Parks

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

The month of January continues with more fun and many activities for Grand Horizons residents.

On Jan. 9, there were approximately 44 residents who were at Cheddars in Brandon. We had several tables and the service was excellent. Everyone loved their meals, and some people took home portions of their lunch. The menu consisted of a large variety, and people had trouble choosing their meals as everything looked so good.

Cheddars is known for its onion rings, and I certainly see why they say that as the rings are delicious.

On Jan. 10, we had another movie night in the community center. Cheryl Leone hosted this activity, and approximately 20 people attended. They were all treated to the movie “Grown Ups,” and from what I understand, it was a cute movie and had the people laughing.

Individual dishes were brought, so there were many nibbles. There was a guest who attended this function, and they had a celebration in which they gave everyone a piece of cake. There was popcorn served, because how can you attend a picture show without popcorn?

There was one cute part in the evening when Colleen Smart Crandall was on the stage and blurted out, “I’m in the balcony.”

We usually have many residents come into the community center for a lively game of Mexican Train every Monday night and Jan. 12 was no exception. We had several tables of domino players, and you could hear squeals of delight coming from the people that were playing. Remarks were going around the room like, “My train hasn’t left the station,” or “This sure is a short train,” “You’ll Get Yours” and more. It is always a fun game and so much conversation goes on. Everyone has a good time.

Pinochle afternoon was Jan. 13, and several of the residents came to the community center for a friendly game. This game is fast moving, and you sure have to be on your toes. It is a fun game with loads of banter going on.

On Jan. 14, hand and foot is played in the community center and several people attend while there are some others playing poker on the other side of the room. Needless to say, the community center is packed with the men and women playing one game or other. Once again, you can hear friendly conversation going on, and the people that are there really enjoy themselves. Billiards also was played in the afternoon on this day.

There are other activities including mahjong, euchre, shuffleboard and more.  The saying goes that “you can keep as busy as you like.”

Published January 21, 2015