Winter Texan Times

Red Hatters Valley-wide gather at Festival of Tables

By Kathy Olivarez

The annual Festival of Tables held at Trophy Gardens in Alamo was a huge success as members of Red Hat Society groups from Winter Texan parks and local groups joined together to see the table décor and visit with old friends or meet new friends. This is the one event held annually that brings Red Hatters Valley-wide together.

Once the hostesses had decorated their tables, the rest of the ladies were allowed to make a line and move through the 30 different table settings on display. The tables had different themes and styles. The ladies expressed their excitement as they found settings that were particularly pleasing to them.

The Misadventure of the Psychic Detective

By Herb Moering

A Sherlock Holmes mystery was this season’s radio show produced in the Victoria Palms ballroom on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 22 by the Palm Players, a cast of all park residents.

“The Misadventure of the Psychic Detective” was a two-act play that was set in England at Greystone Manor, a house filled with dark secrets, drawing a group of psychics, hypochondriacs and other oddball characters - in which it seems an insane killer is at work.

Desert Polynesia – new to the valley

20200304 desert polynesia 01 Desert Polynesia, new to the Valley, performed recently at the Valley Star Awards. While there were only two people performing with the group for this show, in the future, they will probably have more participants. The group plans to return next year and perform at one of the Showcase events.

Desert Polynesia provides authentic Polynesian music and dance for all audiences. Through their shows, you can experience true, traditional island sound, award-winning professional mea hula halau dances, lei greeters, Tahitian drums, and even the captivating Samoan Fire Knife Dance or Fire Poi Twirler.

Rick McEwen taking it easy

20200304 rick mcewen Rick McEwen is taking it easy entertaining everywhere he goes. Whether he is singing, strumming his guitar, cracking jokes, or just telling some stories from his childhood, he is sure to entertain the crowd. Rick is genuine in all he does, has fun with his work, and enjoys making people happy.

Rick is most known for his Kenny Rogers music – since people say he kind of looks like him. He also sings other artists like Elvis – which he thinks he looks like … if Elvis had lived a little longer.

Some of the other artist he performs are Waylon Jennings, George Jones and even Loretta Lynn.

La Floresta sports love and more love

20200304 la floresta 03 Sporting events have been aplenty recently, especially at La Floresta Park in Mercedes. From love on Valentine’s Day to love for finding a cure, the Winter Texan park has been filled with kindness, caring and big hearts.

Valentine’s Day at La Floresta Park in Mercedes was filled with fun activities.

Love of golf was in the air, as was a bit of coolness, for the Valentine’s Day 9-Hole Scramble. Thirty-five couples participated, and the winners were:

1st Place: Pat Hymers, from Manitoba, Canada, and Casey Tippet from Sallisaw, OK;

2nd Place: Rodger Vanderville from Manistique, MI and Ginger Seurkamp from Whitney, TX; and

3rd Place: Karen Birtwhistle from Manitoba, Canada and Ken Webb from Frisco, TX.

Of course, there was a potluck that featured a wide assortment of delicious cuisine, including some Winter Texan favorites! All the ladies received a red rose!

In the evening, “country music and more,” was provided by Curt James, from Alamo. His third season in the valley, he was nominated for Male Vocalist in the Rio Grande Valley.

Valentine’s Day activities were coordinated by Don and Linda Adams, Blue Earth, MN; and Charlotte and Wayne Summerly, Manitoba, Canada; with assistance from Karlene Weiland, Mercedes, TX; Marlys St. Martin, St. Paul, MN; and Lorna and Dennis Brown, Laverne, MN.

Turn negatives into positives

WEB On The Road Header And what did you give up for Lent? Perhaps it would be better if instead of giving up something, we added something to our lives. How about deciding to turn negatives into positives? That's a little difficult to do sometimes and we may have to constantly remind ourselves to look for the positive instead of always giving in to a negative. Some of the old sayings might help us to remember to think positive.

The old saying "When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade'' or “I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet" might be of help. We can always find a positive side if we look hard enough.

Winter Texans share fashion at style show

20200304 victoria fash 01 The fashionistas of Winter Texans gathered in one place last week to enjoy fashion, food and camaraderie.

A full house saw that bell bottoms never went out of style, that western wear can be casual, formal and anything in between and that bright colors and leopard print clothing are just as in style today as they ever were at the 23rd annual Summer Time Fun Style Show at Victoria Palms.

Four local stores – Boot's 'n Jeans, Jewels by Jazz, Lionel's Western Wear and Wells of Weslaco each paraded their fashions, worn by other Winter Texans, up and down the runway in the banquet room at Victoria Palms. There were bellbottoms, fancy shawls, cowboy hats and belt, and plenty of boots with bling during the two-hour event that was catered by Victoria Palms Catering.

Each of the four fashion stores described each piece that their five or six runway models were wearing, from sophisticated to creative and everything in between.

Leah Wells, of Wells of Weslaco, said that the show provided an opportunity for family-owned enterprises to not only show what they have available but also what they offer for each Winter Texan and other customers.