Caloosa Winnies of SW Florida
March 2004 outing
By Sue Fuss

Friday, March 12, 2004, Chuck & Barbara Wood, Jerry & Nancy Miller and Fred & Jeanne Bier caravan'ed to Ruskin, Florida where Jim & Margaret Armstrong and Bill & Sue Fuss met them for lunch at Buddy Freddie's.  Then it was on to Orlando and the Winnie-Gators Florida State Rally "Strawberry Festival."  Bob and Anita Law and Jim & Phyllis Hicks met us at the gate and we all went in together.

After settling in Bill Fuss was chosen to lead the group to a restaurant for dinner.  We piled into three cars and off we went.  At the end of our "street" we came to a halt...no driveway!  Not wanting to jump the curb and retreat is never an option, our trusty leader looked both ways and decided to take the sidewalk!  We paused to visit with one startled "Happy Hour" group then moved on till we found a driveway and out to the street we went with Jeanne Biery & yours truly in the back-seat alternating between "I don't really believe we did that!" and laughter, while bewildered Jerry Miller followed close behind.  There in the street ahead of us was Bob Law (driver of the third car) waiting for us.  He must have jumped the curb!  No, Bill just hadn't driven up close enough to see that cement had been poured to make a smooth driveway on to the street.  We all had a good laugh and continued on.  The laughter lasted somewhat longer for Jeanne.  She woke up in the middle of the night and started laughing about our ridiculous sidewalk drive, she laughed so loud that she woke up Fred!

Saturday we attended opening ceremonies, enjoyed the Strawberry Shortcake then went our separate ways until time for our meeting at 2 p.m.  At our meeting we welcomed our new members Jim & Margaret Armstrong and new members that joined our group at the rally, Ed & Jerrie Cassetty.

Chuck and Barbara Wood did their bit to keep the economy moving they bought a beautiful new Suncruiser at the rally.

Saturday night Bob & Anita Law, yours truly and another couple from the New York Onabago Chapter skipped the chicken salad sandwich dinner and went to the Boston Lobster Feast Restaurant.  What a feast!!  We had gone there for dinner last year and just couldn't pass up the chance to eat all the lobster we wanted.

"Strawberry Festival" was a good time for all of us.  We enjoyed assisting the Florida Panhandlers serving coffee & donuts.  The bonus was that we made some new friends.