April Showers/May Flowers; SUMMER’S HERE! Parrot Heads
With better weather, Parrot Heads have been mucho busy out there in the community. Our regular PHirst PHriday night PHlockings at the Emerald Club keep coming up with great fun, the last being a primer for the next day’s scavenger hunt with the crew running around the back yard Tiki Bar looking for a list of items. Scearce & Ketner had their long johns on and cranked out the tunes outdoors with lots of good grub from the E Club & Eddie, a 50/50 raffle to help out a Parrot Head in Need and of course plenty of fun and frolicking. Deals were cut and teams formed for the next day’s “Offishul” Scavenger Hunt that brought out 18 teams of 4 and a bunch of others who hung out to enjoy the rowdiness of Parrot Heads zipping around town in search of strange clued items. Many thanks to Bob & Marsha Horner and the rest of their group who organized the event and made sure that everything went off like clockwork. The big time winning team this year of Bernie and Emily Zucker, Doris Speicher, and Mary Passey took home first place with the team name of “Senior Moments”. They called themselves by that moniker because they couldn’t remember what they had called themselves last year; guess what… same name last year. For forgetful PHolks, they sure kicked it by coming in first time wise and with every item on the list. Congrats! Prizes were given out for first through sixth place but everyone who participated had a ball. Ending a gorgeous early summer day with music from our very own DJ (and judge) Bobbi Raub along with a cold one or two and a lot of hysterical stories of the searching, made this another day to remember. Partying With A Purpose, all proceeds from entry fees were split between the Carteret County Humane Society and the Carteret County Domestic Violence Program, two deserving charitable organizations.
Hey, we’ve gotten a bunch of new members this year already, so we decided we needed to have a meet and greet session for them (as an excuse for a party?). Somewhere around 70 new and old (not in years) Parrot Heads PHlocked over the bridge to Senor Dick’s for an evening of fun and frolic and a chance to get better acquainted. Of course the addition of Coconut Bowling thrown into the mix with prizes and some tasty appetizers cranked the rowdiness up a notch. Amazing how insane it is to try to roll a coconut into a hula hoop; the ladies seemed to do better than the guys (sometimes with a little help from Head PHlocker James’ foot). Lots and lots of laughter, and new friends made with a crew of folks who all like to have a great time and do good things for their communities.
Well, the entrance to beautiful Emerald Isle was starting to again look littered, so we fired up our regular Adopt a Highway trash pickup, meeting on a Saturday morning with 18 Parrot Heads taking to the side of the road for our litter pickup from Rte. 24 to the bridge. As usual (sadly) trash was in ample supply with our crew picking up 29 bags of various “stuff” chucked or blown out from passing vehicles. Aside from too many plastic bags, styrofoam cups, beer cans and bottles, etc. the clean team came up with a full woman’s purse (no wallet for ID), a broken cane, Ford hubcap (missing one?), 3/4 empty bottle of Grey Goose, and a DVD on exploding target instructions. We even had one jerk (wish we had gotten the license number) who threw out an empty water bottle as they went by; amazing how stupid some people can be. OK, lecture time… PLEASE don’t litter on purpose or by accident. Never chuck anything out the window (including cig butts), or If you have a pick ‘em up truck make sure trash doesn’t blow out of the back. Meanwhile, if you see a Parrot Head, tell them thanks for helping to keep the entrance to the Isle looking spiffy.
Show up for our next PHirst PHriday PHlocking (looks like a Kentucky Derby theme) and you’ll catch the buzz of excitement over our upcoming biggest event of the year, namely the infamous Beach Bicycle Poker Run on May 18 with major cash prizes, bicycle decorating contests, raffles for lots of great goodies from generous local merchants and individuals, door prizes, and tons of laughter and good times at five local stops. As always, in honor of those who have given so much for our country, all proceeds from this event are donated to the Hope for the Warriors charity. Last year we raised $4000 and had 140 folks participating, and we expect this year to be even bigger and better. Watch for signs around town and come on out for a fun day for a good cause and Party With A Purpose with us!
Meanwhile, don’t forget to send out a big happy birthday wish to the following Parrot Heads who are making another trip around the sun this May: Jane “ All the Way From Morehead” Sewell, Bets Love, Lisa Miller, Leanne Reed, Jenni Douglas, Wayne Young, Jim Tuttle, Allen Ross, Emilie “Bennett’s Mom” Zucker, David Collins, H. Curtis Umphlett, Jeanne LaVana, Russell “Sailor” Adams, Jean “Vice Prez” Jensen, Sharon Alford, John Henrickson, Rich Wells, Kip “Artiste” Baker, Terry Groseclose, Bob Linder, Leslie Herrle, Ken “Hey, That’s’ Me” Stone, Deanne Sicular, Doris Speicher, Kathey Fairchild, Tom Reed, and Emily Sears.
So, tha’s all folks for this month, aside from a cerebral thought for y’all.. “Don’t miss the donut by looking through the hole.” Live some life and we’ll see you around the Isle! Ken