Caloosa Winnies

December 2010 Outing
Chapter's 40th Birthday

From left: Jim & Sally Rayburn, Jim & Jane O'Neill, Charlie & Ellen Zucker,
Pete & Corinne Wightman, Nancy & Jerry Miller

Pictures by Nancy Miller

December 2 – 5, 2011 the Caloosa Winnies celebrated our 40^th anniversary as a chapter at Oak Haven RV Resort in Arcadia, FL. It was a celebration weekend that included some former members of the chapter. 36 coach families attended and the weekend kicked off with Happy Hour on Thursday at 4:00pm. New members Jane & Ron Palmer were welcomed to the group, and also guests John Sciarrino and his friend Betsy were welcomed by President Charlie Zucker.

For dinner the men cooked burgers and hot dogs on the grills and we had a great spread with all the side dishes made by our great cooks. An Ice Cream Social followed with the residents of the park invited to participate and then we all enjoyed an evening of Bingo Games. Ed Tyndall did the Bingo calling and Jerry Miller made a lot of people happy as he handed out the prizes to the winners! During the evening Jim Rayburn and his cooking crew manned the smoker as they were doing a “pig roast” for our party the next day! Those guys monitored the fires all night to insure the main dish was cooked on time!

Friday morning was our traditional pancake breakfast with the volunteers mixing and flipping pancakes. The Rec Hall was transformed into a 40^th anniversary theme complete with balloons and other decorations. At 1:00pm our “pig” was cooked and it was time to enjoy a dinner complete with such an assortment of side dishes provided by the members – it was hard to decide what to put on our plates! Our guests for the celebration were Anna & John Hughes who were Presidents of the chapter in 1989 & 1990, also Barb & Harlan Evans who were members for a number of years. We were happy to welcome them! After dinner Nancy Miller gave a presentation about the history of the Caloosa Winnies dating back to the beginning in 1970. There were several books on display with all articles and pictures from 40 years of camping experiences! President Ellen Zucker handed out special lanyards custom made for the chapter in yellow with blue lettering commemorating our 40 year anniversary. The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting with each other and eating delicious cake!

We were happy to see members Jim & Merrelyn Brand stop in to see us! Merrelyn fell and broke her hip a few weeks ago but is back in Florida and recovering and able to come see us!

At 5:00pm we all met again at the Rec Hall for a heavy hors d’oeuvres and Happy Hour. We played a trivia team game about what things cost in 1970 and the winning team with the most correct answers was Jane Palmer, Bob Coy, John Thurston, Ileane Arenstein & John Ryan. The rest of the evening many members stayed to play cards and other games.

Saturday morning was our Potluck Breakfast with a wide variety of food to choose from! The business meeting, led by President Charlie Zucker, was held. Voting on the new slate of officers for 2011 was held with all officers officially voted in to their positions. Charlie & Ellen Zucker, President; Pete & Corinne Wightman, 1^st Vice President; Ed & Pat Tyndall, 2^nd Vice President; Jim & Sally Rayburn, Secretary; Jim & Jane O’Neill, Treasurer.

After lunch, a shuffleboard tournament was held with the Caloosa’s and the park residents also invited to play. The weather was sunny and bright and everyone had a great time! Happy Hour began at 4:00pm and the winners of the shuffleboard tournament were presented with their winners trophies.

!st place, Ellen Zucker & Lois Hogan; 2^nd place Jane O’Neill & Bud Swift; 3^rd place, Dave Wilson & Sue Swift. It was a fun event on a beautiful afternoon in the sun!

Our great grill chefs cooked London Broil for dinner and all the side dishes again appeared with lots of good food to choose from! We are blessed with such great cooks! After dinner many members stayed around to play card games – a new game called “Nickles” was introduced and all those who played had a great time!

A money raffle was held and the lucky winners were Lois Hogan, Doris Palmer and Paula Geng!

Sunday morning our continental breakfast of donuts, bagels, rolls and fruit was ready at 8:30am and soon it was time to say our goodbyes until our next meeting in January. Come join us at our Florida State Winnie Gators Rally in Orlando, FL March 10 – 13, 2011.