New Year in the new ballroom is a GO!

Big announcements for Palm Creek:

Have fun in the new ballroom for the New Year's Eve dance!  Congratulations to our staff and host of contractors that made this possible!

Also...............our Bistro will remain "the Bistro".  It will have indoor seating and the patio area will be greatly expanded.  

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RC Flyers Event:

Second Casa Grande RC Flyers Swap Meet Scheduled.

On Saturday January 13, 2018, the Casa Grande RC Flyers will hold their second swap meet of the winter season between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM at the club field.  Located at  2725 South Isom Road in Casa Grande, the field is across the road from the public shooting range.  Last month visitors came from all over the valley including Tempe, Sun Lakes and Tucson, to look at and swap their airplanes and other radio controlled items.  Items brought to the swap meet include fixed wing aircraft, helicopters and drones.  Model aircraft parts and supplies are also usually available.  Last month’s swap meet raised money and needed items for the Valley Humane Society.

 Many residents attend to watch the pilots fly their model aircraft and to learn more about this wonderful hobby from the club members.  As usual, there will be a food service at this event providing breakfast and lunch items for visitors to enjoy.  The club’s events as well as directions to their field and information about joining them can be found on their web site at www.CasaGrandeRCFlyers.com.

The Casa Grande RC Flyers is an Academy Of Model Aeronautics (AMA) “Gold Level Leaders Club” which is the top award the AMA bestows upon a club. Area residents are welcome to visit and watch the flying which takes place most Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings around 10:00 AM during the winter season.  The club’s certified instructors offer free model flying lessons to those interested in participating in this fun hobby.  The club will also hold another Air Show on March 10, 2018. Benefiting the Casa Grande Food Bank.

Ballroom Pre-Opening Tour

The clock is ticking and the countdown has begun to get the ballroom expansion finished enough to hold the crowd for the New Years Eve dance on Sunday, December 31.  Jim Dawson took us on a guided tour this afternoon.

We started at the front entrance and had to be careful of the fresh concrete curb that had just been put in place.

The foyer will be quite impressive with comfortable chairs, furniture, and fixtures.

Try to visualize all the wiring, plumbing, and air ducts tucked under those ceiling panels.

Restrooms will be available on either side of the foyer.  I think I counted six stalls plus a nice big handicap access.

Mirrors will be installed over the sinks

Special 'cut-back' sinks were installed to allow handicap access.  Panels still to be put in place.

In addition, there is what is called a "family" bathroom which is not gender specific by new federal law.

The ballroom itself is HUGE!

This is the entrance to the kitchen or serving area.  Tile flooring is installed in this area to protect from heavy traffic (all those breakfasts, etc.) & potential spills.

There is a large serving window plus a short wall.  Serving tables can be placed along the front of the wall and service tables behind the wall.

LOTS of kitchen equipment!

Storage shelves for utensils and supplies.

A giant potato peeler!

Washing station.  All sinks in the area will run through the big grease traps installed underground behind the building.  Those traps will be cleaned 3-4 times per year.

Sprayer hose to rinse the DISHES.  We'll be serving on REAL dishes this year!

Dishwasher 

Warming ovens to keep our food hot.

An isolated trash area just outside the back door.  The gates can be kept closed but opened when the truck comes to empty the dumpsters.

Ovens & warmers.

Big Grill

Frying station for french fries, onion rings, etc.

I don't even remember what all these machines are for.

Large walk in freezer and separate refrigerator.

Some more brand new curb outside.

Electricians and installers working on many of the machines.

Robin's office at the front of the kitchen with nice windows so she can watch the activity.

Crews still working on wiring the stage lights and sound system.

Stage is same approximate depth but is about 40+ feet long.

AND.....there is even a dressing room behind the stage. The safety railing will go up alongside the ramp coming up on the right side and the stairs on the left side.  A black curtain will hide the railing.

Remember these big steel beams we saw being installed??

They are now secured and hold the heavy dividing panels that will split the huge ballroom into three separate sections.

These panels are really nice and easily pull out by hand to stretch across the room.

The place is HUGE!

Thank you, Sun Communities, for such a wonderful investment!

Power Outage (Try again :)

Looks like APS is going to try again to connect the new ballroom.  Our card rooms, craft rooms, and the front office may be in the dark Wednesday morning.  Here's the message we received from Gary Lambert, Operations Manager

On Wednesday, December 27th, there will be a scheduled power outage at the main office complex while APS relocates some primary power feeds related to the Ballroom Project. It was originally scheduled for last week, but for reasons beyond our control, it got moved to Wednesday of this week. This will affect Building A (Admin building), the classroom buildings B&C, the Ballroom (building D), the exercise and laundry rooms at the main complex, the Food trailer (Sports Grill will be open, but will have no Till and no ability to run credit cards), and the new Pro Shop. The scheduled time for this outage is 8AM until 12PM (noon). Power elsewhere in the Resort should not be affected.

The significance of this to the residents is that all of our TV & network equipment is in this area, which means that for the duration of this outage, there will be no Resort TV or internet anywhere in the resort (Including the office internet system which is separate from the Dish system). The office will be open, but we will have no computers or phones (including the Gatehouse phone) during this time (or lights for that matter). Please plan accordingly. It will also affect clubs that meet in the SanTan/Sonora/Adobe/Stained Glass/Pottery/Silversmith/Lapidary rooms. Stained Glass and Pottery… Please note this for your kiln usage (no power to the Kilns during this time period). Classrooms outside of this area should not be affected except that there will be no TV or WiFi available. If you are unsure about your club status, please contact Activities.

Once power is restored, we will re-establish the TV and internet systems as quickly as possible. Some of you with WiFi routers may need to restart your router to get your home WiFi systems up and running.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but it is a necessary step towards the completion of the Ballroom. Thank you for your patience in this matter.

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Heplers!

Don, Sue, Mouse, and Kat

Expansion Update

Copied from Palm Creek Facebook page.

Outage is Postponed

At 8AM this morning, APS notified us that they were cancelling the Office area power shutdown for today. Your TV and internet will remain functioning today.

The work still needs to be done, but at this time they are not giving us any estimates as to when, other than a ‘sometime next week’. I will let everyone know as soon as we have the reschedule information.

We apologize for the sudden change, but it is beyond our control.

Gary     

Gary Lambert

Operations Manager

POWER OUTAGE

Received this message from Gary Lambert this morning:

On Thursday, December 21^st, there will be a scheduled power outage at the main office complex while APS relocates some primary power feeds related to the Ballroom Project. This will affect Building A (Admin building), the classroom buildings B&C, the Ballroom (building D), the exercise and laundry rooms at the main complex, the Food trailer (Sports Grill will be open, but will have no Till and no ability to run credit cards), and the new Pro Shop. The scheduled time for this outage is 8AM until 12PM (noon). Power elsewhere in the Resort should not be affected.

The significance of this to the residents is that all of our TV & network equipment is in this area, which means that for the duration of this outage, there will be no Resort TV or internet anywhere in the resort (Including the office internet system which is separate from the Dish system). The office will be open, but we will have no computers or phones (including the Gatehouse phone) during this time (or lights for that matter). Please plan accordingly. It will also affect clubs that meet in the SanTan/Sonora/Adobe/Stained Glass/Pottery/Silversmith/Lapidary rooms. Stained Glass and Pottery… Please note this for your kiln usage (no power to the Kilns during this time period). Classrooms outside of this area should not be affected except that there will be no TV or WiFi available. If you are unsure about your club status, please contact Activities.

Once power is restored, we will re-establish the TV and internet systems as quickly as possible. Some of you with WiFi routers may need to restart your router to get your home WiFi systems up and running.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but it is a necessary step towards the completion of the Ballroom. Thank you for your patience in this matter.

Gary     

Gary Lambert

Operations Manager

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Saturday was the monthly patio sale day.  I always enjoy the event mostly because its an opportunity to drive around the resort and chat with all the folks that are out and about.  As I was leaving the house, Don's parting words were "We don't need any more stuff."  Silly guy.  Those words completely escaped my memory as soon as I arrived at Sharon Costa's house.  

Sharon is such a creative crafter.  Look at all the cute stuff she's been designing.  It takes an artistic imagination to do so many things with a pickleball or a stone.

George and Sharon Costa

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When our son, Anton, is here, he joys watching the fish when they're on a feeding frenzy.  He got some great photos yesterday.

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Kat and Mouse Tails

It's getting harder and harder to work at the computer!