Panhandle  Winnies
April 2002 Campout
By Jan Eichorst

The Panhandle Winnies gathered with the South Magnolia Travelers from
Mississippi for their April campout at Parker's Landing just a couple miles
north of Biloxi with easy access from exit 41 on I-10.  Parker's Landing has
several spacious club houses and all concrete pads with plenty of shade
trees to block out the hot Mississippi sun yet allow the breezes to flow
through the campground.  For the campout, the Winnies had 19 member coaches
and the Travelers had 11 member coaches in attendance, which provided for
our large friendly style get together. Our Winnies weekend wagon masters,
Bob and Lou Duff along with Jim and Carole Sjogren, arrived early on
Thursday along with number of other member units from both chapters to take
advantage of the absolutely beautiful weather and to get an early start to
the many scheduled weekend activities.

Our gathering was the result of a special invitation from the South Magnolia
Travelers in reciprocation for the Travelers being our guest last May.  This
was a perfect weekend for a campout and the Travelers were the best hosts.
Friday night they provided a huge pot of filling Hobo Soup and a large
assortment of corn bread.  This was just the prelude to our numerous
desserts consisting of scrumptious cakes and pies.  Following the evening
meal, the Travelers held a drawing with gifts that were provided by their
sponsoring dealer, Reliable RV Sales of Gulfport, Mississippi.  Reliable RV
Sales was very generous with their gifts allowing for a one gift for each of
the attending coaches with a grand prize of two lounge chairs being given to
one lucky member coach.  Reliable also brought in a new 2002 Adventurer for
us to walk through and dream about.  Our two chapters spent the rest of
Friday evening good natured verbal bantering and playing card games that
included: Pokino, Hand and Foot, and 31.

Saturday morning we were treated for breakfast with a large bowl of fresh
fruit with numerous coffee cakes accompanied by plenty of piping hot coffee
provided by our hosts.  Each one of our chapters held their respective
meetings after breakfast and we extended an invitation to the Travelers for
another gathering with us next year.  It was announced during our meeting of
the loss of one of our charter members, Sarah Brown, in March.  A memorial
donation will be sent to the Alzheimer's Association in her name and our
heartfelt sympathy to her loving husband and our friend, Hiram.  Jack Slevin
stated that his sister also passed away after a long illness and he just
returned from her services in Michigan.  Our sympathies were expressed to
Jack and his family also.  After the meetings, we were able to avenge the
thorough thumping we received last year in Bean Bag Baseball from the
Travelers with a sound thrashing of our own.  It was a tough game but with
the guidance of our team captain, Bob Duff and the use of rally caps at just
the right time, we came from an early innings deficit to show them that we
were up for the challenge.  The chapter challenges then went to the Golf
Ball Toss with a slight edge going to the Winnies.  One of the games was so
evenly matched that it was called a draw after the contestants got to the
point of near exhaustion from receiving too much advice from the spectators.
The sun worshipers and water sportsmen waved from their boats cruising on
Parker's Creek flowing through the campground and provided a pleasant
distraction.  We also had several geese that patrolled the Parker's Landing
grounds wander by on occasion to inspect what we were doing.  At one point,
we thought that Esper was making friends with one of the well fed geese but
we really think she was just lining up a possible special guest for our
chapter's Thanksgiving dinner.  The goose sensed the possible danger in the
situation, his life as a dinner guest in November or the river with its cool
waters and safety.  It was a smart goose and he made his break.

Late Saturday afternoon we all went to Gulf Coast Biloxi beach and the
President Casino for a delicious buffet that included mounds of salads,
hearty gumbo, plenty of good seafood, roast beef, fried chicken, veggies,
and desserts galore.  The President's Casino was a gracious host and
provided the Travelers and our group with two-for-one specials that made the
meal that much better.  Those that heard the call of the casino had a chance
to partake in its games of chance before and after the meal.  There were
several members that were good or should we say lucky enough to actually
bring back more money than they took.  After our early meal, we met back at
the Parker's Landing clubhouse to get started with the evenings social card
games and continued fellowship.

Our Sunday breakfast consisted of eye-opening hot coffee, assorted donuts,
coffee cakes, and fresh fruit.  This was followed by an excellently prepared
short devotional time period that was presented by Arvella Stoddard from the
South Magnolia Travelers.  At the completion of the devotional, our members
said their fond farewells accompanied with the promise of next years' get
together.

The next Panhandle Winnies gathering will be at Wolf Bay Plantation in
Elberta, Alabama scheduled for May 17-19.  Our chapter will not meet during
the months of June, July, and August but will resume our scheduled campouts
on September 13-15 at Luxury RV, Gulf Shores, Alabama.