CALOOSA WINNIES

December 2007 Outing

      Oak Haven RV Park near Arcadia, Florida was the location for the combined campout for the Caloosa Winnies and Funtime Travelers, December 6 – 9, 2007. A total of 24 coaches were present. An excellent job by our parkers, Jerry Miller, Bill Burbage and Jim Rayburn got everyone situated and ready for a weekend of fun and fellowship. There was one mishap with a broken water pipe while parking in a narrow site, which was quickly repaired by the campground manager and his crew. Hilary & George Jardine, managers of the park, later presented the member with the “Broken Pipe Award” as a peace offering! The crowd gave a cheer to the managers, and everyone enjoyed the laughter! And that’s all I’m going to say about that!

     Co-hosting for the weekend were Bill & Janet Burbage and Nancy & Jerry Miller. The recreation hall was festively decorated with red tablecloths and Christmas trees, with Christmas music playing in the background. Janet Burbage made decorations for the tables from Christmas coffee mugs filled with flowers. Kathryn Griffin also made decorations that looked like large tree ornaments. It all looked lovely and made our spirits bright! Of course Happy Hour at 4:00pm also made our spirits even brighter!! Dinner was served at 5:30pm, chicken & gravy with a host of side dishes provided by the members. An Ice Cream Social with all the toppings completed the meal, and the remainder of the evening was a variety of games for entertainment.

     A pancake breakfast on Friday began the day with lots of choices for toppings. Our “flippers” Janet Burbage, Sally Rayburn & Nancy Miller did a fine job taking those special requests and getting everyone served timely. A Christmas craft was next on the agenda. Kathryn Griffin had all the supplies for us to make candy canes from beads, and ornaments with foam decorations. The ladies had a great time making things and having a gab fest! An Oreo cookie stacking contest was on the tables for those who wished to see how high they could stack cookies! After lunch it was time for Beanbag Baseball! We had 4 teams at 2 games and the winners from game 1 got to play in the playoffs. Game 2 winners were Chris Ross’s team, including Chris, Barbara Evans, Evie Meekma, Bill Fuss, Jim O’Neill, Walter Feldgoise, and Charlie Zucker. Each team winner was presented with a #1 ribbon!  There was so much hootin’ and hollerin’ going on that the residents of the park came by to see what we were doing! It was a great afternoon of fun and competition!

     At 4:00pm we caravanned to Bella Luna Restaurant for a delicious Italian dinner, then boarded the Island Star Boat for a tour of the Christmas decorations in the nearby neighborhood canals. The lights were spectacular, the weather perfectly balmy, and we  really enjoyed the sights and sounds of Christmas.

     Saturday morning at 8:30am Potluck Breakfast was ready with a huge assortment of food from our excellent cooks!  After breakfast some representatives from SkyMed did a presentation for us on the benefits of their service, which is a great service for RVer’s! The groups then split up to hold business meetings at 11:00am. The Caloosa agenda included election of officers for 2008. Paula Geng presented the slate of Jerry Miller, President; Charlie & Ellen Zucker, Vice Presidents; Sue Fuss, Secretary; Jane O’Neill, Treasurer. Votes were cast and the new officers were approved, to be installed at the January meeting. Long time members Judy & Glenn Mercer have decided to sell their coach due to illness, and the group discussed and approved them for Honorary Membership. Other business was discussed about the Winnie Gators State Rally in March, 2008, and our progress with decorations.

     Visiting with our groups were Helen Jette, and Pat & Joyce Riley. We’re delighted they both decided to become members of the Caloosa Winnies!

     The afternoon was time for everyone to relax, go shopping, swim in the nice heated pool, and visit with friends. Happy Hour was held at 4:00pm, and the winners of the Oreo Stacking Contest were presented with their prizes (a package of Oreo Double Stuff Cookies). The winners were Pat Riley with 35 stacked and Ellen Zucker with 31 stacked! A Ham dinner was served at 5:30pm. As always, we had lots of wonderful food to share contributed by all members, and you should have seen the dessert table!! WOW – did we love it all!!! Paula Geng donated some door prizes which were won by several members by holding the right tickets. The proceeds of $60 will be donated to our charity, Dogs For The Deaf, in the name of both groups.

     Entertainment for the evening was our “Pound Auction”. Charlie Zucker with the gavel in hand was ready to take the bids! Each person brought a package weighing a pound, all wrapped, and the members bid on the packages! Charlie did a fantastic job of adding his sparkle and charm to get those bids UP! The laughter could be heard for blocks away as we all enjoyed seeing the “prizes” everyone unwrapped!!  Things like macaroni, rolls of crepe paper, a VHS tape on how to grow hair, cans of beans, and more beans, and more beans, candy, bird seed bell, cans of peanuts, grapefruit, pound cake mix, canned soup, baby wipes, just a GREAT variety of “prizes” A member even asked Charlie to put his special shirt he was wearing up for bid, but he declined because he REALLY wanted to keep it! Some of the comments heard were “I paid $10 for this, I can take my time opening it!”, “She got a bigger can than I did!”, “Who woke you up?” It was just a GREAT fun evening! The auction money totaled just over $200, all of which was donated to 2 charities, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and Harry Chapin Food Bank. In the names of both groups. We all had a lot of laughs and enjoyed this time with friends!

     Sunday morning was our send off breakfast of donuts, bagels, muffins, and all the trimmings. A special THANKS to Janet & Bill Burbage who got up early and made the journey to pick up the goodies, and DONATED all the food to the groups! We thank you for your help and generosity! All too soon it was time to say our goodbyes, but both clubs really enjoyed this opportunity to be together and share this special time of year!

     If you are traveling in Florida, check the Who’s Inviting Travelers column to see where our group is camping and come join in with us!! We LOVE visitors anytime! 

Nancy Miller
239-574-2511