Category: Newsletter Archives

Benny Casady opened our meeting with an opener. Countdown was 22.

Birthdays this week are David Taylor and Johnnie Baldwin.
Anniversary wishes this week went to Russ and Pat Moody. Belated wishes to Alan and Nancy Bailey Pratt as we missed them last week.

Tom and Erika Wagner were introduced as our new year-round residents. They purchased Punk Kochensparger’s house on John L.

Joan Voight our Sunshine gal needs people to let her know of anyone ill or needing a card. Chuck Danzer’s brother is very sick and he and Carol will be headed to Ohio to see him. Sandy Oleesky will be under VA care. Please keep everyone in your thoughts and prayers.

Shuffle Board, game night, corn hole and bingo players all had a good time. Everyone is a winner in the summer time. Please come out and enjoy the games. Don’t forget Friday night games were moved to Thursday night at 7:00. Bingo tonight at 7:00.

Plans for a Memorial Day Potluck was discussed. We have 24 people signed up. The meat and drinks will be furnished. Please bring your own table service. We will have our Monday morning meeting after the dinner.

Barbara Burke won the 50/50.

Thank you to Joan and Wayne Voight for the donuts this morning.

Wayne Voight told us the story of his adventure this last week with the barbwire. Give him a call and he will tell you all about it.

Harold Price gave the closer.

Lynette Pickup conducted our meeting this morning. Harold Price and Lynette Pickup gave the openers. Miriam Steele was our pianist. Count was a big 25.

Birthdays this week are Bob Sylvia and Mike McCarville.

Anniversary will be the big 50 for Kirtes and Billie Calvery.

Joan Voight gave the Sunshine report. Card were sent to Tom Beatie as he is not doing well. Card to Bonnie and Benny Casady for the loss of their granddaughter. Joan mentioned the card that was sent to Pat Pierson was returned. Betty Pfeiffer mentioned that Jim Forrest has cancer and is not doing well.

John Pickup introduced new residents Noushad “Al” & Indrani “Debbie” Aszal who bought the Donald Phelps home. Larry Bolling who bought the Jack Tomasevich home.

Memorial Day Potluck at 1:00 pm. Please sign up on the sheet on the bulletin board. Bring your own place setting.

Don’t forget to sign up for Monday Morning Coffee on the calendar.

Game night will be Tuesday and Thursdays at 7:00 pm, notice the change in evenings. Bingo Mondays at 7:00 pm. Corn Hole on Wednesday and Fridays at 7:00 pm. Water Aerobics M-W-F at 10:00 am. ShuffleBoard Tuesday -Thursday at 8:00 am

Harold and Linda Price bought the donuts.

Joan Voight won the 50/50 drawing and took home $10.

Lynette Pickup gave the closer

May 4, 2020

My last newsletter was April 27th. We are planning to return to Beautiful Hammock Estates in early October. Until then, please stay safe, healthy and happy. 😊

If you have any information for our newsletter please send to mellingerr@aol.com or call Bob Mellinger from your directory.

There’s still not too much to talk about or goings on to keep you informed. Everyone is staying inside, maintaining safe distances, and some others have headed north. We will be joining that group later this week.

It really has been an exciting winter. Extremely active socially in the park, until we couldn’t, ate out at many local restaurants, until we couldn’t, took part in several local attractions, until we couldn’t, and spent a whole lot of quality time with our loved ones in our homes. We can count them all in our blessings. Especially that we have no reported cases of COVID 19 in our park and have, for now, avoided that plague. We pray that we continue to receive God’s grace.

Be sure to keep a lookout for an email inviting you to sign on to our new website. It will be launched in the near future and will include a little bit of a face lift and many new benefits that will allow us to stay in better contact. Residents who have access to Facebook are invited to follow Hammock Estates ROC page. It is a great social venue and an awesome way to share more personal interests with your neighbors. Thanks to Joan Voight for setting it up!

Carol Parker of the Sunshine Committee shared apologies to Rod and Dolores Kelly. Rod is not in the hospital, he is home and comfortable. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

Lynnette Pickup returned home last week and is feeling much better. She appreciates everyone’s’ prayers and concerns.

Nancy Mellinger was diagnosed with bronchitis. After getting some new Rx’s she is feeling much better.

Gary Brunner fell from a ladder at his home. He was in the hospital for a couple days but is now home. 

Please keep everyone in your prayers.

We were misinformed that we had no birthdays last week. (We miss Lynette when she isn’t here!) Our sincere apologies and Happy belated Birthday wish for Kathy Gardner, Phil Desautels, Alan Burns and John Tromp. This week’s birthdays are Susan Kimmel, Diana Green, Jerry Green and Lynne Brewer.

Anniversaries this week are celebrated by Joe & Helen Cole (56 years), Wayne & Joann Voight (67 years) and Max & Judy Fahl (62 years). WOW! Did you just read that! These three couples have been married for a total of 185 years!!

Be sure to continue referring to the Park Managers Emergency Notes on our website for any updates or changes as you continue to enjoy central Florida’s gorgeous weather.

This is my last newsletter for the season. We are planning to return to Beautiful Hammock Estates in early October. Until then, please stay safe, healthy and happy. 😊

We have received information from Park Manager, Dave Zeller, pertaining to an update to our web site that will provide a communications platform coming in the near future. Please review the following:

The Board of Directors have decided to move forward with a communication platform for the park. They believe this is necessary so all owners can be informed immediately and kept updated as things arise.
The platform offers so much more for the owners than just information and updates in an emergency for warnings and preparations for hurricanes.
Below are listed some of the other benefits.

1. Completely private – home owners only
2. Access to ROC documents
3. ROC & HOA Calendar
4. Dynamic forms – report a safety concern and many more, work approval form
5. Photo Galleries
6. Community feed. chat with other residents
7. Group pages – shuffleboard, cards, bingo and more
8. Business listing for businesses that work in our park
9. Member directory – you control what you want listed

Our site will be https://hammockestates.nabrnetwork.com/

Below is a link to a video that explains the platform. Please note that
we are not set up for billing and viewing your account. That requires a special software package.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxQaFH05NFQ

More information will be coming. We are planning to launch in 3 to 4 weeks, we are currently getting information on the site and going through admin training.

When the site launches you will receive a “WELCOME EMAIL” with instructions on how to log in.

We feel this will be a real asset to all residents. Please watch for future correspondence.

Carol Parker of the Sunshine Committee shared that Rod and Dolores Kelly went back home, Rod is now in the hospital and is not doing well. He hasn’t been able to eat any food. Being unable to swallow he is on liquids only. The Doctors tried putting stint in but that didn’t work.

Lynnette Pickup was taken to the hospital last night with chest pains. Tests are being done this morning and we are hoping for positive results.

Nancy Mellinger has been down for a week with a sore throat. She is maintaining her distance from all residents until she is on the mends.
Please keep everyone in your prayers.

We were informed that we have no birthdays or anniversaries this week. So, no cake for us this week.

Be sure to refer to the Park Managers Emergency Notes on our web site for any updates or changes as we continue to enjoy central Florida’s gorgeous weather.

We are still practicing all recommended social distancing guidelines as we continue to fight the spread of COVID 19 throughout Highlands County and especially at Hammock Estates. No exception to this was the Easter Morning church service conducted outside the clubhouse. All 54 residents attending maintained the required distance and many golf carts were lined up along John L Street. It was a great opportunity to share this time with our neighbors and special thanks to Gerald Steel for delivering a wonderful message!

Unfortunately, we have learned of several residents who were not aware of the church service. There was no intention to not include any of our neighbors. Without a format in place to be able to reach out to everyone at once, this was left up to word-of-mouth to spread the news. This created a couple awkward scenarios. First being no one knew who has been informed and who wasn’t and, the other is likened to our high school days when the cutest girl in the class was not asked to the dance because all the guys thought surely someone else has asked her already. If only we knew what we didn’t know.

We are happy to announce the fence on the north boundary, behind Rodney Street residents, has been completely installed. Special thanks for helping goes out to Chuck & Carol Danzer, Claude & Elfriede Belton, Johnnie Baldwin, Ron Harmon, Terry Webber, Gene Smolinski and Punk Kochensparger.

Lynette Pickup has shared the birthday wishes this week for Dean Baumgartner, Patty Forrest, Gary Lewis and Judy Smolinski. There is one anniversary this week celebrated by Robert & Connie Brown (66 years).

Carol Parker of the Sunshine Committee shared that we have no reports of anyone not well at this time. If you know of anyone we should be aware of please let Carol know. As always please keep everyone in our park in your prayers. It seems to be working!!

Be sure to refer to the Park Managers Emergency Notes on our web site for any updates or changes as we continue to enjoy central Florida’s gorgeous weather.

If you have any information for our newsletter please send to mellingerr@aol.com or call Bob Mellinger from your directory.

We are in the midst of Florida’s Social Distancing restrictions and following the CDC recommendations for avoiding personal contact. Face masks were passed out to all residents last week for venturing outside your homes. Our streets are quiet and (hopefully) safe. Please refer to the Park Managers Emergency Notes on our website for any updates or changes.

We have received several helpful guidelines on how to better protect yourself from the COVID 19 virus. It is reported the pH for the virus varies between 5.5 to 8.5. To beat the virus we need to take in more alkaline foods that are above the pH level of the virus. Some of which are: Lemon 9.9pH; Lime 8.2pH; Avocado 15.6pH; Garlic 13.2pH; Mango 8.7pH; Tangerine 8.5pH; Pineapple 12.7pH; dandelion 22.7pH; and Orange 9.2pH. Many of those are native to our area and plentiful. Eat Healthy & Beat That Virus!

Lynette Pickup shared the birthday wishes this week for Bob Mellinger, Diane Wood and Joe Flanagan. There is one anniversary this week celebrated by Bob & Ruth Helmstadter (51 years).

Carol Parker of the Sunshine Committee shared good news that Betty Lawson returned home and was told no treatment was needed at this time. We have no reports of anyone else not feeling well. If you know of anyone we should be aware of please let Carol know. As always please keep everyone in our park in your prayers.

Once again, we had no Monday Morning Coffee & Donuts this week. Our clubhouse, as well as our pool and all social activities are closed until further notice. Please refer to the Park Managers Emergency Notes on our website for any updates or changes. It is our desire to follow all CDC guidelines and recommendations for the safety and well-being of the residents. Tentatively we are expecting the closures to remain in effect through summer. The Heartland Food Reservoir has donated three cases of bottled water for the park during the quarantine. They are in the clubhouse for anyone in need.

HOA President Bob Helmstadter has announced they board is looking for candidates willing to serve for the 2021 year. Anyone interested in volunteering or may know of someone they wish to nominate may do so by letting Bob know.

Lynette Pickup shared the birthday wishes this week, only one, for Mary Funk. There are no anniversaries this week.

Carol Parker shared that Bob Hazelett was in the hospital but is now home and doing better. Congratulations go out to Rick & Mary Motsinger on the arrival of their new great granddaughter. Please keep their family in your prayers while everyone recovers. No cards are going out at this time to avoid sharing germs. As always please keep everyone in our prayers.

We do have extra directories for anyone wanting a 2nd copy. That are available for $20 each. Please contact Linda Price or Nancy Pratt.

We are still seeking someone to take over the newsletter for the summer months, May – October, while I go home for the summer. It’s looking like a pretty easy gig with everything shut down. Please let me know, Thank you!

There was no Monday Morning Coffee & Donuts again this morning. Our clubhouse is still closed, as is our pool and all activities. We did, however, have an informal gathering outside the clubhouse where about 46 social distancing-conscience-residents attended. HOA President Bob Helmstadter was able to share with us the current situations for our beautiful park.

There will be no gourmet committee for April and no entertainment planned until further notice. Many of our residents are returning north for the summer, some sooner than usual due to travel restrictions, and some are staying a little longer to wait out the virus. After all, if you must self quarantine, can you think of any better place than central Florida?!

Lynette Pickup shared the birthday wishes this week for Bill French, Sue Drudge, Mike MacDonald, Brenda Geiger and Russ Moody. There are two anniversaries this week celebrated by Bill & Nadene French and Jim & Freda Munda Munds (35 years).

Carol Parker shared the Sunshine Report noting that Bob Hazelett has recovered from his cough, Larry McLain had pneumonia but is getting better. Vicki McClain had a flare up with MS. Wayne Voight is starting to come around with his knee surgery. Doug Meyers has been riding his bicycle since his knee surgery and seems to be going much better. We are aware of four folks that are fighting bronchitis, but no cards are going around to avoid sharing germs. As always please keep everyone in our prayers.

HOA Membership Host John Pickup announced he has officially welcomed new residents, the Melinski’s, to Hammock Estates. We’re all looking forward to meeting them as soon as the social distancing restrictions are lifted!

We do have extra directories for anyone wanting a 2nd copy. They are available for $20 each. Please contact Linda Price or Nancy Pratt.

A sheet of corrections to the directory will be available soon. There are some corrections and a few additions/deletions. We are a community that is constantly changing, please keep your directory up to date.

New addition to the website, Emergency notices under Communications. Please look at this for park updates from Dave Zeller.

We are still seeking someone to take over the newsletter for the summer months, May – October, while I go home for the summer. Please let me know, Thank you!

There was no Monday Morning Coffee & Donuts this morning. In response to the Governor of the State of Florida the Resident Owned Community (ROC) and the Home Owners Association (HOA) for Highlands Estates have decided to close the clubhouse and cancel all group gatherings through March 28. The situation will be further assessed at that time. This included the appreciation dinner for last Saturday, the Wednesday afternoon Jam Sessions and all scheduled activities. All reporting for the newsletter will be by correspondence. Please send any information you may have to Bob Mellinger at Mellingerr@aol.com.

Lynette Pickup shared the birthday wishes this week for Dick Asmussen, Bill Gardner, Pat Brevoort, Cynde Kochensparger, Pat Moody, Don Madden, Jerry Epson, Joe Cole and Laura Imboden. There is one anniversary this week celebrated by Mike & Tami Gerity.

Carol Parker shared the Sunshine Report noting that Bob Hazelett has a persistent cough. She has not been notified of anyone else being ill but, as always please keep everyone in our prayers.

Martha Watson submitted the gamming report for some of the activities last week. Claude Funk won the hotball at Bingo for $44; JoAnn Schultz won pinochle; Judy Fahl also won euchre; and Bob Mellinger & Jim Munds won horseshoes on Monday with Johnnie Baldwin winning on Saturday. There will not be any further gaming reports until activities resume.

We are still seeking someone to take over the newsletter for the summer months, May – October, while I go home for the summer. Please let me know, Thank you!