HOMEOWNERS' HOTLINE
by Edna Lacey
John and I returned to Treasure Cay from Minnesota on 14th January to some of the worst January weather we have experienced in our quarter of a century visiting this earthly paradise. It was still good to be back here, even though we left our family basking in abnormally warm weather for that time of year. Before we left, we had several days with highs above freezing and there was no snow to be seen anywhere! Unbelievable!
We spent five weeks in Minnesota during the holiday season and we were fortunate to have both our children and their families with us. It was a delight to spend Christmas with our three grandchildren Katie (5), Alex (3) and Justin (10 months) and to witness the older ones learn of its true meaning. It was wonderful, too, to see their eyes as big as saucers as they unwrapped the many presents that their overindulgent parents and grandparents had put under the tree in Santas name. I cooked a traditional English Christmas dinner, complete with Christmas pudding with rum sauce and bonbons.
We returned to see many dear friends and homeowners who had stayed for the holidays and braved the high winds and heavy rains induced by the infamous El Niño. Among them are Bill and Betty Richardson, Isik and Erika Erim whose new home is growing by leaps and bounds, Jean English, Peggy and Charlie Morgan, Ron Wilson, Pete and Molly Plumb, Bruce and Doreen Barth, Ron and Astrid Jackson, George and Carolyn Stern, and Cynthia and Paul Vernall. We learned, sadly, that Jackie Wilson was off the island caring for her ailing daughter and four grandchildren. Haste ye back, Jackie! You and they are in our prayers.
Among those who had returned while we were gone were Tom and Helen Bourne, Roy and Audrey Baker-Romain, Bob and Trudy Collins, Bill and Myrna Floyd, Frank and Patty Kay, Jerry and Helen Shelly, Dairell and Anna Snapp, and Brian and Nadine Sheehe. Roy and Audrey have since returned to their home in Bosham, England, but we look forward to their return in March. The Shellys are here for the season and both will be busy organising the Sand Bank Yacht Club social programme for 1998. Fortunately, the Bournes and Sheehes plan to stay well into April. It was good to see them all looking so well and so relaxed. Dairell and Anna stayed long enough to supervise the Sand Bank Yacht Club Change of Watch Dinner and then - by gosh - they were gone, to allow Dairell a week's fishing with Bill Floyd and their sons on the Amazon River. Joy Fowler is back from her home in Jersey, Channel Islands, along with her good friend Jo, a frequent Treasure Cay visitor. Chris Fowler will join Joy for a week at the end of February and, again, for the month of April.
The floodgates of those returning from spending the holidays off the island have since opened wide. The list includes Alex and Helen von Svoboda, Nelson and Patty Radwan, Bil and Ruth Nymark, Buddy Gerald and Linda, John and Margaret Bahen, Judy Beck, Nancy Darnell, Peter and Vivienne Van de Weil, Bill Bulger, Keith and Peggy McCord, and Bill and Dorothy Rodgers. Welcome back to all of you!
The big Lacey news is our new kitchen. Bernard Sawyer, proprietor of BJ's Cabinet Builders, and his very able crew tore out the old kitchen, including its retaining wall, and built us a new one from scratch. I can't speak too highly of the quality of their work, their attention to detail and their willingness to work very long hours in order to meet our time constraints. Each day, no matter how late the hour, they cleaned up after themselves. I truly believe that the only person more proud of the result than I am is Bernard. Of course, I'm having trouble wondering where I've put things, having moved everything around. Ah well ....
I continue to need input from all Treasure Cay homeowners. So please call me and let me hear of your happenings, no matter how large or small.
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