CFNewsletter is not affiliated with
Craft Farms or the Honors folks in any way.
ewsletter
CFN
We're just happy to live here!
Published by Jim Walker and I guess I'll pretty much take the blame for the content, or lack thereof!
Welcome to the May, 2012 issue of CFNewsletter.
Don't forget our friends at
Pelican Place for your shopping needs!
Announcements for May-June
If you or your organization has any announcements you would like to share, please E-mail them to me.
By: Mary O'Day
By: Mary O'Day
Gulf Shores & Orange Beach have a newsletter that will keep you informed of all the local activities.
You can sign up for
e-Tidings here.
From Gulf Shores & Orange Beach.com
"Click"on pictures to ENLARGE
"Neighbors In Business"
As I hope you know by now, we have many CraftFarmers that are not retired. I have made a page available for CraftFarmers to list their business within CFNewsletter.
If you would like to add your business to the list, just click on this link and follow the instructions: "Neighbors In Business".
By: Sharon Peeples
By: Mary O'Day
Speaking of festivals, Dana and I won't be satisfied until we have attended every local festival. Me, for the photo opportunities, Dana, for the seemingly endless booth after booth of crafts!
I guess we are both satisfied, especially if it ends with a
well deserved treat (shown above) to end the day!
Loxley's Strawberry Festival is set in a great location and offers a wide variety of entertainment. Located at a park on Highway 59, there is plenty of grass & shade to make it comfortable. They offer local business booths, plenty of food, a very nice car show, live entertainment, carnival rides, and, of course, great strawberry shortcake. If you have not attended this show, I'd highly recommend putting this on your list for next year.
Of course, I have some pictures to prove we were there!
Bald Eagles in Craft Farms!
Remember last month, when Sharon Peeples sent me these two pictures of a Bald Eagle that visited Sharon's back yard.
A few days after Sharon sent these to me, I received a call from Judy Moore, saying she thought there was a Bald Eagle on the edge of the pond behind her home. I did a mad dash to get my camera and ran the entire width of two yards...(which totally wore me out), sure enough, setting on the edge of the pond near two geese, was a Bald Eagle. I hadn't noticed him right away, but when I did, he was a bit startled by this wild man running in his direction. I stopped and started firing away, but by that time, he was deciding to seek higher spaces. The pictures aren't great, but you can see what a beautiful bird they are. I had already finished the April issue of CFNewsletter at the time, so I decided to put them in this month.
By: Sharon Peeples
FYI!
Judy Moore contacted me with a good idea. She thought it might be of benefit to offer a way for you all to receive
the City of Gulf Shores Newsletter and event updates.
If you would like to sign up for these updates, just follow this link and put your e-mail address in the spot shown by the red arrows and pointing finger that I'm showing on this example page.
Just click on the link and you will be taken to this sign-up page. GulfShoresAL
Thanks for the suggestion, Judy!
Gulf Coast Athletic Club
10th Annual Golf Tournament
Held Friday, March 30th
At our own Craft Farms Golf Course.
I posted some pictures of the GCAC Golf Tournament last month, but had many more for you to see. Please click on the link to see the full tournament results and pictures of the action.
Speaking of Golf Tournaments
The Jane Craft Invitational
Coming soon! Monday, May 7th
"For Sale & Wanted"
We have had pretty good success with getting items listed and sold on our "For Sale-Wanted" page.
If you would like to add any items to our list, just click on this link and follow the instructions: "For Sale-Wanted".
New Items Just Listed!
More Picture at GSAthleticClub.com.
Sunday, May 13th
One of our Mothers Day traditions is to visit the Foley "Art In The Park" festival, held every Mothers Day weekend at the
Foley Park, located at Highway 59 & 98.
This is a two day event held on May 12-13th.
Here's a link for more information.
By: Sharon Peeples
Now, Judy and I are feeling pretty good about having teamed up to catch a picture of this rare bird. We were talking for about 5 minutes, when we noticed what we thought was the Eagle returning. It was passing over the house, headed back for the pond. I pulled the camera back up to grab a couple more pictures as he dove into the pond. It wound up being an Osprey diving in for a little meal. He/she, slammed into the water, then took a bit to get back into flight. All in all, it was quite the 15 minute period for a couple of amateur bird watcher/photographers to enjoy.
The pictures of the Osprey did not turn out well and I'm only showing a couple so you can get a sense of what we saw.
Here, the Osprey is just pulling out of the water with the fish.
How could you say there's no excitement in Craft Farms?!?!
By: Jim Walker
By: Jim Walker
By: Jim Walker
By: Jim Walker
Here is the story as written by Bill & Greta Bremser
My wife, Greta, and I have been doing the Audubon Society’s Annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) in The Gulf Shores area and specifically the Craft Farms/Cotton Creek area for the last 26 years. While the CBC’s have been done in the Gulf Shores area for over 60 years, no one ever did the Cotton Creek Golf Course area. Back then, golf courses had somewhat a bad reputation with environmentalists concerning fertilizations, etc. In 1986 I contacted Mr. Craft to ask permission to come onto his golf course for birdwatching purposes. Mr. Craft was quite enthusiastic and said he was an environmentalist and that we would find that there were plenty of birds on the course and he offered us a golf cart for us to do our bird survey. I said we were both golfers and knew to respect the golfing etiquette. So every year since then we have been doing the CBC at Craft Farms/Cotton Creek/ Cypress Bend area.
While the CBC in Gulf Shores is usually done on the first Saturday in January and is only a one day affair, our total of bird species seen over the past 26 years in the Craft Farms/Cotton Creek area has been 121 with a normal day count of about 75! Because the area has such a diverse environment, i.e., lakes, grass, marshes, old woods with deciduous and pine trees, open fields, brushy areas, housing with bird feeders, it is a mecca for various species of birds. Every year we participate in the CBC, we wonder what different species will show up, and we’ve never been disappointed. Many rarities have shown up there and not elsewhere on the Gulf Shores CBC. White-fronted Goose, White Ibis, Sandhill Crane, American Bittern, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Sprague’s Pipit, Shiny Cowbird and Western Meadowlark are very unusual species we have seen here.
The various lakes have produced many species of Ducks and Grebes, and their borders always have Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, other Egrets and Herons, and an occasional Wilson’s Snipe. Throughout the entire area we’re on the lookout for many species of hawks. And of course there’s the duty Osprey with its nest high up in the tree alongside the course. The fields will yield Meadowlarks, Pipits, Killdeer, Black-bellied Plovers, many Sparrows, many Hawks and Vultures, Doves, Shrikes, Blackbirds, Cowbirds, Starlings, Robins and Bluebirds. The wooded areas will have the smaller birds like Wrens, Woodpeckers, Hermit Thrush, Chickadees, Titmice, Warblers, Nuthatches and Catbirds and during the night you might hear a Screech Owl. The housing areas have Mockingbirds, Brown Thrashers, Cardinals, possibly Goldfinches and Cedar Waxwings, House Finches, House Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers and both the Mourning and Eurasian Collared-Doves.
When Spring and Summer arrive, there are many more species that can be found bringing the overall total to around 150+. So the next time you are out playing golf or walking around the area, be aware that there really are a lot of feathered friends around.
Bill Bremser, Gulf Breeze, FL
And speaking of bird watching....(don't you love a good segue)....we have a story that originated with an e-mail from Bill & Betty Oliver.
Jim, good afternoon.
Our friends Bill and Greta Bremser whom we met in North Carolina, but their home is in Gulf Breeze, Florida are members of the Audubon Society's Annual Christmas Bird Count in this area. Bill told us of the times he visited with RC Craft and how RC was always interested in knowing the types of birds we have around the golf courses (as you will read in his article and NOT all species listed).
Yesterday, March 27th, we played golf with them on Cypress Bend and it was hard concentrating on golf as Bill and Greta on every hole were listening, pointing out and naming different bird species. On #4 Cypress Bend, Bill Bremser saw a ripple in the water and said let's wait a few seconds and then up popped a Bufflehead duck. My Bill said, isn't that the same as a Poule d'eau (as the coot is called in southern Louisiana ~ pronounced Pouldoo)? No, that would be an American Coot, but this is a Bufflehead duck.
Jim, thanks for considering this article.
Bill & Betty Oliver
Bill & Greta Bremser
We also had another CraftFarmer contact me with a chance encounter with the uber-famous, Arnold Palmer!!
How awesome would that be?
Thanks to Anne McCormick for sharing this story with us!
Hi Jim,
Rod and MaryAnn Erdman and John and Anne McCormick had an enjoyable trip to Bay Hill Golf and Country Club, Orlando, Florida. It is Arnold Palmer's Golf Club and he graciously agreed to have his photo taken with us during our dinner on Monday, April 9, 2012. Photo is attached.
We told him we were there from Craft Farms and the Erdman's had won the opportunity to play at Bay Hill by successfully having the winning bid of this auction item at the Arnie's Army Golf Tournament held at Craft Farms in the Fall of 2011.
Anne McCormick
L to R: MaryAnn Erdman, John McCormick, Anne McCormick, Arnold Palmer, Rod Erdman
Really?!?! I mean, how cool was that!!
Dana and I met one of the Three Stooges sister's once!
Let's keep the CraftFarmer contributions coming!
This picture comes from some of my favorite people in the world......Jack & Sandi Reagan!
Sandi wrote me an e-mail:
The Reagan's know how to celebrate Spring Break. It was all beach, pool, smoking ribs at my brother's house in Elberta, and counting children. We would have had three more but Jack's daughter Susan and two teenage girls had to leave Sat morning, so Susan could sing in church Sunday. We also had three not pictured, actually 6 teenagers for 1 week, do we hold a record? If not I will issue a challenge...or do I hear a petition to get us removed from this very nice neighborhood??????
Summer is almost here......See Ya, Sandi
I believe, in a previous issue of CFNewsletter, I said I would
only post more pictures of our darling Granddaughter, Blakely, if someone asked. Granted, it was only one, but I did say someONE!
Miss B had her 7 month photo-shoot the other day. She gets a photo-shoot every month and I have a feeling there is no end in sight!
Well, I just happen to have a few on hand!
Also, please keep in mind, I will gladly show pictures of other Grandkids as well, just send them to me.
"Click"on pictures to ENLARGE
Don't forget, you too can share your family pictures!
Just send them my way!
Tournament Winners: Tom Smith, Mike Cunningham, Jim Cunningham, Albert Thompson
Other Items For Sale!
WANTED!!
Craft Farms family looking for a 3-4 BR house to lease long term in Craft Farms.
A small dog is part of the family.
Call Robin at 948-3373 or
E-mail: randrlee@msn.com
By: Mary O'Day
By: Mary O'Day
By: Mary O'Day
Coincidentally, we ran into fellow CraftFarmers,
Mike & Darla Rice while we were partaking of our strawberry shortcakes. Mike & Darla were much more wise, by sharing theirs with each other......Dana and I have no such sharing agreement!
We found out that Darla was going to run in her first half-marathon the next day, so we asked for pictures. Here are a few from Mike.
Congratulations Darla!!
For Sale
Woman’s golf club set
Wilson Lady Ette # 3, 5, 7, & 9 irons
Wilson # 2 & 4 woods
Putter, blue bag & pull cart
$ 100.00
Good extra sets to keep around the house for when guests show up unprepared.
Call Ed or Diane 974-6606 dianded@gulftel.com
For Sale
Men’s golf club set
Wilson Staff #3, 5, 6, 8, & 9 irons
Pitching wedge, sand wedge and putter
Sonic # 3, 5, & 7 drivers
Ball retriever, black bag & pull cart.
$ 100.00
Good extra sets to keep around the house for when guests show up unprepared.
Call Ed or Diane 974-6606 dianded@gulftel.com
