Cajun Martini and Afternoon Golf

Island Inhabitants,

From Dave Appelbaum and Jon Gaasedelen:

The 12th Annual Cajun Martinis & Afternoon Golf was a great success. Rumor has it best ever, but who can say. It was great to have a sellout this year. The weather was great, blue skies all day, warm weather and enough wind to make the round interesting. The gang was very colorful and the carts were unbelievable. Please check out the pictures when you can. The big winner again this year is the Minnesota Chapter of Alzheimer's Association which will receive a check for $500.

 The teams were more competitive this year, with the winning team shooting a blistering 68 to win by 1 stroke. The closest to the pin event was knocked to 2.5 feet of the cup, what a great shot. Yes, she made the natural birdie! Congrats to Heidi.

The winning team was: Lisa Kocon, Lisa Roy Kocon, Bob Kocon and Terry Mruz.

The individual event winners were:

Women's Short Drive                Marilyn Listvan

Men's Short Drive                     Brian Klang

Women's Long Drive                Connie Nelson

Men's Long Drive                      Billy Drummond

Closest To the Pin                    Heidi Wulf

Long Putt                                 Kirk Dukatz

There were many great carts this year, we saw many fins and inflatable's. The winning cart belonged to Pat Petersen & Connie Nelson. Long may your flags flap!

The 19th hole was held this year at Thistle's with our very own Jambo providing the music, including opening his set with We Are the People! Thanks Jambo!

Thanks again to all attended and we are looking forward to the 13th annual next year.

Thanks,

Dave & Jon

MAARS

Jon & I delivered the $1000 St. MSP check to MAARS last Sunday in their "new" building--which still is a work in progress...so the money was very much appreciated.  they have moved some walls and are getting a new HVAC system... and the noise of the flock is incredible!  The birds are mostly very friendly and the staff was wonderful, we got to spend at least 45 minutes with one of the directors (who came in on her day off) and saw all the bird spaces and even upstairs where they have a classroom now for training new staff, vet students and prospective "parents" for the birds.   Maars adopts out almost 200 birds per year, but they still have a waiting list to get in, especially for the larger birds.  They only have one paid staff member, who is part-time, but a vet student, so good use of funds.  The rest of the staff, even the directors, are volunteers.  As you can see from the pictures, we had some fun giving the donation. 
cheers,
Marilyn, Charity Bwana

BED RACIN' FOR BRIDGIN'

In what is sure to become an annual event, the first St. MinneSomePlace in Paradise Bedrace for Bridging team gave a valiant effort to race a queen-sized mattress down Buck Hill on another Saturday night, March 7. The St MSP team of Sue Hegarty, Wendy Bonjes, Julie Winters and Jim Hegarty came in fourth in their first heat and third in their second heat. We had to have placed third or better to move into the next heat. The real winner was Bridging. Between registration and donations, we donated more than $300 to help a child sleep in a bed instead of the floor. Way to go! Lots of Parrot Heads turned out to cheer us on in the mild temps (35 degrees). A strategy session was held at TGIFridays prior to the race and celebratory pizza was shared by the team afterwards at the Stuempges' home. See ya on the hill again next year, we hope!

BAROMETER SOUP, 13TH HELPING

On 5/4/09, ten members (plus one "parakeet", Emma) of St. MSP served our famous Barometer Soup (homemade chili and grilled cheese sandwiches ) to over 300 friends of Mary's Place, enough for two meals.  We chopped and stirred and sporked and served for the lucky 13th time at Sharing and Caring Hands (Mary's Place) in Minneapolis.  Our group (L to R in the photo) is Paul Moore,  Marilyn Listvan, Lisa Gibbs, Emma Ross, John Sherwin, Tracy Campbell, Vince (amazing chopper) Smale, Jon Gaasedelen, Ellen Freeman, Dave Appelbaum and Joe Ross.  I say lucky 13th since Joe's daughter, Emma, was there and even donated two of her favorite Barbie dolls that day personally to Mary Jo Copeland.  We also got a tour of the many parts of the facility (and where we saw a very strange dancing "blue Nun" --see my reaction pix above -- I thought it was going to jump!).  I thought it was going to jump!).  To make it even better, Vince received generous meat and cheese donations from his grocery supplier, and Main Street Bakery gave us amazing bread at a discount, too.  One of the Sharing & Caring Hands guests said "that was the best chili I have ever tasted, and I am 71 years old!!".  That, plus all the smiles, was a great reward for our efforts.
Thanks to everyone involved in making this day and this St MSP event so successful!
Marilyn

STORE TO DOOR

Store to Door was one of our charitable organizations to which proceeds from our recent THR phlocking were contributed.  Marilyn Listvan and Jon Gaasedelen, attended the annual Store to Door gala to honor their partners in their generous efforts to help those who need and appreciate  their services. Pictured with Marilyn in one of the photos is the director of Store to Door, Mary Jo Schifsky.

STORE TO DOOR DONATION

14th Annual THIS HOTEL ROOM

What a PHlocking we had last Saturday at the 14th Annual This Hotel Room!!  Over 175 ParrotHeads from Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and God only knows where else partied til way past Dark Thirty to the music of Jim Hoehn, Jambo JoeBones, Too Drunk to Fish, and special guest, Randy Zimmerman of Tropical Soul!  The dance floor was filled until Too Drunk to Fish played their last encore. 

The silent auction, as usual, was jammed with ParrotHead treasures of all kinds from a Tom Corcoran autographed book to Tommy Bahama gear.  Our live auction featured hand made treasures from Scott Merrigan, a beautiful surfboard chair and table set, Dawn the Artist, 2 gorgeous hand-painted adirondack Buffett themed chairs (the party's at Brenda and Eric's so we can all admire the tiger and try their new chair set), and a gourmet dinner for 6 prepared by our own tropical chef, Vince Smale.

Vicki Berg made and donated not one, but two, beautiful quilts for our THR auctions.  One was in the silent auction and her Parrot Quilt was a part of our live auction.  As you can see we have some really, really talented people up here on our Quaint Island and they very unselfishly donate those talents and their time to help our chosen charities. 

And I want to thank the PHine PHolks at Tommy Bahama for their continued support and donations to our PHlockings.

The final numbers aren't in yet, but when the dust had finally settled and the air had finally cleared.... we had raised between $3500 and $4000 for our two charities and over $100 for Mary's place!  You ParrotHeads never cease to amaze me with your generosity, even in these tough economic times.

PHINS UP!!!

John Sherwin

Take It Out At the Saints Game
Jun 20
Parrot Heads 8 - 0
Home runs were hit by everyone at the Saints Game.   The Parrot Heads won again and after our eighth annual tailgating phlocking we are now 8 - 0!  The Tiki bench was full and not just to watch but to participate in one of the best ways to spend another Saturday afternoon - tailgating with all your Parrot Head friends!  Not quite the world series of Parrot Headonism but a great past-time, for sure!  The Grogan's had the Margaritaville blender leading off; Jeff Ragatz pitched a full day of great Buffett music on the ol' RCA Victrola, and bases were full of great Parrot Heads under the clear blue sky until God's Yeller Moon showed up over the left field fence. St MSP once again hit a grand slam.....see ya next season!  Check out the evidence provided by Brenda Moe below...

SECOND HARVEST


In April, St MinneSomePlace and the Down South Bar in New Germany sponsored a Beer Bust to raise money for Second Harvest, a Minnesota food shelf organization.  Pictured above is the presentation of a check for $2,000.00.  From left, Marilyn Listvan, Dawn Marie Nelmark (SHH), Teri Merrigan, Scott Merrigan, John Sherwin, Bob Chatmas (SHH), and Tim Wulf. 

We like to "Party with a Purpose" ...and this time around Second Harvest was our purpose. 
The St. MinneSomePlace  Parrot Heads who presented the donation were:
    John Sherwin, Head Bwana 
    Teri Merrigan, First Mate, & Scott Merrigan
    Tim Wulf, Island Purser,  & Heidi Wulf
    Marilyn Listvan, Charity Bwana 

Jill Paehlke, owner of the  "Down South Bar"  in New Germany and fellow Parrot Head, wasn't able to attend the presentation but her involvement was the key to the event's success.  She organized, supported (donated all the raffle prizes), and promoted the fundraiser at Down South.
St MInneSomePlace would like to thank everyone who pitched in, donated money,
 and/or attended this phlocking.   

  At the check presentation, Bob Chatmas, Second Harvest Heartland's Chief Operating Officer, received the St. MSP donation and gave us an overview of Second Harvest operation.  Dawn Marie Nelmark, Second Harvest Heartland's Director of Corporate Relations, led our group on the tour of the facilities and gave more info on how many tons, yes tons, of food are distributed to various food shelves each year.  A nice surprise was also meeting Teri's former coworker, Nancy Spinger, who now clearly is a key worker at Second Harvest.  The tour was amazing; it is truly an efficient food warehouse operation. We did not fully appreciate that Second Harvest delivers to food shelves all over the state!      

HAMA photos provided by Patrick Peterson

HAMA PHOTOGRAPIC EVIDENCE