April 2011 Casino trip

On Wednesday morning April 27th, just as the last of 47 hopeful travelers boarded the bus, the skies opened up, the rains came and didn’t stop for the rest of the day. The first hour or so was spent napping or in conversation amongst the members and guests. They also had a chance to have the juice and danish provided by Go With George tours. On this trip we only had 4 birthdays – Gene Perye, Liz Huyghe, Clyde Bender and Elena Roose. They were serenaded with the custom birthday song. After that, it was time for our raffle which was won by Marge Brooks, Marge DeMuelemeister and Marianne Baecke. We arrived in West Branch at 9:30am for breakfast at Big Boys. Joe and Lucy Deckers met their friends Bernie & Lucy Kahn for breakfast as the Kahn’s only live an hour from there. Two of our tables had to wait 50 minutes to get their food which, I thought, was inexcusable and the manager was told about it. We’ll be at the Lumber Jack’s in September. After breakfast, Frank Baecke got his horse race game going and that lasted about an hour. There were 15 winners in the game. Diane Baier then provided some soothing music for the rest of the way to Petoskey. Upon arriving at the Odawa Casino, we were met by a hostess who explained everything to us and gave those who wanted, the instructions. We left Petoskey at 4:00pm and continued on to St. Ignace arriving at 5:15pm. As I was passing out the envelopes to the gamblers, Bill Meldrum, Diane Myny and Bruce & Karen Baron helped my wife Anne take the snacks and beverages to my room to set up for our gathering. A number of people brought goodies also and everyone gathered there for about an hour and a half. The rest of the evening was spent feeding the machines or whatever you wanted to do. On Thursday morning after a complimentary buffet breakfast we boarded the bus for a trip up to the Soo to the other casino. Everyone was given another freebie plus tokens for Seniors Day. We left the casino at 3:00pm and headed back to St. Ignace where we had another gathering in my room to finish the goodies from the night before. On Friday, we saw the sun for the first time in 3 days as we headed back to Petoskey for a last chance to try our luck. We planned on leaving at 3:00pm to return home, so most everyone ate at the buffet, which was the best of the 3 casinos. The four random winners for the bus group for $10 each were Marshall DeSmet, Marie Ronse and Phil & Sue Huyghe. On the trip home we watched the movie, The King’s Speech arriving back at Barrister Gardens at 7:30pm. Other than the weather, it was another good trip. There were winners and there were losers but I will not reveal their secret! Again, our driver was Walter and he did a superb job considering all the hard rain he drove through. I would especially like to thank my wife Anne, as there are some trying times arranging these trips; also thanks to Bill Meldrum, Diane Myny and Bruce & Karen Baron for helping with the hospitality room among other things, Diane Baier for providing the music and Frank Baecke for the horse race game, and Irene Michaels for helping to collect for the horse race game. See you in September!

Respectfully Submitted,

Bob Putrycus
Recording Secretary