We grew from 400 to 446 residents
in the park this week. Welcome home
Winter Ranch residents!
Wednesday Morning Meeting Crowd
Important Info From Park Management:
- It is time for those that have golf carts to start using the designated golf cart parking to make more room for cars as our parking space is limited.
- If you are planning on selling your mobile home or park model, you need to list it first in the office. The sale needs to be approved. Management needs to be in the loop.
- If you are planning on doing any enhancements to your site including: cement work, installing rock, planting trees or bushes, you need to check with Larry first. Don't put yourself in the position where you need to remove what you just put in because you did not check!
- Residents are reporting that some dog walkers are not picking up after their pets. This makes everyone look bad. You need to pick up after your pets on the pet walks, roads and your own lots. Thanks!
- We are finding cigarette butts on the golf course. If you smoke, please take the cigarette butts with you and dispose of them properly.
- Congratulations to Bob Wilson who made a hole in one on Hole 9 using a 9 iron on February 19th. He was presented with a certificate at the meeting.
- Lynn reported that the Winter Ranch Website (www.winterranchrv.com) is being updated. She would like you to look at it with a critical eye, as if you've never been here before, and give her suggestions on how it could be improved. She has added a page to the website where you can advertise the sale of your park model. It will be free to advertise if you just have one picture of the outside, your lot number, phone and the price . If you want a description and/or interior pictures posted, there will be a charge of $10. The money raised from this will go to the Media fund.
- Recycling -Wanda Wheeler and Ron Doerschug have arranged for San Juan Recyling to put a Recyling Bin near the dumpster area. It will, hopefully, arrive by next week. This is a totally voluntary program but you can put all recycles except glass or motor oil in the bin. Anything that has the triangle for recycling can be put in the bins. Containers must be rinsed out.
- The Newspaper Recycling Bins will still be available on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month. The bins are placed next to the Big Hall. Please put the newspapers inside the bins. Don't just sit it near them.
- Ron Doershug is taking over the Prayer Request Website. Charles Kroll remains very ill and is not able to keep the site up-to-date. You can give Ron information that you want posted by e-mailing him, placing information in his mail box and, lastly, phoning him. He is not always available by phone and sometimes won't have a pen or paper with him so he would prefer it if you would use one of the other methods.
- The Computer Group will begin their Trouble Shooting Help Sessions next Wednesday, December 5th, after the morning meeting. This first week we will have it in the Big Hall. Beginning Wednesday, December 12th, it will be in Activity Room #3. If you have a problem with your laptop or computer, stop in and talk to Ron or one of the Computer Group and they will try to assist you.
- Sandy Tester gave us some information on the Christmas families that the church is supporting this year. The Church will deliver the gifts on December 20th.
- The Rodriguiz Family has four children, two boys and two girls. They are in desparate need this Christmas and did not have a Christmas last year at all.
- Mrs. Morena has three boys and one girl.
- The Video Room will be open on Wednesdays right after the meeting until 11 and on Mondays from 10-11 and Fridays from 10 to 11:30.
- The Picture Directories are in and if you purchased one last year, you can pick them up in the Activity Office. There are also some pictures that were ordered last year in the Activity Office.
- HB Hulsey, our Veterans' Advocate, reported that the drive for the post-traumatic stress military has been very successful. He also told us that he reported that the Veterans Meeting normally meets the third Wednesday of the month after the park meeting, however, it is really the 4th Wednesday after the meeting.
- Name The Social Hour Contest - put your thinking caps on. We need a catchy name for our Social Hour. More info to come.
- The Ladies Luncheon group is having a fund-raiser that will go through February. They will be selling raffle tickets for a Garmin GPS that has lifetime updates. Tickets are $1 and are available for sale after the Wednesday morning meetings.
- Sewing of Christmas Stockings will be on December 5th at 1 PM in the Craft Room.
- Stuffing of Christmas Stockings will be on December 12th at 1 PM in Friendship Hall.
- White Elephant Auction - will be held sometime at the end of January. Please save some of your items from the garage sale for this event. The money raised from this will go to offset the expenses for the Shuffle Board Court. See JD to donate your items and he will find a place for them.
- Folk Lore Dancers - These youngsters will be performing in the Big Hall on December 13th at 6:30 PM. This is a free-will offering.
- Park Garage Sales: (Note that this is a change since the last meeting!)
- In park Garage Sale on December 4th from 8 to Noon at your site.
- In-park Garage Sale on January (date pending) from 8 to Noon at your site,
- Garage Sale - Open to the Public on February 15 from 8 to Noon.
- Symphonic Band Tickets for December 18th at 7 PM are available in the Business Office. Cost of tickets is $5. The bus is now full for this event so you would need to drive yourselves at this point.
- You can sign up for tables for the New Year's Party now in the Activities Office and buy your tickets. Admission to the New Year's Party will be $10 each.
- Barb DeGarmo is doing the Christmas Stockings Drive again this year. For information see the postings that are in several locations in the office and Friendship Hall. The items for the stockings are needed by Posada which is ahead of Christmas. Barb will need the stocking stuffers by December 11th.
- The donations for the victims of Hurricane Sandy will be picked up on December 3rd.
- The Activities Office will be sponsoring a Holiday Lighting Contest. Watch for more details.
- Sam's Club is having a Winter Texan Festival at the club at 1400 E Jackson Avenue in McAllen. The dates are Friday, November 30th, Saturday, December 1st and Sunday, December 2nd. All are from 10AM to 4 PM.
- The Ladies Luncheon with a Christmas theme is scheduled for December 18th at noon in the Big Hall. Jan Wilson is selling tickets after the Wednesday morning meetings. Tickets are $8.
- Dirty Board starts Tuesday at 6:30 PM. Signup sheets for all the card and board games are in Friendship Hall at the card tables by the door.
- Zumba Gold exercising will begin on December 10th from noon to 1 PM in Friendship Hall. This exercise class is for seniors so it won't be as fast as other Zumba classes you may have encountered. Cost for December is $6 for the month. January, February, March is $8 per month. There will be no refunds for classes missed.
- Line Dancing classes will start after the morning meeting in the Big Hall starting next week. The cost is $1 per person per session and the money is donated to support children in Mexico.
- Breakfast will be Biscuits and Gravy this Saturday from 7:30 to 8:30 AM.
- The Dance this week is with the Horns on November 30 at 7 PM.
- This Sunday is Sundae Sunday at 5 PM in the Big Hall. Bring your own bowls!
- The Monday night Park Potlucks begin on December 3rd. 5:00 PM in the Big Hall. Iced tea and water are provided. Just bring your own place settings and a dish to share.
- Don DeKeyrel will be offering AARP Safe Driving Classes on January 10th, February 7th and March 7th. All classes are from 8 to Noon in the Big Hall. This course is for those who have not taken the safety course for 55+ to qualify for the insurance discount. Participants 55 and over will receive a 10% discount (required by state) on their insurance premiums which is good for a three year period. No testing is required. Class fee includes all materials Participants must attend the full 8 hours to qualify for an insurance discount. You can talk to Don De Keyrel for more information. Cost is $12 for AARP members and $14 for non-members.
- Social Hour is every Tuesday at 3:30 PM. The next few weeks we have Phil Brunette as the entertainment. He's a terrific singer. We pass the hat for the entertainment on Tuesday and Phil donates his earnings to help pay for the Christmas Party that is given for the children in Progreso, Mexico on Christmas Day. The children are fed a nice meal and then they go home with rice and beans and school supplies. It is a very worthwhile event and they feed over 1000 children that day!
Volunteers Needed:
- JD is looking for a couple more volunteers to held bus and clean up after the Tuesday afternoon Socials. Rosie Ewald, Vicky Mullin and Bob and Marie French have been assisting but a couple more people would really make things run smoothly.
- Nora Minor is looking for volunteers to help decorate Friendship Hall for Christmas. They will be decorating on December 3rd starting at 9 AM. You can just show up to help or call Nora if you have questions.
- See Lynn in the Activities Office is you would like to be the Chair for Winter Ranch at the Golden Age Olympics. There are events for everything from tennis to bakeoffs. Lynn would really like to see our park participate.
- Lynn still needs a Chair for the Christmas Eve Party that is held on December 24th in the afternoon. This is a finger-food potluck.
- The Salvation Army has requested some bell ringers from the Ranch. You can volunteer for this event by signing up on the Signup Sheets on the Wall by the restrooms in Friendship Hall. If you have questions, see Karen Hockemeir, the Salvation Army Volunteer Coordinator, at Lot 563. Thanks, Karen, for volunteering!
- JD said he noticed that several people had signed up to help with setting up tables and chairs. He'll be calling on you shortly as the first craft sale is coming up. He would like a group that would set up the craft sale four times a year.
- We are still looking for a couple of leads for the Friday night dances. See Mary Benfield at Lot 501 if you are interested. If you can count money, turn on the lights and aren't afraid of a microphone, then you are an ideal candidate! We are only needing Leads to volunteer for two dances per season.
- Lynn would like a Coordinator to lead a new Garden Club group that would assist in beautifying the public areas of the park. Talk to Lynn about what would be involved.
- Bus Trips - signups are held after the Wednesday morning meetings. Today we signed up for a shopping trip to Mercedes and two trips to the Hidalgo Festival of Lights. You can start signing up for The Kings Ranch and the Mystery Trip Bus Trip in the Activities Office starting at 1 PM today. There were still seats available as of 2 PM Wednesday!
- One note on the Bus Trips - please remember to compensate the driver - he is not a paid employee of Winter Ranch!
- Tours - Our Tour Director, Gail Field, has several Bus Trips listed on her Bulletin Board in Friendship Hall along with her business cards. She has a few open spaces for the New Orleans Trip. It sounds grand! Let her know if you are interested in any of them. Since there are many trips available, she has posted a booklet of the tours on her bulletin board. She just posted three new trips!
Note from the Blog Administrator: If you have pictures from any of the events or bus trips trips that you would like to share on the blog, you can send them to me and I'll post them on the blog. Just send them to my e-mail at : blogwinterranch@yahoo.com
