The Caloosa Winnies first camping weekend of the season was held October 31 to November 3, 2013 at Riverside RV Resort near Port Charlotte.  It was a great weekend to see all our friends again and celebrate Thanksgiving! Hosts for the event were Frank & Diane Cipolla, Bill & Doris Palmer, Walter & Belinda Feldgoise.

Thursday at 4pm kicked off the official events with Happy Hour, and guests Richard and Alice Johnson were introduced. Dinner followed,  prepared and served by the hosts. The main dish was “Souper Meatballs”, and many wonderful dishes provided by all our good cooks! Our usual Ice Cream Social followed, with many variations of sundaes enjoyed! The activity next on the agenda was a Thanksgiving Trivia Game, followed by individual games of Nickels.

Pancakes, sausage, fruit were on the menu for Friday morning breakfast and our volunteer chefs were ready for the group! Everyone was served in record time, and the cooks did a great job! In the afternoon Beanbag Baseball began at 1pm with the teams lined up and ready for the competition! The winners of the first games played the final playoff and the scores were really close! The winning team was members Merrelyn Brand, Marlene Young, Jim Brand, Jerry Knopp, Rich Beck, Richard Johnson and Bill Palmer.  Happy Hour at 4pm brought us back together and we were off to dinner at a local restaurant, Phil’s 41. The food and service was excellent, we all returned to the campground to prepare for the Great Pumpkin Relay Race.  Teams were formed and the object was to push their big plastic pumpkin with the mop provided to the other end of the room and return to let the next player do the same.  This brought lots of laughs and fun to the evening!

Saturday morning was a potluck breakfast with so many great dishes to choose from! The business meeting was held at 10:00pm with President Corinne Wightman presiding. The nominations for new officers was presented, David Nobert & Janice Cummings, President;  Ed & Carolyn Thomas, 1st VP; Bud & Sue Swift, 2nd VP; Jim & Sally Rayburn, Secretary; Jerry Miller, Treasurer. The regular business was discussed, and we welcomed Richard & Alice Johnson as new members!

The rest of the day was free time to visit with friends and enjoy the great weather! Happy Hour at 4pm was held at the clubhouse where the aroma of cooking turkey filled the room! Soon it was time for dinner and our great carvers were in action! THANKS to Bud Geng, Jim Rayburn, Walter Feldgoise and Ed Tyndall, the turkey and all the trimmings were ready at 5:30pm for serving. THANKS to all the members who brought side dishes – this was indeed a feast!

The evening fun continued with a Pumpkin Seed Toss game. Teams were formed and each person took a turn tossing pumpkin seeds from a spoon into a pie pan. The team with the most seeds in the pan were the winners! Sue Swift, Dennis Heitman, Richard Johnson, Gene Hogan and Merrelyn Brand were our winners!

Sunday morning we met at 8:30am for our donuts, bagels, fruit and beverages breakfast before we all packed up to head on the road. It was a great weekend coming together again and we look forward to a GREAT season with friends! Anyone is welcome to visit with us.