Music Reigns

Sunday, February 28, 2016
Each week on Thursday mornings, we gather with fifteen to twenty others here in our park to practice for Sunday services at our campground church.  The group is small but the enthusiasm is great and while the skills are minimal for many, we have a wonderful time preparing to share our praises to God with the rest of the congregation.

Many in the group are willing to do solos, duets and trios for the special music time as well.  This week most of the ladies picked up one of the Anklung instruments provided by Berte Mercer (she got them in Indonesia where her son is a missionary) and played What a Friend We Have in Jesus during that special music time.  We sang as we played and Pat Dalton on the piano and Mary Gray on the organ softly supported it all.  What beautiful but unusual music we made together.

These very simple wooden instruments range in size each representing a note on the scale.  I was playing G.  In the foreground you can see our music noted on foamcore board with the words on them.  We jiggle the instrument at the bottom causing it to vibrate and play the note.  (I've tried to enlarge a small part of the photo so you can see what I'm holding It is made out of bamboo. Sorry it isn't any clearer)

In two weeks our little group will provide the evening entertainment at the weekly Sunday evening ice cream gathering at our larger clubhouse.  We'll be doing an hour long gospel concert.  This is a yearly adventure for us each year doing different music each time.  Below is a picture from a previous concert.

Birthday Fun!!

Thursday, February 25, 2016
Several years ago we began the tradition of celebrating our "gangs" birthdays once a month.  This arose from all our trips to bd Mongolian Grill in Lakeland where we'd all registered our birthdays so that we could enjoy a free birthday meal (Ken and I introduced everyone we could to this our favorite restaurant).  Sadly, earlier this month when we were together and planning the celebration for February birthdays we learned that the bds had closed in Lakeland.  What to do????

We all enjoy a good rib dinner at the Oakwood in Leesburg a good hour and a half away but very near two sets of friends who live there, soooooo we decided that would be where we celebrated all the February birthdays.  What fun we had trooping up there - three car loads -- to first go to Sally Hungerford's home in the Legacy sub for some before dinner treats so that Al and Dorothy Beers could see her place as they had never been before.

From there six carloads trooped over to the Oakwood for "linner"  - a 2:30 meal.

From the back and moving forward is Ken, the Wilsons (Jim and Jackie), the Beers (Al and Dorothy), the Christofs (John and Mary), the Foulkes (Frank and Bette), Sally Hungerford, Jan Reed, the Alesins (Ron and Kathy) and Harold.  

Once we completed the meal we went back to the Christof's home at Lakes and Springs for dessert (including a Mongomery Pie made especially for Jan) and coffee and lots more chatting. Below are the birthday bunch: Dorothy, Ron, Harold and Jan.

All of these friends were originally (and still are) members of the Keystone Winnies in Pennsylvania. They adopted Ken and I back in 2005 when we met several of them on the Winnebago Grand Circle Caravan.  Now several of them live permanently in Florida while the others come down for the winter.  The Beers, Alesins, Jan plus Ken and I are in the same park- Hillcrest.  Harold is a couple of miles away at Whites RV Park while the Wilson's and Foulkes are about 3 miles away at American Condos.  What fun we've had over the years spending the winters together.

We made sure to set our March birthday celebration date while we were together when we can celebrate Bette Foulke's birthday as well as Dorothy and Jim Lenhardt's birthdays (they weren't able to join us for this round)

The Final Full Day

Saturday, February 20, 2016
Following a delicious eggs and sausage breakfast, the Funtimers Club offered nine fun games we could all compete in even if we the participant was in a wheel chair.  They really fit the theme of Back to the 50's, especially the short pencil and paper quiz with questions about TV shows, movies, music and food that were popular in the 50's.  We caught pictures of a few of our Mid-Florida Winnies trying out the more active ones.

Mary Christof is flinging old 45 records into a set of 3 open pails.

Here I'm kicking cans into pails lying on their side on the floor.  While standing in line we were sharing memories of playing kick the can when we were kids.

Here is Carolyn Jouret playing a form of Pick up Sticks -- get as many as you can without moving the others in a minute.  Each color had different values.

But Glenda Christian was the real queen of the games, she kept her hula hoop spinning around for the alloted minute.  Then in a tie breaker, she kept two hoops going for close to a minute.  We were all whooping and hollering and cheering her on! She ended up the overall champion hula hooper!

Ken and I also spent some time checking out all the towable Fords that were on display - we've narrowed ourselves down to a Flex, Edge or Fusion.  The Fusion gets fantastic gas mileage while the other two offer far more space for traveling with friends or moving items from place to place but the mileage isn't so great in them.

While talking with a salesperson about a tow break system for our car since ours cannot be fixed, I received a phone call from of all people, Dave Rumrill, all the way from Mexico!!!!!  He needed a special water filter from Chip who is one of the vendors here at the rally so asked if we'd get it and then he'd get it from us when they return.  Amazing the communication that is available to us these days.  :-)

After lunch Ken returned to get the brake system and the water filter while I started working on the minutes and newsletter for our Mid-Florida Winnies group.  I've been trying to get pictures to show all the activities so they could be featured in the newsletter.  That is why the last couple of days there have been so many showing our activities.

At Happy Hour we welcomed two new couples (one of them, the Bergerons, are from Frank and Bette Foulke's park) to our group --- the circle continues to grow bigger and bigger.  Today many of the members brought their dogs and at times it got a bit crazy within the circle with them all checking each other out.

At dinner tonight the clubs were suppose to sit together and invite interested non members to join them.  The upshot was that we ran out of space and we ended up at another table with some empty spaces sitting with the Christofs and Horners who also were left out.  Following dinner several prizes were announced including the winners of the games, money raffle (one couple from our group won $200) and charity raffle.  John and Mary Christof ended up winning one of the prizes from that charity raffle.

The Funtimers announced the theme for next years rally by parading into the arena all dressed in their pjs carrying a sign announcing the theme

And finally we enjoyed a two hour show featuring the Del Prados - 5 brothers - singing the classic 50's and 60's rock and roll music.

During a short break I called Berte Mercer at Hillcrest to see how the Mission Yard Sale went today. They did well - made $2800!!  And our daughter Beth contacted us to let us know they are back home from the cruise and Jason made it to the shaving party - the last step in prep for the league swim meet this coming week.  He now has lots less hair.

Rally Fun

Friday, February 19, 2016
There were plenty of activities going on today beginning with donuts and coffee at the main hall and time to peruse the WIT Store as Sarah Roudebush is doing here.

The Smalleys took best dressed pets in the pet parade - they were looking pretty sharp too!

John and Barbara worked hard all day in the vendor hall

While Dick and Dell pulled a few hours in the Winnebago Adventures booth answering questions and signing people up for the various caravans and rallys - mostly for 2017 as most of the 2016 are sold out.

There were seminars, towable cars and motorhomes to check out, and ice cream sandwiches to eat at the ice cream social.  Lots of craft items were displayed in the Arts and Crafts competition today too. Sadly not a single member of our club entered an item.  

In the late afternoon we had our club meeting by Jeff Roudebush's motorhome.  That was followed by an official group photo with all of us in our lime green shirts followed by happy hour before dinner

This evening more door prize gift baskets were distributed and while I lost count of how many of our club members won between yesterday and today someone told me it was 19!!!!! Ken and I won a $25 gift card to Bonefish Grill from the Best Badges vendors John and Barb Trent. The funniest one was that Oleksa's prize BBQ basket.  Brenda had contributed a bandana table cloth that she made for the basket and had helped wrap it on Tuesday night - then turned around and won it tonight!!!!!!!  She ended up taking out a couple of items they would enjoy and then gave the rest back to me including the bow so we can reuse it next year with an addition or two.

After dinner, prizes and gifts were announced and then dancing to 50s music followed.

The Rally Begins

Thursday, February 18, 2016
We were back to registering on Thursday morning and early afternoon having lots of fun greeting new comers and old friends at our table in the main hall.

Then shortly before lunch the state president, Jack and Gloria Caffrey, led the opening ceremonies of this, the 45th Florida State Rally.

Following the invocation, we sang the Canadian National Anthem.  Then four students from the Sarasota Military Academy presented the colors for the pledge and singing of our national anthem.

Several of our members were dressed in fitting outfits for the theme of Back to the 50's.  Here are Carolyn Jouret and Margie Whiddon in their finery.

After people had time to visit Vendor Hall and make some purchases, check out the RV's and towable cars on display and attend a seminar or two, we all reconvined in the main hall for the big Row Party. Each club provides lots of appetizers to share and the Winnie Gator state club provides pop and water to drink.  We had lots of time to chat and enjoy the 50's atmosphere provided by the outfits some wore, decorations on tables, and musical entertainment on stage.

Here a few of our members were setting up the refreshments at our table while attendees were beginning to form a line to try them out.

Half of the contributed door prize baskets were out on display ready for the drawing that took place during the party.

Here are the Smalley's all dressed up for the affair.  The Drennings are below them.

The Parks, too, were into the theme as were the mouseketiers Frank and Susan Kiefer below.

Officially we have 29 RV's here from our Mid-Florida Winnies club.  A couple haven't hung their tags on our sign but most have

Registration Begins

Wednesday, February 17, 2016
We met at the arena this morning where our fearless leader, Jeff Roudebush, gave us all the directions for registering the attendees for this year's rally.  We were broken into two groups with group one registering group two for practice and then switching places to register the other group.  By then we were ready to officially begin our jobs changing from group 1 to group 2 in the middle of the afternoon.

We all gathered in the late afternoon at Jeff's for Happy Hour and then groups left for dinner out or back at their rigs.  Frank and Susan Kiefer joined us for dinner at Chili's. They are now treasurers for the state club so extremely busy but happy to take a little time off to just relax for a bit before returning to counting money and writing reports.

Bound for the Winnebago Florida State Rally

Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Ken and I moved the last of the necessary items from our park model to the motorhome early this morning and then had a quick breakfast in the rig before heading out on the road for our trip to the Sarasota Fairgrounds for the Winnebago State Rally.  Our bed was covered with door prize rally baskets as was the floor of the RV with boxes of materials for wrapping and extras should they be needed to complete the job later in the day.

Once we were all set up at the fairgrounds with the other Mid-Florida Winnies (29 rigs were expected but not all would be parked with us as some had full hook ups or were in handicapped areas), Ken and I begin transferring all the rally baskets and materials over to the arena for our big fill the goody bags and wrap the baskets "party" in the late afternoon.

Here are Sara and Joel moving around bags that had been filled getting them into place to begin giving out in the morning.

Meanwhile, others were helping me get all the baskets lined with filler, arranged, wrapped with clear wrap, and tied with bows and labels ready to be given out.  Below are Paulette and Cathie finishing up one of the 27 baskets we wrapped.  Four were for the Friendship Walk and the other 23 for the door prizes.  We really out did ourselves this year but as a result far more people will win gifts always a fun experience.

Meanwhile, a few of the others got lots of alphabetizing experience getting all the name tags laid out in alpha order so they would be easy to locate once registration begins in the morning.

Many of us then enjoyed Happy Hour back by our RV's before heading out for dinner at various locations.

We went to Der Deutshman with the Christians, Christofs and DeFinas for a good Amish meal

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Dinner Time with the Julias Cousins

February 15, 2016
One of the best parts of being here at the Hillcrest RV Park is that one of Ken's first cousins lives here also with his wife.  John and Donna came over to visit us a couple of years ago and next thing we knew they had found a place they liked and moved in just down the street from us.  What a blessing that has been.   John's mother and Ken's mom were sisters and they lived not too far apart in Niagara Falls, New York when the kids were young so Ken was able to see his cousins fairly often - 6 boys and 2 girls, one just a bit older than him, one about his age and the rest younger but close together in age.  The oldest, George is still in that area and John, one of the younger brothers, has a fifth wheel in a park on Lake Ontario up in the same area.  That is where they live in the summer.  We've visited them there but now we get the bonus of seeing them during the winter when the siblings visit John.

Linda and her husband Larry drove down from Georgia to spend the week in Florida this week, Win drove over from his home in Daytona Beach for a few day visit and we were able to have them all come to our place for dinner and conversation tonight between the visit with our daughter and family earlier and travels to our Winnebago State Rally beginning tomorrow.

What fun hearing all their family stories!!! We enjoyed lasagne, a big salad and a a cheesecake with each slice being a different type.  Below starting at the left are Donna, Ken, Larry, Linda, John and Win.

Family Fun in Titusville

February 14/15, 2016
Our daughter Beth and her family drove down to Jacksonville, Florida through falling snow in Kentucky and Tennessee for her husband's nephew's wedding. Keith is in the army national guard and training to be a helicopter pilot.  Becky is the daughter of a 2 star general who is now at the Pentagon.  They sure make a lovely couple with a true dedication to our country and its security.

Then Sunday morning after a family brunch Beth, Dean, Scott and  Jason headed to Titusville where we met them so we could enjoy some time together before they headed off on a cruise on Monday afternoon.   It didn't give us alot of time but it was sure delightful to see them and be able to enjoy a fish dinner together at the Dixie Crossroads. 

As well as visit this park with a view across the lake to the Space Center.  

It was a lovely memorial park to our astronauts and all war veterans from the Revolutionary War to the present.

Unfortunately most things were closed on Sunday so we were not able to do any additional touring but we did wander through the local Target so the boys could look for videos to enjoy on the return drive to Michigan later in the week.

We spent the evening just chatting at our motel and then regathered in the morning to enjoy breakfast before they headed off for the ship and we headed back to Hillcrest to pack up our motorhome for travels to the Winnebago State Rally in Sarasota.  We need to be there early Tuesday so we can park with the other 28 RV's coming from our Mid-Florida Winnies Club.  

Meanwhile there will be company for dinner tonight - Ken's cousins John and Donna, Win, and Linda and her husband. 

We Won!!!

February 12, 2016
Last week we received a call from Farm and City Insurance telling us we had won $1000 toward a Winnebago Caravan or Adventure as a result of filling out a card at the big Tampa RV Show in January BUT then heard nothing more so wondered if it was just a crank call.  But today Ken spoke with the people in the travel office at Winnebago and indeed we did win $1000 that could be applied to any Adventure Rally or Caravan!!! Since he was talking with them about the Adventure we are doing in late March - The Florida Sunshine Adventure - he asked if it could be applied to that.  It could and was even through we'd already paid for it.  By the end of the day we had a credit on our charge card.  WOW!!!!!

So we will be enjoying a wonderful gathering with 16 couples that will include touring and doing things in Tampa, Busch Gardens and Tarpon Springs and then going on a five day cruise out of the Tampa port on a Royal Caribbean Ship.  Truly looking forward to this special adventure especially since we already know half of the couples going.

Joy Despite the Rain

Saturday, February 6, 2016
We woke to very grey skies this morning and the promise of not only very cool weather (high of 55) but rain for most of the day.  Luckily it didn't even start till around noon which meant I was able to ride my bike the morning (just love flying down the road on it and feeling the breeze in my hair), go to Praise Moves (Christian form of yoga), and then travel with Ken to Altoona to visit my Uncle Bob who just last week was moved to the assisted living area at Lakeview Terrace where my parents lived for the last years of their lives.

Bob has a nice view of the lake from his room but otherwise it was a rather depressing room.  He'd been moved there without warning last weekend so only his TV and a chair made it to the room leaving it quite bare.  Two of his kids will be down next weekend and able to make it a bit homier. But how wonderful it was to be able to spend time with him reminiscing about some of the things we've enjoyed doing with him through the years.  When our youngest daughter, Janet, was 12, we took her to New York to see the sights and attend the theater.  We were able to stay at my Aunt and Uncle's home in New Jersey the first night and then ride in on the train to the station below the World Trade Center and ride up to the top to the Windows of the World restaurant for a fabulous breakfast and view of the city.  He also took us to his office at E F Hutton where Janet not only got to hold on to a several million dollar bond but look out his office window at the Statue of Liberty.  Then to top it off he took us to the New York Stock Exchange where we could look down on the floor and watch all the activity.  He offered to take Janet down on the floor but she turned him down and has regretted that decision ever since.  Still it was an exciting intro to the city and a great inside look at the New York Stock Exchange and financial district.  We even got to ride in a chauffered car provided by him to our hotel where we would stay for the weekend.

Part of our treat to ourselves to make the day even more special was a stop at the Oakwood Steakhouse for bbq ribs -- and what a treat that was.  The restaurant is just a block or so from the entrance to Hawthorne where my parents lived for 20 years so the drive really brought back lots of memories since we made at least one trip there a year from the time they moved in back in 1979.

So while the rains fell and the windshield wipers worked hard we had a delightful day walking memory lane and spending time with a very special guy.

I was slow on the draw and didn't get a post up for yesterday but we did have a great time then too. Gary and Judy Mosholder drove up from Bradenton to enjoy some time with us.  They wanted to see our new place so came here rather than meet at Sweet Tomatoes down in Brandon a half way point for both of us.  We invited Frank and Bette to come over and enjoy some time with them too.  We ended up going to the Golden Corral for a very extended lunch visit and then returned to our place to watch a slide show I had created back in 2009 when we toured Alaska on a Winnebago caravan. That is where we met.  They then did the New England Caravan with us and a couple of years ago we toured Michigan together showing them all the high points.

Several text messages flew back and forth between us and Janet while we were doing this because Karsten had surgery yesterday getting ear plugs again as well as having his adnoids removed.  He has had one ear infection after another ever since he was born and did have this surgery a year ago but the plugs fell out.  The infections had greatly affected his hearing so this was a necessary evil.  Janet said after his afternoon nap he woke up talking and never stopped till he fell asleep last night.  He must be thrilled with hearing his own voice :-)

A Bit of Gardening

Thursday, February 4, 2016
After choir practice this morning, Ken and I tackled a job we haven't done in along time - we did some gardening.  One of the "best" things about living in a motorhome is you can enjoy gardens around you and whatever trees and green grass that might be in the park where you are staying BUT you don't have to tend to any of it including mowing a lawn.  However, we ended up buying a small park model when our RV ended up being in the shop for so long and suddenly we've found ourselves having to think about a yard - even if it is very small.  So it was that we were busy today trying to plant before the predicted rains came (and they did in the late afternoon)  Hopefully we've chosen good plants for the climate here and put them in correctly.  Time will tell but meanwhile it does look much nicer now in front of our place.