Early Christmas

Christmas came early this year. For just a few minutes a group of my friends and I became Santa Claus.  But . . .  we received the best gift of all, the joy of giving!

Our golf club, Suntree Country Club (SCC) had an “Angel Tree” this year and I was asked to organize it. 

 I knew it would be a heartwarming experience, so I gladly took it on. 

 When I first received the cards to put on the tree, I was touched by the number of children who wanted a bike for Christmas. Memories of my own first bike, and of giving a bike to my own children came flooding back. I had to take on this part of the “Angel Tree” and make sure each and every one of those children received a bike for Christmas. 

The first thing I did was send out a challenge to all my dear friends at SCC. Here is what my challenge said. 

" Dear Suntree Friends, I just received the Angel cards, and I was reading what the children were requesting.  Out of 30 cards, there were 13 that included a bike on their wish list.   

This made me think about when I was young and how much I loved my bike. It gave me confidence and freedom.  One of the best gifts (and biggest thrill) we ever gave our children was their first bike.   

I am reaching out to you in hopes you will support me on a quest to fulfill the request to get all 13 children a bike.  Sorry, I am tearing up just writing this request.     

I have already ordered a bike for an eleven-year-old girl and it will be delivered to me in a few days.   

Are you in?   

Visit the Angel tree in the foyer of Suntree Country Club or let me know you will take on providing a bike to one of the remaining 12 children. I will take one of the cards off the tree and send you the information.     

Cheers from your tearful friend,  Brenda Hyde"

 IN ONLY 4 HOURS ALL THE BIKES WERE TAKEN. In only 2 days, all the other children on the Angel Tree were taken as well. I asked the Salvation Army for more cards and I had 5 more bikes included. Those were also "taken" before I even had the cards in my hands. 

 Today we delivered all the gifts and 18 bikes to the Salvation Army. 

 Unless you have done this before, there is no way I can tell you how good it felt to drive up to the warehouse and unload all the bikes, toys and other gifts. IT WAS AMAZING. 

 They say you get more than you give when you do something for someone else and that is DEFINITELY true. We all received a wonderful gift today, the feeling of doing something to give joy to a child.

Our 8 SUV’s were packed to the rim. Bikes where stacked carefully with padding. Everyone worked together to make sure the names were secure on the gifts 

And then we caravanned to the warehouse. 

 I know I have said it before, but it can never be said too often. My friends at Suntree are the most wonderful and giving people. Hubby D and I are so very blessed to be living here surrounded by these great people.

Happy Holidays to all of you and I sincerely hope you have as wonderful a Christmas as we had today! Cheers, Brenda Hyde

Groundbreaking (cutting the sod) at Suntree Country Club

Groundbreaking ceremonies were first called a “sod-cutting ceremony” used to prepare the land for construction. That could not be more appropriate today as in fact we cut the sod yesterday to build a new clubhouse at Suntree Country Club where Hubby D and I are members.

Suntree Country Club was founded in 1975 by a handful of Brevard County, Florida visionaries. I am not sure how many of the original founders still belong to the club, but I know some do.  I actually played golf with one amazing woman two years ago. She was in her 90’s and she shot a 96 on the golf course. AMAZING!

Currently we have over 1,000 members, and our golf memberships have a waiting list.

What makes Suntree so very special? The people and the community. The caring staff and the friendly nature of everyone around the club. We have a strong Board of Directors and many actively involved members on committees and sub committees.

And, yes we have a few alligators on the course. But they don't like to play golf.

Not only do we enjoy the sport of golf and tennis, but we all join together for fun with our activities such as special dinners, dances, contests like Trivia Nights and Name That Tune, book clubs, exercise groups, card groups, kid’s camps. Most Friday nights you find the pool busy with kids swimming, and moms and dads listening to music, enjoying the evening.



Here is Hubby D at a special event on the pool deck at sunset.

We all enjoy special holidays together with dinners and dances. We share in the festive spirit helping to decorate and dress up Suntree during special times.

The ladies especially love getting into the spirit of ANY holiday or one of their many golf tournaments.



This group was the "Suntree Spirits" at the annual Halloween Tournament.

We have fundraisers for local charities, and we all work together to recognize our military and first responders on Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Fourth of July by celebrating our patriotic pride.

A couple of years ago, we competed in the Fourth of July tournament with good friends NG and TG. Sadly we lost TG this year.  2020 has been a hard year for our friends and our own family. My sister-in-law and one of my aunts very recently passed away. We have friends who have lost loved ones as well.

I started a tradition of planting a "Flag Garden" at Suntree on patriotic holidays. This selfie was taken after we planted 1,100 flags for Veterans Day this year. I have a group of members that always help and they make the job really easy. Did I say we have great people at Suntree?  WE DO!!!

In March, I co-chaired a fundraising event to raise money for a local charity. Sadly it was canceled the day before the golf tournament because of COVID. However, we still donated several thousands of dollars that were raised. 

The Groundbreaking Ceremony day started with rain but by show time, the sky cleared, and sun was shining. The ceremony went off without any glitzes and was very elegant. I ran the committee that planned the event, and I was nervous at the beginning, but after a while, I joined in the fun. It was GREAT!  

The construction company, Hedrick Brothers Construction, had a special face mask made for our groundbreaking.

Hubby D was featured during the ceremony. He introduced the design and construction team and they shared their vision for the project. It was great to hear from the architect and interior designer as well as the construction team. I can't wait to see the finished building.

And then it was time for "shovels in the dirt."

After the champagne toast, Hubby D and I posed for this photo on the backhoe. 

We all feel fortunate to have such a great place where we can join together to enjoy life here in Florida and even during this COVID crisis, we can play so much golf. This new clubhouse will be a great addition to the Suntree community, as well as give our Suntree Country Club members a superior club experience. It’s going to be great . . . and along the construction path, we will have many great celebrations . . . The Topping Out … The Ribbon Cutting.

The party was over, but the work has just begun!

I can see many parties in my future, I am truly a lucky woman with so many great friends.

Cheers,

Brenda Hyde

P.S. We received this photo after the blog was published and I want to include it.  LOL

North Carolina is really COOL!

After six months of working from home, Hubby D finally needed a break.  Yes, the view is nice from our family room looking out on the golf course but spending 24/7 in the same location was wearing thin.  AND, August can be brutally hot and humid in Florida.

We had been thinking about a mountain trip for a couple of years and decided the time was right. For our mountain escape, I booked a wonderful cabin for two weeks in the mountains of North Carolina just east of Asheville. The cabin was located close to the town of Black Mountain.The night before we left for North Carolina, we had a very unusual sunset after a big rain storm. It was stunning.

On the way, the traffic was much heavier than we expected.

Our first view of the mountains was exciting.

When we made it to Asheville, we had lunch at a nice outdoor cafe. I had Alligator Jambalaya. Who would have thought I would drive to North Carolina and eat alligator.

The views from the back deck of the cabin were fantastic. There was an outdoor fireplace and a hot tub. The house was not overly big and that was just perfect for Hubby D and myself. It was a good choice.

Our first sunset was great.

The town of Black Mountain could be seen at night from our deck.

Every morning brought different views of the mountains. Some days clouds would roll over the hills and finally close off the view. It was something I have never experienced before.

Sometimes the mountains did appear to be smoking. 

In the evening it was very cool and Hubby D would light the outdoor fireplace so I could sit and drink my wine outside enjoying the sunset. It was quite enjoyable.

Along with enjoying the cool air with mountain views, we also played some great golf. AND, the golf was very different from what we are used to.

We played five courses:

Bald Mountain Golf Course 

Black Mountain Golf Course

Sequoyah National Golf Club

Maggie Valley Club and Resort

Grove Park Inn

We were really lucky, 3 other couples from our country club in Florida were also in the mountains while we were there.  One couple, FT and CT actually gave me some great advice on where to rent and what to look for in a cabin. They have stayed in the area several times and will be returning in October to enjoy the fall colors. 

Another couple, DP and SP own a home and spend half the year in Asheville. The last couple, TM and HP told us about a golf course they were going to play and it turned out to be one of our favorites. We are so very, very fortunate to know such great people and share our love of golf with them.

In this photo you can see Bald Mountain behind me.

If you look close you can see Hubby D and one of our friends, DP hitting up to the green.

We had some rain and the piece of foam noodle they used to fill the pin hole began to float. We made a house rule, if you hit the noodle you were in the hole. And, when you hit the noddle, water shot out the top. It was a HOOT!

The Black Mountain golf course had a very unusual hole, a par 6. The 747 yard fairway is on the side of the mountain and your ball rolls left no matter how high you hit. It was amazingly HARD!!!

DP and SP looks us to Sequoyah National. It was the most unusual course filled with amazing views. You almost felt like the golf cart should be a SUV because the hills were so steep.

Steep hill was an understatement. It was a roller coaster ride. My heart was beating so fast by the time I reached the tee box, I could barely hit the ball. Steep hill signs were everywhere, even inside the cart on the GPS system.

This was the view from the tee box looking down. This is a dog leg right to the green.

This was a par 3.  REALLY???? That is CT trying to climb up to the tee box.

Grove Park was also a beautiful course. The greens and fairways were immaculate.

It often rained in the afternoon and the golf courses were "cart path only." You have no idea how hard it is to play golf “cart path only” until you have played “cart path only” in the mountains. 

For those of you are not golfers, typically you play “scatter” which means you can drive your golf cart right up to your ball (except when you are on the green). But sometimes the ground is too wet, and the golf course designates you can only drive your cart on the path. Then you have to park and walk to your ball from the cart path. This is known as “cart path only.” When you are playing in the mountains you might have to walk down a very steep hill and then up a very steep hill to get to your ball. Occasionally it is very hard, and it does make for a lot of hard walking.

Almost all of our golf in North Carolina was played “cart path only.” My knee got a really big workout.

At Maggie Valley we saw this bear.

FT and CT had a bear visit them at their cabin.

And, DP and SP had a bear visit them on their back deck.

The black bears are all over the area. One morning our outside trash can was laying down and Hubby D stopped to pick it up. A neighbor walking down the road said he saw a bear running away with our entire bag of trash. I wish I could have seen that ... or maybe not. 

This is what you would call a real, wild turkey. We were going to the tee box on the 9th hole at Grove Park and he really did not care that we drove right up on him. 

We also hiked to some waterfalls. They were stunning.

On one hike SP packed wine and a gourmet lunch. It was spectacular!

One evening we visited DP and SP's home for the most wonderful dinner. They have a beautiful home with an amazing and breathtaking view. 

Our trip to North Carolina was wonderful and we returned to Florida refreshed. We are already planning the next trip and hopefully it will be longer.

Our first morning home, the early morning temperature was 82 degrees which was the high for Black Mountain that day. Oh well, after all it is Florida.

Cheers,

Brenda 

We are so very thankful to all our wonderful friends who gave us great advice on a terrific place to spend a few "cool" days in the mountains. A special BIG THANK YOU goes out to CT and SP!!!