Welcome to the Hickory Farms email service. The service, technically called a "list server" or "listserv," is hosted by Google Groups.

Many communities use a service like this to communicate information that is useful to their homeowners and residents. Hickory Farms homeowners and residents may use this service to send an email to other neighbors who have joined the group.

Our email group is moderated by a coordinator appointed by the Board of Directors. Once you join, you should start receiving your monthly newsletter through email as well as your hand-delivered copy. The coordinator will also preview all messages before they are distributed to the members. Moreover, the e-mails that are sent only have one name on them — yours — so the other folks in the group cannot harvest the e-mail addresses to send spam. So, don't worry — we won't let anyone clog your inbox with spam.

To join the Hickory Farms e-mail group

Since the Listserv is sponsored by Google, you should first get a Gmail account. If you don’t already have one, go to www.gmail.com and register for an email address. Keep the password somewhere safe, since you never know when you’ll need it.

Once you have a Gmail email address, visit: http://groups.google.com/g/hickory-farms-hoa/ and click "asking to join the group" to enter the requested information.

• Enter your first and last name as Display name
• For Reason Joining, kindly provide your Full Name, your Street Address in Hickory Farms (such as 1234 Wheatfield Court), State, and Telephone Number. Also include whether you are a homeowner or tenant. This information will be used by the Listserv Coordinator to confirm your eligibility to participate in the Listserv.
• Click "Ask to join"
• Your application for membership will then be reviewed by the Listserv Coordinator. Please give the Coordinator a few days to respond.

Notes About Replying to Hickory Farms Emails

Emails to the Hickory Farms listerv are reviewed by the coordinator before they are forwarded to the members of the group. When you receive an email from the Hickory Farms listserv, you may notice that the sender is "Hickory Farms," not the neighbor who originally wrote the email.

If you want to reply to everyone in the group, just click the "Reply All" button to respond from your email or click the link at the bottom of the message "To view this discussion on the web visit..." This will allow you to contribute to the discussion via the web based interface. For example, if the sender is asking for the name of a recommended plumber, this is the kind of response that probably ought to be seen by everyone, since others in the community may be interested.

If you want to reply just to the sender, use "Reply" in your email program.

If the sender needs a more personal response - say if the sender is looking for their lost dog - you might respond to the original sender only.

To send an e-mail to your neighbors on the listserv

Once registered, you may send an e-mail to Hickory Farms homeowners and residents by addressing the message to hickory-farms-hoa@googlegroups.com. However, before your email is delivered, it will be screened by the email coordinator, who is identified on the Hickory Farms Home Page. Once the email coordinator determines that your email meets the criteria listed below, it will be forwarded to the Hickory Farms group.

When sending an email message, be sure to include a descriptive subject line — say "Street Repairs Aug 25-26." When the email is sent to your neighbors, "[Hickory Farms]" is automatically included as the first part of the subject line, with your email's subject text immediately following. The group would receive "[Hickory Farms] Street Repairs Aug 25-26."

To unsubscribe from the Hickory Farms group

Send a blank email to hickory-farms-hoa+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. This email must come from the email address that you are registered with.

To change your email address

With Google Groups, you’ll need to unsubscribe and resubscibe. To Unsubscribe from the list serv, please send a blank email to hickory-farms-hoa+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com from the currently subscribed email. That will remove the old email address. To resubscribe, please follow the instructions above.

For more help using our listserv, feel free to reach out to the current coordinators on our website: https://hickoryfarms.org/contact

Or visit the Google Groups help forum here: https://support.google.com/groups#topic=9216

Rules and Standards of Etiquette for Use of The Hickory Farms Email Service

The Hickory Farms Board of Directors ("Board") created the Hickory Farms email service ("listserv").

The Board has adopted the following Rules and Standards of Etiquette for use of the listserv:

1. The purpose of the listserv is to encourage meaningful discussion of community-related topics among homeowners and residents. Participation in the listserv is a privilege and not a right. By subscribing to the listserv, listserv members ("Members") agree to these Rules and Standards of Etiquette as implemented and interpreted by the Board.
2. The listserv is the property of the Board. The listserv is maintained, on behalf of the Board, by a volunteer Coordinator ("Coordinator"), who is appointed by the Board. The Coordinator agrees to execute the decisions and directions of the Board as they relate to the listserv. The Board, by majority vote, may remove the Coordinator. When the Coordinator is replaced, he or she is expected to transition to a replacement Coordinator in an orderly fashion.
3. The listserv is for use by Hickory Farms homeowners and residents. Other individuals may join, subject to review by the Coordinator, provided that they supply reasonable justification to participate in community-oriented discussions.
4. Only those persons who have subscribed to the listserv may send messages to the Hickory Farms listserv email address.
5. Emails that advertise a business or commercial activity such as real estate sales by agents, contractors seeking clients, etc. are prohibited. However, Members may post items for sale, including the sale of their home in Hickory Farms. Specifically allowed are postings by student residents who are offering services to their neighbors. Some examples are: lawn maintenance, baby sitting, snow shoveling, tutoring, computer assistance, and other odd jobs.
6. Emails that promote charities are not accepted - to promote one charity to the exclusion of others would be unfair. This includes emails by Members on behalf of children who are raising funds for entities such as youth groups and schools.
7. All content is subject to the approval of the Board, who may delegate this responsibility to the Coordinator.
8. Members may recommend tradesmen or business services and organize group purchases of products or services. However, neither the Board nor the Coordinator makes any effort to confirm the accuracy of the recommendation, nor to determine whether the recommendation is made in good faith. Neither the Board nor the Coordinator assumes any responsibility for actions of any tradesman or provider of business services. Posting of any recommendation to the listserv does not constitute a recommendation by the Board or the Coordinator.
9. Discussion topics must relate to life in the Hickory Farms community. Other topics, including but not limited to religion, politics, jokes, spam and issues of a sexual nature are prohibited. The Coordinator may reject a posting on his or her belief that it violates these Rules and Standards of Etiquette.
10. Members shall maintain a civil attitude when using the listserv. Messages that include profanity, are harassing, or are abusive, rude, profane, threatening, defamatory, offensive, or illegal, are not permitted and shall not be posted by the Coordinator.
11. Personal disputes and direct or indirect attacks on individuals (including Hickory Farms officials and the Coordinator), are not permitted on the listserv.
12. However, discussions or criticisms of actions by the Board or the Architectural Control Committee are permitted, provided that they comply with these Rules and Standards of Etiquette.
13. The listserv may be used to campaign for election to the Board. Postings by the candidate as well as his or her supporters are permitted.
14. The Coordinator may limit or prevent access to the listserv by any user who the Coordinator believes is not acting in accord with these Rules and Standards of Etiquette.
15. The Board respects the privacy rights and expectations of residents of the Hickory Farms community. It is inappropriate to post communications from outside the listserv without obtaining the express consent of all parties to that communication. However, express consent is not required for communications by public officials acting in their public capacity, nor for communications regarding services for hire. Hickory Farms officials are not public officials.
16. The Board and Coordinator make no representations regarding the privacy of communications on the listserv, and do not have the ability to prevent messages from being forwarded outside the listserv.
17. The Board, by majority vote of those voting, may terminate the listserv.
18. A participant in the listserv may appeal an action taken by the Coordinator to the Board. The appeal must be submitted to and in receipt of the Hickory Farms Community Association President in writing or via email within ten calendar days of the occurrence of the action that is being appealed. The Board will act on the appeal within 20 calendar days of receipt of the appeal. If no response is forthcoming from the Board within that time period, the appeal may be deemed granted. Any action of an appeal by the Board will be by majority vote of Board members voting. If the participant's access to the listserv has been suspended by the Coordinator, the suspended user may not access the listserv while the appeal is pending.
19. Suggestions for using the Hickory Farms listserv:
    1. Since your email could be forwarded and live forever on the internet, read your posting twice before hitting the send button. Don't use all capital letters or red font — this is considered shouting on the internet.
    2. Emails sent to the listserv email address will be sent to all Members of the listserv. If your message is useful to only one person, send a personal message to that person only.
    3. Your response to someone else's listserv email will be sent to all Members of the listserv. If you wish to reply to the sender only, click the "Reply to Sender" link at the bottom of the text.
    4. Summarize the topic of the email on the subject line.
    5. Be brief.
    6. Be nice, especially to the volunteer Coordinator.

Adopted by the Hickory Farms Community Association Board of Directors May 23, 2008 and revised by the Board of Directors March 16, 2016, November 21, 2017, and November 12, 2019.