Special to The Laker/Lutz News

On Feb. 13, about 60 residents showed up at Shells to enjoy a lovely lunch. There was so much conversing going on as the company was delightful. The waitresses were very nice and explained things if we needed to know. There were several cars, and while some people went directly back home after a big meal, a few others went shopping.

Almost 100 residents were at the community center for a sweetheart dance on Feb. 14. Gary Wilcox was the disc jockey, and from what I was told, he outdid himself. He varied the music being played and took dedications.

Before the dance, he put a paper in the community center for people to write down their dedications, and he tried really hard to accommodate all. Gary also took requests where someone would ask for a favorite song. He definitely kept the dance floor full of dancers. He did a splendid job.

There were ballots for king and queen, and Rich and Jean Lydecker won the honor.

The dance was hosted by Cheryl Leone, and she did a fine job. Our thanks go out to her.

On Feb. 18, in addition to a fun game of shuffleboard in the morning, we had a writing group at Nancy Lay’s house. We didn’t have one for quite some time because of the summer months and the fact that the holiday season kept us busy.

It is a small group, but all of us are interested in writing. Here we read what we wrote from a prompt that was given to us previously, and we picked a prompt for the next month.

I look forward to these meetings, as we all enjoy writing, and we mention some other thoughts that may have occurred to us on the subject.

By Helene Rubenstein

Published February 25, 2015

Activities continue with several new things going on.

First, we have Colleen Crandall starting up a group to do paper crafting on Wednesdays at the community center. Here, people will work on their own projects such as card making, scrapbooking, journal writing, recipe collections and more. Colleen mentions that they would love new ideas, so if anyone has any, just mention it. The main idea of this class is to have fun.

Another new and exciting game that we play is cribbage. This is hosted by Bill Quinn and Linda Rogers. Our first game was on Feb. 5, and it sure was fun. You really have to keep on your toes. Even beginners can enjoy this game as there are other players, who are well versed in playing, willing to teach. I just know that as time goes on, the amount of people looking to learn this fun game will grow.

On Feb. 1, we had a Super Bowl party at the community center. There was chili and cornbread and more. The kickoff started at 6:30 p.m., and about 35 attended. If some people decided not to watch the football game, they created their own game of Mexican Train or Rummikube, and all had a fun time.

On Feb. 3, several women attended the Lunch Bunch and had a very good time at A Matter of Taste restaurant located in Dade City. There were 18 women who attended. A group picture was taken by one of the girls. This lunch was hosted by Rosie Semian, and our thanks go out to her for arranging this get-together.

We have also added to our library DVDs. Brian Heidman was nice enough to undertake this project and build a cabinet for the community center. In addition to this, Linda Tutin is taking care of the books. We now have much reading material and DVDs to borrow and watch or read at our leisure. Our sincere thanks go out to Linda and Brian who take care of the books and DVDs that are in the library.

On Feb. 7, Jim and Judi Leitzke, along with their helpers, put on the monthly egg n’ bag.  The helpers were Galen and Sue Parker, Colleen Crandall, Clayton and Carol George, Jane and Maurice Thayer, Fred and Sam Sage, Doris Sutfin, Ken and Cheryl Leone, and Jim and Dora Mae Sinner. They served over a hundred people. As usual it was done to perfection, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.  Our sincere thanks go out to all who worked on making this breakfast.

By Helene Rubenstein

Published February 18, 2015

At Grand Horizons we have a writing group composed of a few people that usually meet once a month.

At these meetings, we read a story that we wrote from a prompt that was given to us at the last meeting. We discuss our writings and how we can make them more interesting. Sometimes, one person may have a story on the subject to relate to the group that they would like to pass on. Since we were so busy during the holiday season, we didn’t get to meet as much as we wanted to, but we did end up going to a local restaurant, Garden Café in Dade City, on Jan. 21, to meet after the new year.

Here at Garden Café, we had a delightful time, with a menu that made it difficult to choose as they had a huge variety of dishes. Everything on the menu sounded so delicious and mouth-watering.

Lynn Green was nice enough to drive all five women there, while Barb Sullins was good enough to arrange the outing. Our sincere thanks go out to both these women.

On Jan. 31, we had our first pancake breakfast of the new year in our community center. Rosemary Semian and Colleen Smart Crandall hosted this breakfast.

At the breakfast, they served all you wanted of pancakes, sausage and French toast.

There was a good turnout, and almost 90 residents showed up. It is a nice way to start off the morning, with a good breakfast under your belt. You are then ready to face the day with all the activities that have been planned.

By Helene Rubenstein

Published February 11, 2015

On Jan. 24, there was a show at the community center in Grand Horizons and more than 160 residents, guests and other visitors got to see a terrific show that had everyone laughing in their seats.

When the doors first opened and we entered the center, almost every seat was taken as it was a packed house. Everyone anticipated a great show, and they certainly weren’t disappointed.

Willie (a dummy) started off the show with a few jokes that got everyone in good spirits and then went on to sing “The Grundy County Auction.”

While singing this particular song, Willie made small gestures to the people in the audience and raised and lowered his eyebrows to the women. They all loved it, and it was so cute.

He also made some introductions and introduced Bill, the husband of Peggy Miller, who is the voice behind Willie and the rest of his family.

After completing of this song, he had Terry Gardner, Cheryl Leone and Karen Donlon come up to the stage. Willie then sang a song naming all the states and capitals while Terry pointed out each individual state on the map that Cheryl and Karen were holding.  When the song, “I’ve Been Everywhere” was performed, it ended with “I’ve been to Grand Horizons.” It was a nice touch.

Willie then went on to introduce his little brother, Dougie (also a dummy). The two boys sang the song “Elvira,” and after several lines of the song, Dougie stated that he was a star. He was so adorable, and Peggy Miller did a fabulous job with distinguishing both voices.

Dougie left the stage to a big round of applause, and Willie entertained us by singing “Have I Told You Lately.” Here again, he did a great job.

Willie also had his Great Great Grandma Gardner (another dummy) perform, before she did, Willie told a few more jokes and incorporated the names of some of the people that he already met into the jokes. He also had John Mauk, a resident of Grand Horizons, on stage and John took some ribbing from Willie. He was then told by Peggy to put on Willie’s hat, and she also put fake lips on John.

The song “On the Road Again” was performed by Peggy and she pulled the string so the fake lips that were on John moved. He then got into the rhythm and circled his arm and did other antics while “supposedly” singing.

Great great grandma came on stage and, she too, had everyone in stitches. She started off by telling a few jokes, and she did it so well. Some of the jokes were “My back goes out more than I do,” “Teeth are like stars, as they come out at night,” and others. She also said, “It’s great to be anywhere at my age,” in response to “Good to see you here.”

Willie, great great grandma and Peggy performed the song “Amazing Grace.”

Ernie Rice, also a resident of our park, came on stage as his birthday was the very next day. He donned a hat with candles on it and everyone sang “Happy Birthday.”

The closing to the show was superb as Terry Gardner, Bill Donlon, Galen Parker, Tom Carter, Don Jennings and Jim Leitzke, residents of our park, come on stage holding flags of all divisions of the military service while we paid tribute. It was a way to say thanks for making us free.

We ended the show with “America the Beautiful,” and people stood and sang.

By Helene Rubenstein

Published February 4, 2015