I'm pretty sure I live in Lincoln

I wonder how much stock predators hold in senior citizens? And speaking of seniors - well, a buyer only has to be 55 to own a home in the Sun City Lincoln Hills subdivision and senior citizen status in most instances doesn't begin until the age of 65 - the Del Webb community has certainly increased the numbers of seniors in Lincoln. Notice I said Lincoln. All of the 2,945 acres of Twelve Bridges Area B that the city's current projects list states have been approved for 6,800 homes in the Del Webb California Corporation's Sun City Lincoln Hills project are in Lincoln. The homes are not in Lincoln Hills.Similarly, the 1,070 acres of the 2,985-home Lincoln Crossing project the city has approved is in Lincoln. It is not in Lincoln Crossing.In the '90s, Director of Lincoln Community Development Rod Campbell said, the city of Lincoln annexed from the county land south of the Auburn Ravine where the aforementioned projects and more are taking place. There's no doubt they're in Lincoln.I'm bringing this up because many people moving into the Del Webb community, when asked, say they live in Lincoln Hills, have their addresses printed as living in Lincoln Hills and when corresponding with the News Messenger sign as Lincoln Hills residents. Also, new residents of the Lincoln Crossing subdivisions have been signing their letters to the editor as being from Lincoln Crossing.Now, I'm all about being proud of your neighborhood and I recognize that for geographic purposes, people like to narrow down where they live. However, I'm asking people to be aware you moved into Lincoln - a long-lasting and tight-knit community. We need to keep that by not separating the town, which can lead into a feeling of the haves and have-nots, us-versus-them scenario.When I was hired in August as editor for the News Messenger, I quickly heard people saying they lived in Lincoln Hills. I first thought nothing of it, paralleling the specification to how residents did things in Alabama, where I lived for about a decade.In Anniston, I went to Saks High School and told people I lived in Saks. But my address was in Anniston. Saks was a community named after businessman Joseph Saks that the city of Anniston later incorporated. Similarly in Gadsden, just 20 minutes from Anniston where I worked as a reporter for two years, there was a section of town people referred to as Alabama City. Once its own city, Alabama City was annexed into Gadsden in the 1930s.But there is a difference in Lincoln as Twelve Bridges, Sun City Lincoln Hills, Lincoln Crossing, Foskett Ranch and more housing projects are not once-independent communities that were annexed. They are subdivisions built on land within Lincoln city limits.When I first began reporting on events happening in the Del Webb community, Judy Bennett, director of public and community affairs for Del Webb in Northern California, even requested that I refer to what had been called Lincoln Hills in the News Messenger as the Del Webb community. Her reasons were for encouraging a greater Lincoln community and not propagating a separation. I agreed."Del Webb does not promote gated communities because our customers tell us they do not want to be segregated into neighborhoods," Bennett said. "They wish to be a part of the entire community. Residents' involvement in volunteerism and their participation in Lincoln's variety of events - from parades to city and community committees - is evidence of their community-wide spirit. ... We're all proud to identify ourselves as residents of Lincoln."I've thought about writing a column on this topic before, but was really provoked by a recent receipt from Longs Drugs beside Safeway in the Lincoln Hills Town Center on Highway 65. The top of it reads: "Longs Drugs, Lincoln Hills."I thought it was too much that a business in Lincoln just before entering historic downtown seems to claim that it's located in Lincoln Hills, specifying a difference from Lincoln. So I investigated other businesses within the complex.A Safeway receipt reads: "Welcome to our new Lincoln Safeway #1761." A receipt from Starbucks reads: "Starbucks Coffee Company, Hwy. 65 & Del Webb #05954, Lincoln."A receipt from the newer Raley's grocery store in the Sterling Pointe Shopping Center just down Highway 65 from Safeway doesn't mention Lincoln and simply reads: "Thank you for shopping at Raley's #230."Christopher Strika, a Longs Drug manager, said it's a common trait of the drugstore chain to include the name of the shopping center or nearby neighborhood on its receipts. For example, Strika said, a Longs Drugs near the Lake of the Pines subdivision in Auburn has "Lake of the Pines" printed on its receipts.That makes me feel better about that receipt, as well as it seems to be an isolated incident.This column is no more than a friendly reminder to new Lincoln residents that you moved into Lincoln and it's more conducive to this hard-working and friendly community to say so. This sturdy town is definitely growing, and we need to grow as one.- Joshua W. Bingham is editor ofthe Lincoln News Messenger