Date Festival

Well it is Time for The Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival and we made it for the first time since we have been coming to Indio. So just what is the Date Festival? I guess I can just tell you what we did and what we didn’t do.
We did not take any of the rides. We didn’t even venture into that area. However on of the “rides” was not in the all you can take for $23 it was $25 for one ride. That was the Ejection Seat or sling shot to me. You get in this seat with your friend if you have any and they hook the chair down while they pull up the cables to tighten the Cord and then shoo you into the air to fall back down and bounce back up again. I timed it you get about 5 up and downs and 50 seconds for your $25. We for many they also got some screams. I just walked by that little machine.
Ok we did go to the races. There were Camel and Ostrich races and then they had kids from the audience chance chicken and emus for two other races. For the ostrich they rode bare back and had them pull wagons. In all the races there seemed to be problems that the animals did not always cooperate.
We went to see Rosaire’s Bears, a man and his two sons’ with 5 bears, two grizzly bears and 3 European Black bears. They did all the tricks of pushing another in carts, riding motorcycle, balancing on barrel. It is a fun act and I was amazed at how well trained the bears were.
Of course you have to have the BBQ dinner and we chose the turkey leg with beans and cabbage to share, a little messy but good. We ate this while we were waiting to see the Arabian Night Pageant. The pageant was a big production and a little hokey at times but fun. I guess it was not what I had expected.
More pictures can be seen on the Flicker account.

I won!

Well I finally won a tennis match. Maybe I have to give credit to my mixed partner, Pauline, who is also my singing partner. We won our first round match so will be in the semifinals next Monday. The next match could be a tough one. The pair we are playing won the mixed about 4 years ago.
We also had the Lobster Feed. It was great food and we did some singing including so sing-a-long. So once again activity based on food and dink. Marilyn does not like the mess of eating whole lobster but for me it is part of the fun and enjoyment of the meal. Yes things can be messy but nothing you should worry about.
Maybe it is just Valentine’s Day but it seems we have a lot of anniversaries that are being celebrated around here. And these are the 50 to 60 year celebrations. We are off to one tonight and I will be taking pictures.

On Stage Again

Well Pauline and I had our first chance to sing for a group last night. It was nice to get back to performing for and audience after all the practicing. It was a very nice group. The golf mixer is always held close to Valentines Day and they spend the day playing golf and end the day with a nice dinner. So we had a very nice crowd and they seemed to enjoy it. We even got a box of chocolates for each of us after we sang. I hope that doesn’t get back to the people that want everything done by volunteers at RCB.
I had invited Pauline and her husband as well as Ruth, our accompanist, and her husband to come by for fondue after the performance but unfortunately both husbands were sick so it was just me and three wonderful ladies. Maybe another time the husbands will be feeling better. We had a good time but had more food than we needed for just the four of us.
It was a busy day for me. The night before was the Valentines Dance and I had taken pictures of the couples at the dance. So I had 101 pictures to process and get printed. Thanks to Costco, it was all done by 2 PM. I think they all turned out nice. Some of the pictures were a little dark and I think the battery was getting low and the flash was not getting a full charge. I had to crop each picture and paste in the message on the hearts. That is the nice think about having blank hearts, you can just put in what you want.

Tennis At RCB

Well it is tennis tournament time at RCB. The draw is out and I am playing in the “A” division again this year. I have played my first two matches and Marilyn has played her first and it looks like there will not be a champion in this household this year unless it is a consolation championship.
My singles was a match I didn’t feel I could win but actually did better than I thought and admit there were times I even thought I could win. My opponent is called the roadrunner so I had to play all out hitting to both lines and hitting hard. The bad thing is at my ability you miss some of those shot as you go from one side of the court to the other.
In the mixed competition my partner is also my singing partner Pauline and Marilyn’s partner is the guy that beat me in the singles. Pauline and Marilyn are opponents in the consolation round of the women’s doubles. Sine it is hard to get a picture of myself playing I will put in one of Marilyn and Pauline.
For the most part it is fun and everone has a good time. However my doubles partner in the men’s doubles does have a tendency to just quit at times and not really try. That happened in the second match today when he just doesn’t even try to hit a good shot and his body language makes it clear that he as quit.

Food! Food! Food!

Much of what happens at RCB seems to revolve around food. Of course that is not the best if you are wanting to lose weight. Just last Friday there was the Tri Tip dinner in clubhouse 1, in clubhouse 2 was a birthday potluck for the local drummer Diannia with several of the bands playing, and I don’t know how many other private parties in which food was eaten.
We attend a deck party at Anne and Hal’s place. It was 18 tennis players and we had drinks and food. I had to include a couple of pictures from that gathering. I had to put in two because the men sat at one end of the deck and the women at the other end so I would not get both men and women if I did not put in two pictures. The main dish was lasagna and the rest of us supplied salad and dessert. Tonight I had to cook but then Monday is the Potato Bake a private party where two couples provide potato and toppings while we bring salad and dessert. That should be about 40 people. Tuesday is the Tennis potluck and that be followed Friday with the lobster dinner or Nova Scotia night? I will also be singing at that. Thursday there is the golf mixer which is a dinner but I will only be singing a couple of love songs with Pauline my singing partner. We will not stay for dinner but gather on our deck after words for fondue with Ruth our pianist. Of course we will allow our spouses to attend also.

Big Star

Well we are in the middle of Big Star. We had one show last night and will have another one tonight. This is the lip-sync show that is produced at RCB. It is not my kind of show and I would never appear on stage for this show but that does not mean it doesn’t have a big following here. Marilyn is part of the show with a presentation of an ABBA song with three of our friends. I of course am running lights. When you are working lights you don’t always choose what you work.
The show is big on costumes and dance. The people really get into it but don’t always get all the words memorized. To me it is too much show and little talent. Some people do very well but it is a chance for anyone to get on stage and get that rush of lights and applause. It is very well accepted by the people at RCB and raises thousands of dollars for the activities at RCB. It does have a large costume expense but the work is all done by volunteers so there is a lot of money to be made.
One of the interesting things when you work lights on a show where most of the people have very little experience on stage is that they don’t always hit the same spot. That just means that I have to watch and be ready to adjust the slides on my controls. We are not using a follow spot so it is all done with basically 6 lights that cover the stage and two set for the two announcers that are working the show. One of the men doing the announcing has a lot of experience and the other is learning but both are doing a good job. We are facing some problems with the sound system but have covered most of that. We did meet with a sound company this last week about getting a complete system of the quality that we need. At this point we have many parts that have been purchased and try to piece them together. It would be nice to get a designed system. For me it is also interesting because I have never worked this side of the stage but knowing what you want and some basic understanding of how it is done and I seem to be ahead of many people.

Tea Dance

Along about time for Happy Hour, or Tea Time if you wish, you will find the residents of RCB gathering on their decks for the social hour. One couple says even their dog knows when the four o’clock hour approaches. Well we had a special day last week when our own RCB band turned their practice time into a free dance. Ok, I will admit that one of the band members is from Happy Wonderer RV Park that is about 2 blocks away but we call it our band.
Now that puts together two things the people enjoy Happy Hour and FREE. We had between 150 and 180 people gathered in the clubhouse with bottle and snacks in hand for two hours of music and dancing. The day was a success and many people danced while some just listened. Marilyn and I danced a number of times and I would have to say it was one of the better dances we have had this year. Many of the dances are recorded music with DJ or single performer while here we had and eight piece band and a singer. They did a great job and we hope they will get a chance to perform again for a dance.