Unit 2
Mary Ann Evans, Unit 2 Communications Coordinator
One hundred twenty-five people attended the Unit 2 potluck dinner on March 3 in the Eagle’s Nest Ballroom. The dinner gave new residents a chance to meet neighbors and existing residents a chance to visit with friends. Unit 2 has 217 homes with residents ranging from people who came in 1993 to people who moved in last week. The dinner committee and several residents helped with planning, delivering flyers, working with the table setup, creating an event sign-up table for different events and clean up. There are plans for a men’s lunch group, a ladies’ lunch group, block parties and several other activities.
Unit 8
Alisa Moore
Joining the ladies of Unit 8 at various local restaurants is always great fun, but it is extra special when one of our members hosts the rest of us in her lovely home for a potluck lunch. On February 28, Lin Conley shared her home bordering the lush Eagle’s Nest golf course with beautiful water views. All 20 of us brought our favorite dish and we enjoyed homemade food galore and entertaining conversations. Anyone in Unit 8 interested in joining us, please email Jane Holdcroft at [email protected]. We’d love to meet new neighbors! v
Unit 20
Carolyn Rota
Here we are already in the 3rd month of the year. Well, Unit 20 is going as strong as ever. On March 13 the lovely ladies of Unit 20 had their monthly lunch at Hayashi Japanese restaurant in Goodyear. Hayashi provides not only a delicious lunch, not only custom made but it’s cooked right in front of you with flames roaring up high, knives slicing and dicing before your very eyes. It’s entertainment and a meal. Great time, great food and great neighbors all equal up to a Great Lunch. A BIG THANK YOU to our Hostesses, Denise & Sue. Remember to check your emails for the April’s Luncheon Invitation.
Unit 27A
Pat Chernow and Camille Grabb
On Tuesday, February 26, 20 members of Unit 27A and their guests attended a day at Turf Paradise Race Course which is a thoroughbred and quarter horse racetrack in northern Phoenix. An excellent buffet was enjoyed in the Turf Club. We had a fun day of trying our luck at selecting horses, jockeys, owners and/or trainers for eight races. We also like to select the horse by its color or the color of the jockey’s silks. Who knew that you can bet more than win, place, or show (the Straight wager)? There is also the Exotic wager (select the first two, three or four horses in order); the Pick wager (select the winners of three, four, five or six consecutive races) and Advanced wagering which involves boxing horses for the Quinella, Excata, Trifecta and Supertrifecta. Everyone had a great time in spite of our wins or losses and enjoyed being on the track for the first race picture taking.
Unit 51
Janet Miazga
On February 14, nineteen ladies from Unit 51, along with a guest, enjoyed a Valentine’s Day lunch at a new-to-many venue. Hosts Gloria Fulton and Jackie Vandenberg chose the Lakeside Grill Estrella, which opened last summer inside the Starpointe Resident’s Club, down Estrella Parkway. Amid colorful red clothing, decorations and heart candy, we all enjoyed a delicious lunch in an intimate setting. The group gladly welcomed Lenore Micatka’s cousin, Mary, who was visiting from Chicago, happy to be away from their cold winter. Many of the gals agreed to keep this restaurant in mind for future meals, especially in warm weather on the patio facing the lake.
Unit 52
Liz Gibson
More than 20 ladies who lunch in Unit 52 met at noon on March 13 at the Macaroni Grill. Because we hadn’t introduced ourselves for a while, and a number of new residents were in attendance, everyone stated their street, where they were from and other bits of information. Hostess for the luncheon was Phyllis Kotyluk.
Unit 52 is looking forward to their second event of the year on Sunday, March 31. We are repeating our popular “Street Party” theme with a catered supper, BYOB and definitely casual.
The 2019 Social Committee, which organizes all the unit events is Chair Rhae Jean Magnuson, Sydney Nations, Kaye Corrigan, Karen Berner, Roxann Sykes and Donna Strand. They are already busy working on more events for the year, concluding with a Holiday Party in December.
Unit 53
Sandy Stephens
Jim and Danielle Lightner hosted the Unit 53 Happy Hour February 28. Danielle made a big pot of delicious stew and the counters were taken up with all the appetizers and desserts brought by those in attendance. So many came to spend time with friends and enjoy a lovely Arizona night and found seating at the kitchen table, great room or the many seating areas in their spacious yard. I never want to disturb people deep in conversation for a group picture and it’s impossible when so many are spread out.
Unit 53
Sandy Stephens
Fifteen gals enjoyed a luncheon February 19 at the Vogue Bistro in Surprise hosted by Rosalie Pyle and Geri Zuvich. The restaurant offered an up-scale menu along with a nice presentation of food served.
Unit 54
Seventeen current and two forthcoming Unit 54 residents enjoyed an evening at Goodyear Ball Park on Thursday, March 7. Oh, and the Mariners won!
Left to right: Art Solorio, Peter Chimicles, Harold Rathman, Mike Strong and Richard Raugust.
Unit 54 Men’s Breakfast
Steven Braden
On February 20, the men of Unit 54 met at the Eagle’s Nest restaurant for their monthly Men’s Breakfast.
Unit 58
Phil and Nancy Wilson Smith hosted the Unit 58 Happy Hour on Sunday, February 17. Approximately 30 neighbors and friends gathered to share appetizers and conversation.
Unit 61
Adrianne Beck
The Unit 61 Ladies Luncheon for March was held in a new restaurant, The Lola, located in the Westgate Entertainment District. It was a fun event and everyone enjoyed the delicious food and great weather on the patio. Spring was definitely in the air.
Unit 62A’s February Happy Hour.
Unit 62A
Barb Downey
Once again, the Unit 62A Social Committee filled our calendar with fun events to enjoy our time together and form the bonds of great friendships with great neighbors. Our monthly St. Mary’s Food Bank volunteering was well attended and a great workout for us as we packed and sorted for several hours! The men attended a breakfast at Biscuits Café in Surprise, while the ladies lunched at Chelsea’s Kitchen in Phoenix. The comradery and fellowship at these monthly gatherings are always very special!
A new outing for us in February was attending the Phoenix Theatre’s production of Jersey Boys! We loved the music and professionalism of the presentation as we reminisced the 1960s era!
Since we are typically a competitive group, we continue to play spirited games of hand and foot several times each month, along with some pretty cutthroat games of Mexican Train! It’s a good rule to mix up the players so you’re not sitting next to your spouse when those doubles are dropped!
Even though we’re all about fun in retirement, we also have a generous side as evidenced by our bighearted volunteers. Twenty-four of our residents give of their time in a volunteer role in 19 different organizations, including: AZ Women’s Golf, several churches/synagogues, Hope’s Closet, Kare Bears, Lifelong Learning, Elementary Schools, Spring Training, Meals of Joy, Southwest Valley Literacy, St. Mary’s Food Bank, The Groves Assisted Living, West Valley Genealogical Society Library, Irish American Club, Pickleball Club, Quilters and PebbleCreek Theatre.
Another wonderful aspect of retirement is finding the time to continue the pursuit of knowledge! Whether through Lifelong Learning or the Activities Office, there are many opportunities to do so right here in PebbleCreek. One of our residents, Judy Meservey, organized and led a four-session discussion group for our unit on the subject of “Wise Aging”. She did a tremendous amount of research to plan and facilitate our discussions on the topics of “Finding Purpose and Meaning”, “Ensuring our Health and Well-Being”, “Planning for Future What-Ifs” and “Resilience in the Face of Change and Loss”. This was a wonderful way to truly work together with our neighbors to discover how we are prepared and planning for the various changes in our lives as we age. We all learned a lot about each other as well as what the experts say on these matters.
Our Unit Happy Hour in February was a Valentine’s theme, held at the home of Mark and Arleen King, with 52 attendees! Along with the fabulous food and drink, we all brought pictures of our wedding or high school/college years and had such fun reminiscing about those interesting hairstyles and clothing and trying to figure out who was who! Another great gathering for Unit 62A! v
Unit 64
On September 15, 2008, history was written when Bob and Carol Warren closed on the first house in Unit 64. We grew over the next several years into the most fun unit. When we built the final home last year, we knew a party was in order. So, on Sunday, February 10 we threw a ten-year anniversary party in the Eagle’s Nest Ballroom. We enjoyed a wonderful BBQ potluck with as many neighbors as were available. Our resident photographer Gary Mackman took a photo to commemorate the occasion. Dave Silverstein and Holly Carrier’s band played for us. We enjoyed a timeline of some of the events we’ve experienced over the years so the newer neighbors would get a bit of our history. We played the Name Game where we tried to remember how many people shared names, five Bills, five Pams, the eight variations of Sherry, etc. We also took a crack at trivia about Unit 64, PebbleCreek, Maricopa County and Arizona in Things You Might Want to Know. And of course, being the most fun unit, we had sign-ups for more games and fun. A big thanks goes to the first people who closed on their home in PebbleCreek on June 21, 1993, despite the clubhouse not being completed until the following February. Just a bit of trivia for you to enjoy, too. A big thanks goes to Karen Giles, Peggy Miller and Cher Zeman for hosting our 15th all unit event.