President's Report

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

  We all need a little fun in our lives!  The word fun can be a noun, a verb, or an adjective.  It can also be very subjective. What is fun for one person is not always fun for another. My wife likes line dancing; she thinks it is fun. I think playing golf can be fun, depending on the day.  My son thinks riding the roller coaster Kraken at Sea World is fun; it’s not so much for me.  On Sunday afternoon April 3rd, your Homeowner’s Association sponsored a Family Fun Day.  As we planned this event, we had to determine what would be fun for our members and what would be “family fun”. The idea of sponsoring a community event started several years ago.  There were a lot of trials and errors in attempting to come up with a quality event for our members that would be fun.  We had it down in March of 2019 when the Pam Carroll Pavilion opened at Trotwood Park.  We had over 600 people, and the Board had put together a great game plan.  Afterwards, we worked out a few of the kinks and were all set for the following year.  Then there was Covid!  For two years we passed on holding our Family Fun Day, but this year we went forward.  Again, we had to decide what would be fun for our members and residents.  We wanted the event to be free for our members.  It is fun to enjoy a nice Italian dinner in the park with friends, being serenaded by Kevin Kress and Craig Thomas followed by a scoop of Jeremiah’s ice. What could be better?  Then throw in Arnie Nussbaum’s golden voice announcing the Music Box Singers, the Dancers with Class line dancers, the trivia and then the raffle.  We can’t forget the face painters for the kids, the caricature artist for everyone, the fire trucks, the Police dogs, and even the Ham Radio boys.  We also had the splash Pad open. There was something for everyone to have some fun.    The apex of the afternoon was the raffle.  We had numerous prizes from several local businesses. In obtaining these prizes, I learned that not all of us have the ability to handle rejection.  Armed with a copy of the Tuscawilla Today and a well written letter asking for a donation of a gift card, some of us went forth.  A few times I heard, “I have to check with my manager when he gets back”.  In those cases, the manager never got back.  I felt like I was back in college asking a cute girl out for a date.  In other cases, I asked for a $25 gift card, and the manager gave me five! I was able to get the golf foursome at Twin Rivers because five of us showed up there for our tee time.  The manager had forgotten to tell us that there was a golf tournament, and we couldn’t play.  He could tell we were disappointed until I told him there was a way he could make up for his mistake; hence the free foursome for a lucky raffle winner. It was fun to see those numbers on the raffle tickets called off and someone in the crowd get excited and come to pick up their prize.  I am not sure what some of the guys did when they won the Luna Nails and Spa gift cards. Then there was the last prize, a bike from Adventure Cycling.  It grew quiet, and one could feel the tension as the number was drawn and called out.  It was fun to see the joy on Cathy Kilhuly’s face as she came forward to claim her bike. On Sunday, March 27th, the weather was beautiful. I started watching the weather forecast for April 3rd.  They said that there was the possibility of rain by the end of the week.  As the days progressed, there were some serious storms.  On Thursday evening we had four inches of rain.  Another storm was predicted for Saturday.  The wind blew and the rain poured down Saturday afternoon and well into the night.  I got calls asking if we were still going forward with the event.  I said yes.  Sunday morning started off foggy, and then at 10 am when I came to Trotwood Park it started to clear.  The Winter Springs Park District employees were there drying out the pavilion, moving picnic tables and blocking off the parking lot.  We were a go!  The weather was wonderful, and we had a great afternoon.  It seemed like everyone had fun.  Thanks to all who helped in making this event a great success. Now we’ll start planning for next year’s Family Fun Day. 

Dr. Kurt Miericke   THOA President   Publisher, Tuscawilla Today