
The software portal that Cornerstone introduced in 2024 has several features that we would encourage all residents to use. In the past, the portal was merely a payment portal. In an effort of additional transparency and ease of obtaining pertinent information, we now have the ability to place several documents within the portal for all homeowners to view, including, but not limited to all HOA monthly financials, including an Income Statement and Balance Sheet, along with the ARC form, mailbox order form, the governing documents, prior newsletters and board meeting minutes on the Homeowners Portal. We have also placed the recent Reserve Study to the portal that you can review in detail. You can also continue to make payments through the portal through a variety of options.
There is a website login as well as a mobile application that allows for additional convenience. You can download the mobile app by going to the App Store and searching for Cornerstone Property Management. You can see a screenshot of the dashboard of the App here. The highlighted yellow area is where you can view theDocuments listed above. This feature will continue to be built out with additional documents. Please continue to check back for updated documents.
Link to portal: https://cspm.cincwebaxis.com/ (access by going towww.contactcornerstone.com and selecting Homeowners Portal at the top)
Download App: Navigate to App Store and search for "Cornerstone PropertyManagement"
If you have any additional questions, please reach out to Cornerstone atmelinda@contactcornerstone.com.
Hi neighbors!
Do you have a talent, ideas, connections and/or own a business?? Your PR HOAEvent Coordinators, Tonya Gulledge and Diana Wildenmann, would love to connect with you to join in on creating more fun events. You or your business can sponsor an upcoming event, be a vendor at a PR HOA Sponsored event or work with us and others on a committee to pull an event together.
Our PR HOA will continue to host our traditional favorites:
Plus we have a few new ideas in the works! And, that’s where you or your business can get involved! A few events we’d like to add with your help could be events such as:
❤️Valentines Cookie Exchange
🌸Spring Fling
🍿 Outdoor Movies
🕯️ Holiday Light Walk with Caroling
and many others!
If you’d like to get involved or share other event ideas, we’d love to hear from you. You can reach us at PRHOADirectors@gmail.com or send Tonya or Diana a private message on Facebook Messenger.
Thanks so much!
Your PR Event Coordinators
Diana Wildenmann & Tonya Gulledge
Please make sure if you are planning any change to the exterior of your home to fill out the Architectural Review Form that can be found on Cornerstone’s website (examples include a fence, playground set, fire pit, deck, dumpster etc). This includes if you will have a dumpster on site for any project for any amount of time.
Once Melinda receives your application, the process usually only takes a few days to complete. She works closely with all applicants to ensure the Architectural ReviewCommittee (ARC) has what they need to evaluate your project for a successful result. Click here to access the form on Cornerstone's website.
If you ever have any need from the PR HOA, please reach out to Melinda atCornerstone at melinda@contactcornerstone.com.
Thank you for reading,
We'd love to hear from you! Please submit any feedback on this newsletter or suggestions for future topics here: Persimmon Ridge Feedback and Suggestion Box
Do you have a story or photo you would like to be highlighted in the nextNewsletter?
Submit your story along with any pictures to Melinda at Melinda@contactcornerstone.com.
Thank you for reading,
The PR Communications Committee
Connie Colbert and Sarah Saneii
