The SunBird Roadrunners Club had a very active and busy weekend in January, but before going into details, let’s flash back to the Roadrunners Christmas dinner dance on December 20. During the night, following the dance, the SunBird community and the Roadrunners lost one of its members, a fellow golfer and a fine gentleman, when Earl Brown passed away. This is mentioned because it leads into the first event of this busy weekend.
It started in the morning of Saturday, January 17. The Roadrunners, along with many friends, attended a memorial and celebration of Earl’s life. The many serious and humorous stories related by Earl’s family and friends reinforced what a wonderful man he was and how lucky we all are to have had him in our lives. Directly after the close of this celebration, the Roadrunners headed to the golf course for their weekly Saturday event where eight foursomes teed it up. While we played, we all knew that Earl was watching over us with the quiet demeanor that he always displayed. A toast or two of birdie juice during the round were raised in his honor. Following the golf event, the Roadrunners headed for the Horizon Room for their monthly social event; 103 members and seven guests enjoyed a time of fellowship and a great meat loaf dinner prepared and served by Julie and her staff.
On Sunday, January 18 the club held a special event chaired by Jean Pritchard and Mary Lou Trautmann called a Poker Run. The Poker Run started in the Horizon Room where 59 members received a name tag, a number and the first card of their five card poker hand. The group then travelled consecutively and en masse to the homes of Ruth Ann Hobbs, Mary Lanphear and Gordon and Dee Lee where at each home they received another card for their poker hand and enjoyed snacks and drinks. The tour then returned to the Horizon Room where they each received their fifth and final card and were treated to fine dinner of chicken parmigiana. The winning poker hands were then announced.
The Poker Run as a standalone event is always great fun; however, there was an added perk to this particular Poker Run and that was the Seahawks vs. Packers semifinal playoff game. At each home the TVs were on and there was much cheering and good natured ribbing. The Seahawks prevailed and the majority of the Poker Run participants went home happy; thus, the end of a busy weekend.
This article started out with a flash back to December when the Roadrunners lost a long-time member. Sadly, we end this article with the passing of another long time member. Lorette Cornman passed away on February 3. Lorette was 91 years old. Funeral services were held at the Sun Lakes First Methodist Church on February 14.