The LVRA

The predecessor to today’s Lakewood Village Neighborhood Association (LVNA) was the Lakewood Village Residents Association (LVRA). The LVRA was formed in January of 1958. It was primarily funded by annual dues of $2.00 - $2.50 per household.

If you have any information or materials about the LVRA, here’s how to help document its history, or contact the Editor of The LVNA Villager.

Membership was not a requirement for residents in Lakewood Village, and nonmembers were not excluded from the benefits of LVRA activities, but residents were encouraged to show their support for the LVRA by becoming members, attending meetings, and participating in activities of one sort or another. Other funding came from fundraisers such as bake sales and rummage sales, and from donations of cash or merchandise from local merchants.

The LVRA was extraordinarily active and effective in a variety of community affairs. It was credited with many accomplishments, especially during its first five years of operation. Among those accomplishments were:

• Organized neighborhood participation in a hierarchy consisting of elected LVRA officers, volunteer leaders for each of the four neighborhood units, and volunteer leaders for each block.
• Began publishing a monthly newsletter, “The Villager”.
• Successfully lobbied the City of Sunnyvale for constructing a new fire station near Lakewood Village
• Established several annual community activities, including a picnic, holiday parade, and holiday lighting contest.
• Worked with the City on neighborhood issues, including street lights, street cleaning, traffic control, and insect and weed abatement.
• Worked with local merchants on shopping center issues.
• Lobbied the City and County on issues regarding nearby zoning and development proposals, most notably defeating a proposal to build a slaughterhouse near Lakewood Village.

The LVRA achieved a membership of over 1,000 households, and it was the longest-lived (and, at times, the only) neighborhood association in Sunnyvale. Nonetheless, sometime in the mid 1970’s the LVRA eventually ceased operation.

The LVNA

The LVNA was formed in October of 1991. At that time, the reasons for re-forming a neighborhood association were:

1. To educate and create awareness;
2. To give opportunities to get acquainted with each other; and,
3. To allow the community to come together.

If you have any information or materials about the LVNA, here’s how to help document its history, or contact the Editor of The LVNA Villager.

The LVNA has continued many of the traditions established by the LVRA, including monthly meetings, publication of The Villager, and events like the picnic and the holiday parade.

The LVNA also acts as a liaison between residents and the City of Sunnyvale, and vice versa. The LVNA’s working relationship with the City has been beneficial for Lakewood Village. Among its results are rennovation of Fairwood Park and landscaping of the Hetch-Hetchy right-of-way as a neighborhood greenbelt.

Unlike the LVRA, the LVNA does not ask residents to pay annual dues. All residents are automatically members, and funding for LVNA activities is derived primarily from advertising revenue in The Villager. The LVNA had “Unit Managers” in the 1990’s, similar to the LVRA’s “Unit Representatives”, but today’s LVNA does not have any such hierarchy. Also, the LVNA does not have a “Social Committee” like the LVRA; the Social Committee was essentially a women’s auxiliary organization, but women are now equal partners in the LVNA. The current LVNA operates with only five officers and a handful of regular volunteer functions.

Participating in the LVNA can be a rewarding experience, and several of the past LVNA officers have gone on to larger civic roles within Sunnyvale. For example, Frederik Fowler went on to be elected to the City Council and then became Mayor of the City of Sunnyvale, Vicki Piazza went on to become the Chairperson of the Sunnyvale Planning Commission, and Jessica Lee went on to become the President of the Fremont Union High School District.

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