From the CLA
G by HAROLD WOLF President haroldwolf63@gmail.com
From left to right: Jim Bulmer and Ginny Barawskas, Ron and Jane Hensley, Kris and Mark Maurer, Roger and Shelly Baumann.
Photo credit:Kim Flanagan, Creative Occasions Photography 16
ood day my fellow Canadian Lakers! I hope you have had another GRRREAT summer in Canadian Lakes! We are officially into the holiday season with our bellies full of turkey, stuffing, and pie! I’m sure a lot of you have your Christmas trees and decorations up already (Marsha and I do not)! As an adult, Thanksgiving has become my “hands-down” favorite holiday. For starters, we get a long weekend away from work. Our traditional Thanksgiving Day goes like this for me. I wake up very early ... and one or more of my children or grandchildren, who are already at our house for the weekend, go out in the woods together to hunt. When we get back in, which is usually around 10:30, Marsha has a great breakfast ready for us. If we have grandchildren here hunting, Marsha always makes them cinnamon rolls and bacon (our grandchildren are spoiled, like I am). Of course, the house smells fantastic with turkey roasting in the oven, the pies that Marsha baked when I first left the house to hunt, and all the Thanksgiving dinner side dishes being prepared. (It seems like I write about food a lot in my letters). Well, us Wolfs love to eat! Thankfully, Marsha loves to cook for us! Later in the day, the rest of the family starts arriving. Then we watch (and complain) about the Lions game. Finally, we gather around the table to enjoy a fresh roasted Amish Turkey. We had a 21-pounder last year! And we always pause to give thanks for how blessed we are. Thanksgiving Day ... you just can’t get any better than that! Hunting, football, family, and you guessed it, eating! But next comes December (UGH) – the complete opposite of my enjoyment of Thanksgiving. Cold, snow (not a fan), the pressure of Christmas gifts, getting all the decorations out of the attic and putting them up, only to take them back down again and back up to the attic, and did I mention the snow that I’m not a fan of? Since we have dachshunds, I need to do a lot of extra shoveling of snow for them to give them a spot to do their “potty chores” ... even if it means 7 a.m. when they first go out ... or 10 p.m. when they last go out. But Marsha loves them, and so do I, so shovel snow I do ... a lot of snow! I try to not be a “HUMBUGGER,” and a lot of you helped me enjoy the season last year. Marsha and I were judges for the CLA Annual Christmas Home Decorating Contest. And I have to say it was very enjoyable driving around and seeing all the beautiful decorations and lights ... it gets you into the spirit of the Christmas season. Most of you would agree the CLA and being Canadian Lakes members enhances our lives in so many ways, whether you live in Canadian Lakes or are a "trunk slammer". Your CLA Board is dedicated to providing you with a very diverse schedule of events throughout the year geared towards every member, both young and old. Most recently on October 30th, we had our CLA Halloween Dance Party. We had a great turnout with a lot of creative, spooky, and funny costumes. There was the cast of Gilligan’s Island to the left (most creative costume), Dracula (scariest costume), and the “Best Couple” costume winners. Everyone who T h e C a n ad i a n L a ke r
