Norwich Narwhals for 2011

The CT Defenders have headed for warmer weather, becoming the Richmond Flying Squirrels (did I ever tell you about Jen and I chasing the flying squirrels that used to get into the house at night? Tough to catch, as they would just glide down the stairwell, eluding the net...but that's a different story). Great name for a team, as the Connecticut Defenders lacked a certain appeal with the 3-15 year-old fan base (they used to love the Gator...which reminds me that former SP swimming pool employee Chris Chastang has become a Norwich police officer, but that's a different story also, as I think he was Gator one summer, but I may be wrong). Meanwhile, back at the farm, it looked like Norwich might be without a minor league baseball team for 2010, but they have swept in and stolen the Oneonta Tigers (sorry if you are one of the 691 fans who used to attend games there). Unlike the SF Giants AA Eastern League affiliate, this is the NY/Penn Rookie League, and is a much shorter season (no need to deal with 50 fans sipping hot chocolate in April). Mid-June through Labor Day, with many players being those recently selected in the yearly draft...so you will get to see some heralded, raw prospects. Also, there are Red Sox and Yankee teams in this league (Lowell, MA and Staten Island). Since this relocation is happening so late, the team will retain the "Tigers" name for 2010, but the push has begun to name the team for 2011. Years ago, when Norwich first landed a minor league team, they had a naming contest...and the Navigators won. Not a bad name, and a decent mascot (Tater the Gator, based on "tater" being a nick-name for a home run, and Gator being an abbreviation of Navigator, in case you had not figured that one out. Starting to think the server is down again, aren't you? Nope). I submitted the Norwich Narwhals and I am resuming the campaign for 2011. It would be great horned hats, a tribute to the Defenders (the USS Narwhal was a sub built in Groton in the 60's), and the alliteration of Norwich Narwhals. How can you beat that? Of course, I would enlist local artist Pamela Zagarenski to draw the official logo (she is from Preston and used to work at Strawberry Park, and was just honored with a Caldecott medal for her illustrations in the book "Red Sings from Treetops"--see image above--which reminds me of another story, but I have digressed enough today). So remember, when you come camping, support the local team...and when the time comes, vote for the Norwich Narwhals.

Entertainment Calendar now posted

Thank goodness the computer server is back in action today (as you may have been able to tell from yesterday's rambling blog), as we have added a new feature to the Strawberry Park website...the Entertainment Calendar!! This Google application can be found under the "Events and Activities" section, and opens a calendar that lists the featured entertainment for the year. As most bands and performers have not yet been booked for the poolside shows or Thursday night bonfires, you won't yet find all the particular names of the bands yet...but they will be updated as confirmed. If you don't want to scroll through the various months, you can view in "agenda" mode (and from there you could use your "ctrl-F" function to find a particular name). Keep in mind that there may be times when a band needs to switch dates, but things should be pretty accurate. Again, we have not listed every event, like kickball and wagon rides, but have included ceramics, Bingo and any live entertainment or special events (like Mud Wrestling). Hope you find it helpful. It is actually snowing much more than I anticipated today here in Preston. On a different note, I have continually forgotten to mention that Seafood Etc has re-opened after a fire destroyed the business in the spring. Many campers make the 10 minute trek into Norwich to get fresh seafood, and I suggest the Portugese stuffed clams.

Jingo and the Atoll

Must admit that I try to avoid anything too controversial or political on our blog, but every now and then, we come across something on the web or on Facebook that makes you wonder. Had read a little snippet regarding the successful raising of charitable funds for the disaster in Haiti, attempting to redirect the donations to other, more regional causes. Reminded me of a story..."Jingo and the Atoll". Jingo, his wife Xeno and their daughter lived in a small New England town. They made a decent living, but were by no means affluent. After hearing about a natural disaster that had struck a foreign land, their daughter asked about making a small contribution to the relief effort. Jingo and Xeno explained to her that there was no need to worry herself about those who were not U.S. citizens. A few months later, a hurricane ravaged the Gulf Coast, causing many deaths and leaving thousands homeless. The plea for aid was omnipresent, and the young girl again asked her parents about offering some form of help. She was told that those people chose to live in a region that could be subjected to such weather catastrophes, and with no relatives in that neck of the woods, they needed to select charitable causes closer to home. The little girl accepted their answer. Just days later, a fire swept through an apartment complex in the city that was nearest their hometown. The other kids in her class brought coats, gloves and canned goods for the families who had become displaced. Again, her attempt to do the same was met with resistance, as the vast majority of those put out in the cold were not of the same ethnicity as the little girl. Another year passed, and times grew tougher for everyone. Word was received of a terrible car accident just down the road that had claimed the life of a neighbor's wife and child, a classmate of the young girl. Certainly, she thought, if there were ever a cause to support this would be the one, as the funeral costs were an incredible burden for the sole surviving member of the tragedy. She was mistaken, as Jingo and Xeno explained that there was really only one family that mattered greatly to them, that being their own. Just prior to entering high school, the little girl was diagnosed with a severe kidney ailment, and would need a transplant. Tests were done, and luckily, Jingo was found to be a perfect match for his only child. No other family members, be they near or distant, were acceptable donors, but Xeno and her daughter were relieved that help was so near. However, Jingo informed his wife and daughter that he was unwilling to sacrifice one of his own kidneys, fearing his other might fail him years down the road. After all these years, Xeno finally saw her husband for what he really was. "I too used to care about others like our daughter does. Your selfishness was contaigous, and contaminated my generous nature." She informed Jingo that she and the girl could no longer have him as part of the family. Jingo packed his belongings and chartered a small, private boat to an uninhabited tropical archipelago. He stood on the beach and shouted the chorus from his favorite S&G tune..."I am a rock. I am an island. And a rock feels no pain. And an island never cries." Back at home, his daughter received a kidney from an organ donor who had perished in a natural disaster in the Caribbean. When she was strong enough, she ventured to the beach. It was an utterly calm day, and as she stood in the still ocean waters, she shed a tear of joy for her newfound hope. The single tear caused a magnificent ripple that grew into a tsunami that enveloped Jingo's atoll. No one mourned his passing. The end. All I'm saying is that for those who complain about assisting the Haitians (and I'm not talking about those adhering to wacko Pat Robertson) with the argument that there is hunger and poverty and other needs here in our homeland, that is all well and good if you are then doing something about those issues...but don't use those causes as excuses and then be doing nothing for nobody. I guess this would be a tough children's book to market and illustrate. Plus, people would intentionally pronounce "atoll" like what they would want to call Jingo, with the "at-ole" manner. In case you were wondering, the server was down for maintenance for an hour this afternoon, so I was a little limited on my ability to be productive in other ways. Have a great day!!

If a tree falls on a trailer, and no one is there...

If you live in the northeast, you are aware of yesterday's storm causing numerous power outages and road closings. We had a couple of big trees come down, with some damage to a rental unit and to one of our seasonals near the washer courts (we have already contacted him, and maybe he can use the photo for his insurance). Everything else out there seems OK, and we did not lose power for any length of time, but those winds were impressive. With the rain causing the trees to become waterlogged and heavy, they were prime for shedding some limbs. Just mailed a reminder to all seasonals about the new website, Facebook, the blog, January payments and the upcoming RV Shows. Mentioned that we are about 80 fans away from our next Facebook raffle, and will also conduct another raffle once we reach 50 reviews on TripAdvisor and 75 reviews on the "Go Camping America" website. Also, a note went out to the unit owners regarding the upcoming budget meeting, and also mentioned some electric savings that we will be seeing by choosing an alternate provider. I'll spend another day's blog detailing that sometime soon.

Who dat? Saints heading to Miami

Take the brown bags off your heads Saints' fans, as the team is Super Bowl bound. Thanks to the self-destructing Favre, fumble-happy Vikes and generous officials, New Orleans must have experienced an early Mardi Gras celebration on Bourbon Street last night. Must admit, the Colts will be a whole 'nother animal, so to speak. Back to the homefront, here comes the rain. At least it is temps like FLA had a few weeks ago, and a nice breeze off the water. Got to see a few of our favorite campers on Saturday as we joined Lexi and her family at Wright's Chicken palce out there in Burrillville RI (about as far away in RI as you can get). Interesting place, with hundreds of people lined up for all you can eat chicken. They run a good operation. Brock and Reed were very happy to see Lexi and hear tales of the recent cruise taken by a few SP campers (I hope Jorge is no longer sea-sick, and that Joanne has come out of her hypnotized state of mind and everyone has gotten the beads out of their dreads). Most of you know Kenny F who does activities (Lexi's big brother), but you may not recognize him as he has been unable to cut his hair since the Yankees won the World Series, as part of losing a bet. Guess it must remain uncut until opening day. Congrats to Nick on getting his driver's license. Sadly, in other camper news, we have been informed that Eileen Hackett of site 109F (the pop-up camper near the horseshoe pits) has passed away. Some of you may know her kids, or even her grandkids, including Pamela and Tyler. She was a Bingo fan who always counted on someone sitting next to her to echo her Bingo yell, as her voice was very faint. Here is the obituary http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/njherald/obituary.aspx?page=notice&pid=138821704, and any cards may be sent to 5 Robin's Ter in Highland Lakes NJ 07422.

Making reservations for your friends

You would be surprised how many folks who battle the phone lines on January 2 to make camping reservations at Strawberry Park wind up having their reservations canceled for lack of payment. Most times, it is folks making additional reservations for their friends, who then fail to follow through. While we do require a deposit within 7 days of reserving, if we don't hear from those campers, we send out a little reminder notice. Sadly, if we still have not heard from you, we have no choice but to cancel the reservation, as there are already folks on a waiting list for certain sites and areas for specific dates. Some campers call and let us know they are mailing a check, or that they are only able to pay part of the deposit now, and the remainder will be sent in a couple of weeks. We are more than willing to work with you, but we do need to hear back from those who receive the non-payment notices. Often, someone is part of a multi-site reservation...and if they are canceled, it might create a site gap within the group, which could be filled by another camper who is not part of the group (and probably does not really want to be smack-dab in the middle of 5 other sites who are all together). We do try to re-adjust groups that have had a site in the middle canceled, but that is not always possible. Looks like it was fairly busy at the Boston RV Show, especially on Saturday. We will draw the Facebook RV Show Raffle winners a little later today. We have started getting more visitors on the weekends looking for seasonal sites. There are a couple of current seasonals that we have tried to reach about rebooking, but if we have not heard from you by now, chances are that your site is already reserved by someone else for the upcoming season. Once again, if they had just let us know, we would have been happy to hold the site a little longer if needed. No camping shows for a couple of weeks, but then there are 2 big ones on President's Day Weekend, in Springfield and in Suffern NY. That also happens to be Valentine's Day Weekend this year. I am guessing that Jen is not too thrilled that I will be running a conference championship wrestling tourney on Friday and Saturday, and have to be at the state meetings all day on Sunday Feb 14. Maybe we can go out on Thursday instead. Congrats to the Saints, Vikings, Colts and Jets. Take our survey on the Super Bowl teams. On A&E tonight, something about some ghosts at an inn right here in Preston, right next door to my childhood home. I don't particularly remember any ghostly visits as a kid, but my memory is foggy...and I am not sure if they travel to see the neighbors.

Boston RV Show January 15-18

For many years, Boston was one of the biggest shows in the northeast, and it ran for 9 days. I still recall one year when it ended on a Sunday that the Patriots were in the Super Bowl, and they expected all exhibitors to stay until 5PM...even though the place was empty by 2:00. Might have been back in 1997. The Boston show was not held last year, and Foxboro RV Show saw some big crowds in a small space. Boston returns to the Bayside Expo this year for a long weekend, with hours on Friday through Monday. Stop by our booth, as Allison will be there for most of the time, and Brenton will be helping on Saturday. The weather looks OK, with some possible precip on Sunday or Monday...and crowds won't be diminished by Patriot play-offs. Sadly, I won't get to see much of my Saints on Saturday, as I will be running a wrestling tourney over in Griswold (the Wolverines had a big win over Montville last night, with Jeff T, a Grill & Creamery staff member contributing a key pin). Also have a JV event on Monday, so hopefully Jen will bring the boys to the gym, as I will be there for a long couple of days. We enjoyed Reed's 1st birthday party last Sunday, and apologize for the parking struggles on the snowy driveway. Reed loved his little cake, and Brock liked singing the birthday song so much, that it has been requested at bedtime all week. He was also very concerned about Reed getting his shots at the doctor today for his one year visit. Both boys were very well behaved at the service for Carol Nardi yesterday, but it is not easy explaining to Brock about being quiet in church. Speaking of quiet, it is nice to hear the phones ringing again for summer reservations, as things get pretty quiet here in December, before the rush of January callers. Still sites for all dates, but rentals for Cajun are almost full, and sites with full hook-ups for Memorial Day and Bluegrass will probably be sold out in another couple of weeks. Lots of folks excited about Marty Stuart for bluegrass weekend, as I guess he has a weekly TV show...and many dedicated followers. Despite the slight resemblance, I don't believe he is related in any way to Brit rocker Rod Stewart (or "Year of the Cat" singer Al Stewart, which is probably why they spell it differently). For Cajun/Zydeco, Donna the Buffalo will be back...and they will also be at the Mohegan Sun a couple of weeks before appearing at Strawberry Park. Time to enjoy some of this sunshine and warm temps!!

Passing of Carol Nardi, site 304

Following a lengthy illness, Carol Nardi of site 304 has passed away. While the obituary will be appearing in the Brockton (MA) Enterprise on Tuesday, arrangements have already been made for a service at the Preston City Congregational Church (across from the firehouse) on Wednesday, January 13 at 11AM. We at Strawberry Park send our condolences to her entire family.

RV Show Facebook Raffles About to Begin

Today will be the first of our RV Show Raffles, with the winners being drawn from our Facebook Fans. At 3PM, Mary will call us from Hartford (if she remembers), and we will refresh our website homepage. A selected camper at the show will pick either the top or bottom row, and then a number from 1-5 to correspond with the 10 random faces who appear at that moment on our group of fans. The lucky winner will earn a $25 Strawberry Park credit on their account...and we will do the same on Sat & Sun. On Monday, we will draw the grand prize winner of a $100 credit on account. The theory is that there will be campers at the RV Show who will go home and become a fan of Strawberry Park on FB, thereby visiting our website. We shall see if the plan works, as we currently have 327 fans. If it fails, all of you who are already fans will have greater odds of winning. Looks like the slight snow this morning is over, and the weekend should be clear but cold. Not sure if I would want to be in the bleachers in Foxboro on Sunday. Tough night for the Texas quarterbacks in the BCS Bowl last night, between injury and futility (although the sub rebounded well in 2nd half). When Reed had some birthday cake the other day, he got blue frosting all over his face. I would say he looked like a smurf, but to be more hip, I guess he looked like an Avatar (if I had seen the film, perhaps I would name a particular character...but I can't). Reminded me of Lenny W's comment about his child looking like the Joker from Batman (red stuff on his face)...and Lenny went classic Cesar Romero, rebuffing the Heath L comparisons. If you don't recall Lenny (AKA Rob), he is one of the few folks who are consistently witty on Facebook (no offense to the rest of you, but have to rank him & Jeannine M high...something funny about those SP kids from the 80's). Speaking of Facebook, Jen has set up a FB page for the BG Fest and the CZ Fest, and we have attempted to become fans of most of the performers due to appear in June. Most BG bands have FB pages, but most CZ groups do not. If you would like to join, search StrawberryPark Bluegrass or StrawberryPark Cajun-Zydeco. Note that SP is one word on these pages...and we won't be doing as many updates as on our regular SP Fan page. Have a great weekend, and enjoy the NFL playoffs.

RV Show Season is Upon Us

This coming weekend features the Hartford RV & Camping Show at the Convention Center, the first big camping show of the year. That will be followed by the return of the Boston RV Show on Jan 15-18, and then many more to follow. Stop by and say hello, as it looks like Mary, Allison and Emily will be at the booth this weekend in Hartford. As much as Jen & I would like to be there, we have Reed's 1st birthday party this weekend. He turned 1 yesterday (also a Happy 3rd Birthday to Lily on site 110). If you are joining us on Sunday for Reed's party, the Patriots play at 1pm, so some folks might get there early to catch the first half. The driveway is a bit slick, so bring your hiking boots. Jen and I attempted to attend the wake for Patrick and his mom last night, but with what appeared to be approximately 400-500 people in line, after about an hour, we had to get back to the sitter and Reed's melting cake. Our apologies to Pat Sr for being unable to make it inside, as we did say quite a few Strawberry Park staff members among the crowd.

Passing of Patrick Perkins Jr

Patrick Perkins Jr (age 18) and his mother Darlene Miles passed away on New Year's Eve in a one-car accident in Griswold, shortly before midnight. Patrick worked at the Grill & Creamery, and was a very outgoing worker. He maintained a positive outlook, and enjoyed helping others. I will always remember him as the kid who would bring me a lemonade refill at Bingo on hot days without me even asking. Many of our campers will recall him if you see his picture shown here from the story in the NL Day (although that photo is a couple of years old) or in the obituary in today's Norwich Bulletin (photo can't be seen in online version). His father, Patrick Sr, worked on our security staff in 2008, and early in 2009 before needing to take time off due to an ankle injury, while Patrick Jr's grandmother Noreen has been part of our housekeeping staff. Calling hours are on Tuesday, January 5 from 5pm-7pm at Gagne Piechowski in Griswold. Additional information can be found at the links below. Strawberry Park sends our condolences to the entire family.

http://www.legacy.com/norwichbulletin/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=138148650

http://www.theday.com/article/20100102/NWS01/301029929