KTgreen – Page 118

“Meet and Greet” honoring Senator Charlie Dean

July 13, 2016 by KTgreen

Finally.

Event OVER! The original date of June 6 for the “Meet and Greet” just happened to be the day that Tropical Storm Colin decided to hit Old Homosassa. Lots of rain and wind. Minor flooding, some tree damage.

Of course, the “Meet and Greet” was cancelled.

Roger Cullin, Rosey Rendueles, and I have been preparing for this event for at least six months. Although it seems like it’s been years.

And finally it happened Monday night. It’s over. Now I can get back to regular life.

And of course, I have pictures and commentary.

First, I want to show you the newly painted Homosassa Civic Club. I wish I had a before photo of the 80’s burgundy valances, the horrendous mural painted on the wall, the nasty bookcase, the cheaply framed photos.

But all I have are “afters”.

I still plan to make new up-to-date valances for the windows. The tables all need replaced because they are stained and just nasty but good sturdy tables are expensive so for now we keep tablecloths on them. The art on this wall is all about the new “Working Waterfront” park. Two prints of renderings made by local artists, Sheldon and Cleo Lydy.

The Civic Club is a “non-political” community group so meetings or statements endorsing candidates can not be made but we can honor a politician. This event was to honor Charlie Dean who lived in the area all of his life, was the Sheriff for 16 years, and then was in the Florida Senate. Politicians may attend, they just can’t “politic”.

This meeting was also a way to get attention for the parks that the “Access to the River” committee has been working on.

That’s our new senator on the left, Wilton Simpson.

Justin Grabelle, running for US Rep Rick Nugents seat.

Almost all of the sheriff candidates were there, along with a woman running for school board, and a few men running for County Commission. Good time to get noticed!

Rodney MacRae spoke about his association with Charlie Dean. That’s the president of the Civic Club, Jim Bitter, in the other chair.

Then it was time to get to the REAL deal. Roger Cullen and Rodney, co-chairs of the “Access to the River” committee, presented packages with details about the two parks to the senators and representatives.

"Meet and Greet" honoring Senator Charlie Dean — From left, Roger Cullen, Jimmy T. Smith, currently FL Representative but his district has been eliminated so he is now running for county commissioner, Dr. Ralph Massulo, running unopposed for FL Representative, Senator Wilton Simpson, Senator Charlie Dean, and Rodney MacRae.

So we did our bit. Glad it’s over. Time to get our parks!

5th Annual Mullet Toss at Old Mill Tavern

July 11, 2016 by KTgreen

We’ve been going to the Mullet Toss since it’s first year. Spend about an hour. Watch the mullet’s fly. Have a couple beers. Laugh. Visit with friends. Go home.

ALL the proceeds go to Kids. Kids organizations and the local school.

This year we volunteered. First time. We were assigned to work at the Silent Auction with Renee.

No problemo. This wasn’t our first volunteer event in Old Homosassa in the summer.

We brought chairs, cushions, a long extension cord, a fan.

It was HOT.

The Tampa weather guy says that it’s a few degrees more than normal.

96 degrees.

HOT.

From 10:30 am until 5 pm.

Sounds like I’m complaining. Actually just trying to set the scene.

We had a lot of fun. Just hanging out. I didn’t get many photos because we were far from the action. We did have a great view of the toilet toss, though. If you got a mullet in the toilet, you qualified to try to get the mullet in the toilet again and win $5,000.

mullet toss into toilet — That’s the DJ from Citrus 95.3 that was emceeing the event.

$3.00 a toss. Two for $5.00.

And that’s Phil Royal. A captain with the Citrus County Sheriff’s Department. Also most likely our next Sheriff.

For $20 you get a t-shirt and two tries to toss the mullet for distance.

There are a lot of rules with mullet tossing. Can’t step over the line. Mullet has to stay in bound. Can not rub your hands in the dirt. The mullet must be wet.

officials — Official measurements are taken.

This is the first year that they had a “Hero’s Toss”. The Sheriff’s Department against the Fire Department.

A lot of deputies were there. Also a fire truck with firemen. But the guys that were competing were off-duty. Can you imagine going back to work smelling like a dead mullet? Pulling one of our speeding golf carts over and the driver saying “why do I smell fish?”

The Deputies won. But by only 9 feet.

Jane Castor, the former police chief from Tampa also competed again. And won her division. Again.

So our job was pretty easy until 4:00 when the silent auction closed.

And then it was crazy cakes.

Remember “Benny Hill”? That’s how Terry, Renee, and I were running in circles.

I don’t think anyone won the $5,000 for the toilet toss. But there was that Benny Hill music going on, so who knows?

We already signed up to take over the Silent Auction next year. Like I said, it’s for the kids. A lot of good local people volunteer. It’s great being part of that group.

Home. Two margaritas. A very long shower. I cooled down. (And passed out.)

Friday Meanderings

July 8, 2016 by KTgreen

Busy week, right?

This is how I feel about now.

Kendall started texting me a couple of weeks ago about “when can I come up and it better be RIGHT NOW!.” Yeah, I think it’s really cool that the 8-year old is texting me.

So Kendall and Addison have been here for a few days.

The above pic was after an hour boat ride to the Springs, two hours of swimming, an hour back, showers to get rid of “Lu Poo” (if you live in Homosassa you know what I mean) and then a big crash. (Maggie did not go with us but she spent all that time worrying about us being out on the boat without her.)

Kendall, Maggie, me and grandpa all took a very long nap. Addison toughed it out. And was still up at 10 pm. (Where does she get the energy????? and she must not really be related to the rest of us!)

Going to show you a video next week of Addison’s encounter with a manatee. As soon as I figure out how to put the video on here. Very cool!

Anyhow, what’s going on….

The Mullet Toss. Saturday. All the money goes to the kids. Terry and I are working (sweating) at the raffle table.

Monday. The Meet and Greet. (Postponed from June because of a tropical storm) The newspaper has advertised TWICE that there will be “light appetizers, wine, beer, and soda.” Sheesh. How did that make it into the paper? But we should have a good turnout! Get there early if you want any of the free food and drinks cause I only bought enough for 100!!!!!!!

I’m sure that you will hear ALL about it next week!

If a hurricane doesn’t hit us before then. (Would that not be a message from a higher power?)

Sheesh!

Have a great weekend!
Kathy