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Welcome to the Walton County Snowbird website.  Our Snowbird Club boasts a membership of over 2000 and our activities are open to all winter visitors. The club is led by its members, financed by its members, and is for the recreational, social, fellowship, travel and enjoyment of all who participate. Use this site to view all of our activities, general meeting and registration information, photos and announcements.  If there is an activity that you would like to see us offer, and you are willing to be chairperson for that activity, we will do everything we can to accommodate you.  We always have need for volunteers to help with meetings, registration and activities. So please consider doing your part to help our great organization continue to prosper, and have lots of fun while doing so.  Please feel free to contact any one of the board members (below) with your suggestions.

NANCY GEHRKE...  PRESIDENT’S LETTER  July 23, 2010

Greetings to Walton County Snowbirds!!!

Know that some of you are hesitant to reenlist your reservation to the Destin area what with the oil spill, but my contacts (a manager who rents out our rental property) informs me that the beaches are beautiful, the water is crystal clear, and more of the same is expected for your arrival.  They did have very minute tar balls which were scooped away instantly and now it's like nothing ever happened.  Let's hope it stays that way and we can put this all behind us and the waters can heal, flora and fauna can be restored to abundance, and snowbirds can stroll unabashedly on the white sands of the emerald coast.   

If you recall, one of my wishes upon becoming President of this organization was to be able to give back to the community in which we live for the winter, a road or highway cleanup for a day or more. Positive publicity about the Walton County Snowbirds was my goal, plus improve the landscape where needed.  This has been researched by Bob Bailey who does so much for the volunteers, and the counties were most favorable about the concept and willing to give us the needed equipment, etc.  However, they really felt it would be safer to do the beach area!!!!  This was before the oil spill was even a figment of the imagination!!  We will pursue the action upon return in late fall and hope that many of you will participate no matter where we do 'beautification' via cleanup.  It is a good thing. 

And, here's advance notice on an exciting addition to our activity offerings:  Barbara Kimball has volunteered (love that word) to coordinate day trips in and around Walton and Okaloosa counties via bikes!!  How special is that!  She's a bike enthusiast and has had lots of experience mapping out curious and safe places to ride, and is willing to share her expertise with us.  We're not talking about 'see how fast we can go' bike trips; we're talking about 'see where bikes can take us and give us all these marvelous mental images'.  So, think about taking your bike south with you along with your helmet and bike riding comfort clothes so that you are ready and rarin' to go where Barb will lead.  it might be helpful to get in condition prior to heading south if you've been slack about that activity.  Thank you, Barbara, for volunteering….. more on that when you cross the Mason/Dixon for your winter stay. 

Here's something you might like to put on your winter calendar.  If you've never gone to Defuniak Springs for the Florida Chautauqua there, it might be time to give that a try during January 27 to 30, 2011.  Pamela Landwirth, President of 'Give The Kids The World', www.gktw.org will be a keynote speaker in addition to all the various activities and demonstrations that are held there during that time.  I'm aware that the Santa Rosa Community Church usually runs a bus there for the price of chipping in for gas.  If there are other means of transportation to and fro, I'd be happy to hear about them so that I can share with the rest of the 'birds.' 

Hope you are all having a good summer with family and friends and that now and then you recollect the amazing time you had during the winter with a new roster of friendships and maybe some activities heretofore never done before, thus proving the adage, you can teach an old dog new tricks!!  So there!!!  Stay well, take good care of yourselves, and I’ll give you a firsthand report of life in the southland when we take root in October.

Nancy A Gehrke, President of Walton County Snowbirds

Here's a computer tip to help you access this website quickly.  When you open this site,  click on this favicon (blend of "favorites" and "icon") which is located just to the left of "http://www.waltoncountysnowbirds.com" in the address bar above.   Now, hold down your left mouse key and drag the favicon to your desktop (you may need to minimize the page so you can see the desktop.)  From now on, you can just click on this on your desktop and not have to type in the entire URL to access our website!     

View Season 2010 Video Summary of Events ( May require a Microsoft add-on [Please Allow] Use broadband for best results)

After five years , Hugh and Marilyn Barnard are relinquishing their position as webmasters and are turning over this task to Betty Swenson.  Our Snowbird Website will be in good hands and we appreciate Betty's expertise and willingness to serve our group.  Marilyn and Hugh have given many years of service in varied roles to our snowbird group. We give them our heartfelt thanks and appreciation for their unselfish dedication. There may be many changes as this transition is being made.  Please continue to check our website for updates over the summer.

If you have any information to share, please contact Betty Swenson at sweny99@scacable.com

Here are our Walton County Snowbird Officers for 2010-2011

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