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Swinton Ave

By Peggy Larrabee

            Swinton welcomes renter Shirley Brown from Michigan. Shirley is Joe Hitchcock's sister and has rented in our village for the past 7 years. Sara Topi's nephew, Bobby Pettinato from Utica, NY is renting in the village. Also Jackie and Ben Palubinskas from Maine have returned for the winter.
            The Biron's enjoyed their visit to Sarasota over New Years and are now looking forward to their up-coming trip to New Orleans. They shared that they will be hosting a Valentine dinner for Bob and Elaine Cook on February 14th. It is a tradition that they have shared for the years that they have lived in the village.
            Buster and Ruth Valelli are under construction at their house. It is looking great!
Dave and Bev Wallace got news that their grandson was opening a Christmas present (plastic packaging) and cut the tendon in his hand and has had to have surgery. On the same day their granddaughter fell down some stairs and through a wall but didn't get hurt badly enough to need a visit to the ER like her brother. Dave is attending a carving class through the Myakka River carving club. He is carving a wolf at the class which meets 8 hours a day. I'll bet we'll see the wolf at the craft show.
            Earl and Lanette Schmidt enjoyed a visit with their son David from Utah and daughter and granddaughter Julia Howes from Minneapolis, MN.
            Dean and I were lucky enough to have our daughter and granddaughters, Hadley 6 and Heather 15, from up-state NY, with us over Christmas. On the 24th we went to Englewood Beach for the afternoon. As Hadley and I were walking onto the beach she said "Grandma, Twas the night before Christmas and they went to the beach"..and I thought...catchy and cute and thoughtful for a 6 year old. Later as I was walking her to the bathroom a lady sitting nearby spoke to us. She said had heard what Hadley said and loved it. She passed me a poem she had written using Hadley's opener...

TWAS THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS
AND WE WENT TO THE BEACH
SHARKS TEETH AND SHELLS
WERE ALL WITHIN REACH
MANY PEOPLE WERE STIRRING
ALL LOOKING SO PLEASED
EVEN THE LADIES IN BIKINIS
WITH BOOBS TO THEIR KNEES
ME IN MY VISOR AND DAD IN HIS BALLCAP
HAD JUST SETTLED DOWN
FOR A WARM SUN NAP
WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN
THERE WAS SUCH A NOISE
I FLIPPED UP MY VISOR
TO HAVE A PEAK AT THE BOYS
IT WAS A SIGHT TO BEHOLD
AS WE WATCHED THESE YOUNG FELLAS
BANGING AND POUNDING AND CURSING THEIR UMBRELLAS
MUCH TO MY PLEASURE THEY COULDN'T DO WRONG
AS THEY WERE ALL WORKING IN BRIGHTLY COLORED THONGS
THEY HEARD ME EXPLAIN AS DAD DRAGGED ME OUT OF THERE
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL...HERE AND EVERYWHERE

BLOCK PARTY for Swinton/Varley is March 11.  Mark your calendars.  Earl Schmidt will be knocking on your door the end of February to collect for the party.

Thor Court

By Jean Leader

            Gosh!  The season is just going too fast.  We          already made our reservation for the Auto train in May.

            Well anyway, Bob and I had a fun filled holiday season.  Twelve of us went to Howard’s Restaurant from the Village and four more friends from Rotunda for Christmas Dinner.  We then went to B.J. & Gene Saville’s lovely home for coffee and dessert.   My daughter Linda and her family came for our Christmas Party a week before Christmas.  A special gift was a box of goodies from the Forties.  So many things we forgot about.  Chocolate cigarettes, bun candy bar, Sen-Sen (breathalizers) remember them?  Taffy bars, crows, Boston baked beans and lots more.

            Jane Gelson made cookies for the neighbors.  They were scrumptious.  Thanks again Jane.

            New neighbors John and Darlene Chiloyan have arrived.  John came first while Darlene was recuperating from Surgery.  They are working like Trojans on their house.  It looks like a lot of love has gone into it.  John and Darlene are from Connecticut.  Welcome!

            Rita Robertson just arrived, looks wonderful and ready to get into the social whirl.  Her granddaughter had a baby girl so now Rita is a great grandma.  She told me about the snow storm on October 29^th when 15 inches of snow was dumped on them.  She lost power for three days and no phone.  Since then there hasn’t been any snow at all.  She also lives in Connecticut.

            Judy and Barry Armstrong arrived from their home in West Virginia on December 17^th.  They spent Christmas with Judy’s sister Lois on the East coast.  Their summer was a good one traveling to visit family and friends in Pa., Conn., NJ and Indiana.  They also traveled to W. Virginia and the Tri-State area with their grandson and grand-daughter to cheer them on in Golf competitions.  They’re glad they are here and that they don’t have to travel for awhile.

            Our friends Marilyn and Bill from Cape Canaveral joined Bob & I for New Year’s Eve at the Recreation Hall.  Can’t believe it’s 2012, and we’re still going strong.

            Hey guys, take your sweetie out to dinner for Valentine’s Day.  Happy Valentine’s Day!