MY SUN DAY NEWS
Seventy-five kids, 145 bluegills, 9 bass, 1 crappie, 2 bullheads, 5 catfish, and a whole bunch of moms, dads, and grandparents add up to the annual cross-club Grandma Grandpa & Me and Anglers Fishing Derby at Wildflower Lake.
There’s a growing unrest in me about the poor quality of commercial goods these days, specifically home furnishings. I grew up with a mother who had a bend for antique furniture and a father who is a woodworker, so perhaps I’ve been spoiled by things made of wood. What I consider “real” furniture.
Harriette Blake has sung, entertained, and shared a stage with some of the world’s biggest names, and now she lives and shares her golden voice right here in Sun City. Sun Citians are glad that when she retired from a professional singing career a few years ago, she chose to come back “home” to the Chicago area and keep on singing.
Let’s say you just received an invitation to a luncheon with the ladies, and with all the rain feeding your outdoor plants for the past week, you’ve spent the last few days weeding, and your nails are a fright? Who do you call?
Did you know that about 70 Sun City residents are bikers? They ride loose on the prairie several days a week. A significant number are women. They don’t ride motorcycles, they ride bikes.
Kyle Zerna thought it would be a fun idea to submit his audition tape to the New York Philharmonic. The 23-year-old percussionist knew they did not seriously consider applicants with no experience in professional orchestras.
For many years, I believed that the healthcare benefits offered to U.S. veterans were limited to those who made the military a career and completed 20+ years with a branch of military service. In a casual conversation one day, I learned that a friend was getting his medications at a very low cost from the VA Healthcare system.
Hey, fellow geezers, your emails and notes sent to me for this column get funnier each week. Here’s this week’s first gem, sent by good friends Linda and Steve.
Last Wednesday, the Civics Committee held the Forum for Sun City Assessors in the Drendel Ballroom to discuss and explain property assessment to Sun City residents and community members.
Wildflower Lake is one of the most familiar landmarks in Sun City. It is surrounded by a walking and biking path, picnic areas, thousands of birds, and other small-animal wildlife. What many Sun Citians may not know is that this tiny, shallow lake (some call it a pond) is also home to an abundance of large, hungry, and very dumb fish.
Thomas Scott said, “A man cannot leave a better legacy to the world than a well-educated family.” And if a library is not an extension of education, one that continues to give well after the years of the standard educational system are over, then what is?
Eye safety is a high priority when using the machinery in Mill Grove Woodshop said Woodchucks Safety Officer Chuck Bayser of N. 11. In any area that machining is being done, Bayser said, Woodchucks members are required to use protective eyewear.
According to Sun City resident Dolores Boychuk, N.7, being a member of the Red Hat Society is as fun and colorful as the big red hats and purple outfits they wear. In fact, said Boychuck, Queen Mohter of the Sun City Chapter, fun and colorful is what the Red Hat Society is all about.
The goal of 2007’s Sun City Idol competition was to choose one winner to compete nationally, but a group formed by 13 of its contestants are still enjoying success. A spirit of camaraderie thrived in the competition, bonding the singers into a group called The Idols Encore. Last year, the group debuted with two sold-out shows.
Virtually all of us Sun City folk have at least one thing in common. I call them “Geezer Moments.” You know what I mean, those sometimes hilarious things we do throughout the course of a day.
On June 26, famed guitarist Eric Clapton hosted the third Crossroads Guitar Festival at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois. Joining him on the stage were an army of the best blues guitar players in the world—Albert Lee, BB King, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin, Jeff Beck, Jimmie Vaughan, John Mayer, Johnny Winter, Jonny Lang, Keb’ Mo’, Robert Cray, Susan Tedeschi, Steve Winwood, Vince Gill, and ZZ Top, to name a few.
Did you hear about the banker who was recently arrested for embezzling $100,000 to pay for his daughter’s college education?
I used to travel quite a bit in the ‘70s and ‘80s and would rely heavily on travel agencies to schedule and book my airline, limo, hotel, and rental car arrangements. As a business traveler, I had a frequent traveler profile with my travel agency. They knew my travel preferences: favorite airlines, hotels, and car rentals. The convenience was wonderful.
July is National Eye Injury Prevention month, and it’s good practice to keep your eyes safe, whether by eating foods known to maintain healthy eyes or wearing sunglasses in order to reduce your chances of developing cataracts from UV damage. But as my wife and I learned, it’s even better to practice prudence when selecting an eye care physician, who is paid to go poking around inside your eyes. (If that’s not reason enough, I don’t know what is.)
If there’s one thing TR Kerth of N. 17 never imagined in his younger years, it’s that he would be in a garage band at 62.
Meet Joan Souchek, N.3. She’s the one gracefully swimming in the Olympic-sized pool in the lodge here at Sun City. Or you might see her teaching a swim class to her fellow aqua friends practicing for the next meet. Joan and her husband, Paul, have been residents for the past eleven years and, with Joan having always been a swimmer, quickly became involved, starting the “Sting Rays,” the name of the Del Webb community swim team, in 2000.
When the well-dressed young man checked into the hotel in Miami, nobody knew who he was. That would not have been unusual. In a city as large as Miami in 1955, almost anybody you met on the street would be a stranger.
Not long ago, I stumbled on to a channel that offered a much different venue. “Call in and save up to 60% on purchases of advertised services and products” said the announcer. I thought it was a commercial or a gimmick, but he was convincing enough to get my attention.
I think that if you can teach someone one thing that they will remember for life, you’ve done a good job. And I think teachers know this better than anyone. Teachers like TR Kerth of N. 17, who is featured in this edition of the Sun Day along with his band Old’s Cool.
Floating volleys and careless banter quickly became overhead slams and targeted taunts as Sun City’s Pickleball Club met Wednesday afternoon in Huntley’s REC Center.
“It’s the blend of our two voices that reminds you of that sound,” said AJ Swearingen, one half of the tribute band to Simon & Garfunkel’s music.
Sun City resident and (ret.) speech pathologist Phyllis Wit spends half the year in her Sun City Huntley home and the other half in her Sun City Palm Desert California home. One thing she shares between the two locations is her Stroke Survivors Support Group.
Based on numbers alone, the sport of bocce ball is one of the two biggest participatory athletic activities in the community, right up there with golf.
Today, points can get you miles, food, lodging, gas, unknown amounts of free gifts, and, with FitLinxx, they can even get you in shape.
The Carbon Monoxide CO Detector / Garage Door Opener is a large and technical name for a very simple idea. So simple, it amazes its inventor, Sun City resident Thomas VanTilburg, that it’s not already on the market.
