WOW!!!  What a great turnout for our annual Halloween Party. 

A HUGE shout out to our Activities Committee for all their planning, great decorations, cookies and cupcakes, games, etc. The room was electrified! Add to that all the creative costumes and you had one big, fabulous party.

It was good food with good friends and an honor to be there; especially to participate in the Noon time ceremony with all the restaurant patrons hearing and singing the National Anthem.

We had a great crowd for the Taberna Ole dinner and pig roast. It even included Jerry bringing his own “pig in a blanket”. Maybe we can find another event where Jerry’s pig is awarded to the winner.

The Taberna is offers pretty authentic Spanish food, as such people found different things on the menu that they may not have been familiar with. Never the less, it was quite an experience to see the two roasted suckling pigs brought to the dining room. These pigs are imported from Spain and only weigh 8-9 pounds each. They serve about 8 people each and their meat is very tender and sweet.  All in all, everyone had a great time.

A BIG thank you to Linda Kelley and the social committee for making the great arrangements for our Valentine’s Day dinner. It was such a beautiful evening to enjoy the views of the harbor and the evening’s sunset. The Captain’s Table is a great venue for these occasions. The room was set up beautifully, the staff was attentive and the menu was terrific and delicious.

A group of 9 members gathered at Liz's home to attend a CPR class given by our own Todd Coulter. Todd was a great instructor answering many questions along the way. We not only learned about CPR practices, but Todd also gave us information on the portable defibrillator device and about how the Paramedics handle emergency various emergency situations.  Attending were Tim and Liz, John and Robin, Kathy, Helen, Wendy, and Linda.

A BIG thanks to Todd. 

Steve Schodowski was the big winner at last Thursday’s LRC game.

What a fun time we had at the Englewood Elks last night.  Lots of enjoyable music and fun dancing by many.  Thanks to Linda R, Wendy, Peggy, Janet, and others who even motivated me to get out on the floor and burn a few calories.

A few of us took a nice road trip through curvy roads (Sweetwater and Crewsville roads) to the Cowpoke’s Watering Hole in Sebring for lunch. It was a very windy day and we went through a couple of dust/sand storms on those roads that were so intense that you could hardly see the car in front, or behind you.

There was also a little situation with Linda Kelley’s tire pressure monitor indicating her tires were low on air.  So, the rear end of the caravan briefly detoured to a service station for some correct the issue before arriving at the restaurant.

We had an attentive server named Jeremy who gave us a few chuckles when he announced that “we don’t have any veggies”. So we said, OK, we’ll go with that. Then when Kathy Tracy ordered a burger, Jeremy asked if she wanted “lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles with that”. So Terry said, “wait, you said you didn’t have any veggies” and Jeremy replied “lettuce and tomatoes are not veggies, this is salad… a whole different thing." And we shared more laughter.

Despite the weather forecast, we did not see rain until we left the restaurant and then only for a few miles on the way home. We took Rt. 66 to Rt.17 on the way home instead of the curvy roads.

It was nice to see so many members enjoying dinner and having a great time at River City.

The group enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Orange County Choppers Roadhouse (OCC). The menu items have names related to motorcycles like a knucklehead sandwich or a sportster sandwich. Some items have funny names as well. Sally ordered a chili dog called “the homewrecker” and you can see in the pictures what they served her. The entire table had a big laugh over the hot dog

For those that may not know the history of the OCC, the original location of OCC was in Montgomery, New York. Paul Teutul Sr. founded the company in 1999. Their custom motorcycle business led to a successful TV show called American Chopper with Paul’s two sons, Paul Jr. and Mikey. After several seasons, the show ended, and things fell apart due to a feud between the father and Paul Jr.

In 2020, OCC closed the New York location and moved to Pinellas Park, Florida, where they built a new facility called OCC Road House & Museum across from Bert’s Barracuda Harley Davidson shop. The Roadhouse has a collection of custom choppers built during the running of the TV show and is loaded with memorabilia and motorcycle artifacts. For example, some of the seats at the bar are motorcycle king and queen seat. Also, the sinks in the men’s room are made from motorcycle gas tanks (see in the pictures). All in all, a very interesting place to visit.

Twenty six members and 14 Corvettes took the trip to the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum. And what a treat that was! They have 90 very rare cars with some of them being the only ones built or in existence. For example, they built a full-size replica of the first self-propelled vehicle on steam power and ran it. For more information on that particular vehicle click on this link. https://www.tbauto.org/car-collection/1770-fardier-de-cugnot

Oliver Cerf, our terrific tour guide, is the son of Alain Cerf who began buying these cars and assembling them for the museum. The Cerf family is French and emigrated to the US settling in Florida. Oliver mentioned that he had come to the US in 1972. He really knows these cars and the engineering behind them. He said all the cars run and they take turns riding them.

Several members visited the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota yesterday. It’s a beautiful and magical place where you often feel you are lost in a tropical rain forest. Among all the trees, plants, and gardens, there is an amazing Banyan grove with several of these majestic trees. 

We had lunch at the Selby House which was built in the early 1920s. This Spanish-style home was Marie and William Selby’s original residence.

Congrats to Jim Dandy on the big win.

A group of members cruised to the List Distillery and Miller's Ale House in Ft Myers.

Our own Linda Kelly walked away with the Dynamic Detective Award beating out 100 other participants to the Broadway Palms Mystery - Murder on the 19th Hole. Other members in attendance were Kath Goodspeed, Linda Kelly, Ed Kerschke, Elaine McNeill, Jim and Mary Ortiz, and Bev and Bruce Olmstead.