Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Cancer Awareness Weekend


Here comes the big weekend!!   Here is a recap of many of the events.  Check the flyer that was placed in your mailbox for more detail or pick up a copy in Activities.

FRIDAY
Lawn Bowling Tournament
Shuffleboard Tournament
Super Bowl of Tennis Tournament

12:00 Pickleball Rubber Ducky Race
       Begins in canal near Site #30 and ends near Site #4

1:00  Kick Cancer Bingo
        Purchase advance $10 ticket for 10 games in Activities
        Tickets can also be purchased at the door.  
         (Come join the G55 caller!)  πŸ˜ƒ

5:00  Come to Palm Park for a $5 cup of chili.
        Cookies, hot cocoa & coffee available with a donation

5:00 - 7:30 Silent Auction

5:15 Meet at gravel lot by Palm Park to assemble for the parade.
         Register ahead in Activities.  $16 includes T-Shirt
         Stacie Parrish, Sun Communities Regional VP will be Grand Marshall

6:30  Tethered hot air balloon rides.  $20 per person.  Sign up
         and pay in Activities

6:30   Hot Air Balloon Glow with 9 balloons participation

7:30 Silent Auction closes

SATURDAY

7:15 Softball Field:  Hot air balloon rides begin.  $150 

7:30  Softball Field:  Golf balls from Heaven dropped from
         hot air balloon 

9:00 Golf Course Shotgun start for 18 hole tournament

9:00  Tennis courts:  Super Bowl of Tennis tournament

9:00 Horseshoe tournament

10:00 Neighborhood Watch speaker at the Cottonwood Pool Bldg.
Detective Lupe Reyes
Intelligence Officer with
Casa Grande Police Department

GANG TASK FORCE

10:00 - 11:30 Business Expo in the ballroom

(So sad that those two events are both scheduled at the same time and on such a busy weekend!)

1:00 Golf Course shotgun start for 18 hole tournament

6:30  Ballroom Saturday Night Dance.

The weather forecast looks great so we'll see you all at the events.



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Should I write a letter to Costco and complain that their toilet paper rolls unravel too easily?? 😸😸
It is almost a daily occurrence.  Wonder how that happens.













Sunday, January 26, 2020

Tom Jones Tribute

Tonight's show was a Tom Jones Tribute by Lou Nelson.  He certainly had all the moves of Tom Jones and a very powerful voice. 

 Even more impressive was the band behind him with a very talented brass ensemble.  

We recognized the bass guitar player as he is the same young man that performed with the BeeGee's tribute last week.


And then there was the moment that Mr. Nelson came to the floor and chose a charming young lady to dance with him.  😲  Unfortunately, there were quite a few cameras there.






Folks asked where Don was and why he wasn't with me.  He was busy at home replacing a part inside his computer.




Saturday, January 25, 2020

Welcome Back Party

Saturday was the big Welcome Home Party for Palm Creek.  It was a beautiful day for thousands who attended the event.  Our favorite food trucks were present to serve lunch for those who cared to eat.  Our favorite by far is Mingo's who serve the catfish and shrimp or jambalaya.  Sooooo good.  It was worth the wait in line while we chatted with friends and met new folks as well.








Didn't get a photo of the band but we certainly enjoyed their music and it added to a very fun event.





At the end of a great event, we wound up at a friend's house for another delicious rib dinner with all the fancy fixings.  The weather was perfect for the day but cooled as soon as the sun went down.  That didn't deter any of us from enjoying the outdoors.....blanket at hand!  πŸ˜€



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I've bragged about the fun at Palm Creek many times and said "If you don't find a club, group, or game you want to participate in, just start one."  So we did.  We love the game of Pegs & Jokers so started lessons on Thursday mornings.  This week we wound up with 18 people with three full tables of players.  Fun!




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Kat and Mouse at play by my feet as I post this blog.  It is sooooo good to have Mouse home again.


If you have trouble watching videos from my blog, just go to You Tube and search for Sue Hepler.  All our videos, including the drone movies, will be listed there.







Friday, January 24, 2020

Announcements & Reminders

Just a couple notes and reminders of upcoming events:

But first:  Mouse wants to send a "thank you" to everyone for your thoughts and prayers that helped him find his way home.  He is now safe, happy, and content to spend time with his pal Kat.






1.  Our General Manager, Scott Houle, is pitcher for the Palm Creek Viper's softball team.  Come cheer for him and his team.



2.  The remote control flying club is holding some big special events:

CG RC Flyers Holds Event For Boys & Girls Clubs

The Casa Grande RC Flyers, an Academy Of Model Aeronautics (AMA) award winning club, will hold a special event benefiting the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Casa Grande Valley on Saturday morning February 8th 2020 at the club airfield located at 2725 S Isom Road in Casa Grande.  The field gates will open at 8:00 AM and the event will officially start at 9:00 AM and continue until Noon.  This special “Boys & Girls Club Fly-In will feature several free activities for the public’s enjoyment. Besides free model aircraft flying lessons and first-person view airplane rides, there will be an airplane combat dog fight and a glider contest starting at 10:00 AM.  There will also be a radio control swap meet and the grand opening of the club’s newly remodeled radio control car race track. All the events are free for the public to try, watch, and enjoy. 
The Boys and Girls Clubs of Casa Grande Valley will have representatives at the gate accepting donations from anyone wishing to assist their organization.  The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Casa Grande Valley is a nonprofit organization affiliated with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, whose purpose is to inspire and enable area youth to realize their full potential.  Also, at this event, the Pets In Need Action League will be offering coffee and pastries for donations and there will be a food vendor offering lunch items for sale.
Come to the airfield and watch the flying and car racing, try flying a model yourself or sit and watch the view from inside the aircraft using the first-person view goggles.  Visit with the pilots who will be happy to share information about their exciting hobby and browse the many items at the swap meet tables. If you want to fly your own airplane or race your own radio control car on the club track, you are welcome to do so, as long as you bring your AMA or MAAC membership card and pay a small guest fee.  No fee is required from current Casa Grande RC Flyers members or from the public to participate in the planned activities.
Directions to the field, which is across from the public shooting range, as well as a list of the clubs’ major events and membership information can be found on the club web site: www.CasaGrandeRCFlyers.com.  The Casa Grande RC Flyers is an Arizona non-profit corporation. 

3.  John Ross has asked to post more info about the balloon glow on January 31.

I am hoping you can include some info on your blog site. to get the word out that we are once again going to be tethering during the Balloon Glow on Friday , January 31st beginning at 6:30PM.  The fee is once again $20 per person , with all monies going to our Cancer Awareness goal.

Of especially important news is that we will once again be offering discounted balloon rides the following morning (Saturday February 1st).  Instead of my normal fee of $190 per person, that morning they can get a discounted fee of $150 per person - saving $40.

 Again,  all fees go directly to our Cancer Awareness Center efforts.

They need to sign up in the Activities Center for Balloon rides, and they can also sign up in advance for the tethers. Those folks who are on the list will be taken up first, with walk-ups accepted that evening. But, they will have to wait until we get the sign up list paired down.

Finally,  the Golf Pro Shop is running the "Golf Balls from Heaven "  fundraiser again and we will assist with the ball. drop upon departing Saturday morning.

We are always looking for volunteers to help with the glow and the Saturday morning flights. Signup sheets are also in the Activities Center if they choose to do so.

If anyone has questions, most answers can be had at the Activities Center, but they can always contact me at site #433.

Thanks Sue!

John Ross
Balloon Meister

Cancer Awareness Glow / Flights

4.  Casa Grande Business & Service Resource Expo


5.  Jeanine Sumption has scheduled another informative speaker for the Neighborhood Watch program.


SPECIAL PRESENTATION 
FOR PALM CREEK RESIDENTS

Detective Lupe Reyes
Intelligence Officer with
Casa Grande Police Department
GANG TASK FORCE

*******

February 1, 2020
10:00 a.m.
Cottonwood Pool Building

We hope you’ll join us for this
informative event as Detective Reyes
shares the history and current
status of gangs and crime in our area.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Internet News, Mouse Update, Balloon Glow Info

(From Gary Lambert, Palm Creek Operations Manager)

Palm Creek Residents,

This morning (Tuesday, January 21), I received the following communication from Dish:

I wanted to reach out today concerning the internet performance at Palm Creek. We are actively working on a solution that will allow for better performance and more bandwidth at Palm Creek. Unfortunately, I do not currently have a timeline for resolution to the ongoing slowdowns during peak hours. I know that this is frustrating and time consuming for you and your staff and we have made it a top priority here at DISH.

I have been talking with Dish Management multiple times per week since we started having slowdowns, and I now have a written response. For the last 3 or 4 years, we have had very stable performance from the internet system here at Palm Creek. We did make some adjustments to the system over the past summer to accommodate additional connections due to the increase in available sites. However, what has hit us hard is the explosive growth in internet utilization. While the number of connections to the internet at Palm Creek are similar to last year, the usage has increased between 20% and 30% overall, depending on how you look at the data. This is resulting in slowdowns, particularly between 6pm and Midnight as video streaming has become more popular. Unfortunately, Industry lead times for increased bandwidth and such are measured in weeks, not days, so it is not a quick fix. I apologize for that, but it is the reality we are up against.

If you are experiencing slowdowns, especially in the evenings, please do not put in a service ticket for that. It is a known problem. Doing so just ties up the technicians on a call that they cannot do much about. If it is not working at all, or you are having TV problems, then by all means put in a ticket. We are still encountering residents who have the old Motorola modems (The small black ones from a few years ago). Upgrading the modem to the state of the art will improve your situation as they are much more sophisticated and are able to handle the increased traffic much better. I have had many of you tell me that the new modem made a big difference in the system performance. If you want to schedule a modem upgrade, put in a service ticket with that request, and a good phone number so that the Technicians can set up a time with you to get it done.

I have spoken to many of you, and I understand the frustration. I live here too, and it affects me as much as it does you. We are already starting the conversation about what we need to do over the summer to be ready for the surge next season, but that does not help us much now. We here at Palm Creek appreciate everyone’s patience as we work through this. I will post additional information once I get it. In the meantime, you are welcome to drop by my office or send an email to Glambert@suncommunities.com. I do forward those communications to Dish, so you are being heard.

Thanks!

Gary     

Gary Lambert
Operations Manager
Palm Creek Golf & RV Resort, a Sun Community
1110 N Henness Road | Casa Grande, AZ  85122
Phone: (520) 371-5829  |  Fax:  (520) 876-8962


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

Ohhhhh..............it is soooo good to have our Mouse home again!!  No scars or bruises that we can see but he had a layer or two of dust to dispose of and he was HUNGRY.   He needed rest too so after eating and washing up, he took a long nap in a secure place.  He always wants to sleep on our clothes instead of his cat bed.  I think he feels safe and comfortable that way.





I texted our son Anton to keep him up to date.  It's always amusing to get a text from him.  Here's what he wrote when Mouse was found:
"I bet he's got a new tattoo, couple of scars and some trashy girlfriend named Brenda who's into dirt bikes.  There's no living with him now.  He's seen too much."
Anton also attached a cartoon:


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Just a reminder that the big Welcome Back party is being held in Palm Park this Friday, January 24.  No tickets are needed as lunch will be served from one of your favorite food trucks (12 trucks to choose from).  Event starts at 11:00.  NO BYOB as the park has a liquor license for the day and drinks will be available from the booze wagon.  πŸ˜‰

********************
From John Ross, Leader of the Balloon Glow Event on January 31.

Hi Sue,

I am hoping you can include some info on your blog site. to get the word out that we are once again going to be tethering during the Balloon Glow on Friday , January 31st beginning at 6:30PM.  The fee is once again $20 per person , with all monies going to our Cancer Awareness goal.

Of especially important news is that we will once again be offering discounted balloon rides the following morning (Saturday February 1st).  Instead of my normal fee of $190 per person, that morning they can get a discounted fee of $150 per person - saving $40.

 Again,  all fees go directly to our Cancer Awareness Center efforts.

They need to sign up in the Activities Center for Balloon rides, and they can also sign up in advance for the tethers. Those folks who are on the list will be taken up first, with walk-ups accepted that evening. But, they will have to wait until we get the sign up list paired down.

Finally,  the Golf Pro Shop is running the "Golf Balls from Heaven "  fundraiser again and we will assist with the ball. drop upon departing Saturday morning.

We are always looking for volunteers to help with the glow and the Saturday morning flights. Signup sheets are also in the Activities Center if they choose to do so.

If anyone has questions, most answers can be had at the Activities Center, but they can always contact me at site #433.





Monday, January 20, 2020

HE'S HOME!!!!

Mouse came home this morning 7:15 a.m.

Kat kept running from window to window and meowing at the door so I knew something was wrong.  I went outside behind our house and called for Mouse.  He replied with his little squeaky meow and we were instantly reunited!!!  What a relief!!



Thank you EVERYONE for your concern!  You are ALL wonderful neighbors and friends.

It will take a while to get Mouse clean again.  His little white paws aren't very white right now.  He has evidently seen some miles during his adventure.  No wounds but plenty of dirt.  LOL  It's sooooo good to have him home again safe and sound.

Bee Gees Tribute & Mouse Report

The concert was FUN last night.  What talented young men!  They had the audience up and dancing plus clapping along till our arms ached.  Great music from "our era".







I would love to have a video featuring the drummer!  He was so fun to watch.

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

Missing Mouse update:

Mouse is still among the missing.  I want to thank the many many people who stop to ask about his welfare and wish us well in finding him.  We received good tips like leaving out his bed, litter, favorite toy, etc. which we have done to no avail.  One friend brought over a can of sardines to hopefully lure him in and another lady chased us down in the street last night to offer a bag of treats to take along.  Such wonderful residents we have in Palm Creek.  Thank you!  We had several encouraging phone calls last night after the concert saying people had spotted a gray cat with a white face.  Don and I spent a lot of time out searching the potential sightings.....flashlight in hand.

I found the critter that had been spotted.  It is indeed a gray cat with a white face and tummy....but sad to say it isn't Mouse.  This cat had long hair and a big bushy black tail.  I managed to get a photo when he sat down to rest.  Right description except for the long hair.  We shall keep watching.


Here are more photos of Mouse:



*******
SAVE THE DATE
From Jeanine Sumption and the Neighborhood Watch Program





Sunday, January 19, 2020

Roller Derby

Another fun night at the local fairgrounds to watch the roller derby:  It was a duel of the Big House Bombers vs Bordercity Rollergirls.  These gals are ATHLETES!  I can imagine the bruises and sore muscles after a night like this.  Fun and very entertaining to watch!  Notice the big audience of fans.









The three bears came out on the floor during half time much to the delight of children in the audience.  Watching the kids have fun really added to our entertainment.