Our February 10 campout and meeting was held in conjunction with the Winter Samboree in  Dunnellon.  We had 14 member rigs present at the Samboree.  As usual, we passed out donuts one morning and also served hot dogs for lunch one day which earned us our worker stars for this Samboree.  We entered the Rig Decoration Competition and Andrea’s vision earned us a 1^st Place!  We are so lucky to have her; her ideas are legendary.  Everyone contributed something in keeping with the theme “Winter Wonderland”: Christmas trees and lights, white sheets, balloons, fire ring and fireplace, hot chocolate, marshmallows, singing voices, and “ice” skaters.  Through the week we played games and had teams entered in Bocce Ball, Bean Bag Baseball and Holey Board.  A number of individuals also played cards and dominos, walking away as first or second place winners!  We also initiated 10 new members into Fuzzy Puckers.  We met two couples who are very interested in joining Sassy Sams.  One couple was able to attend our meeting thereby getting in their first of the three visits with us required for membership.  While at the Samboree, we packed four large boxes which will be sent overseas to soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Monies earned from our Chinese Auction (held at the Fall Samboree) and the Raffle held here paid for all the “goodies” we are sending them.

Our January 10 campout was once again held at Suwannee River Hideaway in Oldtown.  Our camping weekend – just like last year – coincided with New Year’s, so we took part in the New Year’s celebration being held there.  Originally we had 10 rigs present, but by New Year’s Day we were down to 9.  One of our octogenarians decided to do the limbo at the New Year’s Eve party, fell down and broke her ankle in the process!  She was rushed to a hospital in Gainesville where she was admitted, operated on, and spend the next two days.  However, in spite of Evie’s accident and the cold, cold weather, we still managed to have a good weekend.  Luckily we found that the Lighthouse Restaurant in Fanning Springs was still open so we went there for dinner on New Year’s Day.  In less than two months time, two of our members have gotten new (well, at least new to them) RVs and many took the tours to see the new “digs”. 

Our December 09 campout was held at Ocala RV Camp Resort in Ocala.  Judy, our Wagonmaster, was lucky to get this campground for us after a misunderstanding with Ocala Sun – where we had been scheduled to go – we thought.  We had 16 rigs present at this campout.  We were still on a “high” after winning not only the theme parade at the Fall Samboree, but achieving the great success of winning the Chapter of the Year competition.  That was a complete astonishment to us.  We feel so thankful and blessed to have been recognized by others who thought we were deserving of this award.  We had a rainy weekend but our spirits were high.  The ladies made Gingerbread Houses while the men played pool or sat around and talked.  There were the usual shopping trips during the day and dinner out on Friday night too.   We had an excellent ham dinner on Saturday followed by a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus and two elves.  Gifts were exchanged – some of them again and again and again!  We’re looking forward to the Winter Samboree and ideas for the rig decoration contest are already circulating.

Fall Samboree 09 At the Fall Samboree we had 13 rigs registered and 3 other member couples joined us to help with the parade on Saturday. That level participation works out to 84% of our members being involved! In fact everyone participated in the Parade except for the person who took the pictures of us prior to and during the Parade. While at the Samboree, we volunteered to work on Security – manning the doors of the Club House and ensuring that all who entered were registered for the Samboree. Some of our members also assisted the Chapter who worked the outdoor games. A number of us also participated in various games and Jim Poe walked away with a First Place in Holey Board.
Prior to the Parade on Saturday afternoon, we spent all morning finishing costumes and putting together and decorating the calliope wagon. Thanks again to Andrea’s vision and hours of work we took First Place over five other Chapters in the “Under the Big Top” theme Parade.

Our November 09 campout was once again held at Travelers’ Rest Resort in Dade City.  We had 17 rigs present.  Not only did our hosts out do themselves with the Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, but on Friday night we had a special treat.  Andrea Oat provided us with a “Mystery Dinner”.  We all dressed in costume and took part in the skit.  She had done this for the Chapter many years ago.  The membership has changed enough over the years that there weren’t that many of the original members present.  Those that were there were our servers.  Saturday after the meeting the ladies made Christmas decorations that will be given to residents in nursing homes in Citrus and Hernando Counties.  Later in the day we had a costume fitting so Andrea could check our costumes, some of which she made and some we made ourselves, for the “Under the Big Top Parade”.  The weather was pleasant, the snacks were abundant, and the games went well.  Another good weekend for the Sassy Sams.

In October 09 we went to Sandy Oaks Campground in Beverly Hills.  We finished stuffing the plastic canvas pockets we made for the Samboree with a card noting “Compliments of Sassy Sams” (many thanks to Evie and Patti for stamping the cards for us and stuffing nearly 100 pockets by themselves!).  We gave Bob and Reba, who stopped by, over 400 pockets to put in the registrations bags.  Any extras we have will be available to give away at our Chinese Auction table.  Linda Clark, Patti Peirce, Karen Rideout, Roseann Lange, Diana Bowman, Judy Pissott, Sandy Tomson and others spent a good part of the day on both Thursday and Friday baking dog biscuits….plain, chicken-flavored, beef-flavored, bacon, peanut butter and liver.  They bagged them 3 or 6 to a bad, depending on size.  The biscuits will be sold (for donation to the Florida Guide Dogs for the Deaf) at the upcoming Samboree.  Linda reports they made 120 bags of biscuits to sell.  The campground owner even stopped by to make a purchase of several bags for her dogs.  On Saturday night we enjoyed a chicken/steak barbecue. We are anxiously waiting for our November campout – not only for the Thanksgiving dinner, but this year, Andrea is again hosting a Mystery Dinner on Friday night. 

Our September 09 campout was held at Ocala Sun RV Resort.  We were the only ones there!  In fact, the campground had been closed all summer and we were the first campers to come in to start off the fall camping season.  We had a good turnout for that Labor Day weekend:  15 member rigs. 3 drive-ins and 2 associate members.  We enjoyed a delicious breakfast on Friday morning with bacon, eggs and pancakes cooked to perfection by Gene Gullett and Karen Rideout.  They assured us this will be a regular “thing” from now on.  Diners are asked to bring something to go towards the breakfast – a dozen eggs, a box of pancake mix, a bottle of syrup, a half-gallon of orange juice, etc.  Linda Clark showed some of chemo caps (more than 30) she knitted over the summer to donate to the Cancer Center at the University of Florida’s Shands Hospital for women undergoing chemotherapy.  We didn’t play too long at our outdoor games as the weather was still quite hot and humid, but the newly remodeled clubhouse was cool, spacious and comfortable.

 .