Blue Lagoons Eight Ball Tournament February 2025

I noticed that there were quite a few billiards players in our park Billard/Game room. In the past there were usually a few but now there were quite a few regulars. As Activities Coordinator I thought perhaps an Eight Ball Tournament would be fun and so I put out a signup sheet to see if anyone was interested. With a little prodding there were eight people signed up, the cost was five dollars, and so we picked a date, February 21st, at nine am. I had watched the others play and since they were quite a bit better than I am I still added my name to the list. After all the tournament was about meeting other people, winning any money was furthest from my mind.

As the date neared, I decide to buy a pool cue and luckily found a Chinese made one that was on sale before the imposition of any tariff. It cost me about seventy-five dollars, which was a lot, but it was first pool cue I had ever bought.

It arrived five days before the tournament and I practiced for four days meeting the others and discussing the rules and brackets to be used, (most of the people beat me but I did remember how to play from my college days, fifty years ago). The morning of the tournament arrived and only seven of the players showed up, (the eighth showed up after we were in the second round past the place where his name had been changed to a bye). We agreed on the rules and drew cards for the order of play. Everyone started out equal in the winning bracket and if you lost you then moved to the consolation bracket.

To determine your first opponent I shuffled cards, number one through eight, and we each drew a card whose number corresponded to one of the eight starting bracket slots. I got lucky on the draw, (I was not the first, we drew in order of signing up), and ended up with the bye). The games started and I could see that there were some good players. My goal was to win one match and not be the first one out. It was a double elimination, with best of three games for each match. My first match opponent was a happy hour friend, and I could see he was good with his stick. I had already decided that my best strategy was to slow down, hit softly, and try to leave my opponent with a bad shot. Winning the first game, The second game started and I was behind. However, Kenny, my opponent, tried a difficult bank shot, on the eight ball, and scratched, so I won my first match! Because I had a first round bye I didn’t play another match until the final. Here I was pitted against another friend Bob. The day before we had played seven racks and he had beat me five of the seven games. Second place would be good and so I hit soft and played position ball. Bob won the first game, and I didn’t have a lot of hope but my strategy worked and I won the second game! Bob and I started the last game, (rack), and he pulled ahead. Then he broke up a cluster of balls and the eight ball went in by mistake. I couldn’t believe it, just like that I had won the tournament!

In other matches Don and Frank played for the winner of the consolation bracket. It was another close match and this time Don took the match and third place! The important thing was that we had made new friends, and that’s what the tournament was all about. Clear skies

Valentine’s Day Dinner, Blue Lagoons Rv Park

Every user we have a special dinner planned for Valentines Day. In the past we have had excellent prime rib and Cornish hens barbecued to perfection by our activity’s coordinators Zita and Alan. This year they were unable to come down for the winter, and so we had to figure out what to do. I volunteered to be the Activities Director/coordinator and with no one else wanting the unpaid position I won the vote, (it was unanimous). Having led an organization of over three hundred teachers I knew the only hope was to have lots of volunteers.

The key to forming a committee is to have someone bring it up at a meeting and sure enough, Marsha asked about Valentines Day. Now the unwritten rule is to ask the person who brought up a subject up to head a committee, (it worked well for Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years Eve. Many friends and others provided Marsha with event suggestions. No one in the park felt comfortable about grilling the food and so it was decided to have the food catered. After making several inquiries, Marsha determined that Shack’s Smokehouse and Seafood was the best and only establishment that responded to her request. They offered to deliver four kinds of meat, potato salad, coleslaw, beans, and a spicey barbecue sauce, (remember this is south Texas, so spicy means a sauce that’s Muy caliente)! To round out the meal our local HEB Grocery store made cheesecake for fifty, The total cost for each person attending was twenty five dollars. Very reasonable for a catered hot meal. Forty-six people signed up (the park is not as full as it usually is for this time of year as the last managers were disastrous and were fired along with all their staff).

Before dinner, Dan and Barb greeted each guest and took their photos, which were sold to them at cost. Then everyone picked their places and waited for dinner to be served. The Shack brought the meal in a large, heated cooler and a slice of cheesecake were placed at each setting. After wishing everyone a Happy Valentines, Jane, who made the flower arrangements, led us in prayer and table after table was invited up to be served, (I had nothing to do with the order).

The servers filled each plate with the person’s request, and no one left hungry! It was a perfect Valentines meal served by friends, (we refer to all the people as our winter family)! The night and the food was a success! Thanks to Marsha, and all the volunteers who made it all possible, (where else could you get a meal for less)? Clear skies

Black drum

It’s been too long since I have written in the blog, (which is really my personal journal). It’s now time to catch up! Our jewelry and rock shows are about to start and my excuses for not writing are many. So, the first catch up blog is basically a fishing report. I have been fishing with my friend Dave who as usual out fished me in the catching department. We have concentrated on black drum, mostly with lots of small fish and an occasional keeper. Did I forget to mention oversize fish? Both the red and black drums have slot limits. For the black drum the fish must be at least fourteen inches and with a maximum size of thirty inches. All others must be released, (unless you catch a black drum over fifty-four inches which is not going to happen). The huge black drum are the spawners. They are tremendous fighters and difficult to get in the boat. Their bite starts as a few taps and then they run. Twice this year Dave and I have both been spooled. That means that the fish decides to head out for Gulf of Mexico and takes all the line off your reel. Yup all the line! Tightening the drag, already set, causes the knot or line to brake, (which is a good way to release the fish as the hook quickly rust out) Another tactic of the fish is too head for the nearest barnacle covered object. When the fish gets around it the line is quickly cut by the razor-sharp edges. Sometimes I use reels with fifty-pound braid, with the same result! The largest we boated this year was the one first pictured, a black drum that measured forty-six inches, (estimated at forty-nine pounds, with the world record being over one hundred and thirteen pounds).

My largest this year was thirty-seven inches and the one pictured is thirty-two inches and all were safely released.The one in the cooler is twenty seven inches and tasted great!

Did I say that they are one of my favorite fish to eat? The pictures speak for themselves, Clear skies, and tight lines!