sunshine

It is now Wednesday evening. We have just come from the show, Restless Heart. good and the seats we had were excellent. 10 rows from the front. They honored those that volunteered tonight. We got to stand up and wave our Handicap Tram hats. Over 800 volunteers. Whoopie!!!!

Monday, was also rainy. We had the Chapter Fair in the morning. They have the various clubs with in FMCA set up a table with information about their club displayed on the table. Ernie and I have been doing this since they started this program. We intend for this to be our last year of doing the Chapter Fair. New people will bring new ideas. We met a couple that said they knew Ernie's Uncle Howard. When he taught in Borden, Indiana, he stayed in the home where she lived. They all slept upstairs, except the Grandparents. She remembered going to Howard's farm and playing in Big Creek. So we called Ernie's cousin and she remembered the lady. And I met a lady who used to come to her Grandparents cottage on Syracuse Lake. Her Uncle was Peck Kline and his wife Betty was my Girl Scout leader. Small world.

In the afternoon the merchants displays and sales were open to the convention. We bought a LED light to go over the table. it works! Sure is less light and bluish. But it will be great when we dry camp. We have been putting our solar lights (like you put outside in the garden) out and then bring them into the bathroom at night. Makes a great nite lite. The things we do when we do not have power, water and sewer. Short showers. We stayed in Monday night.

Tuesday, up at 5 am! Ohhh, it was dark and damp. But the moon was bright, what there was of it. Then the moon disappeared and the sun did not appear until after 10 am. It was cloudy and now and then misty. We drove the carts from 6:00 until 9:30 am.The first 45 minutes we had few riders. But the free donuts and coffee opened at 7. And the people came out.
The roads thru the RV's were muddy, red mud, and so we had to stay on the black top. Made for good driving, but people did have to walk a bit. For some, that was difficult, so they stayed home. One couple thanked me for being a volunteer. He said "I haven't met a grumpy volunteer, you are all so cheerful, in all kinds of weather. Some of my peers are real grumps and complainers. I tell them they should be happy they are out here in their RV and not in a "home". " Real people! The rest of the day was fine. the Cat Club had their meeting, so we had pizza for supper last night. Last night was a special show. It was St. Patricks Day after all. Did you wear your green?

We saw Tony Kenny's Ireland. A Celtic variety show. Singer Tony, Kenny is a popular singer, one of Ireland's top entertainers since he was lead singer of the popular Sands Showband during the late 1960's. (So the book said.) The Celtic Nights Dancers. Another male singer and Tony's daughter sang and danced. Very good and great for St. Paddy's day.

Our friend Bruce enjoys singing. So the other day he stopped to listen to the Frustrated Maestros practice singing and the band playing. He told us the next thing he knew he had a Frustrated Maestros cap on his head, paid dues to the Great Lakes Area Maestros and was on the back row singing with the group. Yeah, for him!!! He also is a novice dulcimer player. So he says. He was able to practice with another dulcimer player and said he learned a lot from her.

Today was busy, looking at new coaches and checking out the vendors. The Great Lakes Area had a meeting. The President is a friend from Anderson. Ross and Melanie invited us to join a group that meets for breakfast once a week. Ross told about the direction FMCA is trying to take and other news we should know about. The Pres. of FMCA, VP and Treasurer also made a stop at the meeting to "greet us" Went from that meeting to a Frieghtliner meeting. They also had pizza. Many of the clubs have late afternoon meetings and many have pizza. Beer, wine, soft drinks and water. And then to the arena for the evening show.

Thursday we drive the carts one more time from 3:30 to 6:30. We will have to hurry to grab a bite to eat and then get to the show by 7.
Thurs. night will be Jerry Farber, comedian and piano player. We have seen him before and he is funny and a good piano player. Friday, it will be so long, until summer when we do this again in Bowling Green, Ohio. As Ernie says. "We have it rough out here" See you. jkc