Free table rant

Free Table Rant ‘Soapbox Saturday’

In my old age, I am fortunate to escape the cold winters in Canada and spend them in an over-55 park in Yuma AZ. My age allows me to share my wisdom with anyone tuning in to read my blogs. Did you like that one? lol you all know I’m going to share whatever is on my mind anyway, just making it out to look like old people are wiser ; )

I’m grateful for how my life is playing out. I’m also acutely aware it gets shorter with each passing day, hence my blog.. My Third Life. Should I die tomorrow let my epitaph say that “I LIVED” and I gave it my best.

We all need ‘happy’ in our lives, especially us elderly folks. One of the perks of living in this park is a special table outside our clubhouse. It’s dubbed the Free Table and it’s safe to say it’s probably the most loved piece of equipment/table in our park. We lack a tennis or pickle-ball court nor do we have weekly dances or musical entertainment. We don’t have putting greens or weekly classes for painting or woodworking or any sort of curated/interesting classes that most other parks seem to have. There are not a whole lot of perks in this park but we love the wide streets and ample lots and the people living here.

Our monthly rent has increased considerably over the years with very few noticeable improvements to add to our enjoyment here. When we need something changed it takes pretty much most of us to band together and write letters or collect petitions to get the owner’s attention and get changes made.

I have been fortunate to have run my own businesses most of my life and keeping clients/customers happy is the number one rule for running a successful enterprise.

Well, here we are again, I had to write a letter and start a petition to get something changed. Seems the OWNERS of our park who DO NOT live here decided to get rid of our beloved Free Table. They seldom make an appearance and most of us have never met them nor do we have access to their emails, phone number, or even their names. They didn’t ask any of us for our input in this decision.

I wrote a letter explaining how we felt and even collected signatures. I didn’t want to make it a full-time job collecting everyone’s signatures so after three days I sent in 45 signatures. There are 172 units in our park which are not all occupied. I was hoping the signatures collected would be enough to back up our feelings about the free table.

Apparently not, as the only concession from the owners was to put it in the middle of Friendship Park, where we have a monthly wiener roast. This location is out of the way for everyone and no one ever goes there.

So my happiness is not as fulfilling as it should be. I have decided to go out and collect everyone’s signatures if only to show that democracy is alive and well here in America. What the ‘people’ want should not be ignored. This does NOT cost the owners anything. Zilch, nada, nothing.

I am including the letter I sent to the owners and if you agree with me I would really love your support. An email to office@sunrisemhcyuma.com and to c/c me at cwinacott@hotmail.com would be terrific thank you. Thank you also for reading my blog.

Sunday, October 22nd 2023

Good morning Gary (one of the two owners of our park),

As you know I live here in Sunrise, having bought my place in 2014. I love it here and have always told everyone what a great park this is. We did meet when the pictures were going up on the walls last year, you told me I could have a say in where they could go and I appreciated that.

Although I’m not happy with the increases and changes proposed here in the park, I understand. It would be nice if our increases could find a way to include free Wi-Fi for the park. Before retiring I owned my own business, several in fact, and being profitable is always a concern I know. Keeping my customers happy was also a number one priority for me.
I particularly care about water waste, a Canadian thing maybe? I’ve even figured out ways in my head how this park could save a ton of water that is probably wasted every day. This is not why I’m writing this letter though.

This letter concerns the ‘Free Table’ and I’ve heard all sorts of stories, but it’s all hearsay and I’m not sure why it’s gone. Most of us, if not all of us here in the park liked having the free table and always took it for granted. Now it’s gone and WOW.. pretty much everyone is upset about it, including me.

The ‘Free Table’ was like a focal point, a common ground, a place where we would commune and kibbitz with each other. It was fun and we always checked it out when we came up for anything at the clubhouse or pool. I think we all have a story of a ‘find’ on that table. I stocked my cupboards with dishes and pots and pans that I sorely needed when I bought my winter home here. My place was bare and that free table really was a bonus for me.

I even wrote a blog about a great find that was like a ‘miracle’ on that free table last year. A full set of women’s golf clubs which I definitely couldn’t afford to buy and really needed, appeared early one morning on that very table. The miracle was me going up to the clubhouse so early in the morning, which I never do. Being retired I don’t do early anymore.

The ‘Free Table’ has so many stories.. it is famous amongst all our relatives and friends that visit here, and also those from other parks. We all have a story from that table.

I’m collecting signatures for a petition to re-install the free table. This is only so you know it is not just a few of us feeling this way, but actually most of us. Please know that what we feel so deeply about, is what you may think is something trivial. Let’s face it, we live here every day, we’re retired and we have become used to this particular distraction. It’s a fun thing and a common denominator amongst us all “checking out the free table” we took it for granted even.

If you choose to re-install it we can have some rules to go along with it. I am not sure why it was taken down but I am sure that we will all do our best to keep it tidy and clean and get rid of stuff that stays on there for too long or?

I’m hoping you will take into consideration how we feel about this when making your decision.

Cherylle Winacott #114

update
I am including a picture of my Halloween costume this week. I went as a born-again Free Table … don’t judge (my free golf clubs were too heavy).