Painting With Vicky

Today we had our first painting class with Vicky. It was a pour paint class. First we divided up the paints and got everything ready.

Some funny business going on here!

Once we all had our paint, we set up our stations.

 Then we poured paint on the canvas 

and blew it around with a straw.

 Vicky demonstrating the procedure.

 We did have gloves but Vicky didn't use them!

Blowing the paint through the straw!

Mother's Day at Victoria Palms

We had a wonderful Mother's Day Brunch at Victoria Palms today. Here are a few pictures from the event.

Minutes of Meeting May 7, 2019

Jennie gave a report on residents’ health concerns

We have a lot to talk about today so let’s do the fun stuff first.

    May 10^th, this Friday, is lunch at the New York Deli. The signup sheet is in the back of the Hall. If you have not signed up and want to go, please sign up today as I will be taking the sheet down and calling in the numbers going tomorrow morning.

    May 12^th is Mother’s Day and we have reservations at Victoria Palms for their Sunday Mother’s Day Brunch. The cost is $10.95 with a 10% discount for us if we wear our badges. Please sign up by 3 PM on Thursday so I can call in our numbers.

    May 14^th is a trip to Quinta Mazatlan. I finally gave up trying to set this up with a docent to give us a tour of the mansion as it was getting too complicated. So, Lee and I will be your guides through the house and grounds. We have been there several times so we know our way around. We won’t give you all the history of the house and the objects in it but you will get to see the mansion inside and out. Then we’ll take you around the beautiful grounds that are filled with wonderful plantings and numerous bronze sculptures. There are several places to watch for birds and we’ll show you those too. Because we might be able to see some birds if we get there before they empty the feeders and because it is cooler in the morning, we will meet in the Hall at 7:15 AM to do ride-sharing and leave at 7:30AM so we get there by 8 AM. The cost for Seniors is $2 the door. The address for the place is on the poster in the back of the hall. I will tell you that it is hard to find Sunset Drive. Once you are 10^th Street south of Wichita there is a brown sign on the right that says “Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center” with an arrow to the left. It isn’t very big so have someone looking for it. You turn left immediately after you see the sign and travel along the south edge of the old hotel.

    On the 15th. Tuesday. Vicky will be doing an art class in the Outback. I bet some of you didn’t know that our Manager is a real artist! The class is limited to 15 and the signup sheet is in the back of the Hall. It is an ocean scene using acrylic paints. The cost is $5 for supplies which includes a canvas that costs $10.

    On the 16^th Thursday, there is a trip planned for Nana’s Taqueria for dinner and Mariachi entertainment. This is an order off the menu deal. If you have not signed up yet, please do so soon as I will need to call in our numbers by Monday the 13^th.

    On the 17^th, Friday, join us for Kolaches and Coffee with Estella for her last day. Sign up in the Business Office if you are going to attend. We won’t be doing a huge card as we feel that it is much easier to keep individual cards than one huge one. We will have balloons to celebrate. You are free to give Estella whatever you want to give her as a going away gift from you personally.

    I just put out the Trip to Louie’s Back Yard for Dinner and Fireworks. It you have not been to Louie’s, they have a wonderful prime rib and seafood buffet that includes Herb Encrusted Prime Rib, Mesquite Grilled Baby Back Ribs, Sauteed Shrimp Scampi and much more. The cost is $25 per person.  It isn’t cheap but it is an awesome buffet. You can also order off the menu. They will add a 15% gratuity on groups of 6 or more. You should be aware that they don’t do separate checks on groups of six or more so be prepared to split the check at the table yourselves. We will be eating on their huge water front deck. We can watch the fireworks from there. Louie’s also has a barge in the Laguna Madre where their fireworks will be set off a bit after 9 PM.

We still don’t have any hosts signed up for Memorial Day. If no one signs up by the next meeting, we can discuss what we want to do about that then.

We also have an addition to the May calendar. On May 29^th from 1 to 3 PM, Welcome Home RGV (Kristi Collier) will be hosting an Ice Cream Social with musical entertainment. This will be an outdoor event which will be held near the Bocce Ball Courts. Vicky said that this is intended to be an outdoor event but if it is really too hot, we’ll go inside.

Last, I have some news that I hate to give you. Lee and I have decided that I need to step down as the volunteer Activity Director for the summer. This has nothing to do with any of you or the work involved. I enjoy working with all of you. However, I have been having some real health issues and the doctor’s appointments and therapy sessions are numerous leaving me less and less time to do things that I really would like to do when I am able. The main problem that I have is my back. It seems more and more likely that I may be having back surgery in the near future.

I plan to finish out May and I would be willing to work together with whoever signs up for the job as a consultant which means I will be there to answer questions, share ideas and generally assist them as much as I can during June. If you are interested or have questions about the position, give me a call. 

Also, I will continue with the blog, the newsletter and the Facebook Groups page don’t worry about those and Lee and I do plan on being here on November 1^st to start the Winter Season. 

There was continued discussion on the possibility of funding a watering system for the potted plants in front of the Hall. Lee Benfield suggested that it would cost about $200 for the project. Victoria said that as soon as we have a new cleaning person she would make the plants one of that person's priorities. In the meantime, Vicky Wilt volunteered to keep the plants watered.

Sondra Plowman suggested that we find a means of putting a new upright freezer in the kitchen. The present one doesn't work and she lost about $60 worth of ice cream that was for the Bingo ice cream. This freezer is also used to store ice cream for the Ice Cream Socials. The group agreed to further investigation of a replacement freezer and methods of funding it. 

Thanks everyone!

Our next meeting is on May 21^st.

Mary Benfield

Sunset over Southern Comfort

Outing - Dinner at Chili's

Our Summer Club had a outing today for lunch. We headed over to Chili's. 

Summer Club Meeting Minutes - 4/23/19

The Pledge of Allegiance

There is a signup sheet at the back table for hosting some of the summer events like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween, etc. I would really love it if someone or a couple of you could sign up for Mother’s Day and Memorial Day right away as those are this month. The Mother’s Day would be a meal and maybe some entertainment and Memorial day would be a meal and a short program. As I’ve told many of you there are some things I am good at but planning and making meals is not one of them so I do need your help and Jenny has already done two meals for this season! If you need help making the posters or signup sheets or getting some entertainment, give me a call. I can help with that.

Calendars for May will be in the back of the Hall this week. There are a couple items that are not quite set in stone yet. When those items get finalized, I’ll put sign up sheets out so watch for them.

A few items have been changed for May that you need to know about today:  (a) Chair Yoga is now in the Exercise Room starting at 8 AM. (b)     LCR is now scheduled for every other Thursday at 2 PM in the Hall. There is a signup sheet at the back of the Hall. (c)  Some of you signed up for the Cinco de Mayo celebration and the meal that was planned for May 5^th.  Debbie called me yesterday to cancel this event because Diego was not going to be able to entertain us.

We can still celebrate Cinco de Mayo, however, because the City of Harlingen has a wonderful free festival which they are having this year on May 3^rd.  This celebration includes Mexican Folklorico dancers, artistic vendors and food vendors. I have heard that this event is very well done. You can sign up for it at the back of the Hall today.  

I have put out other trip sheets in the back that include a lunch at the New York Deli which is now on South Kansas Ave in Weslaco. We really like the food at this deli and they have a really big menu for a small deli. Sign up today as we are limited to a seating of 25.

I’ve also scheduled a trip to Nana’s Taqueria for dinner and Mariachi entertainment on May 16^th. There is no limit on how many of us can attend this one. The food is wonderful and the entertainment is great. The drinks aren’t bad either!

There are a couple more trips to sign up for now in the back but they are later in the month. Also, make sure you watch the table in the back of the Hall for what is happening during the summer months. There will be more signups when the two holiday meals are scheduled but I may hear of something that we might try so keep a look out.

We also had some discussion on financing and there will be more discussion on this at the next meeting.

Vicky reported that there was a break-in at Paradise South and three houses and three cars were affected. It was also reported that there were break-ins at Ranchero Village. Vicky explained that Paradise South has a very high fence and gate. Their gate is a rolling gate. The fact of the matter is that crooks can get in if they want in. Our best line of defense is to keep our vehicles and homes locked and our next line of defense is our Neighborhood Watch Group. Vicky also suggested that when we go through the gate and someone is behind us to sit in front of the gate until it closes so that the person behind us has to use their access or call the office and follow protocol.

Our next meeting is on May 7^th as we are doing the meetings every other week.

If you have an idea for a Trip or something you would like to do this summer, just give me a call. I’m open to suggestions.

Thanks much to Jenny Draper and the rest of the crew in the kitchen and those that brought in the fruit and the egg casseroles. The brunch today was wonderful!

Mary Benfield

Easter Dinner

There were church services this morning at Southern Comfort for Easter and we were blessed with an absolutely beautiful day!

Later we had an Easter potluck. The ham was provided by Encore via Victoria. Thanks much - the ham was wonderful.

Thanks much to Jenny Draper, Jim and Sondra Plowman, and Bob and Mary Lukkes for making Easter more beautiful for all of us! And, thanks to everyone who brought a dish to share. You couldn't possibly try everything but everything we tried was wonderful! We have some great cooks here at Southern Comfort!