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Calgary Parrot Head Club News It's Official:
To the delight of Calgarians, and especially us Parrot Heads, the first Margaritaville restaurant in Canada will be opened on the Stampede grounds here in Calgary in 2012, the 100th Anniversary of the Calgary Stampede. Margaritaville will be the anchor tenant along Stampede Trail, a unique entertainment / shopping strip to be built between 12 Avenue and the existing entrance to the Stampede Park. This strip will be a "festival marketplace", and will help turn the park into a year-round destination. More details available in this Press Release from Stampede Trail. Also: check out the official Margaritaville Calgary web page. (Other source: the Calgary Herald: "Margaritaville Seen as Toast of Stampede", Thanks from Vida for Birthday Bash Thanks to all who came out for my 50th birthday phlocking at Shuckalucks. It was a blast. Thanks for the beautiful lamp and the cake was fantastic. Thank you to everyone who was a part of putting this together. It really will be something I remember forever. A huge thank you to Brian Neale and DJ Rocky for making the trip from Toronto to join the celebration. Thank you to Sherry and her staff Connin, Woody, Lea & Emily for looking after us so well. We raised $180 in the 50/50 draw for Haiti Relief which Dave has already donated to www.canadaforhaiti.com (as it was done before the 12th) the government matches our donation – so $360 will be going to Haiti Relief. Thank you to everyone who supported this great cause. Rich H. (he is my assistant’s hubby) won the 50/50 and donated his $180 back to PADS Calgary. Thank you Rick for giving your winnings back to PADS.
What is the DUMAS* Award?, you may ask. The "DUMAS" award was inspired by a club member who accidentally backed up their car over a coffee pot while on a Parrot Head camping trip. The "Award" has been out of circulation for a while now, but with a club membership of 130 plus, "we" decided that it was time to dust off the trophy and start the annual competition. Anyone can be a contender, so nominate a worthy opponent. You never know -- you could be one! So when you see a fellow Parrot Head have a "Dumas" moment, make a note of it and submit it to Loralyne with "the story". Email: Nominations are open until May 15, 2010. We will present the Dumas Award at the Spring Phling. The trophy is actually a flattened metallic coffee pot with tire tracks on it.
2009 Spring Phling Report Another great time was had by all who phlocked to our 14th Annual Spring Phling at Swigs Pub. We were entertained by the pH Unbalanced Band and were also treated to a visit by Calgary's Finest as someone complained about the noise... Most of us haven't been to a "cops-showing-up" kind of party in 25 years. Well done, Calgary Parrot Head Club! We also raised about $4100 for PADS Calgary which is the most that we have ever raised for an organization. A great job by all who helped out -- Thanks everyone! An event like this doesn't just happen -- it involves a whole lot of teamwork. We should all be grateful that we have such a great group of Parrot Heads here in Calgary!! Dis 'n' Dat: A note from our PADS Puppy-Raising Program in Calgary: Looking for Lost Leis: Thanks to Hosts! Forget San Francisco -- We Headed
By Derek Last time I submitted an article for the newsletter, I was a Jimmy Buffett Concert Virgin, and off to the Las Legas Concerts last October with about 20 other crazy Calgary Parrot Heads. It was truly one of the great times of my life. DQ Dave's next great advice was "as much fun as you had in Vegas - you haven't truly experienced Jimmy until you see in at an outdoor concert". The long, long winter (that would never end) finally started to show signs of ending. Some members of the Phlock were starting to plan their next Phlocking to Vegas for the SummerzCool Tour Concert. DQ Dave was consistent with his message, and Bev and I were thinking we should try to see if we could make it work. Dave started looking at the schedule and it looked like the best fit was going to be "The Labour Day Weekend Show" in Manassas, Virginia. My first question was "Where the heck is Manassas Virginia?". Turns out it's just outside of Washington DC, and before you knew it, Steve and Cathy and their son Shaun were all in. The phlocking was started. Vida posted on the "Coconut Telegraph" that there were 7 members of the CalPHC phlocking to Manassas, and could anyone pass on some suggestions. Before you know it, there were E-mails coming from 4 or 5 other PH Clubs, all offering up sugggestions, advice, and hospitality. What an outstanding community of people Parrot Heads are! All of us had different routes and arrivals, but met in Bristow VA on the Friday. Turned out that it is usually very hot at that time of the year, and once we checked in -- we headed to the poolside! After I dived into the water and came up, the first thing I heard was some JB tunes coming from the poolside. I looked up and saw some Virginia Parrot Heads, and even though it was only 1 PM, the Tiki Bar was open and it was 5 O'Clock somewhere. I met Tim and his crew from Virginia; they had been to the Thursday concert and were staying for the Saturday concert the next day. Their crew was incredibly well set up, so I asked how many times he had seem Jimmy play? His answer: He thought this was his 84th or 85th concert! Now this is one serious Parrot Head!! Through "The Coconut Telegraph" and Steve and Cathy, we had hooked up with the Washington Parrot Head Club. They said they had room for 7 crazy Canadians, and the fun was about to start. They had a bus going, a full day of tailgate partying, a DJ, and even had lined up some of the Coral Reefers to stop by and sign autographs for a meet-and-greet. We had large Canadian Flag like the one Vida had in Vegas -- a new tradition had started. As the bus rolled up to the Nissan Amphitheater, all I could see for miles and miles were RVs, trucks, cars, all tailgate partying. The closer we got, it became clear that Parrot Heads were tailgating to a whole other level. I saw Volcanos, Pirate Ships, Tiki Bars, Beaches, Pools, Bars, and any other thing that Jimmy mentions in a song. If he mentions it in a song, it was there in front of us and for as far as you can see in any direction. And it was still 5 hours to concert time! We hoisted up the Canadian flag where the Washington Parrot Heads were tailgating, and it became a gathering spot for fellow Canadian Parrot Heads, as well as the Canadian expats living south of the border. Onced again, we got all the Canadians (and whoever else that wanted) to sign the flag. We even got 4 of the Coral Reefers to sign it, and it now hangs proudly at our Happy Hours. Walking around the tailgate party was something that I will never forget. The outfits, the signs, the games, the music... But most of all, it was the energy and the fun that everyone was having -- and it was still hours until the concert! Before I knew it, the doors opened and in we went to grab our piece of turf on the grass to experience one of the best times of my life. The party had just moved inside the amphitheater. Soon the whole complex was full of beach balls being tossed around. Finally the stage lights went on and out came the band. Just as Jimmy as about to start, a full moon was coming over the back of the seats and the grass, and with the picture on the big screen and Jimmy talking about "what a perfect way to start the Labour Day Weekend Show." Three hours later, and after a ton of his oldies, the show was eventually ending. What a night! I had a smile on from start to finish. We headed back to our bus to meet up with our Washington Parrot Heads for the ride home. The crazy Canucks took some flack heading onto the bus, but they were great hosts and really looked after us. In fact, when we were getting dropped off at the hotel after the concert, they all started singing "Oh Canada" in our honour. We must have done something right! We headed back to Calgary the next day, and our "most excellent adventure" had ended. We quickly exchanged pictures with the group, and now have them as great memories. Bev's comment before we headed out was that we couldn't be doing this every year. Well, it was less than a week after we were home and at the next Happy Hour that she asked: When and where were we going to go next year? So fellow Parrot Heads, there is a group starting to plan the next great outdoor Buffett concert next summer. The more the merrier!! Until then, Phins Up! Unless otherwise noted, most of the articles on this page were adapted from the newsletter, published by Loralyne M., Eva R. and Deanna L. 
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Which brings me to – our newest pup on the Calgary scene – “Buffett” – a beautiful black lab who is going to be a very big black lab judging from his size right now. So now as a result of our fund raising efforts in 2009 for PADS Calgary, we have 3 puppies being raised in the Calgary area: Tiki, Monday & Buffett. Make sure you make a point of saying hello to them as you run into them on field trips or just out and about town. 
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P.A.D.S. (www.pads.ca) is an organization that raises and trains dogs for assisting people with disabilities, thus helping people become more independent and have a better quality of life. CalPHC raised lots of funds for PADS Calgary at the Spring Phling on June 13, 2009 (see Event Archives). Plus, Service Dog Charlie became an official canine member of CalPHC.
Let's continue our generous support for PADS in our upcoming fundraisers! |
