Computer Tip

Heat is a computers worst enemy. If you have a computer that you leave here all summer without the AC being on you are shortening its life considerably. Computers are one item it is best to take north with you so it too can enjoy the best of all seasons.

The Doings

We always seem to have concerns early in the season that we will be short of people in the park but our fears are groundless because it always fills up in the busy months of January and February.

Entries for the Valley Senior Olympics have been chosen and /or assigned and those people are busy polishing their skills. The people chosen receive a shirt that identifies them from Magnolia Park. This years shirts are black with white lettering and they do look very classy. Next Tuesday I will be taking pictures of the people in their new fancy duds so you can judge for yourself.

This weekend is the monthly garage sale. Set up takes place on Friday morning with the sale starting at 8:00 AM on Saturday.

Friday there is also a celebration of Eula Henderson's 85th birthday in the Little Hall. Be sure to stop in and wish her a happy birthday as all the park is invited. Eula has spent many winters in Magnolia Park and we hope to see her here for many more.

Next Monday is the monthly meeting of the park association. 9:30AM in Allen Hall

Ron Peppin Thanks Us

Today we signed a card for Ron Peppin due to the unexpected loss of his brother. Ron wants us all to know how much seeing all those signatures on the card meant to him. He chose Magnolia park because he knew it was a special place and you showed him today that he is in the right place.

We are glad you are one of us too, Ron.

Harpers Photo's

 Don Tank and Don Harper with their catch of January 20th

Sunday Service

We had very nice weather today for Sunday service at Magnolia...The temperatures were just right for deep south Texas for sure....The attendance today was up a little today I think because of the warm temps as we had 68 for a count....Pastor Stacey brought a great message again today from the Book of St. Mark, chapter 4, starting from verse 21 Thu verse 24 with the theme of "Be the Light"....This was a lesson teaching that we as Christians should be the light showing the world of the example of the Love of God...This is a great message for all of us to study and a tough one to master....At times we all have things or people that we may not like and it's kind of tough to show love instead of indifference....I know that nobody ever said that life in general was going to be easy all the time and these are the times that we really need the teachings of God's word to put balance in our lives and show us the way God would have us live....Be sure and study the lesson for yourselves and think on God's word.....Remember to continue to pray for all the sick and anyone you may think of during the week.....God Bless All......See you in church next week....

Steak Fry last Thursday

It sort of got past me, folks. But the Steak Fry, the first of the season was a huge success. It was a free one as the Officers, board members and committee heads decided it was time to spread some of the wealth by buying everyone a steak dinner. They served over 200 steaks. It always amazes me how seamlessly they get this done. It takes a bunch of people and about 3 days of hard work to get it pulled off. And the years of experience handed down allow each section of the puzzle to do their job with confidence.
Dick and Leslie Cleaveland are the committee heads and they are the first to admit they could not do it alone.
Great Job Ya'all!!

Ed and Eleanor Piche in Hawaii

Photo by Janice Cooke in 2011

Taken on West Texas street- Magnolia Park

Larry, George and Phyllis visit .

Notice the gorgeous geraniums showing off their stuff.

Pictures from last season

I was going through pictures from last season today and came across some interesting finds. These are a few favorites.

Chet Johnson with a great find at Ropa

A super shot of Sandy Williams during the Christmas parade of 2011

Donn Gordon reading his Kindle on a sunny south Texas day.

Bonnie Peterson Passed

Bonnie Peterson, a year around resident of Magnolia Park was life-flighted to Corpus Christi last Saturday for emergency surgery after a fall. We received word today that she passed away this morning. I will post more information as it becomes available.

Busiest Days

January and February are the two busiest months in the Rio Grande Valley. We all tend to forget that until we go to Wal-Mart or the grocery store and we face the reality of it head on. One of my pet peeves of these two busy months is that they have a very difficult time keeping the shelves stocked. If you see a hot item in an ad you best forget it because the shelf will be most bare when you decide to pick it up at the store. It makes online shopping look very appealing. There are better than other times to shop as well. When school lets out and right through getting off work times are the worst of it. Far better to go early in the morning and the earlier the better. Late at night is an option as well but personally I would choose early morning for many reasons.

More Java Info

There is a security problem with Java, and, while there will be a

fix eventually, there is not one available right now.

The best solution is for you to un-install Java. Here is how:

1. Go to your control Panel. In most versions of Windows, just click

on "Start" and then "Control Panel".

2. In the "Programs" section of the Control Panel, click on

"Uninstall A Program".

3. Find any programs named Java, or Java Update. Click once on the

program, then click the "Uninstall" button in the toolbar.

When you follow these directions, you might not find Java installed

on your computer. I don't have it installed on my computer, which

means in the last two years that I have been using this machine, I

have not needed it.

Keep in mind that there is also a programming language called,

Javascript. This is not the same as Java, and does not have the

security issue that Java is suffering from at the moment.

Near Perfect Weather

Some may call it boring but we call it perfect!

Sunday Service

Another beautiful day in deep south Texas.....The weather is just great after the last few days of cool temperatures..This is what the folks from up NORTH come down to enjoy instead of snow, ice, and freezing temperatures....

Pastor Stacey had a great message to deliver today in church.....The message comes from the Book of Matthew, chapter 8, starting from verse 23 thru 27.....The theme of the message is " Have Faith"....It tells of Jesus and his disciples getting on the boat and starting to cross the lake....A great storm came up and the water was coming in the boat and the disciples were afraid....They went to find Jesus and found him asleep......They awoke him saying "Save us of Lord"......Jesus rose up and said "why are you fearful, O ye of little faith"?....He rebuked the storm and wind and it became calm....The disciples said among themselves what manner of man is this.....Even the disciples had times of doubt and lack of faith....We must learn for ourselves to trust in God and have faith in his love and care for us.....Sometimes it is hard, but if we keep studying Gods work and praying we will get there....

Remember to continue to pray for the sick and any you think of during the week for prayer goes a long way to teaching us faith.....God Bless All......See you in church next week.....

Just so you know...

The gas leak was fixed and the water has been turned back on yesterday afternoon. I know about one industrious fellow who dipped out some water from the pool to flush the stool. Now don't you wish you had thought of that?

Valley Senior Olympics

Tryouts are happening throughout the park for various Olympic activities. Pictured below are Don Ferrell and Dave Greening at the pool hall. Our Olympic entry in Men's Pool will be Dick Cleaveland and Dale Cooklin.

Don Ferrell

Dave Greening

In the last few days...

The electricians have been here and finished redistributing the electrical in Allen Hall. We hope the days of tripping breakers are in our past.

A special meeting was announced last Tuesday with the purpose of voting when Association Officers and Board members needed to be in attendance at meetings. Namely the November meeting is in question. The hopefully short meeting will follow next Tuesday (22nd) coffee hour in Allen Hall.

Last evening we had a gas leak in the park on east Pecos and as of this morning it is still not repaired. They are in the process however. They worked on it till 9:00 pm last night and returned early this AM to continue.

And then the water is shut off! It seems the town of Donna has an issue. At the site where they are building a new Dollar Store they broke a water line. So we could be without water for most of the day.
When it rains it pours as they say.

On a positive note the weather is picture perfect. No wind, beautiful warm sunshine and a predicted high of 73 degrees. And in addition that is the forecast for the next several days! So despite all of the above troubles we are very lucky indeed.
Enjoy!

Meanwhile in Allen Hall

Several Magnolia women make quilts for Runn Elementary school children. They plan to make a delivery on this cold January day in South Texas.

Dorothy Wendt lines up some quilt blocks in preparation for assembly.

Exercise class takes place Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.

Activity white board in Allen Hall.

Magnolia Hosts Men's 9 Ball

Guests practice before play starts

Tuffy gets the sequence of play lined up

More practice

Bill Stilson watches the action and roots for the home teams

Respect

Nemo spotted in Allen hall

I missed getting a picture of Bob Toomire when he looked like Ben Franklin but I was able to catch him with his Nemo hat he bought in Mexico.

Bill and Jo Brooker- Housebound

Bill and Jo Brooker are housebound due to weather and this is their view.

Happy Birthday Jo!

Bible Class

The first tour of the "Truth Project" was held Thursday in the Allen Hall at 1:00, during Bible Class. We had a good turn out and hope to see everyone again and any others that care to join us this Thursday.
Oly and Joanne Oleson

Have a few minutes? I loved it!

 

Entertainment as it was years ago. 

Rita Hayworth and the Bee Gee's!!!!

This is outstanding..... Someone had a lot of fun with this and spent hours putting these clips together. Most of the people in the clips were deceased before the Bee Gee's recorded "Stayin' Alive." Whether you are a Bee Gee's or Rita Hayworth fan or not...you are going to enjoy this!  Music may change, but the moves are timeless.

   Click the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=mz3CPzdCDws

Beautiful sunset and other stuff

After a gloomy but dry day we were rewarded with a spectacular sunset.

For those keeping track they are saying a fix for Java will be forthcoming on Tuesday

Peggy and I were sitting in her swing/glider shooting the breeze. She said, "Kay has a roast going in her crockpot and it sure smelled good." I said, " I have a pound of hamburger in my sink." Today I have two pounds of hamburger and chili is on the menu. We are in the grip of a cold snap. Fortunately our cold snaps are significantly better than the rest of the country excepting maybe Florida. So we sit tight and do winter type activities for a few days knowing this too shall pass.

Sunday Service

Well we had another cool day in deep south Texas, but we have to expect some of them as this is the winter of the south....But one thing we have to remember is we don't have to shovel any snow and very seldom do we see any ice....The south is great to spend the winter months compared to up NORTH....

We had just a few less people for church today as it seems there are several that have a touch of the flu and or colds...The damp weather can cause some funny things with our health.....Pastor Stacey brought the message today from the Book of Luke, Chapter 8, verse 40 Thu verse 56 with the theme of " Have faith in God".....This tells the story of how Jesus came back to the other side of the lake from where he had cast out the demons from the man into the hogs....Unlike those people these were looking for him and welcomed him....There was a man that came to him asking him to come and heal his daughter who lay sick....As Jesus was going a women who had been ill for many years touched him and was healed....Jesus said "who touched me" and the women fell down in front of him and said that it was her....Jesus told her that her faith had healed her and went on to see the mans daughter....You must read these verses to get the events as they happened for this is a great lesson in keeping the faith in God and his power....

Continue to pray for any sick that you hear of and for our government leaders .....We need to realize that God still has every thing under control even tho some of the  things that are happening we don't like or understand.....God Bless All......See you in Church next week...

Good Deed

I like to point out when I see a good deed done. This morning I spotted Dave Greening spending his pool time cleaning leaves out of the pool. The trees are shedding their leaves now. New ones will begin to appear in about two weeks. But in the meantime it is "fall" here in the Rio Grande Valley. Thanks, Dave, for skimming the leaves.

Java in the news

I do not usually pay too much attention to these computer threats because they are usually cured before we even know they exist. But not in this case. Oracle the makers of Java are lazy about getting a fix out there. I understand this is not the first time. When they found the threats to their system in the past they waited to "fix" them once a year in October! That is not acceptable. To be safe remove Java. If and when they fix it we can reinstall. If you want to know more, google Java threat 2013.
Barb
To completely uninstall Java from Windows 7 or Vista:

1. Click on the left hand Windows circle on the bottom of the screen
2. Click on Control Panel (visible in the right column above)
3. After the Control Panel window is open, click on Add/Remove Programs. If you do not see Add/Remove Programs, look at the right hand top side of the Control Panel window where it says, “View by: Small icons” Click on “Small icons” (or it might say “Large Icons) and click on “Category”. Under “Category” you will be able to see the “Uninstall a Program” option.
4. After you see the list of all of your programs, find Java.
5. Highlight Java and choose Uninstall. Windows will prompt you to confirm. Say yes.

Thursday's Happening's

 Shuffleboard:
Thursday is one of three days when shuffleboard is played.
Paint Class:
The artistic types meet in the big hall for a full day of painting.
Cribbage 
Thursday afternoon will find the little hall full of cribbage players.


Scotch Doubles started tonight in the Pool Hall
A new format for the scotch doubles competition is being instituted. It is a 6 week competition and you can miss if you want to or have to. You draw a new partner each week. It is alternating shots the same as it has been in the past. Starts at 6:00 P M and the pool hall was full tonight.

Dance tonight in Allen Hall

I can hear the music as I am composing this and it does sound great.

What a full day of activities!

South Texas Manhunt

There is a south Texas manhunt for the ornery little gremlin that has hidden the sun. When we get our hands on him he will be one sorry individual!
In the meantime we must carry on with our usual activities such as the Jam today.

Phyllis and George have popcorn ready for munching

Larry and Peg have the job of feeding the hungry

Anita and Kay take charge of the 50/50 drawing

And then there are the musicians and without them there would not be a jam.

Tuesdays at 1:00PM in Allen Hall.

Business meeting this morning

The January business meeting is this morning in case you are reading this in time to attend. 9:30 AM in Allen Hall.

Sunday Service

Another cool day in deep south Texas but a great day to attend church at Magnolia....Our attendance was up again with 71 souls to study and learn from the Word of God being taught...Pastor Stacey brought forth another great study and it seemed to tie in with today's times....The theme for today was "Spiritual Cliffs" ....This seemed to tie in with the happenings in out government these days and in our lives....The message comes from the Book of Luke, Chapter 8, verse 25 Thu 39....This is where Jesus came by ship from one side of the lake to the other and was met by a certain man whom had been possessed by many devils....He asked of their name and was told "Legion" , because many were entered in him....Jesus ordered them out and they entered a herd of hogs and when they did they ran down a steep hill into the water and drowned....Pastor told us that we should all be aware of staying in the will of God so that we never fall over the spiritual cliff of running away from God.....This is a  great lesson with much to study and think over... At the end of the service communion was observed as it is the first Sunday of the month.....Also after the service breakfast was served for all that wished to partake....A great service and great meal was a double treat for sure.....Remember to continue to pray for any sick that you hear of or if someone comes to mind that may need prayer......God Bless All.....See you in church next week.....

My oh My

I sure hope this is not your first visit to the Rio Grande Valley. Highs in the 40's-yuck...rainy and cold. This is not what we come here for. Fortunately it will not last long. It never does. We will soon be back in the 70's, 80's and even 90's with plenty of sunshine. We get spoiled and those of us who have been coming here for many years know that with a little patience the pleasant weather we all take for granted will soon return.

Butch and I made a fast trip to Iowa to see a nephew of Butch's who was battling sarcoma, the worst kind of cancer a person can have. We made it before he passed and we enjoyed a pleasant visit with him. We were on our way back when we received word that he had passed.

The weather up there was frightful and we hoped to come back to delightful. Not today, maybe tomorrow.

I have noticed several new faces around the park and we are glad they are here. People took a long time to get here this year. On our trip we saw a steady stream of RV's heading south! I told Butch that if they were all headed to the Rio Grande Valley we would have a full park when we returned. We are not full but it is fuller.
Enjoy!

From Tom and Dee Beadle

 We do what we have to do.

Many years Dee and I have came to magnolia.  Vacation and in retirement since the early 1980's. Its been our winter home.  2012 was a bad year for both our Magnolia friends  and in our own family.  I Can't remember a year so many have passed away.  As most know Mom is staying at our home at least for the winter months.  She'll be 92 in the near future and has her share of sickness.  O' those golden years.  Right!

From Sharon Brewer

I would like to say Happy New Year to everyone in Magnolia Park. I would like to take this  time too thank everyone again who helped me out when I was there in Oct. to get my things. It seems like u can't thank someone enough for all they do, or at least that is how I feel. I just pray the Lord will bless each one with many blessings.

Love you all,

P.S. I want to thank you again Barb for sending me all the e-mails u send it sure does help the emptiness I feel from down there, so thank you, thank you. I do appreciate it.

 

Love & Prayers

Sharon & Beauty.

 

P.P.S. we r still getting snow, hasn't let up very much since it started Christmas night.

From the Daigle's

I thought maybe some of your readers might enjoy a little Winnipeg Humour.  Regrettably, Cynthia and I will not be down this year. Throughout the summer I had a number of heart procedures and although I am feeling pretty good, I have been precluded from travelling by my Cardiologist.   Presently, I am undergoing a 16 week Cardiac Rehab Program which will not end until mid March, too late for travelling this year.   Regards to all.

Ron & Cynthia

 
  

(This is where I live you know!)

This is just too funny.

Imagine how much time it took to make this.

   

      
It's winter in Manitoba,
And the gentle breezes blow,
50 miles per hour at -40 below!
Oh, how I love Manitoba
When the snow's up to your butt;
You take a breath of winter air
And your nose is frozen shut.
Yes, the weather here is wonderful,
You may think that I'm a fool.
But I could never leave Manitoba,
Cause I'm frozen to the stool