Unit 8 Ladies’ Luncheon
The ladies of Unit 8 stayed close to home as the temperatures rose outside, choosing Eagle’s Nest for our monthly luncheon. Then locales vary each month, and the date changes based on the availability of the selected restaurant. Newcomers to and long-time residents of Unit 8 are all welcome to join us—we have a great time. For more information about Unit 8 activities, please contact Jane Holdcroft at [email protected].
Kudos to Andy Gardner
Bob Young, Unit 34 Contact
PebbleCreek is a nice place to live, because nice people live in PebbleCreek. One of those people is Andy Gardner. If he looks familiar, Andy works for Safeway at Indian School and Litchfield Road, and he has probably bagged your groceries. Andy has worked for Safeway for more than 26 years.
When he is not working, walking his dog, or at the fitness center or being “Captain America,” he picks up trash to help keep our community clean.
Andy has the trash recycled instead of going into landfills. As you can see, he filled four bags this time. The time commitment is 30 minutes to fill two bags. He says it is a great way to get some exercise and makes him happy that he is giving back to our community. Please help Andy spread the word. Don’t throw your trash on the ground. Tell others to do the same, and if you see trash, please pick it up and dispose of it properly.
Andy says thanks!
Unit 36 Luncheon
Jan Frustaglia
Braving the summer heat, Unit 36 gals gathered for lunch at the Eagle’s Nest Restaurant on July 27 for fun conversation and great food! Pictured left to right are, front row: Shirley Dickover, Karen Naasted, Carol Paulson, Sue Schatza; middle row: Char Jones, Glenda Parnell, Kathleen Owens, Pat Smith, Barbara Chavez, Susan Nadeau, Eileen Lamparelli; back row: Jan Frustaglia, Kate Gregg, Susan Nardick, Sylvia Lewis, Patti Weiss, a resident’s visitor, Florence Langford, Carroll Wright, and Nancy Healy. Plans are in process for the next gals’ gathering in late September.
Unit 44 Ladies Catching Up in Mid-Summer
Back row: Jean Merkel, Dawn Razem, Donna Thomas, Kathy Clark, Diane Russo; front row: Jeri Johnson, Jean Harris, Laurie Eichkorn
Jean Harris
Eight Unit 44 ladies caught up on summer travels over lunch at the Old Pueblo Cafe in Litchfield Park on July 11. Together in air-conditioned heat-busting comfort, the group shared stories from some recent trips, including Scotland and Iceland. The usual topics were also discussed: health, summer heat, family and friends, summer heat, food, shopping, and summer heat. Those in Unit 44 feel lucky to have each other as neighbors and hope the good times continue!
Unit 44 Men Shake Things Up for Summer
Dan Harris
This month some of the Unit 44 men changed their long-standing monthly breakfast tradition to a lunch! Their reasoning was simple: why be inside eating breakfast when we could be doing our outdoor activities before it gets too hot, and then eat lunch in air-conditioned comfort when it’s too hot to be outside? The die-hards—Mark Eichkorn, Michael “Spike” Razem, Larry Clark, and Bob Olson—pictured with frothy beverages on the table, chose to eat at Eagle’s Nest, while the adventurous teetotalers—Doug Kirkpatrick, Don Paxton, Wayne Thomas, and Dan Harris—enjoyed covered parking while feasting in a booth at Winner’s Sports Bar in Glendale.
Unit 58 Men’s Breakfast
Al Williams, Tony Gonzales, Dennis Roelker, Tim Mansell, Mike Slaughter, Bill Mooberry, Charlie Hunt, Terry Ernst, Duston Howard, Ed Raker, and Phil Smith
For the men’s breakfast crew of Unit 58, neither heat nor the absence of our snowbird brethren seems to stand in the way of enjoying the camaraderie of our monthly breakfast events. The joking and swapping of insults that regularly happen make it more important that we get together. So, we continue to show up, month after month for the opportunity.
Most recently, on July 26, we reconvened at Eagle’s Nest, where we are always treated well in spite of our bad behavior. And this time we got to see a few members who might have been considered prodigals until they eventually reappeared (not mentioning any names).
Unit 43B Volunteer Spotlight
Jeff Renard (photo by Sandy Horvath)
Susan Knox Wilson
Jeff Renard was appointed to the PebbleCreek Villas Association (Villas 43B) Board of Directors in 2021, and has served as director at large for the past two years.
Jeff, a graduate of St. Paul College, began his career as a weapons designer, working for Nobles Worldwide, a company specializing in ammunition delivery systems. According to the Nobles Worldwide website, Nobles is “the primary ammunition feed chute supplier to all F-series aircraft and naval close-in weapon stations in the U.S. arsenal, as well as supporting a variety of land, air, and sea platforms worldwide.” Jeff spent 17 years with Nobles, before joining Caterpillar as a design engineer specializing in Cat® paving products such as asphalt pavers, road reclaimers, cold planers, and compactors. “I spent 28 years with Caterpillar,” notes Jeff, “and it’s kind of fun to see some of the equipment I designed working here in PebbleCreek. I was playing golf the other day and noticed one of ‘my’ asphalt compactors hard at work on the new roads in Tuscany Falls.”
Jeff moved to PebbleCreek from Hugo, Minn., in 2016 and is an active golfer, walker, and fan of the fitness center. “I also love to cook,” shared Jeff. “My mother was a great cook, and after I left the nest, I missed her wonderful meals so I taught myself how to cook.” Jeff says he watches a lot of cooking shows to pick up recipes and cooking techniques. Some of his favorite celebrity chefs are Giada DeLaurentiis, Bobby Flay, and Emeril Lagasse. “I’m a fan of one-pan meals like etouffee, jambalaya, or paella—cuts down on clean up,” said Jeff. He also does a lot of cooking with his sous vide machine, which he claims “can’t be beat for accurate temperature control!”
“I enjoy working on the Villas Board,” Jeff said. “I feel good about helping keep our community the best it can be.”
Unit 59—Building Our Community While We’re Building Our Homes!
While many of our neighbors’ homes continue to be built, we thought we’d start hosting our ‘all unit’ events to begin fostering a strong and connected community.
In June, we gathered for a BBQ and potluck on the patio of the Oasis Pool. There were so many fabulous appetizers, salads, beans, burgers, hot dogs, and desserts, plus engaging conversations, that the afternoon sped by. We laughed, learned about each other, and agreed we need to keep hosting opportunities to get together. It was truly an enjoyable and memorable experience.
“We’ll keep on spending sunny days this way”—The Young Rascals
Attendees included Lori and Dennis Anders, Adele and Don Bassett, Debra Bonafide, Susan and Brad Colbo, Mike Cook, Maria and Frank Datzer, Phil Lubman and Nancy Felstein, Vatia and Tom Flach, Lynn and Paul Gresko, Boguslaw and Eva Kochanowski, Justine and Semih Kutlay, Laurie Malatesta, Lisa and Ed Marasco, Laurie Olson, Dottie and Alan Palamara, Judy and Jerry Shapiro, Tim and Rose Stordahl, Kevin Sullivan, Estelle Rebenstorf, Laurie and John Tangney, and Lil and David Wattenberg.
62A July Ladies’ Lunch
Toni Erickson
On July 17, the ladies of Unit 62A dined together at Parry’s Pizzeria and Taphouse located in Avondale off of McDowell and 107th Avenue. The restaurant offers a little bit of everything from salads, sandwiches, buffalo wings, chicken tenders, etc. to pizza. In addition to in-store dining, Parry’s offers an array of catering and take out menus. Those who enjoyed the luncheon together were, from left to right, Janelle Watts, Cathe Pruyn, Lynn Banks, Pat Gonzales, Bonnie Springer, Debbie Forte, Sheryl Lipp, Renee Fisher, Jackie Bachmann, and Judy Meservey.
Unit 62A July Happy Hour
Toni Erickson
Unit 62A cooled off at their July Happy Hour held at the Oasis Pool. This month carried no specific theme or sign up unlike other months spent at the pool for happy hours. It was up to each individual household to bring an appetizer or dessert of their choice to share amongst the neighbors, along with a personal beverage choice. Dining took place upon arrival at 5 p.m. with a cooling down and some exchanged laughs in the pool following the meal. The Unit 62A babes with some of the guys lounging in the pool were Renee Fisher, Laurie Wyman, Maynard and Sheryl Lipp, Wendy and Rick Langhals, Jackie and Tom Bachmann, and Marilyn and Vic Coats. Kathleen Brown, sitting in the background, was the acting lifeguard over this crew!
Unit 62B Ladies’ Lunch at Cantina Gueros
Judy Freidman
We had a small but mighty group of eight ladies enjoy a delicious Mexican-style lunch at Cantina Gueros. The service was great, and the colorful wall paintings always make for a fun time. Because of the small number, we were actually able to talk and hear each other and catch up on past and future travel adventures. Pictured are Joy Lovell, Laura Variola, Kay Skripka, Cindy Goss, Marie Shubin, Cindy Zaklan, Judy Freidman, and Clare Weiner.