note

 No info about the mowing situation as yet. Roberto has taken on all the yards he cares to mow. So Gil may be the one to talk to.

A note

 Flo has been mowing lawns here for years, he is leaving for good Sat. I heard he has already sold his mower, anyway I am possibly going to use a new man here in the park, he is going to come and look at my yard, which is a simple mow as my patio and sheds take up all the back and just the sides and front  to mow.  He may be interested in doing others lawns. I will talk to him about it this afternoon

I will let you  know tomarrow what I find out. I have my own mower and weed eater and blower, but some may not. Or if you wish to call me, no problem. 

956-968-6684

Donna

A quick note

 The card room is done and the lobby almost done, next is the office area.  It really looks nice.

For some reason the hot tub has been out of commission for a long time, hoping they get it fixed. 

A lot of digging in the 99's  more larger  sites for R.V.S.

The lot where the flea market was is all cleared off of debris, well, mostly cleared off. A huge concrete slab is there and people starting to build little buildings, I think  by Nov./ Dec. there will be lots of them built. 

The traffic here is getting really bad, I don't know how all the winter folks will fit in  lol 

I have been going to Bingo at Southern Comfort, Trails End, and Ranchero, but only 3 more weeks then they do not let outsiders come. I wander about Ranchero since they're  our sister park if we can go there and if they can come here. It would be nice. I see no reason for not letting outsiders come for bingo in our Park, it makes the payouts larger and it's fun to get to know folks from other parks.

I went to a Luau over to Trails End, Diego and Edith played!! What fun! Over 50 people were there. Diego playing most Mon. afternoon happy hours at Snow To Sun.

Every day or night Diego plays somewhere. Our Halloween Party will be fantastic with Ron Mosher playing. He has really been playing a lot in the Valley this Summer also. 

The Elks Chicken Sunday is the 23rd of this month. It's always so good, a little pricey but it's charitable event.

I apologize for not sending a card to the family of Kathryn Ratliff, and also for not getting a card to Karen Bolte, I think she had knee surgery with the flooring being put in and not many going into the lobby and we weren't allowed into the card room.

That's all for now, safe travels ya'll

Kathryn Ratliff

 

Kathryn L. Ratliff Obituary

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of Kathryn L. Ratliff of Independence, Iowa, who passed away on September 13, 2022, at the age of 81, leaving to mourn family and friends. Family and friends can send flowers and/or light a candle as a loving gesture for their loved one. Leave a sympathy message to the family in the guestbook on this memorial page of Kathryn L. Ratliff to show support.

She was predeceased by : her parents, Ervie R. Ehler and Ruth M. Ehler (Duckett); and her husband Loren Ratliff. She is survived by : her sons, Glen Ratliff of Arvada, CO and Gary Ratliff of Bremton, WA; and her sister Marlyn Latham of Catlin, IL. She is also survived by three grandchildren, four great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be held on Monday, September 19th 2022 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Reiff Family Center - Independence (216 3rd Ave SE, Independence, IA 50644). A burial will be held on Tuesday, September 20th 2022 at 9:30 AM at the Union Cemetery (Aurora, IA 50607). A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, September 20th 2022 at 11:00 AM at the Hope Wesleyan Church (505 4th Ave NE, Independence, IA 50644).

Just a note

 

Good news!  We are doing a park pictorial album this year!  I am coordinating it and so far Judy DeKoning is a helper and I need a few more who are computer savvy. There's an all new program for putting the photo album together.

Our flooring is almost finished in the card room but all the stuff from the lobby is in there until it's completed, then the office is next. Sure will look different. 

The Hummingbirds are back. Must be getting cooler up North? I miss the Fall. It's still hot here during the day. We had quite a few showers pop up and the next week calls for spotty showers. The grass and flowers are flourishing. Today around 92.

I've been enjoying going to Bingo at different parks this Summer. Southern Comfort, Trails End and Ranchero Village. Entertainment is really good at the Elks every Friday and Saturday nights.

We are having a Halloween Party so don't forget your costume, or be thinking of what you will wear.

Hurry back ya'll

Checking out at the Grocery Store

 

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment.
The woman apologized to the young girl and explained, “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days.”

The young clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.”

The older lady said that she was right — our generation didn’t have the “green thing” in its day. The older lady went on to explain:
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn’t do the “green thing” back then.
We walked up stairs because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn’t have the “green thing” in our day.

Back then we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts. Wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that young lady is right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day.
Back then we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she’s right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blade in a r azor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family’s $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the”green thing.” We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the “green thing” back then?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart ass young person.

We don’t like being old in the first place, so it doesn’t take much to piss us off… Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can’t make change without the cash register telling them how much.

August 19th

 

Hi everyone!

Well, it won't be long and we will start to see folks coming down for the Winter.!!

As I have said before this Summer has been the quietest I have ever seen it. Hard to get a game of cards up, very little participation for Coffee and Donuts and Happy Hour. We have some very nice new folks in the park who will be fun and participate. I have been going to Bingo at other parks this Summer. Really enjoying that,  I've met  a lot of people from Trails End, Southern Comfort, and Ranchero village. 

Some of them where their Park badges, making it easier to remember their names and which park they're from. I hope  more of our folks will where their badges at the different functions this year with so many new people.I will be making badges so let me know if you need one or need to replace yours.

We finally got some much needed rain! I know forsure over 4 inches within a few days, it was very spotty and some got a lot more. The only bad thing is their picking  their cotton and there's huge bales around the countryside but a lot is still in the field and the cotton growers will not get the best prices for their cotton.

It sounds like everyone who went to the "Peachy Festival" in Southern Il. had a really great time. Sure wish I could have gone. Sure would like to see some pictures of all the activities ya'll attended. I know I heard the big dance and B.B.Q. out to Cochran's Sons  was really fun, And great food. A little line dancing I heard about!!

Around town there is quite a bit of new businesses going in.  A tremendous amount of new Apartment housing and home building. Weslaco growing  so fast! So sad to lose the Flee Market. It doesn't look like they are going to rebuild as yet, piles of rubble all over, slow cleaning up. Some buildings saved toward the back.

So much work being done here in the Park. Flooring going in a little slowly but it will be done when everyone gets back. I met Nathan's Daughter who was laying flooring in our card room, she really knows what she's doing. Pot holes filled and soon overlay will make our streets look nice. Pool kept up and sparkling clean. Mgr. Dan, when the guys were off was working hard  scrubbing the sides etc.  the pool looks great.

 Some mobiles for sale, they refurbish some of them and they are really nice. 

See ya soon!