Good Morning:

At the Board meeting held on March 16, the new Ramada sound system was formerly initiated, and it functioned beautifully. With the new cordless microphone, the sound is uniform throughout the entire Ramada area, with very little spill-over into areas outside of the structure. Many thanks to all who made this long-needed system a reality. In addition to its use for public address, it will play music from all types of media with excellent fidelity.

On St. Patrick’s Day, about 100 people enjoyed a specially prepared dinner at Sunset Ramada, consisting of traditional Irish fare. It was a beautiful 80 plus degree evening, and with our new sound system, made especially pleasant with the strains of Irish music playing in the background. Our hats are off to the Hospitality Committee for their hard work and a wonderful evening. The dinner was limited to 100 persons, and was, of course, a total sell-out. When they announce an affair, the best advice is to make your arrangements to come early if you don’t want to be disappointed.

The annual appreciation dinner for EE volunteers was held at Sunset Ramada on March 21. It was a very nice catered affair, during which the EE Volunteer of the Year award was made to Charlotte Petry. More than 100 EE volunteers were in attendance, and it was a very nice evening. Charl’s many years of effort in making sure the Periodico and the community directory were delivered to all residents made her an obvious choice for the award, among many qualified potential recipients. It was unfortunate that our webmaster Craig Surprise, and his wife Cynthia, two volunteers who have contributed so much to EE, could not be present this year.

A beautiful new and very colorful tiled bench has been placed in Sunset Park, courtesy of the children of Lance and Tess Ewing. The inscription on the bench reflects well the love of the Ewings for Esperanza Estates.

If you have any photos of Esperanza Estates, its activities, or just photos of interest around Green Valley that relate to the area and life here that you would like to see on our EE website, email them to webmaster Craig Surprise for use on the site. Craig email address can be found on the site, by clicking on Contacts and Disclaimers on the left side of the home page. Credit to the photographer will be given for all photos used. In this regard, be sure and check out the new photos that have been posted, covering our St. Patrick’s Day dinner, pickleball, and also the Volunteer‘s dinner just held. Go to the website and click on Recent Activities on the left hand side of the page to see these photos. If you were at either of the dinners you just might see yourself. Many thanks again to Craig for posting these.

Please note that the pool hours will change from winter to summer on April 1. The summer hours are 6 am to 9 pm.

The Green Valley Food Bank is still seeking any citrus fruit you may have that you don’t need. They will supply pickers to come to your home and pick it, or you can deliver it to their offices on Continental. Call 625-5252 to make arrangements. The Food Bank is getting hit pretty hard these days because of the state of the economy, and they badly need any donations they can get for their clients. The editor has lemons and ruby-red grapefruit available for a few days before calling the food bank, so if you are an EE resident and would like a few (no charge) call 399-0455.

Last Tuesday we had 18 players at pickleball. All 4 courts were busy and we had people waiting to play. The same thing Thursday. Since the new court surface and with Gary Beatty’s help as our coach/instructor, the tennis court has gotten more use over the past 6 months than it has for many years. In fact, it has been renamed as the Esperanza Tennis & Pickleball Court. New players continue to show up, and Gary has them playing at a high level of competence in a few short hours. Come up and try this game, and you will be hooked. We play Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in the morning hours. The Tuesday and Thursday play is 10 until 12; Wednesday it is 10:30 to 12:30; however the hours are being adjusted due to the weather warming up. Players, please note the following changes: March 24 and 31, play from 9 to 11; April 7 and 9 from 9 to 11, and each Tuesday and Thursday thereafter 8 to 10. Wednesday play will continue from 10 to 12. Watch this space for further details, as future times may change due to increasingly warm weather. Incidentally, Gary and his wife Gay were specially honored guests at the annual Volunteers Appreciation dinner last Saturday. Gary has donated countless hours to improving our court and to teaching pickleball to our residents, and we are most appreciative for his help.

(Link to a story about Caller ID scam expired.  The essence of the scam: if you get a call to 'confirm' any credit card or other financial account info and the Caller ID on your phone reads 'Bank of America' or something related to where they claim to be calling from, do not give any information to caller; instead, tell them you will call back at their '800' number and hang up.)

Many thanks to Jim Sage for expanding the memorial brick area at Sunset Ramada, doubling its size. Jim also installs the bricks in this area when they return from the engraver, arranging them in uniform patterns. There is a plan in the works to offer a substantial number of memorial bricks for sale to our residents this fall as a fund raiser. Watch the Memo for details as they will be developing over the next few months. This is an excellent way to create a permanent memorial for a loved one, a friend, a special date, an event, a pet, (there will be a special area for pet memorials) or anything else that occupies a special place in your heart, and is something that you will be leaving forever. In additional, it helps your HOA, as all proceeds are used for enhancements to our Ramada--the very place your brick will always remain.

Have a good week.

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