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Just baked buns to take to Bob and Anne Fleming’s for Christmas Eve dinner. I’ll freeze this batch and maybe make another batch on Wednesday.

I made another wreath for my door this year and I’ll attach my Christmas wishes below.

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My grandson Alexander Verschaeren was working as an assistant Pro at Redwood Meadows Golf and Country Club the summer of 2009. He and I were golfing together as we often did that summer. We were just the two of us that day.

0n Hole #11 there are two bunkers on this dogleg, one on the left and one on the right some 250 or more yards from the tee. The maintenance crew was finishing raking the left bunker and were waiting to rake the right bunker when we teed off. Alexander was hitting from the tips (Black) and sent a towering drive high over the bunker on the right side of the dogleg. I hit a good drive but certainly didn’t make it to a banker but was good and in the fairway. When I hit my second shot and we went down, way down the fairway to Alexander’s ball the two fellows on the maintenance cart came to talk to us.

They said they had worked at Redwood Meadows for TEN years and had NEVER seen anyone hit a ball this far from the black tees. Alexander and i thanked them and with a sand wedge Alexander hit his ball onto the green. Easy Par.

We had a really wonderful day. The sun was shining, the wind was calm and it was such a treat to watch him play. Alexander shot even Par. Not too shabby when he had to wait for me to play 2 shots to his one. To this day Alexander talks about how beautiful and challenging it is to play at the REDWOOD MEADOWS Golf and Country Club,

I wanted to share this memorable day with you all.

Above is a video of Alexander giving me a lesson this summer.

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I need to give you the lowdown on this fantastic structure.

‘The shiny, new Las Vegas Sphere is more than just a 17,600-seat amphitheater-style venue. The entertainment experience venue now dotting the Strip has already picked up a handful of superlatives, too. Since its opening it’s become the world’s largest spherical structure at 516 feet wide and 366 feet tall. Meanwhile, the seating bowl’s 160,000-square-foot spherical LED “immersive surface” lights up at full 16K resolution, making it the highest-resolution LED screen on Earth. To add another wrinkle, the world’s largest beamforming audio system—think headphone-style sound without the headphones—tucks behind the immersive surface for a fully customized experience. And experience is the key. The Sphere’s three world firsts for shape, sight, and sound craft a fresh entertainment experience, one that has taken at least 60 patents to produce (though leaders have filed other patents throughout the course of the project, and expect to surpass the 100-patent mark).” -Popular Mechanics)

Sunday morning around 11 a.m. Lisa asked me if I would be interested in seeing The Wizard Of Oz at the Sphere. Of course I said yes! In no time Lisa determined that there was a matinee at 2 o’clock. She was able to find seat #13 and #14 row 27 and one seat #13 in row 26; tickets for Lisa, Tracy and me.

Lisa and Tracy had been to the Sphere once before and knew that parking was definitely a problem. Expect to park blocks away and take the monorail to get close; walking for quite some distance to the entrance of the Sphere would follow. We decided (in fact it was a no-brainer!)to take a Lyft ride.
We arrived at the Sphere with enough time to take the elevator to the top floor to see the view from there.

Entering the performance space, the seating is quite steep as are the stairs, so I was very careful to hold the railing.

The adaptation of the movie “The Wizard Of Oz” to fit the Sphere cost over $1.8 billion and it is totally amazing. You feel like you are right in the movie — you feel that close. The sound is unbelievably perfect. The seats are programmed to the show and shook with the tornado storm!

The Amphitheatre dome is so engulfing it is hard to describe. You feel like you are suspended in space and the horizon is so close you’re tempted to reach out and touch it.
It was windy many times and rain drops fell as well as confetti leaves. One scene when it snowed tiny flakes landed on my cheek. Not to be forgotten there was thunder and lightening in one storm where the whole seat was shaking!

When you have a chance to see your favorite entertainer here, I recommend you get the tickets and go. You will be just as thrilled as I was.
Enjoy our photos below.




Ttyl

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On April 24, 2025 I received an invitation to the 90+ Complimentary Honorary Luncheon May 8, 2025.  

I was quite curious as to how many members of the club would be over 90 years of age and who would be attending this luncheon. I became a member in the summer last year and apparently they have this luncheon every May and of course I wasn’t a member last May.   I should’ve realized it was open to all members to attend and congratulate all the Honorary members.  And it was the first luncheon in the spring, and everyone was to see their friends after a long winter.

I looked around the room of about 50 people and in the first row I saw a smiling face and immediately asked if I could sit in that row. It was Connie and she said the seat next to her was taken, but there was a space across the table which I immediately selected.

Connie

In no time the lunch of chicken pot pie and green salad with bites of apple was served by many volunteers. They not only brought our food, but came back to take away our plates and bring us the chocolate cake.  Everything was delicious

After lunch, the Prairie Mountain Fiddlers entertain us starting with a dance called the “schottische”. This brought back memories of my cousin Colleen and myself learning how to do this dance in my home living room. This dance is more like skipping, twisting and twirling. However, there were several couples who could do this dance and did it with us cheering them on.  

The band was very good and played a  lot of songs I knew from in the 1940’s.

Prairie Mountain Fiddlers

There were 23 of us in the 90+ age group in attendance. You can see that some had left before the photo below was taken.

The 90+ group of the day

All the activities at Good Companions Club are organized by Shauna. This gal is one of a kind. She is up beat and considerate. She treats everyone member as though they are the most important person in this moment. Her enthusiasm is mirrored in the many member volunteers behind every activity. We are so lucky to have Shauna at the club.

Shauna.

And here she is with me.

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