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The True Spirit of Christmas
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The 2015 finale of Toys for Tots and Food for COTV really showed the generosity of the Club.
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We had five, count them, five young marines from Camp Pendleton meet more than 75 COTV members at our usual stomping grounds at the Kohl’s parking lot from 9:30 to 10:30 on a crisp and clear December morning. Sure, there were donuts for all, but we would like to think that it was the opportunity to give to those more in need than ourselves that drew such a large crowd. There were fancy hats and fancy sweaters, although Tyler Fox may win the big prize in the Dress Like an Elf contest since he had on a fantastic sweater, which he later shed to reveal another fantastic seasonal T-shirt. Al Hackworth is hard to beat in the creative headgear department and his animated Christmas tree hat was a clear winner as well. But who’s judging???
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The Marines, in full dress uniforms, arrived from Camp Pendleton in a Government issue pick-up, which was barely large enough to contain the multitude of gifts donated by our generous members. They shook hands with everyone who thanked them for their service and had their photos taken with many of the members, as well as a group shot with the veterans in our group who were present. We all bagged and stacked all the toys in the back of the pick-up so that they would not fly out on the freeway on the way back to base. The crowning touch was the three bicycles donated by Al and Vickie which we used to anchor all the donations. How incredibly generous of the Hackworths!! The Marines said this was the most successful event they had been to this year and asked if they could come back again next year, so hopefully even more of our members will have the pleasure of meeting them in 2016.
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At 10:30, the truck departed and the 50+ foodies departed for a short-ish (after September and November, 60-75 minutes on the road is short!) lunch run “over hill and over dale” through the beautiful countryside of De Luz and the Santa Rosa Plateau and then onto the freeway for some relief from the hills and curves to stretch the Corvettes’ legs.
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The destination was the Wood Ranch BBQ in the Dos Lagos shopping center. Every now and then we have to head north instead of south on these runs! We had 40 in the View Room and the overflow at a table with a view just inside. The team at Wood Ranch gave the group excellent service and everyone seemed to enjoy the variety of the menu. The Wood Ranch manager asked that we come back next year. If you are looking for barbecue for a meal, remember how nice this one was and keep Wood Ranch on your list of possibilities.
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We would like to thank the following members for their great generosity today:
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Billings, Boers, Buote, Clark, Crawley, Crook, Crowther, Filardo, Finch, Fox, Glenore, Graham, Grayson, Hackworth, Hafeli, Hedges, Hellman, Hipp, Kidd, Lenz, Lokken, McIntosh, Meyer, Nagle, O’Brien, Page, Priebe, Rash, Rose, Shamblin, Smith/Streets. Sommars, Stedfield, Steed, Stevens, Taylor, Thackwell, Watson, Weber, Weeks, Wells, Weir/Reichardt, Wilensky, Wilson and Woodall. (If we missed anyone, please let us know!)
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Best wishes to all for the rest of the Holiday Season and looking forward to a wonderful year for COTV in 2016!
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