MO: Ozark Winnies

The Ozark Winnies November meeting was held at Treasure Lake RV Resort in Branson, MO. Although the official start date for the meeting was November 2, many Ozark Winnie members are also Treasure Lake members and several were on the park before October 18. Early arrivals attended shows, shopped, visited Silver Dollar City’s new Pumpkin Nights event, checked out new and old favorite restaurants and in general enjoyed the typical fall weather in Branson, warm one day and freezing the next. The tree color was a little disappointing this year, but the Ozark Mountains in southern Missouri is always a fun time; especially when the Ozark Winnies are in town.

We had a great turnout for the meeting with twenty-six units. Attending the meeting were Bergant, Breen, Donnelly, Eaheart, Huff, Kittrell, L’Hote, Mahaffey, Mastis, McCord, Murphy, Parsons, Reynolds, Spene, Stone, Taylor, Van Meter, Vinci, Wallis and Wollin. We were also thrilled to welcome several guests; our Central Area Reps, Butch and Val Peters, from Iowa, Craig and Sandi Winn and Mike and Kathy Isebrand, a new Winnebago owner, Sondra Mulvihill and from the Chief Winnies, David and Carla Heckert and Nancy and Kelly Collings. Nancy and Kelly and Jim Rumbo should have been listed as members, as they decided even before they spent the weekend with us that they wanted to be known as Ozark Winnies. David and Carla Heckert and Sondra Mulvihill also chose to join our merry little Ozark Winnies group. We are so thrilled that you all have chosen to be a part of us and we welcome you all to the best chapter in the state. Editors note: Of course, every chapter claims to be the best chapter in the state.

Group activities unofficially started on Sunday, October 27 when fifteen went to Getting’ Basted for dinner. The next unofficial activity was a pizza party held at the Cottrill Building on Tuesday evening. Twenty-five attended this activity. After dinner Marie Wollin made a presentation entitled Possum Tail, which highlighted the Wollin’s encounter with a possum that decided to make their motorhome it’s home. Card games followed.

Official meeting activities started on Wednesday. Marva Van Meter was the head planner and coordinator for the 4th Annual Halloween Party. Marva and Teresa created Halloween decorations. Marva, Teresa, Joyce and Carol spent a good part of the afternoon making the building a festive place for a party. Everyone brought snacks of just about every variety available. Eleven of the thirty-eight attendees arrived in costume with visions of winning a $10 Walmart gift card in their heads. Val Peters, Jerry Taylor and Nancy Collings served as judges. They had a tough decision and took a long time to decide the winners; 1st place, Don McCord as Elvis, 2nd place, Terry Parsons as a pirate and 3rd place, Chip Wallis and Donna as the sheriff and his prisoner. Honorable mention went to David Murphy as a firefighter. Thanks to all who dressed for the occasion. There were some very creative costumes, which made the judges decision difficult. Marva then brought out the plungers and toilet paper, which is always good for a laugh or two. The object of this game was for participants to hold the plunger between their knees and transfer a roll of toilet paper from one plunger to another. The object of the next game was to blow up a balloon and then blow plastic cups off of the table with the air from the balloon. Easier said than done.

On Thursday an impromptu, but well attended event occurred, with thirty-six bringing their bowls to enjoy soups provided by Collings, Donnelly, Eaheart, Murphy and Wollin. Everyone else brought bread, crackers or desserts. Thank you to all, but especially to the soup chefs. After dinner a session of RV Trivia and several different card games including dime bingo were played. Another Ozark Winnie fun filled evening. There is talk of having this event on the schedule for next year. So you have a year to create or dust off that award winning soup recipe. The only activity on the schedule for Friday was one that most Ozark Winnies members excel at. That is eating. Treasure Lake’s volunteer catering staff led by Barb McConnell treated fifty-two of us to a meal of turkey breast, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, tossed salad, green beans, hot rolls and butter, apple and cherry cobblers, lemonade and tea. After dinner President Joy called the business meeting to order. Minutes of the meeting will be distributed in the near future. After the meeting some moved to the Cottrill Building for games while others stayed at the Lodge.

The second annual ‘Scromlette (scrambled egg/omelet)’ breakfast was once again a big hit. Forty-two arose early to enjoy this, what was supposed to have been a chapter provided breakfast, but turned out to be a Murphy and Eaheart provided breakfast. What are we going to do with you guys? Thank you doesn’t seem to be enough, but please know that we appreciate you guys. A big thank you goes out to the cooks; Diana, Teresa, David, and Joy and to the ingredients cutter uppers, Carol and Marva and Teresa, for removing the Halloween decorations. It appears that the big draw for this event was the delicious cinnamon rolls provided by Judy Eaheart. Judy, to you, as Gomer Pyle would say, Thank Ya, Thank Ya, Thank Ya. And to the clean-up crew who were too many to mention; thank you.

On Saturday evening, thirty-three attended the Christmas Wonderland show at the Kings Castle Theater. A talented cast of thirteen presented many of our favorite Christmas and winter related songs in a very festive show featuring singing, dancing and many costume changes.

On Sunday, at 8:30 AM, fifty-one of us gathered at the Lodge for a catered breakfast of biscuits and gravy, sausage patties, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, mixed fruit, juice, milk and coffee. A $205.00 tip was presented to the catering crew. Your generosity is very much appreciated. After Breakfast a short devotion entitled Hope was presented by Bill Stone.

Several stayed past our meeting to enjoy Branson’s Veteran’s Week activities. We did team up with the Chief Winnies and in addition to other activities, thirty of us attended the Haygood’s Christmas Show on Saturday the 9th. All veterans were invited to ride on the Treasure Lake float in the Veteran’s Day Parade, but due to the weather everyone opted out and most headed home or south on Sunday.

For those of you who did not attend this meeting, you missed out on a good time. This meeting is our showcase meeting of the year and the show, meals, activities are the highlight of the year. Be sure to put this meeting on your 2020 calendar today.

Don’t forget our Christmas lunch at 11 AM on December 7 at the Dietz Family Restaurant in Clinton, MO.

For those of you staying in the Midwest this winter; stay warm and be watching your emails for notification about lunches in the Springfield/Branson area. If you are going to be in the Rio Grande Valley, put January 29 on your calendar. The Winnie-MO-Tasca Winter Texan luncheon will be held at the Longhorn Cattle Company in San Benito, TX. Contact Rick Kennedy, [email protected] or 816-803-1605 if you plan to attend. If you own a Winnebago you are welcome. You do not have to be a state club or chapter member to participate.

The meeting host sign-up sheet for 2020 did not have one of the meetings listed. If you would like to sign up to host this weekend please let President Joy know. September 25-27 at Rutlader Outpost RV Park in Louisburg, KA. This is the weekend we will be attending the Air Force Thunderbirds Air Show at New Century Airport.