Caloosa Winnies
April 2011 outing

Pictures by Nancy Miller

March 31 – April 3, 2011 the Caloosa Winnies of Southwest Florida met at Torrey Oaks RV Resort in Bowling Green, Florida for another weekend of fun! Our weekend theme was “April In Paris”. Co-hosts for the weekend were Cliff & Ree Spiller, Chris & Bob Ross. The tables were all decorated with things related to Paris, including Eiffel Tower candles and stuffed poodles! Thursday as rigs began arriving, the weather turned windy & wet, not our normal April forecast. Since tornadoes were also not far away we all pulled in the slides and hunkered down for a while! Of course that didn’t stop Happy Hour at 4:00pm in the Rec Hall! In keeping with the theme, a “Poulet” (Chicken) Dinner was simmering away and with all the side dishes provided by the members, it was all served on time at 5:30pm. An Ice Cream Social followed dinner with lots of choices for sundaes! The park sponsored Bingo at 7:00pm and most of our members joined it and even won a game or 2!

Friday morning dawned cooler and sunny with all the nasty weather gone to the east coast! “Crepes” (Pancakes) were served for breakfast with our Caloosa chefs at work manning the griddles. Some of the members left for a Golf Scramble hosted by David Nobert, while others went on a bike ride we dubbed “The Tour de Torrey”! After lunch it was time for visiting with friends, shopping, taking a dip in the pool. Some of the cooks were busy in the kitchen preparing the main dish for dinner, “Boeuf Bourguignon” (Beef Burgundy) – we did make a mess but the end product aroma filled the hall for most of the day as it baked! YUM! Happy Hour commenced at 4:00pm, dinner was served at 5:30pm. At 7:00pm Jerry Miller presided over a French Trivia Game with the members divided into teams. Most people were amazed at how much they REALLY knew about the French! The rest of the evening card games were on tap and enjoyed by all!

Saturday morning “Les Oeufs das un Sac” (Eggs in a Bag) was the menu and as people came in the made their omelets the cooks boiled them and each bag came out perfect! With all the wonderful breads and fruit this was a GREAT meal! At 10:00am the Business Meeting was held with Corinne & Pete Wightman presiding in the absence of our Presidents, Charlie & Ellen Zucker, who were attending their daughters wedding. After lunch everyone met at the shuffleboard courts for a team game. It was a lot of fun and everyone participated! The winners were presented with their awards: First place Jack MacGregor & Sue Swift, 2^nd place Ron Palmer & Judi Lee, 3^rd place Walter Feldgoise & Bill Palmer.

Happy Hour was held at 4:00pm, followed by a Barbecue Dinner provided by Smokin’ Crackers Jimmy Brod! What a great spread of Chicken & Pulled Pork and all the sides! After dinner it was time for our “Poodle Toss Contest”. Teams were assigned and each team had to toss a stuffed poodle into buckets worth so many points. It was so much fun and the winning team accumulated 240 points! The rest of the evening cards and games were set up in a nice relaxing atmosphere!

Sunday morning donuts, bagels and fruit were on the menu for breakfast before we all said our goodbyes until the May campout. THANKS to the hosts and all the members who made this a special fun weekend! Those traveling in our area are welcome to join us.

Nancy Miller
239-565-3115