November Newsletter 2018

November 30, 2018    Latest News, News   

No Better Place to See a Movie

By Dale Dauten
 

“I doubt any RV park has an in-park theater as good as ours. If you love movies, and love seeing them in a real theater, with popcorn, there’s no place better than Silveridge.”

That assertion is from Don Beckett, half of the husband and wife volunteer team who run Silveridge’s Silver Screen. It is a great place to watch a movie and that’s especially important this year, when some of the other facilities are being rebuilt. So we were pleased when we had a chance to visit with Don and Sharon about the upcoming movie season, and to learn a bit about them.

THE UPCOMING SEASON

As for movies to look forward to, Sharon is the one who selects the films, which strikes this writer as a nearly impossible task – is there such a thing as a movie everyone loves? As Sharon puts it, “We get a mixed bag of people. For instance, a lot of people like Science Fiction but a lot don’t. Some like Christian-based movies, others don’t. So we offer a selection. The one thing I make sure is that they aren’t too risqué – we hate it when people feel they need to walk out.” (Sharon tells us that she does choose some R-rated movies, but only after doing the research to find out what prompted that rating.) “And we try to get current films, ones that have been in theaters in the past six-eight months.”

We wondered if there were sure-fire hits for the Silveridge audience: “People love uplifting, feel-good movies,” Sharon replied. “And around the holidays, when families visit, we try to include a Disney movie, something like ‘Frozen.’ Same at Spring Break.” Don added that the video version of Christmas concerts by Andre Rieu have been particularly popular and they hope to continue with another one this season.

Whatever sort of movies you like, there’s bound to be some coming up:

Sharon has already selected 45 films for this season.

All free. And all with free popcorn.

For the Coming Attractions, look for posters at the theater and at the Activities Office, announcing two weeks’ worth of upcoming movies.
Don & Sharon inside the Silver Screen Theater

THE BECKETTS

We always like to learn something about the volunteers who make the park something special, and as so often happens, we learned that the Becketts are marvelously over-qualified to run the theater. Both had long corporate careers, Don with Dow Chemical and Sharon as an Assistant Branch Manager with the Bank of Montreal. They even met at work, back in their college days, both working part-time jobs at George’s Cycle, a bike shop in Edmonton, Alberta, where Don did sales and Sharon worked the register.

Many years later, Sharon discovered Silveridge when coming to visit her father who was living at the park. “I’d come for two weeks at a time and leave hubby at home,” she explained. “But once we both retired, we came together and decided to rent. Soon they were regulars.

Sharon: “We looked at other parks, but we loved the people and the activities at Silveridge. It’s just the right size.”

Don: If someone at Silveridge tells you that they’re bored, then they’re not paying attention.”

Both Sharon and Don have been generous with their time, at the theater and with other volunteer duties around the park. They’re especially proud of the team they have assembled to run the movies. If you’d like to help, you can reach them at Unit #517.

The movies start up November 3rd with “Home Again,” starring Reese Witherspoon. In the words of the much-missed Siskel & Ebert, “Save me an aisle seat.”

Activities Director,

Sue Arneson
 

I love an adventure! Do you remember your first family road trip and what happened on your trip? I remember when we rented a motor home and took a trip out to the Black Hills. The owners we rented it from did not have time to go to the waste station as we needed their motor home right away. Ask my husband Jeff what happened when he went to “dump” their motor home. After throwing away his clothes and showering with disinfectant we could finally get close to him again. Even though it was not funny at the time we laugh about it now and chock it up to one of our memorable adventures. We all have had adventures through the years.( a good time to share at our social hours! )

This season we are on another adventure at our beloved Silveridge; an adventure filled with some changes and new beginnings (along with a few frustrations) Many of you have commented that you needed to read my last message and the words on your glass being half full. How lucky we are that we have a sister park to hold our events. Our space is cozy and we are not only sharing space but ticket sales and meeting beautiful people along the way. As I mentioned in my last letter we are more alike than different. We are here to enjoy the good weather and the amenities our parks offer us. All residents from either park are welcome to come to each others events. It has been a pleasure to meet the Resort staff and the residents over here. Thank you for your patience and under-standing on location changes while our Silver Center is being repaired. (It’s looking good!) I have included most of the changes in this newsletter. If you have questions please call me at the Resort or check with the club leader.

Many of you have said that you are having more parties at your homes. I love the intimacy of being at your homes for a get together. Laughter and good times with friends are medicine to the soul.

As we officially start our season I would like you to consider what new adventures you would like to have this year? How about a lifestyle change? We have so may exercise programs like Yoga, step aerobics, Pickle ball, golf and tennis just to name a few. We are one of the few parks that have Duncan trained certified ceramic teachers. Thank you again for all our Volunteers who lead classes and clubs. Without your expertise and leadership we would not have all the learning, fitness and fun that we have! And thank you for those who help with chair and table set ups and all the unseen volunteering you do.

My hope is that your adventure this year is full of anticipation and excitement. Welcome Back my friends. It is a pleasure to greet you with a smile and a hug. Let us begin our adventure together !

Your Activity Director,

Sue
THE SILVERIDGE SUN, PRINTED EDITION
If you’d like to see the printed version of The Silveridge Sun, with its special events listings and all of Sue’s updates, click below…

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

ONLINE CALENDAR

Click below for the online Activities Calendar

STATUS UPDATES:

HDTV/INTERNET

Tim Furlong, the man heading up internet/HDTV project, sounded upbeat when we spoke to him last week. His overall assessment: “We are definitely getting there — the major construction is mostly done. We’re very close.” The major construction includes most of the infrastructure, including the amplifiers which boosts the signal.

What’s left? Tim sighed at that question. “You fix one thing and others pop up. But it’s mostly replacing the green pedestals and hooking up homes.” As for the latter, the plan calls for installations to work the same way they did last year – residents sign up at the office and a work order is issued and put into the queue.
“We’re finding,” Tim says, “that a lot of people need lines replaced. And we’re also seeing people who’ve bought cables, sometimes spending a lot of money. Please let them know they can save that money – the installation cost includes all installation materials.”

Homeowners still need to have a router and a modem, but Tim recommends anyone buying new ones get a combo unit (router and modem). (“I’d only get separate units if you’re a gamer,” he added.)

Which combo units work best? “It needs to be DOCSIS 3.0, and any of the major brands work – Motorola, Netgear or Linksys – and you can find them at most any store that sells electronics.”

REBUILDING OF THE CLUBHOUSE

Work is continuing after the big storm caused a partial roof collapse in the main building. As you can see in the photos Rhonda sent us, the beams for the new roof are installed and the replacement carpet is being placed in the ballroom. That leads to the obvious question: When will it reopen? We still don’t have a date because there are inspections and permits for the gas lines and electrical. But the construction team is pushing hard and the progress is encouraging, so we hope to be able to report a reopening date sometime soon.