Basically a social animal, humans tend to group. 

Greendale is, in large part, occupied by humans. In fact, in Greendale, we humans outnumber the white-tailed deer by an almost 2- 1 margin. The only section where humans are not number one is the G section, where squirrels rule the streets.

If squirrels learn the art of tagging, property values will drop like a rock up and down Gardenway.

The human tendency to form groups is crazy obvious in the Garden Community. A Greendale history buff told me this is an inherent part of our culture.  Back in 1938, the Pioneers that formed Greendale were starting a life out in the sticks. 

This was the boonies. People formed groups just to stay warm.  Plus, a decent cable package was more than 40 years away.  After shoveling some coal, there was just nothing for a Greendale Pioneer to do inside their concrete block Original.

So the New Deal Era Pioneers hit the alphabetized streets and formed organizations.  Without question, Greendale’s unique high quality of life is a result of these organizations. These groups allow residents to build sweat equity in their community.  We nurture and own this 5.4 square miles of heaven. Pure and simple, Greendale would be just another dandelion choked suburb without its vibrant, engaged organizations.

Today our official Village website (www.greendale.org) lists 31 organizations on its ‘Community’ tab.  The list, like our streets, is alphabetical.  Yes, even our organizations are organized.  And not just any band of humans can be a group in Greendale.  As you would expect, there is an approval process.

Inside the Bubble’s crack team of investigative reporters uncovered some of the groups that have been denied Organization Status here in Greendale.  You might be interested in 4 groups that did not make the grade:

1)      The Root River Pirates.  Really, including “pillage” in hobbies section of the application was – if anything - too honest.  Plus the Pirates clearly over estimated the navigability of the Root River for their Pirate Ships. There is a lesson in here for us all.

2)      The Knights of the M Section.  This turned to be a just group of guys looking for a place to play Texas Hold Em on a regular basis. Sure, Village Hall would make a quaint casino, but its ban on cigar smoking caused the group to lose interest.

3)      Scout Lake Scuba Club.  There are a lot of fun things to do at Scout Lake, our somewhat forgotten treasure. However, scuba diving in the murky shallow waters was, literally, short-sighted.

4)      The Greendale Unoriginals.  Without question, this group was motivated only by jealousy of those living in the historic, New Deal-built Originals.  The Mission Statement of this group was “To extol the virtues of Aluminum Siding.”   Many say the groups’ proposed slogan “Fake Shutters are better than fake friends” did little to impress the GOC- Greendale Organizational Council.  Fund-raising efforts were thwarted as sales of “Vinyl – the Other Wood” t-shirts were flat.

What does remain is this simple truth: Greendale is a great community built on the strength of its great organizations. As AC /DC almost said: To those about to volunteer, we salute you.