A few HW Photos

I will try to post a list of some of the winning costumes & sites on Monday, but for now, here are some pix from Halloween #1 at Strawberry Park.

Halloween at Strawberry Park

Looking like perfect weather for the majority of our first of 4 Halloween Weekends, with some showers probable on Sunday. Plenty of stuff happening, so check those schedules, with hypnotist Steve Wronker on Sat at 12:30 (after ceramics), costume parade and contest at 5pm, followed by trick or treating and the bonfire, with costume winners announced, and then wagon rides touring the site decorating winners. Sunday includes a magic show and pumpkin contest, as well as Bingo at 11am (Bingo is also Fri 8:30 and Sat at 2pm). Be sure to take a trip through the Haunted Hall (open Sat during the day). Mark and Chuck have been working all month to prepare, and this year will feature some local high school drama groups assisting with the guiding and scaring. A quick reminder to all seasonals that your re-bookings are due by Sept 30...would hate to see your site reserved by a new seasonal if we don't hear from you (that has happened in recent years). I guess we will have the little TV out on the deck tonight during Bingo for score updates of the Yanks and Sox game. With temps dipping into the 30's at night, the pools have been closed for the season. Just a reminder that there are 2 Halloweens before Columbus Day, and 2 HW weekends AFTER Columbus Day this year. Next season, the calendar allows for the preferred schedule of 1 HW, then Col Day and then 3 HW weekends. With the first HW happening a little early, and with Yom Kippur starting on Sunday, the last HW is actually busier than the first one (the middle two are always the busiest ones), as the last one is usually the least full. Hope the weather is this good for the rest of the fall.

Congrats to Raffle & Bingo Winners

Strawberry Park's Bingo Bonanza featured some large Bingo crowds, with Sunday morning being the biggest. Over 400 players gathered, and card sales were brisk (as were the morning temps). The "brown card session" ended with the progressive jackpot payout that had built up for much of the summer, with 2 players splitting the $1100 jackpot. As is often the case, with at least one winner, the "split" was split again with a co-player...so maybe the boys won't be getting bunk beds after all. In the green card session, the biggest winner was a young lady celebrating her birthday this weekend who wound up getting double and triple Bingo at the same time...for $675!! The SIDS Raffle was held at 12PM, with a visit from the CT Dep't of Special Revenue making sure we did everything according to the rules (and in some cases, according to unwritten rules). Jim told us that every ticket should include the name AND address of the entrant, which for many campers here this weekend was simply their site #. Sounds like a temporary address to me, but don't gripe too much if next year you need to be more complete in filling out the stub. The $2500 grand prize was awarded to Mark & Janet Swanson, seasonals on site 218. The $400 2nd prize was won by The Rogers (get well soon), while another seasonal won the $300 prize (The Arslanians). $200 went to Aaron L'Heureux, while the final prize of $100 was won by the Hurtibise family who was here for the weekend. The weekend weather could not have been much nicer, and the maintenance staff is now starting to shut down the pools for the season. Congrats also to the winning teams in our annual scavenger hunt, as over a dozen teams battled to find items such as a blue golf ball and an orange Bingo dabber. Three teams scored over 60 points (out of a possible 100), with first prize earning a $100 gift certificate. This coming weekend will feature the first of four Halloweens, and Chuck and Mark have been working hard to get the haunted hall ready in only 3 weeks this year. Other events will include a bonfire, magic show, hypnotist Steve Wronker, site decorating, costume contests and much more.

Bingo Bonanza Weekend is looking sunny but cool

As this will be the final weekend for the swimming pools, guess it is fitting that some cool nights will be bringing the water temps down a little lower. The forecast is for some nice fall weather, including some overnight lows in the 40's--might need the mittens for Friday night Bingo. If you are a minor league baseball fan, looks like the CT Defenders may have played their last game in Norwich last night, as they continue in the play-offs, but a moving of the team to VA for next year is likely. The Norwich Car Show will take place on Sunday, Sept 20 at the stadium, in the Norwich Industrial Park. This weekend also features the Preston City Congregational Church's Annual Scarecrow Festival just down the road on Saturday. If you have reservations for this weekend, be sure to pick up your raffle ticket in the office, and additional tickets are available for purchase ($10 each) in the office or at Bingo. First prize will be $2500, while additional prizes of $400, $300, $200 and $100 will be awarded. The same folks that monitor Bingo have informed the raffle sponsors that the prizes for this one must be in the form of something other than cash, so winners will receive Visa gift cards good for anywhere that Visa is accepted. Seems like some of the rules change every year. This Sunday at noon will feature the drawing, just after the progressive Bingo jackpot of $1100 is awarded to the Crazy Capital Letter "T" winner. Saturday Bingos will be at 2pm and 6pm, and this Saturday will also present our annual "Scavenger Hunt". I will give the clue to 1 item in advance on the blog, for all our followers: a stethoscope. The other 37 items will be listed and handed out at 3:30PM on Saturday. We have averaged about 10-15 teams for the past couple of years, and expect the same this weekend, although a few folks will be away due to the Rosh Hashanah holiday. Be sure to get out early on Saturday for our annual "Flea Market". Most campers will be displaying in front of their own sites, while some may set up at the ballfield as well.

Country Western Weekend stayed mostly dry

While there was plenty of mist and drizzle, not much rain fell over the weekend, which allowed us to enjoy the bonfire on Thursday evening with Double Play, as well as the other bands. John Penny performed on Friday for the first time here in years (he was here back in the early 1990's quite often), and Saturday featured The Luv-n-Country Band in the afternoon and Westwind on Saturday night. While my favorite band is still the Outriggers, and I admit that I don't know much about country music. I must say that Westwind's performance of "Runnin' Scared" might be my favorite song performed here--great job with that classic Roy Orbison tune. Sunday featured The Hard Luck Aces, who had been here on Saturday night the last couple of years, but were booked at a local country fair this year for Sat PM. We served about 125 lobster dinners--and the cooks and servers were so fast, that we ran low on the trays that usually make their way back to the kitchen after the first wave. Thanks to Glenn and his crew for the lobster and corn, while Juan in the Grill took care of the chowder and taters. While we had pretty good Bingo crowds, nothing like we will see this coming weekend for Bingo Bonanza. More on that soon.

Come Monday, as Jimmy Buffett once said

Time to get caught up a little, as Labor Day has come and gone. Actually took almost 2 full days off this week to enjoy the family. Congrats to the Long Term Campers on their victory in the annual Staff vs Campers softball game on Labor Day. I think the final score was 16-5, breaking a staff win streak of about 3 years in a row. Our Country music weekend kicks off a day early this year, with Thursday night included and a bonfire with "Double Play" tonight. Friday night features the return of the John Penny Band--it has probably been 10 years since they last performed here. Saturday includes Luv-n-Country in the afternoon and Westwind at night, with the Hard Luck Aces on Sunday. Bingo schedule is a little different, with Sat at 11am and Sunday at 2pm (no Fri night Bingo this weekend, as there is dance instruction and the concert). Will be trying to get back to much more frequent updates on the blog, now that I will be in the office a little more during the week. Don't forget that Saturday is the lobster fest dinner--still a few extra tickets left for those who may not have reserved in advance. Chuck, Mark and the crew have begun working on the Haunted House, as Halloween Weekend #1 is only a couple of weeks away. On the homefront, Reed just turned 8 months and has been crawling and attempting stairs, while Brock is getting ready for swim class and gymnastics to resume...with still very little interest in losing the diapers. Hope the weather cooperates this weekend.

Whatever happens this weekend, Yanks in 1st come Monday

I guess Yankee fans can forgive Jorge for not sliding last night, as he made up for it. Today may be one of the top 10 days of the year, in terms of weather. Looking good for Saturday, with some possible rain on Sunday afternoon. Hope to have the Outriggers poolside on Sunday evening. Saturday features "World's Smallest Quartet"--they have appeared at a couple of bonfires and have been received very well, so please be sure to catch them from 11:15-1:45 on Saturday, Aug 8 at the Adult Pool. Perfect bonfire weather last night for Don J, as well as for ant races. Fastest time of the year was recorded (4.60 seconds), with over 50 racers. This week has featured some of our largest mid-week Bingo crowds of the year, and tonight should be a very large group (Mary, Betty Ann and some other FLA folks might need a sweater, and I expect Randy to have mittens on at horseshoes on Saturday morning, with overnight lows around 50). Our Red Cross Blood Drive is coming up in a couple of weeks (Aug 29, the weekend before Labor Day). We have also started keeping horseshoe stats for the regulars...with points based on the number of entries earned for a win or a 2nd place finish. As for the boys at home, Reed has finally begun eating some jar food, which may lead to longer sleep blocks at night, while Brock is getting ready for some post-Labor Day potty training. I am sure y'all will be on the edge of your seats, so we'll try to keep you informed.