OAKSIDE OBSERVER

January, 2018
And a very Happy New Year to you all! Have you made your New Year’s
Resolutions? The top Resolutions made are to Stay Fit and Healthy, to
Lose Weight, Enjoy life to the fullest, Spend less and Save More, and to
Spend More Time with Family and Friends. Do these sound familiar?
The tradition of a New Year’s Resolution is most common in the Western
Hemisphere, but it is also found in the Eastern hemisphere. Only about 8%
of people actually keep their resolutions, so if you have, Congratulations!
As Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “Write it on your heart that every day is the
best day in the year,” and from Oprah Winfrey, “Cheers to a new year and
another chance to get it right.”
Christmas Cards: 1,628 Christmas cards were delivered, at no cost, in
the Park. Thanks to all our “Oakside mailpersons”
From the President’s Corner: Happy New Year to each of you. I hope
the year brings everyone happiness and pleasure at being here with us at
Oakside.
With many new faces now here, please be mindful of asking newcomers to
join us at coffee hour, and also to attend our meetings so they can become
more aware of what our park is about. Change is hard for many people, so
we must put our minds to adjusting with the change and growing as we do.
Be mindful of comments and actions as you adjust and let’s make 2018 a
great year!
Our weather is changeable as well, this time of the year, but we don’t have
any snow to shovel or ice to clean off our cars before we can travel
somewhere. We can be very thankful for that and let ourselves enjoy it as
we see our families and friends who do not have the luxury of being here in
Florida, and have had to deal with harsh conditions where they are living.
Have a great winter everyone!
Changes will be happening soon with elections coming up quickly and new
Board members taking over the reins. Change is hard for many people, so
we must put our minds to adjusting with the change and growing as we do.
Be mindful of comments and actions as you adjust and let’s make 2018 a
great year!
Oakside Directory: The 2018 Oakside Park directory is now available.
This year several black/white were pre-ordered and are available for $5 a
copy. If you wish to order a color one, similar to the 2016 directory, the
cost is $15, payable in advance. I will have the black/white books available
to purchase at coffee hours on Fridays. You can also drop by Barb
Brown’s place, 6106 Pleasant Street (on the south east corner). At this
time, they are not available for sale from the office.
And many thanks to Barb Brown for all of her hard work in maintaining the
Directory and making them available to us.
Oakside Christmas Parade and Carolers
What a lovely surprise to have our own Christmas Parade! Twenty-three
highly decorated golf carts , with music playing, toured the Park. Many
thanks are due to all who participated and especially to John Ballantine for
organizing this event.
Thanks are also given to the Carolers who roamed the Park singing
Christmas carols Christmas Eve. How lucky we are to have so many
friendly and talented neighbors!
From the Shuffle Courts
Dec 8 Oakside 9 Betmar 6
Dec. 11 Oakside 16 Sleepy Hollow 2

Dec. 15 Oakside 8 Sleepy Hollow 7

Dec. 18 Oakside 16 Bakers Acres 2
Dec. 29 Oakside 8 Sleepy Hollow 7

4 Park Tournament
4th Place Consolation: Bruce & Polly Ellsworth
2nd Place Consolation: Sandy & Roger Vrooman
Memorial Tournament
Main Event
First place: Roger Vrooman & Lance Deavers
Second Place: Maura Emery & Elsie Cleghorn
Third place: Roger Klages

Consolation
First place: Bruce Ellsworth
Second place: Vivian Martin
Third place: Polly Ellsworth & Ken McAlister

Dart Baseball

12/1/17 Men 11 Women 20 Game went to extra innings

Men 17 Women 7 Home Runs:
LarryCasey 2
Jennifer Sarca:Triple with
bases loaded!
12/8/17 Men 5 Women 0 Home Runs
Men 7 Women 9 Bruce Ellsworth
12/15 Men 5 Women 10 Delmar Lother
Men 10 Women11 Sue Lother
Diana Deavers
12/22 Men 4 Women 2 No home runs
Men 15 Women 7 No home runs
12/29 Men 22 Women 11 No home runs
Men 22 Women 10 No home runs

Meet Our New Neighbors

A warm Oakside Welcome to Linda Howard at 6128 Royal Street. Linda
comes to us from Solon, Maine and loves Oakside, where she has found
everyone friendly and helpful. Interested in the Park by a friend, she looked
at two units and the second one seemed like home. Widowed, Linda has
one son, one grandson, 1 granddaughter, one great grandson, and another
great grandchild on the way.
Linda comes from a family of 2 brothers and 5 sisters, all of whom are
musical. The sisters were very into Country Gospel and were professional
performers. Linda had her own band for 25 years, and in 1987 was
awarded Maine’s Down East Music Association Female Vocalist of the
year, as she says, a long time ago, and also played guitar and bass. Linda
also enjoys cooking and ‘most everything.’
Linda has joined with the Oakside Boys and plays and sings with them on
Tuesday afternoons.

Say hello to George Bell, who lives at 6200 Linnett. George moved here
from Tennessee to be near his son who lives in Zephyrhills.
George has 5 children, four girls and one boy, 8 grandchildren and three
great grandchildren, who are now scattered over several states.
Always working in construction, George built his own house in Georgia on a
handpicked site. Since his move to Oakside, he has been renovating his
unit, redoing the walls and windows and painting it all.
He also likes to bowl and play cards.