It was a nostalgic December meeting at Renaissance on 9th. We will really miss the wonderful lunches that Chef David Meador prepared for us every month. We will also miss the accessible parking and the comfortable building, After lunch, President Phyllis Omilak presented a lovely statue of a bird to Chef Meador and to Event Manager Julie Fodor to wish them well as they spread their wings in a new enterprise. A special collection was taken up to add to the tips for the wait staff. During our years there, we have become friends with them all. We hope that Meador and Fodor find a new venue and that we can once again use their services in the fall.
After lots of exploration, the MCREA Board has chosen the IMG Golf and Country Club as our new venue until our last meeting in May. We will have a sit down lunch for the same price we were paying at Renaissance on 9th. If you haven't been there, it is a scenic venue which overlooks Sarasota Bay. There is an elevator to the second floor dining room. Parking is plentiful. This is the former El Conquistador Golf and Country Club.
Directions from the south, north, or east are to take either 14th St., 26th St., or 34th St. South to Bayshore Gardens Parkway which becomes El Conquistador Parkway after you cross 34th St. The Club will be on your left. Those coming from west Bradenton by way of 75th St., continue straight onto El Conquistador Parkway. The Club is on your right.
The meeting will begin at 11:30 as usual, with your arrival earlier to sign in, visit with friends, and find your seat. I know you will love the view.
Our entertainment at the December meeting was provided by young Lauren Maclean of the Manatee School of the Arts. She had a surprisingly strong voice and poise for her age. Brenda Osborne has been of friend of her family since she was a child and was very proud of her. And she sang Christmas music to put us all in the holiday mood.
Handbooks are ready and were available at our December meeting. If you have not picked yours up, they will be there for you at the January 18th meeting. When you receive your handbook, please check your phone number and your email address to be sure they are correct. If not, please let Elaine Waldron know.
Thank you for your donations to the Salvation Army, the Food Bank, and the children's books collection. I have just put our MCREA label in 48 great books which Deborah Thomas will deliver
to Rogers Gardens Elementary School this month. We have not chosen a school for our next books, so if you have a suggestion of a school with students who need to have their own books to take home, and if you are familiar with the principal and staff at the school, please let me, Phyllis Omilak, Susan Roe, or Deborah Thomas know. Now we must get some more books donated to fulfill that need. Remember that we insist that the books are given directly to students. They are not for the library or for a classroom library. Getting a good book into a child's hands in our aim.
The Legislature in going into session. Whether that is bad news or good news depends on your interests. Mostly, in the past years, it has been bad news for us, so we must pay close attention to their actions and be ready to email, write, or call them if we need to. Susan Davorec, Legislative Chair, will keep us advised. I will also do my best to send out any alerts that we receive from FREA. In numbers there is strength.
If you do not hear from your caller by the 13th, our intrepid Phone Committee Chair, Mary Ann Jensen, needs to hear from you. I say intrepid because she just made the most remarkable recovery from knee replacement surgery that I have ever seen. You can't keep a good woman down. Call her at 756-7603.
See you Thursday, January 18, at the IMG Country Club.
Ellen
