The Panhandle Winnies held their December campout at the Navarre Beach
Campground in Navarre, FL between Pensacola and Ft. Walton Beach on the
lovely gulf coast.  We had 23 member units in attendance for this festive
monthly gathering along with two guest units.  A couple of our members were
not able to arrive until Saturday morning to take part in the monthly
meeting and the rest of the weekend events but they made up for the time
lost.  Our two guests that joined us for the weekend were Gene and Carol
Stone along with Roland Pederson.  Gene is the brother of one of our members
and was visiting from Iowa.  Roland is a member of the WIT Singles who is a
full-timer with a home base in Wisconsin.  He took advantage of the fact
that he was passing through our area on his way to spend time with relatives
in southern Florida.

Our weekend wagon masters, Kurt and Jan Eichorst along with Jerry (Hook) and
Kathleen Henderson, provided a warm welcome to the arrivals and did an
excellent job of decorating the clubhouse.   Navarre Beach Campground has
done a great deal to improve the campground over the past two years and we
were able to take advantage of the renovations done to the clubhouse.  With
48 members and guests taking part in the campout, we needed all the room we
could get.  The campground owners are also in the process of upgrading many
of the sites with concrete, which will provide better spots in the near
future.

Many of our members arrived early on Friday and took advantage of the
clubhouse to gather for socializing and play cards.  With the cool weather,
the coffee and warm friendly discussions set the mood for the weekend.  Our
Friday potluck dinner was as usual, outstanding with all the wonderful
dishes that were set before us.  We enjoyed the excellent food and each
other's company until late into the evening.  Everyone took the opportunity
to continue to catch up on the family news and talk about the coming holiday
happenings in addition to challenging each other in games of Pokino as well
as Hand and Foot.  After our Saturday potluck breakfast, we held our monthly
meeting. Past President Earle Hedenberg installed the 2003 chapter officers.
The officers for the coming year are: Bill Alumbaugh, President; John Ware,
Vice-President; Kathleen Henderson, Secretary; and Gerald Victorian,
Treasurer.  At the completion of the meeting, a good number of our group
ventured out into the beautiful weather to take walks and shop.  Later that
afternoon, several of the ladies took part in a spirited game of Hand and
Foot.  Our evening meal was one that many will remember for its delicious
spiral-cut honey baked ham, sweet potato soufflé, southern potato casserole,
accompanied by numerous side dishes and melt in your mouth desserts.   The
honey baked ham, soufflé, and casserole were complements of our generous
chapter sponsor Carpenter's Campers of Pensacola, FL.

Saturday evening brought us a special reading of The Night Before Christmas
by Santa's helper, Jan Eichorst.  She was accompanied by one of Santa's less
adept apprentice elf husband Kurt.  Each member and guest coach received an
envelope with the men being responsible for passing those envelopes, which
held gift numbers.  It was the responsibility of the wives to ensure that
the men passed each envelope according to the rules.  Those rules were that
the men were to pass each envelope to the right when Santa's reader of the
story said "the."  To assist the men in their task, Santa's apprentice elf
handled the "The" sign, which was raised each time "the" was mentioned in
the story.   This hapless apprentice elf's antics accented by the reader's
intent to keep order provided just the right formula for a fun filled
evening.    This uncoordinated apprentice elf, who hit himself in the head
with "the" sign then asked for workers compensation, caused more confusion
than assistance.  It is assured that the trial period for the apprentice to
become a fully certified elf will be extended after Santa's helper provides
him with a written report of the evening's antics.  There were several of
the men, Jim Stone and John Ware to be exact, that caused a few pauses in
the reading as a result of their lack of psychic powers to anticipate "the"
in the story.  Santa's helper was quick to the task, to the amusement of the
others, keeping the story line rolling while those two were sent to the care
of their wives for proper lessons on following the rules.  It sure was fun.
At the completion of the reading, each man opened their individual envelope
and was rewarded by a special gift that was donated by Carpenter's Campers.
Following the gift drawings, our own Esper McNair played several songs on
her guitar and dulcimer to the delight of the other members that
participated in singing along.  The evening was capped off with the members
and guests getting together for challenging games of cards that brought in
players eager to learn new games.

On Sunday morning, we were greeted by cool temperatures, which made the
piping hot coffee warm us that much more.  The wagon masters had the
remaining ham, rolls, and plenty of blueberry muffins laid out nourish us
before our departure.  Although it was sad for us to have to leave we knew
that it would only be a few more weeks before we were able to gather again.

Our next scheduled gathering is for January 24-26, 2003 at Southwind RV
Resort in Magnolia Springs, AL with that event being followed by our
February 15-18 campout at the new Island Retreat RV Park in Gulf Shores, AL.