By Tony Ozark
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was submitted by a Winter Texan. We welcome your ideas and submissions. Many of our best stories and leads come from ideas and stories provided by you.
Each year from November to April, thousands of senior citizens, known as Winter Texans, travel to the Rio Grande Valley from all parts of Canada and the United States to enjoy the weather and activities at the multitude of senior resort and RV parks. Many of these resorts and parks feature weekly music jams providing the opportunity for musicians to display their talents providing entertainment to the residents and visitors.
Read more: Rock and Roll growing in the WT community
The Open Invitational Pool Tournament for the Rio Grande Valley was recently held. It was hosted by Bentsen Grove Resort and was organized by Claude Lemay. This is the second year for the tournament. Pictured, from left to right, Ken VanSickle, representing Bentsen Grove Resort; third place finisher Len Bangma of Magic Valley in Donna; Winner Stew McCrae of Siesta Village in Weslaco; second place finisher Al Prescott of Eldorado Acres in Palmview; and Claude Lemay organizer.
Bentsen Palm RV Park recently took on a project to help a pet shelter with something they really needed. The park got involved with Cinderella Pet Rescue about four years ago when they learned about the no-kill pet shelter. They learned about the shelter when trying to find somewhere to take stray dogs to – they had a number of stray dogs at the park that needed homes.
Marcie Swenson, activity director at the park, said residents were hooked in helping the shelter and fulfilling the needs of the shelter whenever they could.
Read more: Bentsen Palm builds dog houses
The annual Llano Grande Art Show has been set for Sunday, March 8, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Art Studio, according to the chairperson this year, Mira Smith. The public, as well as all residents of Llano Grande, are welcome to attend the display, visit with the artists, and enjoy wine and cheese as well.
“This event is so special each spring,” added Mira. “It gives our members a chance to showcase their efforts and honor their instructors who have taught oil, watercolor, and acrylic classes in recent months.”
Read more: Llano Grande Art Show Set for March 8
Future generations will only have libraries, the Internet, or television to connect with music history, but Saxophonist Del Puschert lived it and will be featured in a special interview open to the public on March 7 at 7 p.m. at Paradise Park, 100 E. Hackberry Ave. in McAllen. There is no admission for the event.
Del has played with musicians like Chuck Berry, Charlie Daniels, Lynn Anderson, Elvis Presley and many others. Del first met Elvis in the mid-50's when Elvis was just getting started and will be sharing stories about many "behind the scenes" moments.
Read more: An evening with Del
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.
Read more: Red Hatters Valley-wide gather at Festival of Tables
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.
Read more: The Misadventure of the Psychic Detective
Activity directors were treated to a show and lunch on Monday to show how much they are appreciated for all the work they do for the Rio Grande Valley RV and MH parks. Here at the Winter Texan Times we know that without them, we wouldn’t have much of a paper. We are all so very thankful for what you do for the community.
Mission Bell hosted the event where they served lunch and activity directors were entertained by Leslie Blasing, Helen Russell and Company, Rick McEwen and Brenda Coin and Sheila and Denny. There were several vendors on hand as well, including Winter Texan Times, Go With Jo, Sky Med, Beach Park, Ron Hoover and Pickpocket Gene.
Read more: Activity Directors treated to a show and lunch
Alamo Rose Quilt-A-Bees will host their quilt show on March 4 from noon to 3 p.m. at 938 South Alamo Road in Alamo. An Opportunity Quilt will be given away at the end of the show.
A raffle will be held for the quilt drawing. Raffle tickets are $1 or 6 for $5. Admission to the quilt show is $2. There will be other door prizes and an attendance appreciation gift.
Read more: Alamo Rose to host quilt show
Robert and Billie Ferguson accepted a Proclamation from the City of Mission this week in recognition of the Rio Grande Valley Activity Directors Association. The proclamation says, “We the City Council of the City of Mission proclaim March 1, 2020 as Activity Directors Appreciation Day.” The proclamation also lists why the city is thankful for the activity directors, saying they enhance and promote unity among the directors of the retirement parks of the Rio Grande valley by promoting networking, information, resources and support; the demands of the job; that residents and management realize the importance of the activity director to the atmosphere of the park; and what the activity director’s responsibilities are – organizing activities, encouraging residents to socialize, etc. Robert shared his thankfulness with the city council pointing out there are 119 active parks represented in the association and that 35 of those are in the City of Mission.
By Herb Moering
It was a dog lovers paradise with obedience demonstrations, races, potential adoptions and fundraising all wrapped up in the 2nd Annual Pet Fun Match Dog Show held Feb. 11 at the Sunshine RV Resort in Harlingen.
The two-hour free event, organized by resort resident Sharon Battocletti, is aimed at benefitting the Humane Society of Harlingen (HSH). The society operates a non-profit shelter and adoption center, which annually provides care to 6,000 homeless animals turned over by municipal control officers or given up by local residents.
The show was as big a hit this time as last year, again drawing about 200 spectators and dog owners from the resort and a few nearby RV parks.
Read more: Annual pet show raises money for HSH
Sunshine RV Resort is thrilled to announce their 2nd Annual Pet Fun Match Dog Show to be held Tuesday, February 11, at 12 to 2:30 p.m., at the resorts Friendship Hall. The event is free and open to the public with donations encouraged. All proceeds will benefit the Humane Society of Harlingen, which relies primarily on donations from the public to fund their life saving efforts for community pets.
Pet Fun Match is an interactive dog show with demonstrations by renowned trainers Jenisa Myers, Marty Vielma and Brittany Vielma, in conjunction with the RGV Training Center and K9s on Patrol Jamie Benitex of the K9 conultants, and Caz Richard of PetSmart. Residents of Sunshine Resort are encouraged to take part in the show’s compeitions, including a look-a-like contest.
The goal of the event is to show animal lovers that through obedience and agility training, you can find a solution to many behavioral problems and develop an unbreakable bond along the way.
Read more: Sunshine RV Resort announces 2nd Annual Pet Show
By Arleen Bier
