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www.wintertexantimes.com Serving Winter Texans From Mission To South Padre Island Since 1987 Vol. 31, No. 11 © 2017-2018 www.wttrgv.com Thursday, January 4, 2018
Winter Texans across the Valley celebrate new year
Prime Rib Dinner Debbie Taylor, Activity Director at Sleepy Valley Resort placed slabs of prime rib on the plates being served to residents.
Winter Texans across the Rio Grande Valley were celebrating the New Year with a variety of parties ranging from prime rib dinners at Sleepy Valley Ranch west of Mission to a Black & White Ball in San Benito. While rain and slippery roads kept me from making the ball in San Benito, the Winter Texan Times did drop in on three celebrations closer to home. The first was the prime rib dinner at Sleepy Valley Resort near Mission. Dinner started at 6 p.m. with Activity Director Debbie Taylor loading slabs of prime rib onto plates that also featured baked potatoes. A Caesar salad accompanied the meal with cheesecake for dessert. Taylor said this was the fourth annual prime rib dinner held at the park and the 220 available tickets were sold within 24 hours of going on sale. After the dinner Gatos Loco were providing dance music in the form of rockabilly, oldies and cumbias. Asking residents if they had made any
Get on the road again
Lewis Briggs and Marilyn Hunter want to be outside biking. We’re not talking just a couple of miles, or keeping their journey within the confines of Paradise Resort Park where they live. We’re talking mega trips from Pharr to other Valley cities like Mercedes, Mission, the Don Wes Flea Market and even Hidalgo.
Lewis Briggs
The couple has found plenty of enjoyment taking extended trips on their threewheel recumbent bikes. “I started out with an 18-speed mountain bike,” Marilyn said. “But you know as you get older, the balance goes away and we were riding long distances. We bought my recumbent last year and I love it.” Lewis has been riding his since 2009. In 2016 he racked up more than 1,000 miles. The year before he logged even more miles. He said he wasn’t going to reach that mark this year. The past few weeks have had a lot of unridable days, spanning back to even before the unusual snowfall in early December. Marilyn said. “We try to go at least every other day. It’s just fun to do. Most of the times we just start out and never know where we are going or where we are going to eat – but it’s always a light lunch, we don’t want anything heavy.” Lewis’ career was in welding so it didn’t take long after he bought his bike that he was tinkering with it, customizing it as much as possible for his tall frame See LEWIS BRIGGS pg. 31
New Year’s resolutions, health seemed to be a big issue for Sleepy Valley residents with Pierre Coulombe and others planning to power walk to maintain health while Gemma Gagne wanted to lose weight. Ronnie Casas vowed to drink more water, dance more and laugh harder. Maricela Median vowed to eat healthier and dance more. Moving on to Citrus Valley RV Resort in McAllen, revelers were enjoying finger foods for dinner while waiting for entertainer Tavi Spivey to start her show. Dick McCloud, president of the association, said each year residents enjoyed a similar spread of shrimp, sausages, pigs in a blanket, deli meats and cheeses and cookies served with punch before their show began. They would also welcome the New Year with an additional treat. When asked about making New Year’s resolutions Bob Crawford said he was See NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATIONS pg. 30
I’m going to quit eating junk food! Bob Crawford vowed to “quit eating junk food” at the New Year’s celebration at Citrus Valley.
Sunshine RV residents create Butterfly-Bird Native Garden
Vicky Heggen was peering through her binoculars across the large pond at Sunshine RV Park in Harlingen, looking at birds and trying to identify them, when something caught her attention. The nearby black-bellied whistling ducks started fleeing from the banks to the water, fear obviously the motivating factor. Suddenly a hawk came screeching from across the pond and sunk its talons into one of the ducks. A short struggle occurred and the hawk finally realized that this meal weighed a little too much to carry home and flew away, claws empty. “It was like something you would see on National Geographic or one of those other nature shows,” Heggen said. “I was feeling bad for the duck but that’s how nature works.” Residents of the park can spend more intricate time with more wildlife and native vegetation now at Sunshine RV Park as Heggen and the park’s Butterfly-Bird Native Garden takes shape. A group of 13 residents are part of the Butterfly-Bird group that created the park, which sits
along the banks of the pond, with an interest in attracting more wildlife – from ducks and turtles to hawks and butterflies. “A few of us got together and we all See SUNSHINE RV RESIDENTS pg. 30
Sunshine RV Resort Bird and Butterfly Native Garden committee member Vicky Heggen, left, and resort Activities Director Carolyn Chennault at the garden.