Winter Ranch Wrangler for January 2012

WRANGLER

Winter Ranch Newsletter

January 2012

Vol. 1, Edition 2

December was a month filled with activity, but you ain't seen nothing yet! Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and ate just enough to keep up your strength; you're going to need it now.

The Tuesday social hours at the pool have been a great success, with a variety of entertainment, some live and some not so live. You decide which was which. Elvis even showed up one Tuesday. Thanks to Donna & Dave Lewis, along with JD Murray, for the snacks that are available during the social hour. The nachos are delicious, and the hot dogs have been dinner for Jack more than once. For you folks just arriving, social hour is every Tuesday around the pool from 3:30 to 5 PM. When the weather is bad it will be moved into Friendship Hall from 3 PM to 4:30 PM to accommodate the square dancers. Bring your lawn chairs (when it's outdoors) and your favorite adult beverage. Wear your name badge so everyone can get to know you.

As usual, our residents gave 'til it hurt to benefit the local community for Christmas. There were 300 names on the Angel Tree, 235 stockings were stuffed and donated, three valley families received gifts and food, three boxes of new toys were donated, AND we gave gloves, scarves and hats for admission into the Christmas Matachine show. Oh, and don't forget the donations for the Good Samaritan fund and the employees' Christmas bonus. Multiply that by the 600 plus RV parks in the Valley and you can see the impact we all have on the local economy! Thank you, Winter Ranch.

Our population is increasing daily and stands at 660 as of Dec. 28. Be nice to one another; we're almost bigger than the towns a lot of us grew up in. One big difference is that this “town” runs on volunteerism. For every activity that occurs, there are a multitude of volunteers who make it happen. You enjoy the Craft Fair? See where you can give an hour of time to help make it happen. Don't make the same few people carry the whole load. It's fun, and you widen your circle of friends, which is always a good thing.

BLOODLESS BULLFIGHTS is on the bus agenda for January 8th. We went a few years ago and it was quite a spectacular. The costumes and pageantry were exactly like Spain, and no bulls were injured. They were younger bulls, and a small bouquet of flowers is somehow attached between their shoulder blades (where the sword would go). The matador puts his life at risk to retrieve that bouquet, which signals the end of the match. The bleachers are a bit uncomfortable (take a little pillow) but it's well worth a little discomfort to see this event. Hope there's room so I can go again.

BUS TRIPS Mr. Wilder provides these buses for our benefit. He has spent thousands of dollars the past few years to make sure they are in tip top condition. He wants to see them on the road. The seven Wilder parks in the Valley share three buses. We share trips with Trophy Gardens which gives each of us more trips. The other parks only have the bus twice a week, while we have it four days a week. Bob French and Jack Hulsey share driving duties. They too are volunteers – fully licensed with all their certifications in order. Unfortunately, the down-side of sharing trips with TG is that each park is only allotted half the bus, 22 seats, which means that if you see a trip you are interested in, don't dally! You are going to need to check the trip board in the big hall daily to make sure you are first in line to sign up. If you snooze, you lose! What can be nicer than to be delivered to the front door of the event, and then picked up there afterward. No parking worries, no gas used, no traffic to fight. Check it out.

WEDNESDAY MEETINGS start at 9 AM. JD is selling sweet rolls so get there early and do some visiting. The meetings are where you learn what is going on around the park and the local community, plus get a heads up on new rules or local laws. (For instance, no cell phone use in school zones, and no texting while driving!) 50/50 sales are a way for the various groups in the park to earn money, and you have a chance to win some too. Be sure to attend when you get that hole-in-one on our little golf course, because you will get your trophy and certificate. Sometime in January or February we will have “flag day” at the meeting. This is where all the states and Canadian provinces which are represented in the park are honored with a little parade of state flags. If you'd like to carry your state's flag, see Cathy in the office. It is an awesome sight and one we look forward to every year.

CHRISTMAS REGATTA was something new for us this year. The bus took us to Port Isabel to the White Sands Restaurant, right on the water, to watch the decorated boats go by. The food was pretty good and we had front row seats for the parade. I hope we will do this one again next year.

(Black and white pictures don't do the lights and decorations justice.)

CHRISTMAS is over and I hope you all had a joyous one. Can you remember the best Christmas gift you ever received? How about the worst? I looked around and found a few folks who did.

First we have Judy Johnson. She's from Redwood Falls, MN. She and hubby Jim are newcomers to the park this year. Her best gift was diamond earrings. Worst – pink flamingos for the yard from her daughter, who was old enough to know better. On the right is Dwain Steward from Eldorado Springs, MO. He gallantly pointed to his wife, Donna, when I asked for best gift. They were married on Dec. 29. For his worst, he pointed to her again! (So much for gallantry!) Then he chuckled and said he never had a bad Christmas present.

Carol Schierholtz was our next victim. She and hubby Russ are from Lindsay, Ont. Someone gave her a lottery ticket one year. It cost $100 and she won $10,000! That was in 2002. She giggled and said Russ gave her a pantsuit back in the 60's and that was the worst. She only wore it once. Roy Darby (right) and wife Virginia are full-timers here now, by way of north Texas. Roy's best gift was a hunting knife from his dad when he was 10. His worst was that same year, when his sister gave him a jar of peanut butter cuz she knew he didn't like peanut butter. He says he fixed her, though. He ate the whole jar himself and wouldn't share with anyone. Believe it or not, he likes peanut butter now.

TUESDAY SOCIAL HOURS are still a big hit. Need more people to come out and join the fun. 

These pictures were taken on a Tuesday when we were inside and The Horns were playing. They were excellent and gave us a hint of what to expect when they played for that Friday night dance. (Hope you made it that Friday; they were great.) Social hour starts at 3:30 and only lasts until 5. Make it a point to attend the next one. 

FIRST CRAFT FAIR of the season happened December 13^th. Again, volunteers are the heart and soul of the park. It wasn't too busy, but everyone has so much to do this time of the year. Hopefully there will be new vendors and bigger crowds for the next one in January. Here we have volunteers Maggie and Ralph Olson from WI, enjoying a laugh with some customers. I TOLD you it was fun! If we don't have volunteers, many of the events around the park just aren't going to happen. Remember, the pay is poor, but the rewards are great. Be nice to the volunteers when you see them slaving away.

MATACHINE Dancers entertained us on December 22^nd. Admission was a hat, gloves or scarf for the dancers. The performance reminded me of our Native American powwows. The costumes were very colorful (wish we had a color copier!) and the dancers ranged in age from about 5 to 30. My only complaint is that it would have been nice to have had an explanation about what the dancing represented. There were two people in masks who were finally “caught” and hauled away by the dancers.

COMING IN JANUARY

SWEDISH WEAVING classes start January 4^th in the craft room.

ZOO AND SAS SHOES is January 5^th. The zoo is in Brownsville and is a neat little zoo and easy to walk around.

SWIMSUIT show/sale on Thursday, January 5^th in the big hall from 9 to noon. They usually have some very nice suits at reasonable prices to fit our “mature” bodies.

LIFE AFTER LOSS workshop was a big success and a followup one will be on January 9^th in the loft.

See Rita Heuther for more information.

COMPUTER CLASSES start January 9^th. There will be classes for Vista and Windows 7, and a day for just answering questions about specific problems. See Leo Doershug for details.

WINGS FLYING MUSEUM is January 13^th for you airplane fans.

BASS PRO SHOP in Harlingen bus trip on January 18^th.

WINKS SALOON on January 19^th. There will be calf roping there. I've been there and it's a rustic saloon with pretty good food. Should be fun.

Look for all of the regular events to get started back up the first week in January.

CIRQUE DE SOLEIL bus is full, but Lynn has 150 tickets blocked off, so if you want to follow the bus in your car, see Lynn for tickets. That is March 14^th and tickets are $48.00.

LADIES LUNCHEON is January 16^th in the hall. Tickets will be sold Monday through Friday in the small hall from 10 to 11 A.M. Tickets are $7.50.

NOTICES:

PARK IN YOUR OWN SPOT. People start pouring in here after Christmas, so you never know when the site next to you will be taken. You don't want to get off on the wrong foot with your neighbor by making them wait to pull in their site.

WATER RESTRICTIONS are still on, even though we've had some rain. If we can't follow the policy I'm afraid we will end up being charged for water, and we sure don't want that, do we?

VETERANS' ADVOCATE is HB Hulsey. He has a lot of good information for vets. 612-203-5194 is his phone number.

YARD SALES at your RV or park model have been discontinued by Mr. Wilder, for security reasons. Each park will have one sale a year in their hall. This will permit management to keep better control of visitors to the park. Winter Ranch had their one sale already.

TAP DANCING, beginners and advanced is being offered again by Penny Vollrath. 

 

SPOTLIGHT ON PICKLEBALL

If you've ever passed through the big hall and seen a bunch of people batting an orange whiffle ball back and forth across a net, and wondered what it was, this article is for you.

The mini-tennis game called Pickleball was created during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island - a short ferry ride from Seattle, WA. The original purpose of the game was to provide a sport for the entire family, according to co-inventors U.S. Congressman Joel Pritchard, William Bell, and Barney McCallum.

Pickles was the family dog that would chase after the errant balls and then hide in the bushes, thus Pickle's ball which was later shortened to the namesake of Pickleball. Initially, families played Pickle-ball in their backyards on a hard surface, on driveways, and on residential dead-end streets. Since the mid-1970's, Pickle-ball has grown and expanded from a family activity game to a paddle court sport with formalized rules. Now, over 45 years later Pickle-ball is played in thousands of school P.E. programs, parks and recreation centers, correctional facilities, camps, YMCA's and retirement communities. This sport is becoming very popular among active senior adults at community centers.

There is even a national organization for Pickleball that holds tournaments all over the country. You can check it out online – just google it. There is a site that tells state by state where it is played so you can play in the summer and keep your skills honed.

Pickleball was introduced to Winter Ranch by Bill Howell several years ago. When we first came to this park in 2007, it was a struggle to get 4 players and a scorekeeper together. Now, during January, February and most of March, both courts are full with players waiting to play. Baby boomers are coming south and looking for activities to keep them active and this is the perfect game for them. It's great exercise. Players are there for the fun of the game and the camaraderie of the players.

Wednesday is designated “new player” day, but newbies are welcome any day that we are playing. The thing we most encourage is that each player should know their own limitations. Don't rush after those balls you can't reach safely. Easier said than done, I know. Our oldest player is over 80, and our youngest hasn't hit 60 yet. Come and join the fun. One of our players likes to say we only keep score so we know when the game is over. There is a community center in Mission where it is played 5 days a week. They are pretty competitive over there and welcome experienced players.