Lawn citation brings out neighborhood heart

According to the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions for Del Webb’s Sun City, “All portions of a dwelling unit outside of enclosed structures shall be kept clean and tidy at all times.”

When two neighbors found themselves in violation of a Sun City ordinance when their lawn went uncut, Sandra McCollum was alarmed.

“My heart went out to the couples. They had a lawn service that they had paid for upfront for the summer. But they stopped showing up,” she said.

But McCollum’s story doesn’t end there.

Ron Tampa (left) and his son Ronnie giving the lawns that satisfying just-cut look. (Photo by Christine Such/Sun Day)

“We did what most neighborhoods in Sun City would do. We helped,” said McCollum. “One of our neighbors and his son who also lives in Del Webb took on the task. I loaned them my lawn mower and gave them some bags and stickers.”

Ron Tampa and his son Ronnie decided to spend their Sunday afternoon helping the neighbors. Ron explained, “We noticed that the grass was getting rather high. Our son stops here often since he lives in Del Web and we thought, ‘What the heck, let’s cut the grass for them.’”

The two tackled the job in one and half hours, and successfully got the two lawns back into compliance.

The gesture did not go unnoticed.

“We both started crying when we saw the guys helping these two neighbors. We were emotional and proud to be a part of this neighborhood,” McCollum said.

“In reality, I think that any neighborhood in Del Webb would have done the same thing. The people that live here in Del Web are concerned and helpful. It’s a great community. We do have a good neighborhood and this is just one example that shows it,” said Marjorie Tampa.

Norma and Bob Schlichting also expressed gratitude for the help in their neighborhood.

Norma said, “It’s been such a blessing. We didn’t have anywhere to go for help. Our grass looked terrible, but we couldn’t do anything about it. The service took our money and left.”

Vince and Marilyn Catalano also received the citation.

Marilyn said, “It was such a shock. It wasn’t even that bad. I couldn’t believe that we got that paper (citation).”

Vince continued, “When I got it I went over to the lodge and talked to them and complained about getting the citation. I didn’t want it to go on our record.”

Marilyn explained, “It’s our second citation. We had lost our son and wanted to bring some happiness into our lives. Vince suffers from diabetes and can’t do these things. We hired someone to put up Christmas lights. They didn’t come down on time, and we got a citation. So, this second one hurt us. We pay our dues on time and try to be good people.”

Marilyn reiterated how grateful the neighbors feel toward their community.

“It was God-sent. We were gone all day. We went to church and when we came home the lawn was done. There were even stickers on the bags! How blessed we felt. We first thought it was the neighbors’ two sons that did it. We went over to thank him and found out that it was Ron himself and his son! We just can’t thank him enough for making our lives easier.”

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