Welcome Party

The weather was ideal for our welcome back party today.  Actually, it should just be named a "Welcome" party as we met soooo many brand new and first time guests.  It's interesting to chat with these newbies and see how impressed they are with all the clubs and activities Palm Creek has to keep them entertained.  Many many guests and residents spent the whole afternoon enjoying the event.

This year the food wagons came so we definitely had a variety to choose from for lunch.

A very talented mariachi band roamed among the crowd to add to the festivities.  I think they were a better alternative than a big loud band on the stage because it would have been hard for all of us working in the booths to converse with the people that stopped by to chat.

Most of the clubs had tables set up to inform folks of all our fun events.  Our Mahjong table with the Pegs & Jokers display was very well attended.  Sounds like we'll have a lot of new players meeting with us next week.

Thank you to Denise Gaither, Sue Bernth, and Elaine Moore for all your help.

Of course, we can always count on Dave and Linda Hardy to be at the poker tables.

The genealogy club certainly had an attention getter at their table.

The photography club was there to show their wares.

What a fantastic photo of this owl!!!!

This was a day to "show off" and it was FUN.  Makes us proud to be "Creekers".

The Diamonds Concert

WOW!!!  That was a definite Las Vegas class show!  Great music and wonderfully talented performers.  Singing, dancing, and instruments were spot ON.  Little Adam at the young age of 25 has a fantastic career ahead of him with all the talent and energy he possesses.




The saxaphone player has been with this band for 45 years.  He was really great.

All four singers were a joy.

.......and I now have a mad crush on the drummer.  😍

Congratulations to our Activities and/or Events staff that brought such great entertainment.

Stuff

Have you had lunch at our lovely bistro lately?  They make really good soups and sandwiches.  

The Bistro is a GREAT place to meet friends or neighbors.

Try the Palm Creek chicken salad on wheat.  Awesome and definitely my favorite.  Here I am telling Don to wait a minute till I'm ready.  He didn't listen.

We took a peek into the kitchen too.

Monday night bingo was a big crowd of 251 people.  Had to keep setting up more tables as players entered.

Janet Cordasco was the lucky jackpot winner on game 6.  It was her first time to play bingo here as they just arrived at the park this week.  That's "beginner's luck".  It is Janet's first visit to the park and says she is definitely wanting to extend her stay and come back again next season too.

***************************

Pet Smart

Don and I received a gift card for use at Pet Smart.  We made a restocking trip there yesterday and "the boys" were happy when we returned home.  I didn't get around to unpacking the bags right away which I regretted later when I had to clean up the whole table and floor.  

It seems "the boys" did some sampling and about shredded one of the bags.  There are small teeth marks all over the Science Diet bag too but they couldn't break into that tougher vinyl bag.

Thank you to Janet and Morgan!

Maverick Flight

Our drone went UP UP and AWAY this morning to see the sights over our resort.  Enjoy!

Remember:  When the video starts to play, there is a small square in the lower right hand corner.  Click it to make the video full screen.

Active Resort

Don took Maverick up for a ride this afternoon about 4:00.  I'll post the tour when he is done editing but I wanted to share two screen shots that I found interesting.

First:  Look how occupied  the North 40 has become.  It was just a plain empty field of dirt this past summer.

This shot is really impressive.  I hope the folks at Sun Communities Corporate see this as it is 4:00 Monday afternoon and every pickleball court is occupied.  There is a softball game in session.  Dogs in the agility park, and a volleyball game in the pool.  We are definitely using the wonderful facilities to their max.

Mahjong Update

Just sending this update to our fellow Mahjong players:


Mahjong play is still scheduled for Tuesdays and Fridays at 12:30 plus Thursday nights at 6:30.  No western players are come on Thursday nights so far so be sure to invite fellow players if you plan to attend.

We will be sponsoring a booth at the Welcome Back Party on Friday, January 25.  Stop by to say hello.

Our Christmas party proved to be so much fun that we've scheduled more parties for future dates.  Mark your calendars for Friday, February 15, to celebrate Valentine's Day.  Our theme is Sweets for the Sweet so bring cookies or your favorite dessert.  Please keep it all finger food to accommodate play at the tables.  If your treat is a homemade recipe, please bring the recipe printed on a 3/5 card.  Then if anyone wants the recipe, they can take a picture of your card with their cell phone.  Should be fun.  We'll also dream up some games and prizes.

Thank you to Elaine Moore for ordering us some cool dragon stickers to put on our PC name tags.  We're proud to be Mahjong players!

We're asking all players to please donate $2 to our official fund.  That will pay for party supplies, stickers, and any other expenses we incur throughout the entire season.  We'll have a donation bucket on game days.

We all enjoy having one or two floaters available during game play.  That way we get to mix tables and meet with different players.  The only problem we encounter is some people want to play for money and others don't.  We ask you to be flexible and allow a non-money player to join your table but be excluded from the money payouts.  That will help floaters be able to move throughout the room.

Because it is very time consuming, we will no longer try to maintain a roster on a separate Mahjong website.  Instead, we encourage you to use Nextdoor and click on the Mahjong group.  All members are listed there and you can private message them without having to maintain a roster.  Let's let Nextdoor do the work for us.


We're organizing a gift basket to donate to the Cancer Awareness silent auction.  Bring a small hand crafted item or other appropriate item to include in our large basket.  i.e., personal care products, bottle of wine, scented candles, wrapped candy or snack items, small household tools?  Bring your item on game days this week.

We are a growing enterprise with new people joining us regularly.  Therefore, the room can get a bit NOISEY with so many people.  Let's remind ourselves to "use our indoor voices" as mother used to say or "put a limit" on the noise.  😀

We're hoping to have an end of season party on March 22 celebrating with a pot luck luncheon and, hopefully, an outdoor event at one of the park pavilions.  

Have a great day and may the Jokers be with you.

Rat Pack

We had a great time at the Rat Pack concert last night.  They brought back many memories of watching that trio on TV.  

Thank you Janet Kinney for the photos.

 I know Joan Wilcox certainly had fun!  Dean Martin picked her for his audience favorite.

AN ADDITIONAL SWOOP DAY

WOW!!!  We maxed out the Adobe Room today with 9 tables of 8 players each.  The easy-to-play, fun-filled game of Swoop is taking over!  To accommodate more players, we decided to also play on Mondays.  

The purpose of the game is to include newcomers to a new game of cards, and an EASY way to meet new friends.  Come alone or bring a friend.  We'll do our best to find a chair for everyone who wants to play.

Our success depends on your cooperation, however.  We request that no one starts to play until exactly 12:30 so we can find a chair for all who want to participate.  We'll divide up the tables evenly and start play at 12:30.  It will be helpful if you come about 10 minutes prior to start time so we can get everyone seated.

PEGS AND JOKERS

Pegs & Jokers is another fun board game played with 4 or 6 players.  We give lessons on Thursday mornings at 9:30.  Beginners are welcomed plus we'll also teach more strategy skills to those who want to learn.  

SWOOP DAY

I just received a copy of the January Activities Sheet and see that they did not include SWOOP on Wednesdays. Add it to your calendar for Wednesdays in the Adobe Room. Swoop is an easy and FUN game to learn. Our intent on Wednesdays is to have open play and encourage newcomers to join us. Therefore, we request that no one start playing or set up tables until exactly 12:30. You can come early to chat and get acquainted but play does not start until AFTER 12:30. That way any newcomer who walks in will be included at a table and we can even up the number of players. This is a great way to meet new people and learn a fun social game. Our purpose is to have FUN with a game for newcomers to participate.

******************************

Our Mahjong group is growing. Want to learn to play? Join our western play group. Start with the western version as it is easy to learn. Then quickly switch to the National game which is played world wide.

RC Flying Event

Some of you may be interested in attending the remote control flying event Saturday, January 12.

Edwards Twins

OMG!!!  That was a FANTASTIC show in the ballroom tonight.  The Edwards Twins are star impersonators and do a wonderful performance.  It's hard to believe that anyone can be that talented.  Loved every minute of the show.  If we can get them to return again next year, be certain to get your tickets ASAP.

Have you watched "The Kaminsky Method" on Netflix yet?  Be sure to tune in.  There is a Barbara Streisand impersonator that attends the funeral............and it is one of the Edwards Twins!!

Swoop

We had FIVE tables of players at Swoop today!  Quite a few newcomers who just arrived at Palm Creek and were so happy to find an open game with new friends.

Elaine and Rod Reinertson and Kathy (didn't get her last name) all played for the first time.  It was Kathy's second day ever to be in Palm Creek.  They were VERY happy to find a friendly card game to join and meet new friends.

Swoop is a fun EASY-TO-LEARN card game.  We play at 12:30 every Wednesday in the Adobe Room.  Come join us for a good time.

We have a firm rule to NOT start playing until exactly 12:30 so we can form tables and include everyone that comes in.