CALOOSA WINNIES

Pictures by Nancy Miller

April 4 – 7, 2013 the Caloosa Winnies had a GREAT meeting at Pine Island KOA in St. James City, Florida. Several members came early to enjoy the park and the calm of post high season in Florida! Happy Hour Thursday started off in the brightly decorated clubhouse in a spring theme. The co-hosts had dinner underway with Souper Chicken on the menu with mashed potatoes and other dishes provided by the members. Ron & Carol Mazuk, Jim & Sally Rayburn co-hosted and dinner was served at 5:30pm. After dinner our traditional Ice Cream Social was dessert, served by the hosts and others who just wanted to be scoopers! After cleanup, a team game was presented, a word scramble that was easy and we had multiple winners! The rest of the evening several members played nickels and other games.

Friday morning the cooks were ready to serve the Pancake Breakfast with sausage and fruit – everyone lined up and enjoyed the good food! At 10:00am it was time for Spring Training Beanbag Baseball. The teams were divided up – men against the ladies. The men won the first game, but the ladies REALLY beat the men the second game so bad that they decided not to play another game!

The rest of the day was open for exploring the island and visiting with members. Happy Hour at 4:00pm brought us all together at the clubhouse and not long after that we all caravanned to Woody’s Waterside Grill for a wonderful barbecue dinner! After dinner we returned to the clubhouse for a Numbers Game which was again, a team game. Teams were given numbers, a different one for each player and they had to get themselves in order when the game number was called. It was a fun game with lots of laughs and competition! Table games were on tap for the rest of the evening and many people participated!

Saturday morning was our Potluck Breakfast with a wide variety of food as always! At 10:00am President Corinne Wightman called the business meeting to order. As usual our meeting was actually a fun event, with several people commenting on the recent rally activities. Corinne and Pete thanked everyone for the hard work and excellent job of organizing the parking duty, with David Nobert assisting Pete. The set up team did an excellent job getting the field all marked out in 3 hours – a record amount of time! Everyone who assisted with the set up and all the parking duties did an amazing job! Sally Rayburn and Carolyn Thomas did most of the writing work as participants were parked. All the Caloosa’s did such a GREAT job and were recognized by the Florida State Winnie Gators Past President, Jerry Miller, and the new President, Ted Fumia. Again, this was a team effort and highly successful! Corinne also thanked Janice Cummings, Sue Swift and Doris Palmer for coordinating the Tuesday night Pizza Party at the rally. The members who volunteered at the Door Prize Table and Charity Table, Sue & Bill Fuss, Bill & Doris Palmer, Ed & Marlene Young were thanked for their efforts! The Caloosas pitched in to help serve meals at the rally – it was acknowledged to the group that the work was well appreciated! Many members helped Corinne with the vendors set up which was such a great job also. All in all, the Caloosa participation at the rally was outstanding and thanks to everyone for a great job well done!

The other topics during the meeting were covered including the schedule of meetings for the rest of the year, birthdays and anniversaries recognized, and the meeting was adjourned at 10:50am.

Saturday afternoon a garage/RV sale was on the agenda for anyone who had items to sell. John Thurston, a Caloosa member for years brought many items and what was sold John donated the money to our charity, Joshua House.

Happy Hour at 4:00pm brought everyone back and the hosts served a Ham dinner at 5:30pm. Dishes prepared by the members made for a wonderful spread once again! After dinner it was time for a team game, One Hand Wrap Game. Members were divided into teams of 2 people, they had 1 hand from each player tied together and they had to wrap a package in paper and ribbon using only one hand of each person. This was a lot of fun and again brought lots of laughs and interesting final packages!

Sunday morning donuts and bagels were ready at 8:30am as we gathered together before leaving once again. THANKS to the hosts and everyone who participated – we know you had a great time!

Nancy Miller

Wagon Queen