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 11^th, 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 9^th. 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 10^th 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 14^th 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 17^th 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 17^th 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 30^th 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 30^th 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 9^th for a luncheon with anyone interested in talking to them about their services. They will also be coming on February 8^th 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 31^st Anniversary event. There will be three of those: One on January 21^st at the Echo Hotel in Edinburg, another one is on January 22^nd at Victoria Palms in Donna, Texas and the third one is at Fun & Sun in San Benito, Texas on January 23^rd. These are white tablecloth lunches for members and their interested guests. Registration opened on November 1^st 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.