We had a great and informative visit to the Port Charlotte Salvation Army (SA) facility yesterday. We were greeted by Captain Israel Roseno who led our group to their dining room for our presentation and tour. The room had several tables set up for us with materials outlining SA services and activities.

Israel introduced his wife Captain Claudia, and Brenda, their office manager. Claudia presented a brief introduction and reviewed the materials that had been placed on all the tables. He also introduced Laura Weller who is the SA Director of Giving that came to the PRCC meeting to present the SA Appreciation award last year.

Israel then took over the presentation which began with the history of the Salvation Army having been founded by William Booth in England. The SA today operates in 134 countries of the world. Israel also explained the process by which SA cadets go through to eventually becoming an SA officer. Cadets undergo an intensive two-year course in residence at a Salvation Army college. After two successful years of training, cadets are commissioned as lieutenants, ordained as ministers, and assigned to active duty while continuing their education. Lieutenants are required to devote five years to additional studies.  Captains Israel and Claudia are on track to become Majors in June. At that time, they may be reassigned to another territory.

We then began our tour through their kitchen and visits through the building to the food pantry where Israel explained the process for food distribution and their needs to fulfill community needs. The tour concluded in their church where we also heard from Laura Weller about SA giving program.

At the conclusion, I presented Captain Israel with an envelope containing 4 checks from our members totaling $350.  All our members were thanked again for our continued contributions. I think there was a consensus among our group that they had learned a number of new things about the Salvation Army and what they do.

A BIG thank you to Linda Kelley and the social committee for making the great arrangements for our Valentine’s Day dinner. It was such a beautiful evening to enjoy the views of the harbor and the evening’s sunset. The Captain’s Table is a great venue for these occasions. The room was set up beautifully, the staff was attentive and the menu was terrific and delicious.

A group of 9 members gathered at Liz's home to attend a CPR class given by our own Todd Coulter. Todd was a great instructor answering many questions along the way. We not only learned about CPR practices, but Todd also gave us information on the portable defibrillator device and about how the Paramedics handle emergency various emergency situations.  Attending were Tim and Liz, John and Robin, Kathy, Helen, Wendy, and Linda.

A BIG thanks to Todd. 

Steve Schodowski was the big winner at last Thursday’s LRC game.

What a fun time we had at the Englewood Elks last night.  Lots of enjoyable music and fun dancing by many.  Thanks to Linda R, Wendy, Peggy, Janet, and others who even motivated me to get out on the floor and burn a few calories.

A few of us took a nice road trip through curvy roads (Sweetwater and Crewsville roads) to the Cowpoke’s Watering Hole in Sebring for lunch. It was a very windy day and we went through a couple of dust/sand storms on those roads that were so intense that you could hardly see the car in front, or behind you.

There was also a little situation with Linda Kelley’s tire pressure monitor indicating her tires were low on air.  So, the rear end of the caravan briefly detoured to a service station for some correct the issue before arriving at the restaurant.

We had an attentive server named Jeremy who gave us a few chuckles when he announced that “we don’t have any veggies”. So we said, OK, we’ll go with that. Then when Kathy Tracy ordered a burger, Jeremy asked if she wanted “lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles with that”. So Terry said, “wait, you said you didn’t have any veggies” and Jeremy replied “lettuce and tomatoes are not veggies, this is salad… a whole different thing." And we shared more laughter.

Despite the weather forecast, we did not see rain until we left the restaurant and then only for a few miles on the way home. We took Rt. 66 to Rt.17 on the way home instead of the curvy roads.

It was nice to see so many members enjoying dinner and having a great time at River City.

The group enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Orange County Choppers Roadhouse (OCC). The menu items have names related to motorcycles like a knucklehead sandwich or a sportster sandwich. Some items have funny names as well. Sally ordered a chili dog called “the homewrecker” and you can see in the pictures what they served her. The entire table had a big laugh over the hot dog

For those that may not know the history of the OCC, the original location of OCC was in Montgomery, New York. Paul Teutul Sr. founded the company in 1999. Their custom motorcycle business led to a successful TV show called American Chopper with Paul’s two sons, Paul Jr. and Mikey. After several seasons, the show ended, and things fell apart due to a feud between the father and Paul Jr.

In 2020, OCC closed the New York location and moved to Pinellas Park, Florida, where they built a new facility called OCC Road House & Museum across from Bert’s Barracuda Harley Davidson shop. The Roadhouse has a collection of custom choppers built during the running of the TV show and is loaded with memorabilia and motorcycle artifacts. For example, some of the seats at the bar are motorcycle king and queen seat. Also, the sinks in the men’s room are made from motorcycle gas tanks (see in the pictures). All in all, a very interesting place to visit.

Twenty six members and 14 Corvettes took the trip to the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum. And what a treat that was! They have 90 very rare cars with some of them being the only ones built or in existence. For example, they built a full-size replica of the first self-propelled vehicle on steam power and ran it. For more information on that particular vehicle click on this link. https://www.tbauto.org/car-collection/1770-fardier-de-cugnot

Oliver Cerf, our terrific tour guide, is the son of Alain Cerf who began buying these cars and assembling them for the museum. The Cerf family is French and emigrated to the US settling in Florida. Oliver mentioned that he had come to the US in 1972. He really knows these cars and the engineering behind them. He said all the cars run and they take turns riding them.

Several members visited the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota yesterday. It’s a beautiful and magical place where you often feel you are lost in a tropical rain forest. Among all the trees, plants, and gardens, there is an amazing Banyan grove with several of these majestic trees. 

We had lunch at the Selby House which was built in the early 1920s. This Spanish-style home was Marie and William Selby’s original residence.

Congrats to Jim Dandy on the big win.

A group of members cruised to the List Distillery and Miller's Ale House in Ft Myers.

Our own Linda Kelly walked away with the Dynamic Detective Award beating out 100 other participants to the Broadway Palms Mystery - Murder on the 19th Hole. Other members in attendance were Kath Goodspeed, Linda Kelly, Ed Kerschke, Elaine McNeill, Jim and Mary Ortiz, and Bev and Bruce Olmstead.

What a great time and adventure we had at Bob’s train. Many members joined the fun today seeing rail cars once owned by John and Mabel Ringling and dining in a rail car restored to its finest. Four cars made up Bob’s Train. Hundreds, if not more, pictures and memorabilia lined the walls of the train. Bob himself provided information as to how he acquired the trains and a brief bit about his life, marrying into the circus family and his love for trains. Even our waitress was a relative of the Wallenda family. 

Eleven hardy members braved the heat to play 18 holes of intense mini golf at the Tropical Breeze Fun Park.

The game was ladies vs the men....and the ladies were the winners.

Several members scored holes in one, along with lots of laughter.

Dinner took place at the 10 Twenty five restaurant in Cape  Coral, I think we all enjoyed the air conditioned atmosphere.  Even the seats were cold.  Interesting as the waitress remembered us from our previous visit.

A number of members (mostly ladies…) had a great time with Mike Inbasciani  performing a fantastic Eric Clapton Tribute show.

Great day for our Sunday “Ride & Dine” to Solomon’s Castle in Ona. We had an enjoyable relaxing ride on our way through some nice roads in the Florida countryside. The Castle is quite an interesting place where everything inside and outside was constructed by the artist, Howard Solomon. 

A hardy group braved the wind to watch the sunset at Ponce de Leon Park in Punta Gorda.

Seventeen members enjoyed a wonderful Easter brunch at The Captain's Table.  Delicious foods were enjoyed including prime rib, leg of lamb, glazed ham, shrimp tortellini, chicken, salmon, oysters, along with an assortment of appetizers, side dishes, and desserts.  A feast for sure.

A number of PRCC members enjoyed dinner at the King’s Roadhouse yesterday and Patti ‘O, who is still visiting, also joined the group. The Roadhouse has some pretty nice choices on their menu. Afterwards, a few of us went to the Captain’s Creamery for ice cream.

What a great and beautiful day for the annual Florida Venice Corvettes car show at Centennial Park in Venice. 

PRCC had 7 entries today. They were Wally and Jerrie Schmalz (with Harry O ‘Gnome), John and Kathy Goodspeed, Steve and Rachel Schowdoski, Jerry Suminski, Bruce Olmsted, Bob and Helen Keyes and Sally and Diego Betancourt. 

Three members received trophies today. John and Kathy received a Participant’s Choice trophy for their beautiful C8. Bruce Olmsted received a judged trophy for his red ’61 (?) convertible and Bob and Helen received the BIG one!!  Overall Best of Show for their gorgeous blue ’66.