This is the time of year when
Monongah High Alumni say: Enough of winter in Ohio and West Virginia; we’re
headed for Florida and sunshine and warm temperatures. Even with El Nino, which
has Ohio and West Virginia warmer than usual, you just know there’s a avalanche
of snow on the way some day.
Bill Meredith, Class of 1957, and
wife Roleta, who “had a great time with our family” at their Buckeye Lake, Ohio
home, took off from Rickenbacher International Airport near Columbus to return
to their other, warmer home in Sarasota, Florida. “We will be glad to return to
warm weather,” Bill writes.
Jim Gandy, Class of 1964, husband of Monongah High
Alumni Association president Linda
Lopez Gandy, Class of 1965, writes:
“Don't slow down, Bill. We are right behind
you. We are going below Ft. Myers,” which is south of Sarasota. Previously,
they thawed out on Sanibel Island.
And a long way from their Monongah home.
And a lot warmer, usually.
Paula and I will begin driving from
Tallmadge, Ohio to The Villages on Thursday morning. We'll arrive in TV on
Friday evening. And STAY for FOUR MONTHS! Halleluah!!!! See you soon, Bill.
Since Linda and Jim are going below Fort Myers, they'll be 5 hours from us. Too
bad. I have a second set of golf clubs waiting for visitors to the home Paula
purchased in The Villages.
Bill and Roleta host the Monongah High
Alumni Reunion/Florida every year. This will be the 4th annual such southern reunion. As
soon as Bill finds out when the most former Lions and their mates will be
available, he’ll pick a date and I’ll post it on this blog.
If you live in
Florida or will be on vacation there this winter, call Bill at (941) 342-0030
and let him know when you’ll be within an hour or two of Sarasota so you can
join the gathering of Monongah High Alumni poolside at the Merediths with the
golf course just beyond their property line.
It’s a 135-mile drive for Paula and me each way, so
we usually get lodging for a few days on Siesta Key, adjacent to Sarasota, with
the best sand beach in the world (well, top 10 in most travel magazines) when
we drive down for the Monongah High Alumni Reunion/Florida.
Join us!
Bob Cottrill, Class of 1951, lives in Melbourne, a few miles as the sea gull flies from the Atlantic Ocean.
John Matkovich, Class of 1948, and wife Dolores Sweede Matkovich, Class of 1953, and Joyce Cowart Davis
Peck, Class of 1966, live in Palm Harbor.
Joe
Martin, Class of 1957, and wife Arlene Kitchen Martin live not far from them on
Treasure Island.
Bettie
Hensley Lowther, Class of 1948, and Lloyd Schell, Class of 1957, live in Pompano Beach.
Lyla Cosner Howell, Class of 1958, and husband Len, live in Elkins
and Fort Myers Beach, Florida.
Sandy
Weils Shaffer Cook, Class of 1959, and husband Bob, live in Fort Myers.
Leo Kubiet, Class of 1942, lives in Largo.
Pat Meredith Wills, Class of 1950, spends her winters in her St.
Augustine Beach, Florida home with husband Don Wills (and summers in their
Fairmont home).
Ted
Nagel, Class of 1954, has homes in Vinton, Virginia and Micco, Florida.
The Cooks, Howells, Martins and Paula and I usually get to taste Roleta's fine cuisine at the Sarasota reunion.
So you
have two choices for a Monongah High Alumni Reunion in Florida: With the
Merediths in Sarasota or at the annual West Virginia Reunion in The Villages,
where Paula and I will be living for 4 months, which will start at 11 a.m.
Sunday, March 16 in the Savannah Center, one of several large recreation
centers in the city that never stops having fun. The event is limited to the
first 500 tickets purchased, and there’s always a crowd.
Many
tables are labeled by counties so that Marion County folks, for example can sit
near each other.
So,
come on down to Florida, warm those bones and leave wintry blasts behind in the
north.
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