Monday, December 9, 2019

Monday Morning Meeting Notes - December 9, 2019





CHRISTMAS CHARITIES:

This season we have several ways here in the park to give to those in need.

The Food Bank: We have a couple boxes set out for donations to the food bank. These are under the Bulletin Board by the front door. The small boxes are for canned goods.

Weslaco’s Toys for Tots: Just bring in an unwrapped present for children from age 0 to 16. They will pick them up here.

Blankets for the Needy: Sondra Plowman is again taking blankets that she delivers to several organizations here in the valley. You just need to bring in blankets that have been washed. They need sizes for children and adults. I’m sure she will tell you more about it.

A.N. Rico Elementary School, 2202 N International Boulevard, in Weslaco, Texas is looking for volunteers to help their students learn to read. There are sheets on the signup tables by the stage that explain what they are looking for and what you have to do to apply.

PICTURE DIRECTORIES: If you had your picture taken for the Directory, you can pick them up before and after the Monday morning meetings or later in the Activity Office. 

ACTIVITIES:

500 Card Game: It will start this Saturday at 6:30 PM in the Outback. Please bring five nickels.

Texas Hold E'm: Will be playing each Tuesday at 6:30 PM in the Poker Room.

Trip to the ITheatre for “Playing Doctor:   The tickets for the play are in and you can pick them up in the Activity Office.

Happy Hour: Our next Happy Hour is Carlos Canas on Wednesday, December 11th, and it will be an Ugly Christmas t-shirt, sweatshirt, sweater theme party. There will be a photo booth ready to get lots of terrific pictures of your ugly outfits. There is also an Ugly Gift Exchange. Bring the tackiest gift you can imagine. Your gift has to be something that absolutely no one would want. Think something that will go in the trash as they leave. Gifts will be shared among the people at their tables. We will have trash cans by the door when you leave to hold your gifts. This contest will be a table contest and each table will send one representative from their table to the front to show off the worst gift from that table (a set of two tables in this case). You can also decorate your tables if you wish.

Trip to San Juan Basilica is today, December 9th. You will need to be there by 10:30 AM. Meet on the steps into the Basilica. If you haven’t been there, we have a map available in the office. They have a nice Gift Shop there and in the past they have served lunch so you can decide if you want to try it out. This is a beautiful Basilica and Sister Rose will tell you the history of it and take you into places that you would not normally see. There is plenty of room for a few more of you to go.

The Craft Show is tomorrow, Tuesday the 10th of December, and breakfast and lunch are served. There are several new vendors so you will want to check them out. Gayla may have more to tell you about this later.

The Park Garage Sale which is held in the Hall is scheduled for December 14th from 7 AM to 10 AM. Setup is the night before starting at 4 PM. 

Hidalgo Lights on Dec. 16th: Those that have signed up will have dinner at 5:15 PM in a large white tent that is next to City Hall. The tent has flaps that can be up or down depending on the weather. If it is colder, they put the flaps down and use heaters in the tent. If it is warm, then the flaps are up. There is parking at the LDS lot and Lee has made a set of directions for getting to the Festival and for parking with specific directions. Please leave early to get there as traffic may be heavy and the parking in the first lot could be full. We would suggest leaving at 4:15 PM for the 5:15 meal. We don’t think the traffic will be too heavy yet but later in December the traffic is crazy and it takes a long time just to get into Hidalgo. A representative from the Festival will be bringing us the tickets this week and we’ll let you know when they arrive.

The Sundrops will do their Christmas Show for us on Tuesday, December 17th at 7 PM. They are wonderful family group and I know you’ll enjoy them. The tickets are $9 each and we would appreciate it if you paid in cash. If you go to the Southern Comfort Blog, there is a short video of them performing. The tickets are available in the Activity Office.

New Residents’ Meeting (New Bees) has been scheduled for Tuesday, December 17th at 10 AM in the Hall. This is not on your calendar so please add it if you are new to the park and have not been to one of these before.

New Year’s Eve Dance tickets will be on sale after the meeting today. The tickets are $15 each and include an appetizer plate per person at the break. SouthBound does a mix of country and rock and roll. We are looking forward to a great night.

Trip – Indoor Kite Festival – I know some of you wonder why I have a January 30th Kite Performance Event out already. This is because it sells out quickly and want to give those of you who want to go a chance to be wowed. The kite flyers do routines to music like they do on the beach only without any air movement. They use very light weight expensive kites and it is truly amazing what they can do. The Indoor Kite performance will be held at the South Padre Island Convention Center on January 30th from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. The tickets are $10 each and there is limited seating. We went to this last season and we were very impressed. I have made a deal with B&S Kites who sponsor the event. I am going to call her once a week and she’ll let me know when I have to stop taking reservations. You will notice that I have made a line on the signup sheet which means that those people above the line definitely have tickets. At some point when I talk to B&S Kites, she will tell me they can’t hold it open anymore because the seats are almost gone. They sold out last year way before the event.

SKYMED: Skymed will be here on January 9th for a luncheon with anyone interested in talking to them about their services. They will also be coming on February 8th for Ice Cream. Those of you who don’t know what SkyMed offers can take advantage of a free meal or ice cream and find out if they have something that you want to take advantage of. Those of you who are already Skymed members are invited to join in the celebration of a Skymed Appreciation and 31st Anniversary event. There will be three of those: One on January 21st at the Echo Hotel in Edinburg, another one is on January 22nd at Victoria Palms in Donna, Texas and the third one is at Fun & Sun in San Benito, Texas on January 23rd. These are white tablecloth lunches for members and their interested guests. Registration opened on November 1st so you will need to register soon on www.skymed.com/weappreciateyou

RESIGNATION:

Lee and I are very sorry to tell you that we have resigned as Activity Directors. We were never going to be lifetime Activity Directors as some people are but we had planned on finishing this season. We are working with Laura for a smooth transition. I hope you know that we would not be doing this if it wasn't for the fact that my health is beginning to be affected. A wise woman in the park told me last week that after you reach 70 years of age, your top priority in life has to be your health and since my doctor told me the same thing a couple of days ago, it is time to make some drastic changes. The wonderful part for us is that we are really looking forward to being able to enjoy the activities of this park with all of you and getting to know more of you a lot better.

PRESENTER:  Rosalie Marie Fernandez from Valley Financial Planning talked to us this morning. Some of you may have wanted to talk to her afterward but with the Residents' Meeting right after it was a bit long to stick around. However, she wanted me to get her information to you so that you could contact her if you wish. Her Phone number is: 956-640-2660 and her e-mail is rosaliemfernandez@yahoo.com. She has left some material in the Activities Office that we can give you if you are interested.






Wednesday, December 4, 2019




UGLY CHRISTMAS
T-SHIRT/SWEATSHIRT/SWEATER PARTY

I bet you can get uglier than these!!

December 11, 2019
3 PM
In the Hall
Dance with Carlos Canas

CONTEST & PRIZES FOR THE UGLIEST MALE AND UGLIEST FEMALE OUTFIT!

Ugly Photo Booth

We will have the Photo Booth ready to get lots of terrific pictures of your ugly outfits. If you give us your e-mail, we’ll mail you a copy of your picture(s).

Ugly Gift Exchange

Bring the tackiest gift you can imagine. This isn’t just about re-gifting scented candles and other obnoxious items. It should include really awful stuff like board games with one piece missing or broken Christmas ornaments. Participants will have a blast deciding which gift is the worst. We will be prepared with a trash can by the door on the way out to hold this stuff—in case you want to discretely dispose of your gift on the way out! This contest is a table contest and each table will send one representative from their table to the front to show off their worst gift from that table (double table)! You can also decorate your tables if you wish.




Monday, December 2, 2019

Minutes of Meeting, December 2, 2019






Monday Morning Meeting
December 2, 2019

DECEMBER CHARITABLE GIVING:

City of Weslaco Toys For Tots:  Again this season, there is a large box under the bulletin board for toys for children ages 1 to 16. The City of Weslaco will distribute these toys and they do not need to be wrapped. 


Food Bank: You can donate canned goods to the Food Bank in the small boxes under that same Bulletin Board. There are lots of families that would appreciate some extra food during this season.

Blanket Drive: Sondra Plowman is still gathering blankets for the needy that she delivers as she receives them to various organizations in this area. I know she could use a lot more of them.

For each thing that you bring in on a Monday, you'll receive an extra ticket for the drawing.  


PICTURE DIRECTORIES:

If you had your picture taken for the Directory, you can pick them up before and after the Monday morning meetings or later in the Activity Office. We are distributing first to everyone that had their picture taken because we were not able to get as many extras as we have in the past. After those are distributed, then we will start selling the remaining books. 

FIX A CRACK:
Fix A Crack is a company that has done a lot of repairs to windshields n this park. They will be doing a Drive Thru Day on Wednesday, December 4th. They will inspect your vehicles for chips that could cause cracks and make any repairs that you might need. They use most insurances except State Farm. So, be sure to flag them down if you need something repaired. It will save you a trip to a shop.

GOLDEN AGE OLYMPICS:  

The City of McAllen Parks and Recreation sponsors the Golden Age Olympics for the Rio Grand Valley. Parks from all over the Valley compete. It is a lot like our Encore Games but it has a lot more categories like a Bake-Off, Bird-a-Ton, Bowling, Cheerleading, Fishing, Golf, Jigsaw Puzzles, Mini Golf, Race Walk, Softball, Sudoku, Table Tennis, Volleyball, and The Great Chase which is a fun day of chasing down clues in the McAllen area, photographing them and racing back to the finish to see who wins. If any of you would like to see the complete list or would like to compete for Southern Comfort, stop in the office and I’ll give you the brochure if you are interested.  

CHRISTMAS LIGHTING CONTEST:

Information about the lighting contest is on the Bulletin Board above the signup tables. There are four categories: Silent Night, Holy Night (most religious), Martha Stewart (most elegant), Clark Griswold (most Lights) and the Grand Prizes goes to the Lot with the most votes over all of those categories. Judging will be from December 15-19 when you can tour the park and then turn in your ballots. We must have the ballots returned by the 20th so we can do the count. We’ll announce the winners and hand out the prizes on December 23rd Monday morning meeting.

ACTIVITIES:

Trip to the ITheatre for “Playing Doctor:   We will be letting you know shortly when you can pick up your tickets.

Monza Chocolate Factory Tour: The tour of the Monza Chocolate Factory is tomorrow, December 3rd at 10 AM. The cost is $8 and you pay them when you arrive. They don’t have much change so please take them the exact amount.  There is a map available in the Activities Office if you need it.

Happy Hour: Our next Happy Hour is with Regan James on this Wednesday, December 4th from 3 to 5 PM. 

Love Light Ministries Show: The Southern Comfort Chapel has scheduled Love Light Ministries for a Show and Christmas Sing-a-long on Thursday, December 5th, at 7 PM. It will be pass the hat.

Ice Cream Social: On December 8th, this coming Sunday, at 6 PM we’ll be serving Milk Shakes for $1.50. You can sign up for the flavor you want on the Signup Sheets by the Stage.

Trip to San Juan Basilica is next Monday, December 9th. You will need to be there by 10:30 AM. Meet on the steps into the Basilica. If you haven’t been there, we have a map available in the office. They have a nice Gift Shop there and in the past they have served lunch so you can decide if you want to try it out. This is a beautiful Basilica and Sister Rose will tell you the history of it and take you into places that you would not normally see. There is plenty of room for a few more of you to go. You will enjoy it.

The Craft Show is on Tuesday the 10th of December and breakfast and lunch are served. Gayla has been finding some new vendors for the show so be sure to check them out. Gayla may want to give you more info later on.

On Wednesday, the 11t h of December we have a Happy Hour with Carlos but it is also a party. It is time to find your ugliest Christmas T-shirt, Sweater or Sweatshirt and we will be offering three prizes to those that are deemed to be the worst dressed for Christmas!  Feel free to be creative.

The Park Garage Sale which is held in the Hall is scheduled for December 14th from 7 AM to 10 AM. Setup is the night before starting at 4 PM.

Hidalgo Lights on Dec. 16th: There is a signup sheet out for a group trip to the lights which includes a chicken dinner, VIP seating for whoever performs that evening, and a train ride to see all the lights around the city.  I called in the reservations for those that have already signed up, however, we can still reserve more places if anyone else wants to go. Just sign up at signup tables to the left of the Stage. Then stop in the office to pay for the reservation.

The Sundrops will do their Christmas Show for us on Tuesday, December 17th at 7 PM. You can purchase tickets from Gayla after the meeting today. They are wonderful family group and I know you’ll enjoy them. The tickets are $9 each and we would appreciate it if you paid in cash. If you go to the Southern Comfort Blog, there is a short video of them performing.

New Residents’ Meeting (New Bees) has been scheduled for Tuesday, December 17th at 10 AM in the Hall. This is not on your calendar so please add it if you are new to the park and have not been to one of these before.

New Year’s Eve Dance tickets will be on sale after the meeting today. The tickets are $15 each and include an appetizer plate per person at the break. SouthBound does a mix of country and rock and roll. We are looking forward to a great night.

SKYMED: Skymed will be here on January 9th for a luncheon with anyone interested in talking to them about their services. They will also be coming on February 8th for Ice Cream. Those of you who don’t know what SkyMed offers can take advantage of a free meal or ice cream and find out if they have something that you want to take advantage of. Those of you who are already Skymed members are invited to join in the celebration of a Skymed Appreciation and 31st Anniversary event. There will be three of those: One on January 21st at the Echo Hotel in Edinburg, another one is on January 22nd at Victoria Palms in Donna, Texas and the third one is at Fun & Sun in San Benito, Texas on January 23rd. These are white tablecloth lunches for members and their interested guests. 

Registration opened on November 1st so you will need to register soon on www.skymed.com/weappreciateyou . Sorry, he didn't stop in with the information until last Wednesday. The flyer is up on our Bulletin Board over the signup tables.