CRUISIN’ CAPE CONROE

by Marty Sanford

Happy 80th Birthday wishes to Bob Freele. Bob and Audrey celebrated his birthday with their friends, Al & Ramona Buescher and Charles & Francis Cawthon from Houston with lunch at The Caddy Shack. The group always get together to celebrate the "big 5s and big 0’" birthdays.

Audrey Freele and Bonnie Bittle spent the weekend in Quitman, Arkansas at the Cadron Creek Arabian Horse Farm. They attended a seminar on Training Horses from Birth to Show Age. Audrey’s eight-month-old Egyptian Arabian colt, Rocky, did a perfect performance that demonstrated how to train a young colt. Audrey and Bonnie also visited Audrey’s mare. Misti, also an Egyptian Arabian, is almost pure white with freckles on both sides of her head. Misti seemed to enjoy the carrots Audrey brought her.

Audrey and Bonnie liked seeing the gorgeous leaves of rust, yellow and orange. Quitman is not in the Ozarks, but there are lots of rolling hills between Little Rock and Quitman. Audrey was surprised that the security measures were stricter in Little Rock than at Houston Intercontinental Airport.

Jim and Kathy Sterling recently returned from Oakdale, California where they visited with their children and grandchildren. They spent time with Kathy’s son and daughter-in-law, Jody and Tammy Drobnick and their children Morgan, 11, and Madison, 3. They also saw Jim’s son and daughter-in-law, Matt and Jennifer and their children, Cody, 4, and Aaron, 2. Jim and Kathy also visited their single sons, Dean Drobnick and Michael Sterling. They had a great time seeing their families and being with their grandchildren. The Sterlings also enjoyed seeing with Jim’s stepfather, Leon Hisaw, 86.

Kathy told me that Oakdale is located north of Modesto and is known as the Cowboy Capital of the World. There is an abundance of large ranches in the area and the home of several renowned rodeo cowboys.

Ryan McCarty and his football team the Y.M.C.A. Grizzlies attended an end of the year party at Boardwalk in Conroe last weekend. Everyone enjoyed eating pizza and cake and playing the games in the arcade. The coaches gave the players footballs and commemorative t-shirts as awards for their hard work during the season. Ryan’s parents, Sean and Tracy, wanted me to extend a thank you to the coaches Cliff Robertson and Chris Staldt for volunteering their time, effort, patience and hard work to the team.

More Halloween news! Thanks to Michael Walding who drove kids and their parents around Cape Conroe on Halloween in a flatbed trailer pulled by his Kawasaki Mule. Among those on board were April Edwards and her sons, Chase and Dylan, Maddie and Riley Hudson, Austin Sullivan, Cooper Hurd, Abby Currie, Christina, Harper and Brady and their parents.

The Cape Conroe Ladies Society elected the following officers at their meeting this month: Pat Wren-President, Marty Sanford-Vice President, Dorotha Guinn-Secretary, and Iona Powell-Treasurer. They will be installed at the Ladies Society Christmas Dinner on December 14th. Fifteen members of the Ladies Society went to Old Town Spring for their annual shopping trip. Betty Gregory and Esther Fifield enjoyed their first trip to Old Town Spring. The group ate lunch at Wunsche’s Café before starting their shopping tour. Jane Laake told me they browsed through all of the shops making purchases at various ones, but that Maggie’s seemed to be everyone’s favorite shop.

Dick and I enjoyed a visit with his grandson, Michael Wolk, this weekend. Michael, 28, resides in Phoenix, Arizona where he loved rooting for the Diamondbacks during the World Series. He spent a busy weekend visiting our family here and learning to skate board with our seven-year-old grandson, Zachary Sanford.