Winter Texan Times

Tuesday, June 06, 2023

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Winter Texan band raises money for St. Jude’s

20220302 Winter Texan Bluegrass band The Rio Grande Valley Gid-R-Done Bluegrass Band will be having their last performance of the season at Roadrunner RV Park next week. Their show will be held on Wednesday, March 9, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Shuffleboard Tournament held at La Floresta

20220223 Gladys Millar from Manitoba Canada The 10th Annual Shuffleboard Tournament was held at La Floresta RV Park in Mercedes. While dark clouds threatened rain, the weather cooperated, and the tournament was able to be played without delay. There were 68 participants in the double-elimination event.

Happy Days at Pharr South

By Herb Moering

“Happy Days” were here again as more than 100 residents enjoyed the Pharr South Park fashion show and luncheon on Friday, Feb. 18.

Those attending were reminded of the TV show, “Happy Days,” with the theme decorated hall, poodle skirts, saddle shoes, background music, and photos of Richie Cunningham and family, Potsie, Chachi, Ralphie, Joanie and of course the Fonz. That show, according to Dee Hammond, who offered the welcome and suggested they pretend they were at Arnold’s Diner, spanned 11 seasons from 1974 to 1984 with a total of 255 episodes.

Leisure World holds quilt show

The Leisure World Quilters sixth biannual quilt show will be held February 24, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Main Hall, 400 East 18th St. in Weslaco. The quilter's raffle quilt is king size measuring 106"x106" in green, rust, and gold colors. Tickets are $1 each or six for $5 and are available from any of the Leisure World quilters or at the show. The drawing will be held at the end of the show, and you don't need to be present to win.

Palm Gardens donates to charities

20220216 Palm Gardens donates 01 At their weekly Koffee Klatch on February 3, Palm Gardens Activities Club President, Wray Pedro, invited Victor Rivera from Loaves and Fishes and Gracie Bradwell from Valley Haven Emergency Shelter to accept a check for $645 each. “It was truly a pleasure and honor to receive it. Truly a blessing,” said Rivera of the donation. The residents recently had a pie/cake auction which brought in $1,290 for charity. They decided to split these dollars between these two organizations as both programs are valuable contributors in helping our community.

A time of reverence, remembering the sacrifice

20220209 BIBLEVILLE PICS 850 Claudette Merriman used the phrase “mind-boggling” to describe the event unfolding in front of her.

The public relations chairman at the Bibleville Conference Grounds in Alamo watched, like the 100 or more of those in attendance, in reverence and honor as veterans took turns carrying a U.S. flag to its retirement. They went, one by one, placed the flag onto the fire created earlier and stoked with each additional flag, saluted it and returned to retire another.

Valley-Wide Kansas Day celebration held

20220209 Kansas Day 01 Submitted by Larry Schmitt and Jan Bergman

On January 26, two hundred ten Kansans from various Parks/Resorts throughout the Rio Grande Valley met to commemorate the anniversary of the state’s 161st year admission to the Union, January 29, 1861. It was so great for we Kansans to be together again, and the old-timers enjoyed meeting the thirty-three Kansans attending for the first time…. yay!!! As before, Trophy Gardens RV Resort is a great venue for this size of crowd.

Wonderful woodcarvings created at La Floresta

20220202 Harry Seurkamp 01 The La Floresta Park in Mercedes is filled with artists who bring with them many different talents and skills. One such artist is Harry Seurkamp, a woodcarver from Whitney, TX. Woodcarving is one of the oldest types of art.

Harry has always been into woodworking. After attending a carving show, his wife gave him a knife, a book, and a piece of wood, and signed him up for woodcarving classes. He was making box clocks at that time and thought carving would enhance them. Harry has been carving now for 30 years.

Senior Ambassadors are singing once again

20220126 CCF 000707 The Senior Ambassadors Men’s Chorus is comprised of senior men from the Rio Grande Valley and many other locations around the USA and Canada. The members bring a broad range of musical experience and background to the group. The Senior Ambassadors motto is “Loving Life, Making Music.” Mr. Virgel Kroeker is in his 13th season as director of the chorus.

The Senior Ambassadors begin rehearsals in November and perform their musical selections in many RV parks and resorts throughout the Rio Grande Valley during the months of January, February, and March. The size of the chorus fluctuates from year to year.

RGV Band back after Break

20220126 RGV Band for 2022dnewspaper Since 1998 the RGV Concert Band has been presenting six concerts each year to Valley residents from January through March. In addition, a Christmas Concert is given by “early arrivals” and a combined concert with vocal groups is given semi-annually in March.

This season after a break due to “covid,” the band members joyously began practice in November 2021, and presented a Christmas Concert in December. The band is currently giving concerts in 55+ parks throughout the Valley.

Winter Texans giving back left with full hearts

20220106 ParadiseParkHarlingen Donations Coutesy Photos AIMG 3864 WEB For the second year in a row, Paradise Park RV Resort in Harlingen has made quite an effort to participate in giving back to the Harlingen CISD community. The park has been finding someone in their community to help out the last few years and the Harlingen CISD Clothing Closet has been blessed by them the last two.

A couple of years ago, Sharon Bargel, who has been heading up the charitable projects at the park, said they didn’t have a charitable project. It was then that she saw a Facebook post about a Reverse Advent calendar idea. She shared the idea with others in the park, and once the season started, it was fully embraced by park management. It was then that they felt the need to do something each year during the holiday season.

Ranchero Village shows gratitude, spreads hope

Ranchero Village Treats for Troops Texas Army National Guard WEB Weslaco residents of Ranchero Village Senior Resort Park kicked off the season of spreading holiday cheer by giving back to the local community. Due to the generous donations of the residents, Ranchero Village teams were able to deliver cash and multiple boxes of food to the RGV Food Bank while six more teams delivered gifts and food boxes to families in the community.

They also did not forget to show their gratitude for those who serve the community. The resident bakers kept their ovens hot preparing Christmas cookies and goodies for holiday treat boxes, which were delivered to the Weslaco Police Department, the Weslaco Fire/EMS Department, the Texas Army National Guard, and the U.S. Border Patrol.

Fun had at Golf Cart Rodeo

golf cart rodeo 3 amigos web On December 4, 2021, Mission Bell -Tradewinds RV Resort held their very first Golf Cart Rodeo. Several people from the park volunteered to be a team driving their golf carts through a pre-determined course on the parking lot. The part that made it so much fun was that the driver would be blindfolded, and the passenger would give the instructions on how to get through the course. Completion of the course was timed and those with the best times won prizes. Pylons were run over; judges were chased by the blind folded and a great time was had by all. They all agreed they'd like to do it again next year.

Taking the Tabs to Texas

La Florest Taking tabs to Texas web Collecting can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House has been ongoing at La Floresta Park in Mercedes for many years. This year, Rodger and Jean Vanderville from Manistique, Michigan, arrived at La Floresta Park with over 50 pounds of tabs collected from family and friends in their hometown. These were combined with some collected at La Floresta Park, and a total of about 68,740 individual tabs were taken to the Ronald McDonald House in Corpus Christi. The money from can tabs adds up and becomes a valuable donation to the Ronald McDonald House.

The Ronald McDonald Houses are located near children’s hospitals. Their mission is to provide a place for families to stay, who are far from home, so they can focus on the health of their child. They also assist families with travel and other expenses.

Golfers in the Mist

20211208 La Floresta Ladies Golf web The dense fog on December 2nd did not deter the ladies at La Floresta from their scheduled Ladies Day Golf. Marilyn Walters from Ontario, Canada, gets ready to tee off on the #7 Hole.