December 2018 is here and we are in Florida. We will be starting our
sixteenth year at Holiday RV Village in Leesburg, FL. Our park of 16 years,
Holiday Travel Resort, was sold and renamed! It is now Holiday RV Villages and owned by a Canadian Company, Cove Communities. We will leave Florida April 1…but not for home.
Our normal route from FL is to Gaffney, SC for regular Freightliner
Service for the motor home. After a
brief stop in Dandridge, TN at Douglas Lake we will arrive home in Franklin, TN
on April 15, 2019.
Charles has completed three years playing trombone with the Lake Concert
Band of Leesburg. This 75+ piece group
is a delight. It has an impressive
performance schedule.
Saturday, December 15, 2018 was the annual Tuba Christmas in Wildwood,
FL...close to our town of Leesburg. Charles is approaching 30 Tuba Christmas
performances. This picture is all tubas, euphoniums, and baritone horns. They rehearsed in the AM and performed at
2:00 PM.
A distinct honor occurred on Oct. 11, 2018 when Hillwood High School
band honored Charles before and after the football game. He was at Hillwood High, Nashville, from 1972
to 1987.
Many students from that time returned to visit and reminisce.
They signed a 2' x 3' picture of him and left messages. It hangs now at home in Franklin, TN.
Our involvement with FMCA’s Frustrated Maestros continues. Charles directed the area rallies for
Midwest, meeting in Amana, IA and Music Camp and the Greater Eastern Area. He directed the FMCA International Rally in
Gillete, WY last July 2018. Roxie was
Rally Captain for the Maestros working out details and arrangements with the
Events Coordinator.
Our trip to the west and back let us stop and visit Devil’s Tower, Billy
the Kid in Sundance, WY, Mount Rushmore, the Greyhound Hall of Fame and the Eisenhower complex
in Abelene, KS.
After a grand 6 weeks at home and a change of seasons we left for PA for Music Camp and GEAR. Music Camp, the first week in October in Gettysburg, Pa is unique in that no other area has one. This week was followed by the Greater Eastern Area Rally…GEAR in York, PA at the York Events Center.
We have continued the Thanksgiving tradition of stopping with our son
Kevin and family. This Methodist minister lives in Lawrenceburg, TN and pastors
Coleman United Methodist Church. You can be certain how we love seeing him “at
work.” His service is live streamed so
we get to "see him" weekly depending on our wifi. Our daughter-in-law is now a vice principal
of an elementary school. The Sunday
after Thanksgiving the Marston Men played a quartet in church: son Kevin, Charles and our two grandsons,
Michael and John.
We will continue our work with the Frustrated Maestros of FMCA. Charles will direct the International FMCA
Convention in Perry, GA in March 2019. Roxie is Maestro Rally Captain which
involves the many details for Maestros.
She really enjoys this “work.”
We have agreed to directing and captaining the Northeast area rally in
Syracuse, NY in July 2019.
In August of 2019 we will be in Minot, ND for another FMCA
International. Charles will direct and
Roxie has been named Rally Captain to coordinate Maestro events with FMCA.
We visited Beacon College in Leesburg, FL. Beacon is for learning disabled age students
Our Greyhounds, Heidi and Daisy, are certified therapy dogs with Advanced Therapy
Dogs based in Cheyenne, WY. We do visits
in our home town of Franklin when we are in town and do visits at our winter
home in Leesburg, FL. Christmas day, 2018,
we have scheduled a visit to an assisted living facility. We are happy to share our greys with these
folks.
Our 13 year old Canadian born cat, PeeDee, has ridden with us all of his
life….all over the country.
At home we share responsibility for a neighbor’s cat, Lulu. She lives with us all of the time and her
original owner cares for her when we are away.
She has heat/AC, lights, radio, pots, kitty window and Charles when we
are home. She is his secretary…a real
blond bombshell.
We
wish for you
a fulfilling holiday season.
Charles, Roxie,
Heidi, Daisy and PeeDee
