May 2 – 5, 2013 was the final Caloosa meeting for the season celebrated at Alligator Park in Punta Gorda, Florida. This park is the BEST and welcomes clubs and chapters to share in their great facilities! Since a lot of our members have already begun their summer sojourns, there were 14 coaches in attendance. A smaller than usual group – but we were BIG in fun things to do!! Our theme was Kentucky Derby and we celebrated with brightly decorated tables and our First Happy Hour at 4:00pm on Thursday brought us together. Dinner was served at 5:30pm with the cooks preparing delicious pasta and meatballs. With the added side dishes it was a colorful and delicious dinner! The Ice Cream Social tradition was on tap following dinner with all the great flavors and toppings for sundaes! Our entertainment for the evening was “Movie Night” and in keeping with the theme we showed “Racing Stripes”, a story about a zebra who was lost from a circus and wanted to be a race horse! He was captured by a family and eventually followed his dream with the help of the family who adopted him. It was a cute movie and enjoyed by everyone!

We welcomed some new couples to our group, S.E. and Marge Weaver, Rich & Sharon Beck who joined us for Friday breakfast. Our cooks were at work making pancakes and cooking sausage. As soon as we finished it was time to leave to travel to a local miniature golf course for a tournament! Teams were selected and we spend about 90 minutes having fun and trying to have a good score! Lunch was on your own and some free time in the afternoon found some of the group at the pool, shopping or visiting with each other. Happy Hour was held at 4:00pm and shortly after we caravanned to Phil’s 41 Restaurant for a wonderful dinner! Back at the Rec Hall at 7:00pm David Nobert kicked off our activity of the Caloosa Horse Races! Bets were placed on favorite horses and when dice were thrown the horse in the lane with the corresponding number moved ahead a space until there winner reached the end of the course! It was a fun time and everyone enjoyed the antics of David and his dice throwing!

Saturday morning it was time to make “Omelets in a Bag” for breakfast! Each person made their omelet from ingredients we provided, sealed the contents in a ziplock bag and the cooks “cooked” them in boiling water! Everyone was served in a short time with no bags exploding! Corinne Wightman, President, called the business meeting to order at 10:30am with all members present. Our new folks were introduced as joining our chapter and were welcomed with our usual Caloosa welcome! S.E & Marge, Rich & Sharon, we’re happy to have you with us! The rest of the meeting covered review of the March Rally again and our usual business. A Nominating Committee was appointed by Corinne to present a slate of officers to begin serving in 2014. Corinne thanked the members for helping with this meeting and Chris Ross stated more co-hosts are needed going forward. Several volunteers raised their hands!

The rest of the afternoon was free time with Happy Hour beginning at 4:30pm with heavy hors d’oeuvres supplied by all members in lieu of dinner. Looking at the food – who needed dinner? It was a great spread thanks to everyone! Our members were asked to design a hat to participate in our traditional Hat Parade. All the members displayed their “creations” for judging by the park residents! The winners of various categories were Paula Geng, Jerry Miller, Rich Beck, Jack & Sandy Bleakley, and Diane Cipolla. Soon it was time for the betting window to be opened for placing bets. Jerry Miller had all the odds on the horses and Chris Ross helped Jerry take the bets. The group was served “Caloosa Mint Juleps” as is our tradition, and soon the race was underway on the big screen TV! All our winners lined up to claim their prizes! Later that evening several people stayed around to play cards and games.

Sunday morning was our continental breakfast of donuts, bagels, fruit and beverages. It was a long goodbye as we won’t be together as a group until next November. However, some of the members staying around may get together to camp for fun during the summer. We invite anyone who owns a Winnebago product to visit with us – we love company! Our November meeting will begin October 31 st – November 3 rd at Riverside RV Resort at Arcadia, FL. Come join us!

Nancy Miller
Wagon Queen