Club and Activity News April 2022

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Contents

• Artisans’
• Bird & Nature Club
• Bocce Club
• Ceramics
• Casa Computer Club
• Crafts
• Genealogical Society
• Grandmothers Club
• Photo Club 2022 Contest
• Shuffleboard
• Singles
• Tennis
• Travel Club
• Veterans of La Casa

Artisans’

Barb Johnson

The Artisans had a very busy March as they prepared for their general membership meeting, election of officers, potluck and their big Artisans’ show!

On March 20, 2022, everyone enjoyed a potluck (once again) followed by the election of officers.  The slate of officers included Dianne Westfield, President, Kathy Langone, Vice President, Carolyn Farrar, Secretary and Jill VanAntwerp, Treasurer.  There were three candidates for Director at Large.  Included were Bonneta Christensen, Laurie Roberts and Beverly Thompson.  (As of this writing, March 8^th, the election had not occurred.  Therefore results are not known.)  

We also acknowledged our incredible instructors with a small token of our appreciation.  They are Chris VanAntwerp, Jerry Thompson, John Sullivan, pottery; Jane Rackliffe, Dan Rackcliffe, Ruth Atkins, Gayle LeClaire and Maggie Palmer, glass; Ken Faust watercolor. 

Our big Artisans’ Show held on March 27^th, was a huge success!  It was so awesome, after two years, to finally have the Show.  Students of pottery, watercolors, fused glass, stained glass, mosaics and stepping stones displayed their creative pieces.  Attendees enjoyed the show along with finger foods and wine.  

This season’s oil painting classes were not held as an instructor was not available.  We now have a candidate for an instructor for next season.  

Studio/open pottery will be available beginning in April through December.

Bird & Nature Club

Tom Quink, President and Program Chairman

The final meeting of the La Casa Bird & Nature Club for 2021-2022 will be on Monday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m. in the Rec Hall. Following a short business meeting we’ll view an award-winning BBC EARTH video.

Over the course of one single day, the film “EARTH-One Amazing Day” tracks the sun from the highest mountains to the remotest islands, from exotic jungles to urban sprawls. Astounding breakthroughs in filmmaking technology bring you up close and personal with a cast of unforgettable characters: a baby zebra desperate to cross a swollen river, a penguin who heroically undertakes death-defying daily commute to feed his family, a family of sperm whales who like to snooze vertically and a sloth on the hunt for love. According to the Associated Press the video is a “Cinematic Triumph,” and Reader’s Digest calls it “Beautiful and Moving.”

Usually our programs are about 50 minutes in length, but this video is over 95 minutes. We’ll view the first half on April 25^th, and the remainder next Fall.

Everyone in La Casa, residents and guests, are invited to our meetings and programs. A $1.00 free-will donation is requested at the door. Please join us on April 25^th and bring friends and neighbors to experience the unexpected wonder of one full day on earth. One day – one planet – infinite wonder.

Thank you sincerely for supporting our club. The first meeting for 2022-2023 will be on October 24th, and as in past years (pre- pandemic) we plan to kick it off with a pot-luck supper. We hope you have an enjoyable and healthy summer.

Bocce Club

Mary Ann Slaven

Another very successful Bocce season is winding down. Our snowbirds will be leaving and certainly missed.

Some of the many activities during the Bocce season have been:                                                           members decorating LaCasa for Christmas, three member appreciation events, a delicious breakfast at the Gazebo, a pizza party with Marco’s pizza, a homemade ice cream social thanks to Gary and Nancy Mitheofer, bake sale at the Expo, and a catered Chicken Marsala luncheon done by Pines and Palms.

Who could describe the fun had by all at our Bocce Dance? Games with prizes were played for an hour.  Fun! Fun! Fun! The band, Take Two Productions, brought instruments for all to play. The dance floor was full all night. Being a generous club, we gave all our proceeds of over $600 back to the people who purchased and won 50/50 tickets at the dance.

A vote was taken at the March 7, 2022 meeting to elect members for the executive board. The new members are: 

1. George Danilovics
2. Marianne Griffin
3. Linda Luecken

Thanks to the departing board members Pat Hatfield and Mary Ann Slaven for their services.

The Myakka League tournament is over.  Thanks to the Crew for the Hot Dogs with all the trimmings, especially the homemade chili sauce and sauerkraut.

Our Intra – Club tournament went into a playoff on March 8, 2022.  The winning team players are:                   

1. Gerald Derr
2. Bill Lees
3. Marianne Griffin
4. Don Ziemba                            

Words cannot express our thanks to ALL the Members who volunteered throughout the season giving of their time and hard work for all the events, projects, court maintenance and most of all the fellowship which makes our club GREAT… 

Social bocce is open to everyone in the park. It continues to take place every Wednesday at 3:00 pm.  Don’t forget your sunscreen!

Our President has suspended the meetings until November 3, 2022.  

                     Bocce continues, keep those balls rolling !

                                       GO RED ____ GO GREEN

Ceramics

Judie Lees
941-876-4035

Ceramics meets every Monday from 1-3 and 7-9 in the activity center.  Jackie Loftus is the instructor.

Attending a ceramic class is a fun way to spend an afternoon.  Ceramics is easy to learn and fun to do.

It’s a good way to make new friends.  Hope to see you there.

Casa Computer Club

Cheryl Crawford, President

The computer room has been humming lately with class activity. While the calendar says our season is winding down, at this writing, there are still 2 classes planned and the potential of another Pop-up workshop. I’m very happy to report that we did meet our objective of ‘Returning to Business as usual in 2022.’

The final computer club general meeting for this season is Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 7:00PM in the Rec Hall. The meeting program topic is ‘Home Automation.’ Alex Hrabko, CCC’s Director – at – large, will cover the topic demonstrating what he uses at his home. Come.  Share your own automation experiences and bring a guest. (The guest fee is only $3.00.)

This meeting is very important to the CCC Board of Directors, because we hold our annual election at this meeting. We will share the election results and offer our thanks to CCC instructors and program presenters in the May newsletter.

Finally, we hope the community enjoyed the presentation made by Bob Harrigan, Chief Meteorologist for ABC News 7 – Sarasota.  We enjoyed hosting it and supporting a worthy cause.

Do you know why a Mac is called a Mac?

(from a Benj Edwards article for How-To-Geek)

The Apple Macintosh, or “Mac,” is a computer platform that’s been around since 1984. Have you ever thought about why it’s called “Mac” or “Macintosh” in particular?

It’s Named For a Type of Apple

Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne founded “Apple Computer Company” on April 1, 1976. Jobs decided on the Apple name after visiting an apple farm while on a fruitarian diet. He also wanted Apple to alphabetically appear before Atari in the phone book. In 1979, an Apple employee named Jef Raskin began working on an experimental appliance-like computer project within Apple. In a 2003 article with ACM’s Ubiquity journal, Raskin described the origins of what he named the project: “I called it ‘Macintosh’ because the McIntosh is my favorite kind of apple to eat. And I figured that if I was going to have an apple I might as well have a tasty one.”

Until next month….Happy Computing

Crafts

Judie Lees
941-876-4035

The Ladies of the Craft Club wish everyone a Happy and Blessed Easter, and to our Jewish friends, a Happy Passover.

Crafts meet every Tuesday from 9-11 in the club house. We do a new project each week and there is a picture of the project and a supply list posted on the bulletin board by the piano.

Thanks to everyone who made our Spring Fling Craft Fair a great success.  We enjoy making the items and hope you enjoy your purchases.

We welcome you to stop by, see what we’re working on and JOIN us!

Genealogical Society

Judie Lees

 941-876-4035

Where have the months gone?  Seems like we just started meetings and now it’s time for the season’s wrap up meeting.

The Genealogical Society meets the 2nd Wednesday of the month in the activity center at 1 pm. We meet from January to April.

Our thanks to Ben Kinsey for presenting 2 interesting programs and for all the questions he was able to answer.

The April program is our wrap up with cookies and beverages.

Everyone will relate their “digging” plans for the summer, then in January we’ll see who actually did it.

Genealogy is an addictive pastime.  You start researching one thing, and before you know it, new doors have opened, usually going in a different direction. It’s fun when you get a hit on a lost relative or friend.

Try it, you might like it!

GRANDMOTHER’S CLUB

 Maureen Tapia

The March meeting was our annual Fashion Show. It was a great turn out.  We had over 130 women in attendance. It was a catered lunch followed by a fashion show by Patchington’s of Venice. We had five of our LaCasa ladies as models.  The clothes and accessories were beautiful. There was also a silent auction and gift bag drawings.  Many local businesses as well as members donated to this event. See our bulletin board for a list of models, donors and the treasure report of the event.  It takes many volunteers to make an event like this successful, so thank you to all who helped and all who participated. We hope everyone enjoyed the Fashion Show. 

We have three events in April. Our Poker Run is on April 2nd, which we hope you enjoy. It is always nice to visit with friends and neighbors as you cruise around the park picking up your cards.

Jay Smith is one of our most popular entertainers.  He will be playing for your enjoyment on April 23rd.  Tickets go on sale starting April 6th before coffee hour and before bingo. 

Our next general meeting will be April 12th.

Photo Club 2022 Contest

Jill VanAntwerp

Winners of the 2022 La Casa Photo Club Contest

 On March 1, the La Casa Photo Club held their annual awards ceremony in the Rec Hall to announce the winners of the 2022 Photo Contest.  There were 157 photos entered by 16 people.  Prior to the program, guests were invited to share cookies and coffee and view the entries posted on the stage wall. The La Casa Photo Club exchanges judging duties with the Holiday Park Photo Club. The winners were revealed via a slide presentation created by John Sullivan and narrated by Mary Sawyer. The Photo Club thanks John for his creative program and Mary for being the gracious MC.  The La Casa community is also thanked for supporting the show and voting for the People’s Choice Award.   Winners of the contest are listed below.  

Novice: 

Animals: 1^st Place Linda Redig, 2^nd Place Linda Redig, 3^rd Place Frank Klemas, Honorable Mention Mike Riggle

Birds: 1^st Place Frank Klemas, 2^nd Place Linda Redig, 3^rd Place Frank Klemas

Doors: 1^st Place Linda Redig, 2nd Place Frank Klemas, 3^rd Place Linda Redig

Miscellaneous: 1^st Place Frank Klemas, 2^nd Place Frank Klemas, 3^rd  Place Linda Redig

One Lone Tree: 1^st Place Mike Riggle, 2nd Place Linda Redig, 3^rd Place Linda Redig

People: 1^st Place Linda Redig, 2^nd Place Mike Riggle, 3^rd  Place Frank Klemas

Plant Life: 1^st Place Linda Redig, 2^nd Place Linda Redig, 3^rd Place Frank Klemas, Honorable Mention Frank Klemas

Scenic: 1^st Place Joe Straight, 2^nd Place Frank Klemas, 3^rd  Place Mike Riggle, Honorable Mention Linda Redig

Novice Best of Show: Frank Klemas, Miscellaneous

Advanced: 

Animals: 1^st Place Barbara Poole, 2^nd Place Beverly Eaton, 3^rd Place Burr Tucker, Honorable Mention Burr Tucker

Birds: 1^st Place Don Gettys, 2^nd Place Jill VanAntwerp, 3^rd Place Barbara Poole, Honorable Mention Judy Warren

Doors: 1^st Place Burr Tucker, 2^nd Place Bill Gordon, 3^rd Place Jimmy Jerome

Miscellaneous: 1^st Place Beverly Eaton, 2^nd Place Barbara Poole, 3^rd Place Jimmy Jerome, Honorable Mention Beverly Eaton

One Lone Tree: 1^st Place Burr Tucker, 2^nd Place Burr Tucker, 3^rd Place Jimmy Jerome, Honorable Mention Nancy Hooper

People: 1^st Place Beverly Eaton, 2^nd Place Barbara Poole, 3^rd Place, Jill VanAntwerp, Honorable Mention Jill VanAntwerp

Plant Life: 1^st Place Barbara Poole, 2^nd Place Don Gettys, 3^rd Place Beverly Eaton, Honorable Mention Beverly Eaton 

Scenic: 1^st Place Jimmy Jerome, 2^nd Place Janet Maddock, 3^rd Place Jill VanAntwerp, Honorable Mention Don Gettys

Advanced Best of Show: Beverly Eaton, Miscellaneous

People’s Choice Award: Don Gettys, Birds

Shuffleboard

Mary Ann Slaven

Shuffleboard has been very popular this year.  Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays have been very successful filling up the courts.

Play will continue during the summer but as always please be respectful of the cues, sticks, chalk, erasers, scoreboards and baskets of disks.

A friendly reminder, La Casa residents are responsible for their guests.  Shuffleboard does not have a club with dues to pay for damaged or missing equipment.

Jon Delano, our coordinator, who worked endlessly taking care of setting up the courts, and maintaining all the equipment will be back in his summer home. He will be greatly missed.

The end of the year picnic, March 24^th that Jon organized was enjoyed by ALL.  Thank you Jon and everyone who contributed to this picnic. Lots and lots of goodies were provided by our shuffleboard friends.

Have a safe and healthy Summer and don’t forget your hats and sunscreen !!

Singles

Mary Beth Crider
260-356-1694

On Thursday, May 12, there is a general meeting at the clubhouse at 11:00.  We will carpool to Pinchers on the north side of Venice for lunch.

TENNIS TALK                          

BARB SNIDER

Spring has sprung, Daylight Savings is in place & NO FOOLING…our competitive tennis season is over.

Special thanks  to the officers, team captains and players for making this a great season.  Thanks to Mick Lakatos for conducting beginner lessons and introducing many new people to tennis. 

Our recent Tennis Picnic and Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Tournament provided food, fun, great competition and very entertaining watching for the spectators. Speaking of spectators!! Every home match that our teams played had plenty of crowd support. You sure don’t see that in many other parks. Thanks to our knowledgeable and well behaved legion of fans. 

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter, safe travels and a summer of continued good health and lots of tennis…Till next season.

 “Keep your eye on the ball & PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!”

Travel Club

Bill Gordon 

Well, we had a very successful Travel Club in 2022.  Much better than the previous two Covid years.

Brian Warren took us on a “free” vacation in January and March when he showed us his photos and told us about their trip to Australia.  Fascinating!!  In March, Susan Graves took us to “South France, Bordeaux and the Perigord.”  Again an excellent “free trip,” this time to Southern France.

That will do it for 2022. We look forward to another good year in 2023. There will be no more meetings in 2022. We wish everyone health and happiness for the rest of 2022 and look forward to seeing you again next year.

Veterans of La Casa

Jeff Lake
Commander

Activities are back in full swing at our veteran’s group for the 2022-2023 season, once again providing us with the funding to fulfill our Mission of serving our less fortunate and often overlooked veterans. 

During our February meeting our new slate of officers was inducted for the 2022-2023 season: electing Jeff Blake, Commander, Skip Libby as 1st Vice, Mark Hlansy as 2nd Vice, Don Kraft, Treasurer, Roger Krueger, Secretary and Bob Palermo as Chaplain. 

Our HONOR GUARD members, led by Paul Stevens, past commander, are ready as always to commemorate our fallen veterans and participate in special occasions. 

We would like to offer a special thanks to our outgoing board members, Laura Triplett, Larry Morris and Tom Whittaker for providing their leadership during the last 2 years. 

By the time you receive this newsletter we will be preparing our annual home cooked Spaghetti Dinner/Dance, cooked by our “Gourmet” veteran chefs. This event continues to be a sellout.  We hope to see you on Saturday, April 2nd.

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