PERSONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

8/22/23 post:  Yesterday would have been my 69th wedding anniversary with Robert.  I recognized that special date with Salon treatments.  The title of this photo is "Team work."      Agnes H.

12/18/22 post:  The December 23 Gasparilla Bowl is extra special to Dr. Rebecca M. and her husband, Dr. Pete Z.  Rebecca is the daughter of Roger and Janet M.     Rebecca and Pete met as undergrads at Wake Forest University.  Pete is now the Assistant Director of the University of Missouri Marching Band, and Rebecca is a professor at Mizzou.   They will both be in the stadium for the bowl game in Tampa where their lma mater will be playing against their employer.   Jack S. sent this fun coincidence to ESPN in case the network may want to feature a human interest story as a sidebar during the telecast of the game.                          Jennifer Y.

10/8/22 post:  Hi all,  Just received my 5:30 wakeup call so will send a brief note before the activities of the day.It has been such a wonderful whirlwind experience so far, but lacking in time to send any information back to friends. (Either too busy or too tired)  Suffice it to say that Ann W. and I will have so much to tell everyone when we get home.  I’m traveling without a cell phone so Ann has been taking pix for both of us.  However she has been unable to forward them to me so I can send them on.  I think all will be straightened out when we get back to the States.We have had interaction in the classroom with the university students who are learning English, and have been taken on sightseeing tours of this beautiful city with so much culture.  Yesterday we had a formal meeting with the mayor of our Sister City followed by lunch with her and VIP types.Today we will be meeting with and having lunch with the chief of the fire department. (Burlington gave them two fire trucks, they gave us the two fountains that are in the City Park and in front of the Children’s Museum in Graham.)We are a group of eight people from Burlington, all delightful folks. Ann has been an especial delight to travel with.  She amazes me the way she puts herself out there to mingle with people despite her inability to speak Spanish!We will leave around noon on Saturday and be home around midnight.As much as I am enjoying my stay, it will be good to be home in familiar surroundings and Paco!  Love to all,  Sue W.

9/15/22 post:  Dave M's son Gregg is an actor in New York City, and he's been cast in a play titled "Cost of Living," which will be his Broadway debut.  Gregg was featured in a recent article "Meet Four Theater Artists to Watch This Fall"  in The New York Times.  Congrats to Gregg and to Dave and Kathy  M.            

5/27/22 post:  “You’ll find your happiness lies, right under your eyes, right in your Own Back Yard.”  Remember that old song? Well that’s where the Holy Grail of Golf balls turned up. Right on the TVAB putting green—in all its golden splendor. After we returned from our Great American Road Expedition in search of the Holy Grail Golf Ball, Barry C. and Bob T. reported that they had found it here at TVAB.  They presented it  to us in the Bistro with much fanfare and the following note: “Sandy and Judy, you’ve returned from your futile quest, over hill, over dale, hither and yon. Golf balls were flying as you hiked mountains and forded streams, trekking across deserts in rain and sleet, sometimes drifts of snows at least 10 feet high (just like the snow drifts you had to walk through as kids uphill both ways on your way to and from school) searching and searching for that seemingly phantom holiest of holies that golfing grail.   And yet if you’d only searched the TVAB putting green, you might have found that one secret golden ball hidden midst the flora and fauna of our own sacred home!!! Therefore, since we, non golfers, managed to come up with the one and only Holy Grain Golf Ball, we hereby offer it to you to guard and protect forever and ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”                              Judy H. and Sandy B.

5/16/22 post:  Final Road Expedition Report:Before leaving our cozy Holiday Inn room in Owensboro we drove up to Boonville, Indiana to golf at Quail Crossing Country Club. It was one of our upscale golf courses. It was so upscale that they actually had what they call “Friendly Tees” but we call them Super Senior Tees. We loved this course because it only had gentle hills and vales. Because “Friendly Tees” are closer to the greens and thus give seniors a better chance at Pars or better we were sure that this was our chance to find the Holy Grail Golf Ball. The Holy Grail is when you get Par or better on every hole and if you get a Hole in One The Holy Grail Golf Ball shines with unbelievable brilliance. Foiled again we missed par on two holes and no hole in one. We reminded ourselves that we should never give up hope, after all we are only 82 years old we still have time to find that brilliance.Next up and our last State to check off from our bucket list trip is Tennessee. We are in Dollywood otherwise known as Pigeon Forge along with 10,000 other people. We have decided that since we don’t have any children with us that there is little reason to go to Dollywood itself. We did think about grabbing some worn out Grandmother’s Grandchild and going on a ride but we have done roller coasters, water slides, and things that swing around and upside down many times in our lives. No need to do it again. Instead we are exploring the Great Smokies near Cade Cove.There are many golf courses in this area and all of them say Championship. Championship means expensive and too difficult for us. We made the mistake of thinking that the Gatlinburg Municipal would be affordable and not as difficult. It was affordable but, OH MY, what a course it was. Every hole and I mean every hole was on a hill going up or down but always with a side slope. It was also undergoing drainage construction. To play such a course you have to target the high part of the slope and hope your ball doesn’t roll all the way down to the bottom of the slope. We also had to aim around drainage pipes. One hole was through a narrow canyon and I mean narrow. Absolutely, no Holy Grail Ball here. We managed to complete our round with out having a heart attack from climbing around the hills. So ends our search for the Holy Grail Golf Ball.We have played in nine new States (Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee). Adding these States to our other 11 brings us to 20, so only 30 more States to go. Not quite sure how to get 30 more States done, but hope never falters.We leave tomorrow for a two night stay in Cherokee and then home. It’s been exhausting at times. It’s been challenging. It’s been great fun. It’s been a trip we should have taken when we were in our 30’s or 40’s. I’m sure we would have found the Grail then.                         Sandy and Judy

5/13/22 post:  Second Installment of the Great American Golf and Road Expedition in Search of the Holy Grail Golf Ball.We left you in the rain in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Well, the next day we dried out, scraped the mud off of our clothes and golf clubs and prepared to drive the next day after that to Anna, Illinois. Anna is just 23 miles away and across the Mississippi. The golf course is called Union County Golf Club. Anna is an important historical area because The Trail of Tears of the Cherokee Nation came through here and the little town of Jonesboro (next to Anna) is where the Lincoln-Douglas debate took place. The Union County Golf Club is not historical. It is a typical country course much like Quaker Creek. It is not extremely hilly but not flat either. Unfortunately they declared it cart path only and then changed their mind when we were on the 7th hole. Thank goodness. This old body of mine just doesn’t do well without a nice golf cart next to the ball that I can collapse into after swinging my mighty club. The managers of the club couldn’t have been nicer even giving us a free logo ball to remember them by. Far cry from the Tunica people who charged us $4 for a logo chip.Onto Kentucky. I think our Google GPS found a strange satellite from which to get driving directions to Owensboro, Kentucky. It took us through every back road in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky by the time we finally found Owensboro. Once here we discovered that Owensboro is the World Capital for BBQ, Bourbon and Blue Grass. Imagine that. The BBQ is Mutton served with pickles and onions, the Bourbon is Quarter Horse and Duke (Based on a John Wayne recipe) and Owensboro is the home of Blue Grass’s Bill Monroe. I have to apologize to all Blue Grass fans, but I have never heard of Bill Monroe. As far as that goes I haven’t heard of Mutton BBQ with or without onion and pickles or Duke or Quarter Horse River Bourbon. Other than in Manhattans, I don’t touch Bourbon and I prefer Black Velvet Blended Whiskey in my Manhattan. Judy, on the other hand, loves bourbon.Yesterday we played golf at Panther Creek golf course. It is a hilly course but the hills aren’t as steep as some we played. However, it has a very different lay out and they forgot to put signs out as to where one should go when searching for your tee box. However, they had a most friendly old Golf Ranger who seemed to follow us about and pointed out which way we should turn. It was fun and the weather has turned hot. It was 87 today, will be 90 on the 12th when we drive over the Ohio River to Boonville, Indiana to play at Quail Creek Country Club. Yep, that’s right we are going up-scale tomorrow. We will even have to wear a collared shirt. We’ve been getting away with tee shirts at most of these country courses. The description says that Quail Creek is a Championship Course. That does not bode well for us. Nonetheless, we are a go.We are leaving Owensboro on Friday just as the International BBQ Festival starts. I think it is a good thing that we are departing. It might get a little wild here. Our next stop is Tennessee and then home. We might write a little something about Tennessee if Dollywood turns out to be fun. Otherwise see you at TVAB around the 19th or 20th or so. Depends on the fun.Sandy and Judy
5/8/22 post:  Greetings from Cape Girardeau, Mo. The Great American Golf and Road Trip Expedition (title from Mary W.) in search of the Holy Grail Golf Ball (title from Barry C.) is now nearly three weeks old. We started our expedition in Sunset Beach, NC, where we lived for nine years. We visited friends and played with our former golfing buddies there, but that doesn’t really count toward our Bucket List Goal of playing golf in as many States as possible as we had already played golf in North and South Carolina and we have them on the list already. So first on the list was Georgia as a new State to add.
We left NC and drove to Augusta, Georgia and found Augusta National Country Club (of Master's fame). Alas, they would not let us through the gate even after I told them I had eaten at Master's winner, Greg Norman's Restaurant in Myrtle Beach, NC and was a lifelong fan of Tiger Woods. We substituted Augusta Municipal. It was in terrible condition (storm damage we guess) but we got through 18 holes.

Next up, Alabama. We played at Pikeville Country Club near Guin, Alabama. Have you ever heard of Pikeville or Guin, Alabama? We hadn't either. It was a fortuitous find, and we were sure we would find the Holy Grail Golf Ball there. It wasn't. Pikeville was a beautiful course and not a soul on it other than us. Groups had gone out to play way before us and other groups were scheduled to play way after us -- so all alone. Good thing too. The course was uphill, downhill, sidehill, trees on the left and right and bunkers everywhere. It was not kind to octogenarians.  Why in the world they would have such a difficult course in the middle of nowhere Alabama we don't know. Pikeville really is rural. The population of the nearest town, Guin, is maybe 1500 people. Believe it or not they claim to have 300 Country Club members.

So on to Mississippi. Unfortunately, we hit Old Miss on a weekend, which is not good. Did I mention that we were trying to stay in Tunica, Mississippi? Tunica is a casino town on the Mississippi River. Tunica is very popular with the Memphis crowd. Memphis is only 23 miles away from Tunica. That is why there was no room at the Inns--any of them. What is fortunate is that Tunica is not only close to Memphis but also to Arkansas, which is just across the river. Arkansas is on our list of places to play so we scurried over there. We found a little town called Forest Hills that had a golf course called the Bridges at Cedar Creek State Park. Wow, a golf course in the middle of a State Park. How great is that? Great enough for us to play there. Again, we could not find the Holy Grail Golf Ball but it turned out that the managing pro at the Bridges was from Sunset Beach, NC. He had been the pro at the Pearl Course when we lived there. It was old home day. The Bridges Course turned out to also be very hilly. We are just to old to get over the hills. Nonetheless we had a lot of fun trying to get over the hills. After the game we grabbed a picture with our Sunset Beach Pro.

Now it was time to return to Old Miss. We secured a room at Caesars Horseshoe Hotel and Casino.Lo and behold we found a flat course nearby called Tunica National. It was not only elder friendly but was beautifully groomed with well cut greens. We thought, “Surely the Holy Grail Ball is here.” The Grail was close but not quite reachable. We lamented our loss at the Casino. We have to confess that our bet limit is in the 40 cent to 60 cent range. It was obvious that other lamenters in the Casino were $10 and $15 bettors. We knew this because they smiled a lot more than we did when they won something. We would win maybe $5 or even a big win of $10 while they would roar with delight as they won $500 or more. C’est la vie! We can only surmise that lamentations like everything else in the world, are only worth what you invest in them. Oh well, off to Missouri.

We are now in Cape Girardeau, Mo., in the midst of thunders storm and tornado threats. It was difficult to play in these conditions, but the rain let up and we found the Jaycee Municipal Golf Course. Guess what? Yes, it is nothing but hills. What is it with this idea that every golf course in the South East has to offer mountain goats a good habitat. Thank goodness Cape Girardeau is such a pleasant town to be in because these hilly courses are killing us. The Jaycee course was particularly brutal because the wet weather made the course “cart path only”. For people who don’t play golf, “Cart Path Only” means you can’t take your golf cart out on the course. Your cart stays on the path and you walk out and back from your ball (not fun when it is wet, when it is hilly, when you are in your 80’s).