It is December 2019 and that means we are off to our winter home in Leesburg, FL at Holiday RV Village.
Holiday RV Village
This is year seventeen for us to return to
Leesburg, FL to the same park. Formerly Holiday Travel Resort, the name changed
last year to Holiday RV Village when bought by Cove Communities based
in Canada.
We are returning to lots of activity that we
look forward to each year.
Check
http://frustratedmaestros.blogspot.com/
Lake Concert Band
Computer/Band
Charles will hold weekly rehearsals for Strike
Up the Band which rehearses each Tuesday.
Open to any wind player the group is small and enjoys making music.
Roxie will again be a part of managing the
three computers for general use. Three others join her in this endeavor. She
daily monitors the computers and prints upon request. This 925 site park does not have parkwide
wifi.
Frustrated Maestros
Charles continues to direct the Frustrated
Maestros of FMCA. We traveled to Minot, ND this past summer for this
International event. Sixty-three
Maestros performed in the chorus and band.
Roxie was Maestro rally captain with the responsibilities of all details
and coordinating with FMCA’s events coordinator. Both of us completely enjoy this
responsibility. Our planning and work
begins many months in advance.
Check
http://frustratedmaestros.blogspot.com/
Roxie writes a blog for this group, All Things
Frustrated Maestro. Nine of ten FMCA areas
have Maestro chapters and each has an area rally. There are also two International events each
year. Each area is contacted by Roxie in
advance of their rally for information about the rally and Roxie builds a TAB
for them. This allows participants to
know about the rally in advance. After
the rally she puts pictures of the events on the blog. If she is at the rally she takes the
pictures. If not in attendance pictures
are sent to her to post.
Tuba Christmas
We build in time getting to these evens to do
some site seeing. . This past summer we
stopped in Bemidji, MN and drove in the car to Itasa State Park where the
mighty Mississippi River begins its impressive journey We also stopped in Duluth, MN to camp at the
foot of the lift bridge. What an
experience to watch large tankers leaving Lake Superior and going into
Duluth. We could easily walk to this bridge
and see the lighted bridge from our motor home.
Tuba Christmas
Tuba Christmas will again be close to
Leesburg….in The Villages.Charles has played with this one day event since 1988 beginning his playing in Nashville while he worked at Hillwood High
School. The event attracts tuba and
baritone players from students to adults.
Rehearsal is in the morning and a public concert is in the
afternoon. Charles’s baritone rides
under the seat of our Honda all year! The event is International and occurs all
over the USA.
http://www.tubachristmas.com/
Lake Concert Band
Charles is beginning his fifth year as a
trombone player in the Lake Concert Band of Leesburg, FL!
This band of 65-75 musicians rehearses each Thursday evening. The performance schedule is impressive with
performances in local winter parks, a concert at the Mount Dora Community
Center, and church community centers.
The band is organized with officers and a board and has a director well
qualified formerly from western New York.
The web site is http://lakeconcertband.com/
Therapy Dogs
Our Greyhounds, Daisy and Heidi, are now 11
years old! They are in good health and a
delight to us. They continue being
Therapy Dogs through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs in Cheyenne, WY. They take us to work in TN and in FL where we
winter each year.
We enjoy visiting in nursing homes, hospitals, Alzheimer’s
units, and children,s hour at libraries.
We are a part of a local therapy dog chapter, Paws Therapy Dogs.
PeeDee
Our Canadian born kitty is now 14 years
old. He has only lived in this
motorhome. He is a well-traveled
feline. He is a delight to us.
Family Kevin, PJ, John, Michael Daniel
Our family is maturing! Kevin, son, is a United Methodist Minister in
Lawreceburg, TN at Coleman United Methodist Church. This is a very active church. One endeavor is
to do a monthly free Saturday meal for anyone who comes. We were there this year to see this mission
work. Very heart-warming.
Grandson Michael is now 20 and is a welder
working each day. He is finding that
this occupation frequently has him changing places to work. This welding does give him an opportunity to
use his artistic abilities in creating out of metal.
Grandson John is in the high school band
playing trombone. He has just completed
his second marching season. John is a Sophomore. He has just turned 16.
Daniel is the oldest grandson. He has had some difficulty with the law and
been incarcerated at the state level. He will enter a second phase this winter
as he transitions back into society. He
is 25.
Our daughter-in-law, PJ, is a supervisor of
special education for Giles
County, Tennessee adjacent to their town of
Lawrenceburg.
The Marston Trombones played in church on Dec.
1, 2019. They played “Come Thou Long
Expected Jesus” arranged by Charles.
They accompanied the doxology.
Listen to them on You Tube:
https://www.youtube.com/edit?video_id=d5lysrMW3_4&ar=1575256077055&nv=1Listen to them on You Tube:
Lulu
Our shop kitty, Lulu succumbed to kidney
failure on April 25, 2019. We had known
for almost 2 years that this would take her from us. Her owner, across the street, went with us to
let her be at peace. Needless to say we
miss her greatly. She lived with us 9
years after the flood. When we were gone
her owner came over to feed her, be sure the AC or heat was on and monitor our
house. She is cremated and now rides
with us.
House raising
As you recall our home in Franklin, TN flooded
nine years ago. The Core of Engineers
has completed a study of lifting 36 homes in Franklin. Franklin has passed this
and it becomes law Dec. 30, 2019.
If we do as they recommend, voluntary, this
puts us up 7.9 feet! If we have any damage from wind, fire or such we must
raise before we can will be issued permits to rebuild. We have joined with a group attempting to get
the lift just 1 foot above the flood board and not 3 feet. This lift is something we have to do as the
city has said if we had to repair over 50% of the house value we would have to
lift at our own expense!! The
CORE has agreed to pay 65% of the raise, and the city will pay half of the
remaining 35% with us paying the other half.
We are struggling with this and even though it is our choice to raise or
not we really have no choice. We also do
not have a time table.
We wish for you
We wish for you
a fulfilling holiday season.
Charles, Roxie,
Heidi, Daisy and PeeDee
