April 2009 Casino trip

On April 22 a group of 38 hopeful gamblers departed from the Barrister Gardens parking lot. There were many tired people as we had our Joint meeting the night before, which I hadn’t realized until about 3 weeks before the scheduled trip. The first hour and a half it was awfully quiet on the bus. Before stopping for breakfast at West Branch, there was a raffle; the lucky winners were Marion Westfall, Marianne Baecke, and Walt Baier. Ted and Marion Westfall had just celebrated their 58th Wedding Anniversary the night before. Congratulations! While we stopped for breakfast, Joe and Lucy Deckers arranged to meet their friends Bernie and Lucy Kahn, who live in the area, so they were able to enjoy each others’ company for an hour or so. Then it was off to the Odawa casino in Petoskey. On the way there we held the horse race; Frank Baecke provided the horses and everyone had fun trying to pick a winner. There were still piles of snow along the way, where the sun hadn’t reached. Upon arriving at the Casino everyone was given their cards with $15.00 worth of free play. We were there for 4 hours; some were lucky and of course, some were not. We arrived at the St. Ignace casino at 5:00pm where the accommodations were 5-Star. The hospitality room was in my suite and it was fantastic. Everyone was able to fit in the suite to enjoy the goodies set-up by my wife Anne, Roland and Maggie Deprez, Bill Meldrum, Diane Myny, Marion Allemon and Dollie Allemon. Just about everyone brought something for the get-together and there was enough leftover for Thursday evening. The keys and casino packages were distributed and all were very happy with their rooms. The rest of the evening was spent in the casino which produced some lucky winners. The casino held 5 drawings that evening and our group had 3 of the winners; they were Marion Allemon, Clyde Render, and Diane Myny. I won’t say how much, but it was a good prize. On Thursday morning we enjoyed the breakfast buffet which had plenty of food. After breakfast, we took a trip up to Sault Ste. Marie to the other casino where everybody received another casino package. While were there for 3 hours, some folks enjoyed those huge ice cream cones at the deli. We left the hotel in St. Ignace on Friday morning and headed to Petoskey for some more gambling. We had to make a stop at a roadside party store for a case of beer, since we ran out. Can you imagine the look on the faces of those in the party store when this huge bus pulled into their small driveway? While traveling to Petoskey, we listened to music provided by Roland Deprez and Diane Baier. Upon arriving at the casino, more free-play money was given out; there were some good winners. We had our dinner at the casino; most enjoyed the buffet which was delicious. We departed the casino at 3:30pm and stopped at a rest area about halfway home. We arrived back at the parking lot at 8:15pm. Walter was our driver for this trip who is a very nice man but very quiet. Everyone missed our previous driver, Paul. Overall, this trip was great! I want to thank George Hugelier and his daughter for Cathy for taking care of the hotel arrangements, my wife Anne for her patience with me, and to Roland and Maggie Deprez, Bill Meldrum, Diane Myny, Marion Allemon and Dollie Allemon for their endless help with the hospitality room. The next trip is September 23 – 25, 2009 to St. Ignace, Sault Ste. Marie and Bay Mills with a cost of $169.00.

Respectfully Submitted,

Bob Putrycus
Recording Secretary