DATE: Wednesday, May 28, 1997               TAG: 9705260030

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   56 lines

WASHINGTON SQUARE PHONE SERVICE HELPS RESIDENTS STAY IN TOUCH

Now you can dial-a-civic-league, at least in Washington Square.

The innovation is an automated telephone service called the Washington Square Info Line. The neighborhood is a 620-unit townhouse community behind Regency Shopping Center in Virginia Beach.

Callers to 552-8000 will hear a recorded message about events in Washington Square, such as this Saturday's community yard and bake sale or civic-league meetings.

Residents also can leave voice-mail suggestions, questions and complaints for the civic league. There's about a dozen such calls a month, said Judy MacDonald, the group's treasurer and the voice on the Washington Square Info Line.

Anonymous messages are just as welcome as those from folks who identify themselves. ``I want to have free communication with no fear. This is a way to knock down that barrier,'' said MacDonald, who covers the $10 monthly cost.

MacDonald and Ginger Long brainstormed the idea about two years ago. Long already had begun a newsletter at her own expense, ``just to start a little conversation in the neighborhood because we weren't really close-knit.'' The Info Line, Long said, ``opened up a whole other avenue for comment and participation.''

MacDonald said the phone service has brought several new members to the civic league and neighborhood watch.

It has helped elderly residents stay in touch, even when they hesitate to attend night meetings, she said. And it's a time saver for busy residents.

Because the service operates 24 hours a day, people don't shy from calling late at night when an idea or complaint pops into their heads. ``If you're out walking your dog at 8 o'clock at night and see a street light that's out, you can call as soon as you get home and leave a message instead of waiting until the next day,'' MacDonald said.

The civic league reports problems, such as broken street lights or potholes, to authorities for repair.

But the league does not act directly on messages about stray animals and tall weeds. It encourages residents to report the nuisances to City Hall or try resolving them neighbor-to-neighbor.

``We don't want to become a policing organization,'' MacDonald said. ``We just want to empower people, not take up the cause for them.''

Innovations and then some: Norfolk's Lakewood Civic League doesn't mess with technology. Its newsletter advises residents to submit letters to President Joseph P. Massey by placing them in his mailbox or ``slide it under the collar of his Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Puddin', when found illegally wandering the neighborhood.''

Any carrier pigeons out there? MEMO: Ideas for this column? Contact Mike Knepler at 446-2275. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Judy MacDonald

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