Stardate 2009.345 Arizona Christmas Social

Friday, December 11, 2009

Jim Hampshire picked me up at the Phoenix Airport in his space shuttle and delivered me safely to the hotel. The hospitality room was open by the time I checked in and unpacked for the weekend. It was great to see so many of my Friends as they began to arrive and gather for dinner at the San Diego Mexican Restaurant. Not what you usually expect of a Mexican Restaurant as the menu had primarily seafood dishes but all were excellent. There were over a dozen Senators and guests there for dinner around a large table where we could easily enjoy each others company.

We returned to the hotel where we were joined by some late comers in the hospitality room. Jim left to pick up First Lady Wendy Bell at the Airport and she joined the party. Surprise! A game of Screw Your Neighbor beamed in and the dollar bills magically appeared in front of each player. The first person to get screwed was yours truly but I had to remind everyone that they should be kind to the "President"! Well, Lady Luck did smile upon me because the players were trying very hard NOT to be nice to the president and I won the next two games before we called it a night.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

We all had breakfast at the hotel and were planning to go out to a local botanical gardens a bit later. We gathered in the hospitality room and many more folks began to arrive including Pat and Santa Bob Holbert with gifts to present.Mine was a very cute White Tiger pussy that was quickly confiscated by Arizona president Cindy Naylor. By this time it was a bit late to get out to the garden so we stayed in the Hospitality room and shared memories and stories (imagine that).

Soon it was time to load up and beam over to the Phoenix Opry for dinner and a show. What a grand time we had as we were joined by many more Arizona Senators. Past US JCI Senate President Jim Ashley joined us as well and we had some time to reminisce (I was his Chief of Staff some years ago). I was presented with a beautiful Kachina Doll which will have a prominent place in my home.
This is a family business and the wait staff were all seating folks and waiting tables before giving a great musical performance. During dinner I did notice that there were a great number of musical instruments all around the stage. I did not count but it looked close to a hundred - well, maybe nit quite that many but a gaggle of em. The entertainers were mostly an extended family group although there were some that were clearly not some form of relative. As the show progressed every one of the instruments were used by the musicians, even a pair of Alpine Horns during one of the musical tunes. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Many of us made it back to the Hospitality room and a few more games of Screw Your Neighbor. I again had to remind them not to piss off the president and it seemed to work this time as I won the last game, albeit by the skin of my teeth. It was then time to say a few goodbyes and off to bed for the night.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Wendy and I had coffee with the few remaining folks then met up with past first lady Debbie Steele and headed out for breakfast and a visit. She then dropped us off at the Airport for our SHORT flight home - almost as fast as it Scotty had beamed us home.

As always president Cindy and the entire Arizona Senate were wonderful and put on one hell of a party. Thanks you for a great time.

Stardate 2009.338 - Region 7 meeting, Little Rock, Arkansas

Friday, December 4, 2009

Another easy flight for Denise and I. We were joined on this trip by Joa A. and Margaret Souza. Arkansas Senate president Ray Gilbert and Senator Jay Robinson picked us up at the airport. The other Ray, Ray Hackworth, had our rooms arranged for us as we arrived, so we unpacked and settled into the room before joining the other early arrivals in the hospitality room.

Dinner was served in a lobby level meeting room with pulled pork sandwiches and all the trimmings. We then all moved up to the 6th floor where the hospitality bar was located (also the hospitality room for the rest of the weekend.) Folks were arriving from all over the country as the evening progressed. Administrative VP Mike and Secretary Steve were in attendance as well as Region 8 VP, Peggy Rider, Past president Jumper and Hilda Davis, Raffle Ticket Chair, Mike Sawyer and Region 7 VP Glenda Wisdom. It was delightful to see past US Senate president Lanny and Karen Heater who also joined us for the weekend.

A round Robin of Senators sharing their stories of their most memorable Jaycee moments was interrupted by a rush of newly arriving Senators, wives and significant others. The evening was filled with folks greeting the new arrivals and sharing friendships. The 6th floor rooms were all assigned to our group so the party was able to last well into Saturday morning without bothering any other hotel guests.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

We were up and had time to get our shirts ironed before breakfast in the hotel dining room. President Ray Gilbert called the Arkansas Senate meeting to order at 10Am, followed at 11 Am by the Region 7 meeting conducted by VP Glenda Wisdom. I had the pleasure of presenting a flag set to both Ray's for their efforts in hosting the meeting.

President Ray Gilbert then escorted me downtown to the Arkansas Jaycee meeting where I had the opportunity to address the membership about our Return The Favor program and the importance of "You Gotta Ask" recruiting process. Ray then dropped me off at the Bill Clinton Presidential Library where I met up with Joe A., Margaret and Denise as well as most of the other Senators that were already at the Library. We toured the Library then we were off to the gift shop for gifts and souvenirs for the folks back home. We called the hotel to request the shuttle to pick us up and our luck was good as he was in the area already and picked us up within 5 minutes. We had the opportunity for some photos as we arrived, a bit of hospitality then it was time to get ready for the boat cruise and dinner.

We motored to the boat dock and since it was a wee bit cool outside we were invited to wait in the gift shop area while waiting to board. We did board at the scheduled time after having the required souvenir photos taken by the staff. We had a private dining area (inside) on the 2nd deck and were joined by the Arkansas Jaycee membership. We all had a great time together as a single organization and interacted well. They had a nice buffet set up followed by music and dancing. There was not much opportunity to view the shoreline as it became very cold out on the deck. I ventured out a few times but did not tarry as the cold got to me quickly.

Just before docking I was introduced to a young man who had been on the boat and was asked to become a Jaycee. I answered some of his questions that he had for me concerning what I felt I received from being a Jaycee in my younger years. His information was gathered by the recruiter and he seemed very interested. I hope I made a small impact by encouraging him to join.

After docking we were shuttled back to the hotel and into our comfy clothes for the evenings hospitality. It was lucky that we had the entire 6th floor as the numbers were such that it was near impossible for us all to fit into the room and the hallway served well as the overflow lounge.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Up and packed and off to the hospitality room for coffee and some conversation with the remaining folks. Denise and I had a late flight so we took the shuttle downtown to the River Market area to catch the trolly for a city tour. We arrived downtown before the trolly began operating so we took a "cool" stroll along the street. Most of the shops were closed until the afternoon but a cafe was open so we stopped in for a spot-o-tea. That put us close to Trolly time and we boarded for a short ride around Little Rock as well as North Little Rock. I did not know that there were two townships together. The Trolly was nice and warm and the trip was quite interesting. We got off a stop before our boarding station and stopped into a small restaurant for lunch. The hotel shuttle picked us up and we returned to the Hotel in time to pick up our luggage and depart to the Airport for our flight home.

My thanks for the 2-Rays (Gilbert and Hackworth) for an outstanding weekend.