Happy First Day of December!
Our holiday festivities start today! Off to the airport this afternoon to pick up Lauri, Piper and Adley. They are coming here from North Dakota to spend 11 days in sunny Florida! We’ll be decorating the Christmas tree this evening. Fun times!
FINALLY shipped all the pre-sold festival t-shirts out. Still have a few left in the office for sale if anyone is interested. $15 for short sleeve. $20 for long sleeve.
Had a Festival Volunteer Appreciation Dinner this week with over 70 people. Lots of fun. I had one volunteer say that she had been working at the festival for 10 years and had never been invited to the dinner. That’s because this is the first year the Civic Club had it! The festival would not be as successful without these dedicated volunteers!
Next big event is the Christmas Outreach. For many years the Homosassa Civic Club, the Old Mill Tavern, and the Homosassa Rotary have done something for the kids of Homosassa at Christmas. This year we are combining forces. Shelley and Jon from the Old Mill contact the guidance counselor at the elementary school and get all the kids names that might not get a visit from Santa. (So far we have over 90 kids!) The families go on an Angel Tree in the Old Mill’s dining room. Customers pick an angel from the tree and purchase the gifts listed. They return the gifts to the Old Mill. The Civic Club, the Old Mill, and the Rotary Club have all donated money and if the family doesn’t get all the presents listed, then they purchase the rest of the gifts. Cayla’s Coats, another non-profit organization, provides coats if that is on the child’s list. The Civic Club has a Christmas party with Santa for the kids on December 16th. Then on the 19th, there will be a wrapping party with volunteers at the club. Parents can pick up the gifts the following day in the Civic Club’s office and put them under the Christmas tree.
Lots of stuff going on this weekend. We plan to go to the free day at the Three Sisters Springs park in Crystal River on Saturday. It’s kind of warm but we are hoping that there will be manatees hanging out so Adley and Piper can meet a manatee! The Alpaca Farm is also having an open house and we are hoping to squeeze in a visit there.
Upcoming events are the Homosassa Christmas Boat Parade on the 17th and the golf cart parade on the 23rd. The Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park will also be having their annual Celebration of Lights starting the 19th. So much to do! So little time!
Have a great weekend!
Kathy