South Florida Winnie Gators

The South Florida Winnie Gators October campout was held at Camelot RV Resort in Malabar, FL October 6 -9, 2022. There were 17 coaches, 32 members, and 3 guests in attendance this weekend.  For our October gathering we celebrated Halloween with lots of decorations and costumes.

Thursday early bird arrivals enjoyed sitting outside enjoying the view over the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway catching up on each other’s news. For lunch, sixteen members traveled into downtown Melbourne to dine at Meg O’Malleys Irish Pub and later all gathered for Happy Hour in the clubhouse. In the evening, many went out for dinner at one of many waterfront restaurants in the area.

Early on Friday morning, our energizer activity director organized another competitive game of shuffleboard. This was a Co-Ed Challenge for the coveted bottles of wine with eight ladies and eight men teamed up to play. This is always a great way of getting us off our gluteuses and keeping us moving! After shuffleboard, a large group of members met in the clubhouse for their fun monthly game of Mahjongg. Our Friday afternoon activities included our usual Happy Hour and Gift Raffle. Our Raffle Dudes flew around the room selling their tickets for the 17 gifts up for grabs and all winners went home with great prizes. We also celebrated one couple’s 55th wedding anniversary with champagne and a card signed by all members. The couple generously provided a huge anniversary cake to be shared by all. Friday dinner was provided by the Club, thanks to our in-house chefs who prepared a complete taco meal for all. After dinner many stuck around to play a dice game of L-R-C where each player anteed $3 and the pot went to the winner of the last throw of the dice.

Saturday began with breakfast for all in the Clubhouse prepared by our morning chefs. We enjoyed scrambled eggs with sausage gravy and biscuits, coffee, butter and jams. After breakfast, the monthly Board of Directors’ meeting was held followed by the General Membership meeting. There was lots of discussion about our recent Hurricane Ian, which devastated much of southwest Florida. Our Sunshine lady gave a report about members who are having health issues, and plans for future campouts were explained. Saturday afternoon all gathered at the Clubhouse in their Halloween outfits for our Happy Hour and 50/50 Raffle. Our fabulous bartenders concocted a witch’s brew topped with whipped cream and sprinkles called “Cinnamon Ghost Shots” which were a hit with the crowd. Festivities got off to a rousing start when the Witchy Women, Hazel and Hilda and the seductively costumed Raffle Babes flew in to energize the crowd. They bewitched lots of money from the crowd, half of which went to three lucky winners, and half to the club coffers. We also had fun dressing up for our Annual Halloween costume contest. Many went all out dressing for the occasion and vying for the prizes for “Silliest,” “Most Creepy,” “Best Handmade,” and “Cutest.” Saturday Dinner, again prepared by our Club Chefs, was a scrumptious Italian Feast of ravioli with meatballs in homemade sauce, accompanied by delicious salad, grated parmesan, and Italian bread. Members brought an array of tempting desserts. Our evening entertainment was again playing the L-R-C dice game.