Catching Up 1.4.2026
- Martha Dobson
- 19 hours ago
- 3 min read
Happy New Year, 2026!
There are many new website members now, folks who joined in the past couple of months and particularly the past 3 weeks. Welcome to www.chinquapinowners.com!
How did this website come to be? It started several years ago when three owners recognized the need for a owner directory so people could contact each other and build connections. The initial information was collected via owner responses to mailed letters which explained the purpose of the directory and its private nature. Val Talley and Martha Dobson searched Jackson County GIS records for Chinquapin owner mailing addresses, wrote the letters and filled in the new directory form, created by former owner, Ellen Tucker. It quickly became apparent that a website was needed to house information and to dessiminate information instead of using the 14 email groups of 20-25 addresses each to contact owners. In the summer of 2022, Martha and her neighbor at home created the current website, setting it up as a private, password protected site, to increase members' comfort with using it, and it went live in early September 2022. The directory is now housed there under Owner Resources. The website has informed, educated, and connected Chinquapin owners with Martha's articles in the blog and Val's committment to staying abreast of owner changes and updating the directory. Now, the website is moving to be the major communication source and housing of information for Chinquapin.
Chinquapin's Story---https://www.chinquapinowners.com/post/what-s-a-chinquapin
Keep reading and scrolling to the bourbon pick & Outhouse Race info!
To improve your website experience---Subscribe to the site after becoming a member. Wix tech support tells me the first and best thing to do to insure website notifications reach inboxes is for members to subscribe. There's no cost to this. How to do it---log in. Mouse over "Hello, your name" in the upper right corner. Click My Account. Click Settings. Click Subscribe.
Always open website notifications to maintain Active subscriber status.
If you unsubscribe, no notifications will go in your inbox.
---Email addresses for owners to keep at hand--
office@chinquapinowners.com office employee address for general questions
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
office employee Rhonda Lekan's email address is office@chinquapinowners.com, effective Wednesday, January 7, at noon.
katie@chinquapinowners.com Katie Nicholson, general manager
maintenance@chinquapinowners.com For property maintenance
build@chinquapinowners.com For review & approval of any actions/questions related to building a house, lot work , building plan approval, any tree work (topping is not allowed per the ARC guidelines/covenants because it alters their appearance & it kills the trees), any exterior changes to established houses.
info@chinquapinowners.com is a general inbox for the website, and emails will be forwarded to others as appropriate. It can be used for website-related questions.
Update your contact information---This past fall, a great deal of work has been done to update the owner directory on the website and the contact information used by the office staff. It is up to date as of December 2025, but if you change contact information, please notify the office. You can email office@chinquapinowners.com with the new information.
Where to find information---The Owner Resources tab has a plethora of information for employees, phone numbers, gate codes, Duke Energy, Balsam West the internet provider, law enforcement, emergency, medical, restaurants and service providers. The directory is there, too. The menu item called Stuff You Need to Know is very useful. A neighborhood Calendar is under Owner Resources.
Chinquapin HOA---use the HOA tab and the drop down menu to find reports, minutes, and other information.
Taste of the Town, Sylva---WLOS New 13's Taylor Thompson, takes us to 3 eating establishments. Put them on your list to visit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbTpXBBFa5A
Hold Feb. 6th for our second  Chinquapin barrel pick of Conviction bourbon. This time we will plan to pick a Double Oak. Details will be shared soon so if you are in town, please come and enjoy some bourbon (and wine). Everyone had a great time last year. https://www.southerngracedistilleries.com/
FUN! The Sapphire Outhouse Race---It's February 7, and a lot of funny fun.
Contact Mike Jameyson, mrjameyson@gmail.com to be involved. Entry fees & food and beverage sales proceeds are donated to the Rotary Club of Cashiers Valley for its work with local nonprofits. Here's the Sapphire Valley Ski link with information and a video within it. https://skisapphirevalley.com/great-outhouse-races-ski-sapphire.html
Chinquapin HOA Board Members. Contact information is in the HOA tab.
Allen Dobson, President; Doug Barber, VP Administration; Kay Lucas, Secretary; Brent Walker, Treasurer; Bill Benner, VP Operations. Tim Wellman, Steve Gajda, Rich Vieitiz, Sally Alvis, Emma Geisler, Mark Adkins