Kathy and Steve Sanchez in their winning holiday decorated golf cart (Photo by Bob Koblewski)
Unit 27 Activities
Sue Case and Fred Pilster (contributor)
The relatively warm January temperatures are nice for outdoor activities. However, our local—and hungry—javelinas like the warmer temperatures as much as we do. They proved it recently when many Unit 27 residents put their garbage bins out on a Sunday night for an early Monday morning pickup, only to discover their garbage strewn all over the street prior to pick up. From a biological perspective, it was interesting to discover that javelinas don’t care much for cranberries, but definitely like banana peels! One good neighbor cleaned up not only the mess from his own garbage bin, but those of his two neighbors as well. You’re a good man, Marv!
Two couples from Unit 27 took part in the eighth annual SaddleBrooke Lights Parade on Dec. 19, 2020, and both couples won prizes. Over 70 decorated golf carts participated in the parade. The winner for Best Golf Car was the Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus sled, owned and driven by Unit 27 residents, Kathy and Steve Sanchez. In addition to the top prize, a special award was given to a group of four “Just Elfing Around” bar carts with participants who all wore matching elf outfits. One of those bar carts was owned and driven by Unit 27 residents Marty and Glenn Fisher. We congratulate both the Sanchez and the Fisher families for their participation in this annual event as well as for their wins!
A Unit 27 couple spent three quiet weeks in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 in mid-December. Luckily, they did not have pulmonary complications. They steadily improved during the third week, and are now out of quarantine. While requesting anonymity, they nonetheless urge fellow residents to keep available adequate food, drink, and other supplies to last at least two weeks. They were lucky to have had children that sent sickbed supplies, as well as groceries via Instacart. They are happy to be out among us again.
Unit 27 residents, Bonnie and Jim Barker, recently became the proud parents of Sophie, a GoldenDoodle, who was born on Oct. 27, and word has it that both Jim and Bonnie are appropriately smitten. Bonnie says Sophie is hairy like Jim and crazy like Bonnie, and that she is wearing out both of them! Welcome to senior parenting Bonnie and Jim!
Finally, Unit 27 resident, Tammy Swanson, confesses she tested Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s admonition to keep your brain active (“use it or lose it.”). After a layoff of several months, she played Sudoku, and found it was much harder than it used to be. Lesson learned. But as she says, “We are all stuck together!”
Be well, everyone.
Unit 48 Adopt-a-Child
Terry Hechter
Since 2009, Unit 48 has taken to heart the children of the Indian Reservations in San Carlos and San Manuel by “adopting” them for the holidays. The Adopt-a-Child program is organized by SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) and they provide us with a list of children.
The residents of Unit 48 were very generous through direct donations—this was our best year yet! We were able to make Christmas brighter for 49 children! Although we were not able to do our normal shopping and wrapping, we did “wrap” restricted gift cards for each child this year. We purchased mini stockings and gift bags and wrapped extra cards for a total of 71 kids for SBCO. What a pile of mini stockings and gift bags!
The organized stockings and gift bags were loaded into the “sleigh” and delivered to the SBCO project coordinators for delivery to the good boys and girls who might not otherwise have something to open on Christmas.
A big thank you to Unit 48 residents for their donations!