Winter in The Villages. Photo courtesy The Villages Daily Photo.

This week there was a menorah lighting at Spanish Springs Town Square and a Christmas parade beginning at The Villages Polo Club. Another parade and Winter Fest, also took place in the neighboring town of Wildwood. More decorations came out and more holiday lights are appeared in windows. There were Christmas teas, school kids singing, gift exchanges – and yes, lines at the post office.

While ‘tis the season, there was, of course, was more happening in The Villages this week besides Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations. There was a pet adoption day at The Buffalo Ridge Animal Hospital and a group of veterans on bicycles road through the area.

The pet adoption day was part of a Central Florida pet adoption effort sponsored by the animal hospital and Petco. More than a dozen area rescue groups were on hand with dogs and cats needing homes – and they found them. Early reports from the Buffalo Ridge staff indicate about 20 pets will be moving into The Villages.

While Villagers were adopting pets, more than 150 wounded veterans embarked on a 6-day, 350-mile ride from Tampa to Jacksonville as part of Ride 2 Recover. The ride will raise money for indoor and outdoor rehabilitation programs for injured veterans. As the riders reached Lady Lakes and Wildwood, local American Legion Posts provided meals.

And then there were sports. Fall season neighborhood softball come to an end and, both men and women’s teams finished up the last of their 72 holes to close out the 2009 The Villages Golf Championship.

The Senior State Games, however, dominated the sports news. Sunday’s track and field events closed the nine-day competition. More than 1,700 athletes competed in 23 events with Villagers placing in a myriad of events. Results from the Senior Games can be found at the Florida Sports Foundation web site.

Villagers have many entries in the games’ record books, but five residents dominate their sports. In conjunction with the state games, The Florida Sports Foundation named the most awarded athletes over the last decade. Five residents of The Villages, all women, were on the list. Categories taken by Villagers included track and field, pickleball, horseshoes, golf and badminton.

The video below by Tampabay.com captures the feel of the event — the lines, the sentiment of people, and Palin’s enthusiasm for The Villages.

The former nominee for Vice President showed up at the Lake Sumter Landing Barnes and Noble on Tuesday (Nov. 24) and was greeting by an enthusiastic crowd. When Palin addressed supporters at the event, the enthusiasm seemed mutual.

“To be back at The Villages, oh my goodness, this is a blast,” said Palin. “There is something very special about this place.” She also said that The Villages was the favorite campaign stop for her daughter, Piper, who is now 8 years old. Piper and toddler son, Trig, puttered back stage as Palin spoke.

Palin thanked people for buying her book and for reading her story, “unfiltered by the media,’ and encouraged people to “go rogue” with her.

The crowd was smaller than when she came in September 2008, campaigning with John McCain, but some folks still arrived a full day early to make sure they got a wristband – the magic ticket that got you into the bookstore where Palin signed books. Crowd estimates ranged from 700 to a more than 1,500.

The event was covered locally and nationally and captured on video. The Christian Science Monitor even pointed out that Palin mentioned The Villages in her book.

Yep, on page 265, Palin talks about her visit to The Villages while on the campaign trail. Aside from noting the humidity was like a “hot, wet blanket”, Palin was taken by the golf carts in The Villages. She likened them to the boats and snow machines favored by Alaskans.

Palin’s other Florida book stops included Orlando and Jacksonville.

Book sales for Going Rogue have been brisk. The book is at the top of the New York Times Best-Seller list for hardcover non-fiction books. Glenn Beck’s book, Arguing with Idiots, is number 4, and A Simple Christmas, by Mike Huckabee, is number 5. Both Beck and Huckabee also recently visited The Villages.

Beck, a Fox news commentator, chose The Villages as the spot to finally reveal details of “the plan” he has been hyping in the media. Beck described the event on his web site as “a candid citizen-to-citizen chat.”

While some expected Beck to announced candidacy for a national office, the big news turns out to be a series of voter education conventions. Beck said he has “stopped looking for a leader to show us the way out…[and] the only one who can truly save our country is us.” The conventions will kick off in March, in Orlando.

Reports estimate that as many as 25,000 showed up at Lake Sumter Landing’s Market Square to hear Beck’s plan. The Villages is known as a Republican stronghold and many area residents were enthusiastic about Beck’s conservative message.

Beck hosts  “Glenn Beck,” on FOX News Channel. The show “breaks down and examines various stories and topics through the lens of his unique libertarian perspective.”

Beck also hosts a nationally syndicated radio show (“The Glenn Beck Program”) which is heard in more than 300 cities. It is one of the highest-rated national talk shows among adults ages 25 to 54.

Beck’s visit to The Villages is sandwiched between last week’s visit by former Republican presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, and Sarah Palin’s visit, slated for Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Huckabee, last week, signed copies of his book, “A Simple Christmas” at the Lake Sumter Landing Barnes & Noble.

Tuesday, Sarah Palin should be in The Villages, promoting her new book, “Going Rogue”. During her last visit to the community, in September, the former Alaska governor drew a crowd comparable to the one Beck drew this weekend.

Jeff Harper, The Villages resident who won last year’s pro-am title at The Children’s Miracle Network Classic, came out on top again this year at the Walt Disney World Resort defending his win.

The golf tournament is traditionally the last stop of the season on the PGA tour. The charity event that raises money for the national Children’s Miracle Network, a group dedicated to raising funds for children’s hospitals.

In other news, Gov. Charlie Crist appointed The Villages resident, Richard Cole, to the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation. This is Cole’s second appointment. Cole was originally tapped for the position in 2005 by then governor, Jeb Bush. The foundation helps people with disabilities find work.

The appointment follows Cole’s long career working with the disabled. Cole has held state appointments in Pennsylvania, and in Florida, Cole served as vice-chairman of the Sumter County chapter of Outdoors Without Limits. The nonprofit organization educates people with disabilities about outdoor activities and offers them a chance to participate.

It seemed like business as usual in The Villages –sports and public service (often combined), but even in paradise, a little rain must fall. We caught rain bands from Hurricane Ida as it formed in the Gulf and we endured the dregs of the downgraded storm as it veered across the state. Hopefully, Ida will be the last storm of the year, as Hurricane Season ends November 30.

Also marring The Villages’ idyllic face this week, Villager Denise Textor, allegedly shot her husband, trigging a 4-plus-hour stand off with Sumter County law enforcement. Her husband, Dennis Textor was shot twice in the upper body. He escaped from his home through a bathroom window and was transported to an area hospital. The cause of the shooting is unclear, however published reports quote Denise Textor as saying her husband was always “on her case.” The 50-year-old Bloomington Place resident was charged with attempted first-degree murder of husband.

As the Florida winter closes in, Village residents are taking care of gardening chores like culling old bulbs, weeding, mulching and setting late season vegetables and herbs. During winter, grass and plants usually need less water, but The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s governing board still voted recently to extend the water orders that restrict lawn and landscape watering to one day per week.

Water management is just one of the governance topics always on the mind of Villagers. This week residents had a chance to meet with representative of water management and other agencies at the 13th Annual Government Day held at the Laurel Manor Recreation Center. More than 60 agencies representing The State of Florida and Marion, Sumter and Lake Counties had booths where residents of The Villages could ask about issues and learn more about what each agency does. Several veteran’s groups and representatives for area legislators were also on hand.

The mild Central Florida winters also bring us baseball. The Florida Winter Baseball League season got started recently, with our new local team, the Lake County Black Bears, tied with the Miami Diamantes, at leading the league with a 6-2 record.

If folks in The Villages weren’t out enjoying local baseball or catching their favorite football teams from back home on TV, they were out taking advantage of the ample sports and recreation opportunities at The Villages. With the 18th annual Florida Senior Games State Championships just a month away, individuals and teams were out practicing. The games, being held this year in Lee County, feature competition in almost 20 sports, including archery, tennis, swimming, volleyball and pickelball. Participants from The Villages have a solid history of participating in the Senior Games and bringing home medals. Villagers are expected to continue their winning tradition at the Championships as well.

This week in another post we covered some updated real estate numbers in The Villages. Be sure to take a look if you happened to miss that.

Right now, of course, we’re still chasing ghosts from the yard and recovering from costume parties, haunted Halloween boat tours on Lake Sumter, and Halloween’s sugar crash. It’s amazing that even though a lot of Villager’s no longer have kids in the nest, how the Halloween cookies and candy still show up on the coffee table. However, the areas surrounding The Villages do have their share of younger residents and they got to fill their bags at Spanish Springs Town Square, courtesy of the shopping area’s merchants association.

And before Halloween? Oktoberfest! Being raised on sauerkraut and having a fondness for thick, dark beer, Oktoberfest is one of my favorite occasions to party. Villagers (some in lederhosen) turned out in Spanish Springs Town Square and Lake Sumter Landing this week to partake in this traditional Autumn event. Festivities included Rhineland music and dance, and of course, food and drink.

There was parade too. Members of the German American club escorted the official beer barrel and tended a giant “bier” stein float. The parade also featured baton twirlers and like anything in The Villages, golf carts.

How bowlers celebrate in The Villages (via @villager964)

Obviously the heat didn’t slow things down. Temperatures reach into the mid-90s this week, bringing along that famed-Florida humidity (giving us an average of 97 percent this month)! But don’t let these numbers scare you off. The online Weather Underground service assures us that normal averages for October are a comfortable 74.5 degrees, with humidity running at about 76 percent.

By now, you have “fallen back” and changed your clocks, but don’t forget to change the batteries in your smoke detectors too. There may be enough time at half time to get started – if you’re not too busy with a football party.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, local softball teams battled each other, and visiting senior athletes from around the country, at the Saddlebrook and Buffalo Glen Softball Complexes for the Master Athlete Softball Championship. Both men’s and women’s teams, in three age brackets, competed for the trophies.

As well as the softball tournament, residents enjoyed the usual variety of bands, ballet, archery and other recreation opportunities at The Villages.

At least one Villager was seen flying kites – on TV. Earlier this month, Bell Aire resident, Barbara Hall attended the 2009 American Kite Association National Convention in Rochester, MN, and was captured on video for CNN news, and was interviewed in the Rochester Post-Bulletin. Hall has flown kites in all 50 states and in several countries around the world.

On a more serious note, U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Ocala) met with voters Saturday at the Mulberry Grove Recreation Center. Sterns spoke to about 250 attendees about the issue that’s on everyone’s lips, healthcare. Stearns talked about his stance on President Obama’s health plan and addressed other constituent concerns.

Speaking of health care, this week is the end of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Awareness and prevention has been at the forefront at The Villages this month with several local groups doing their part, from Panera Bread serving pink pastries to the creation of a Heart dolls by folks from Elizabeth Villas. Survivors have joined to share their stories and educate others, and a new non-profit to raise money for mammograms, Spare Your Pair, emerged from businessman, Steve Munz in Wildwood. The combination of early detection and medical innovations has caused an overall drop in the death rate from the disease. According to the American Cancer Society, nationally, breast cancer mortality has dropped by about two percent per year since 1999. But just because National Breast Cancer Awareness Month ends, it doesn’t mean all the hard work and education should stop. Be sure to get your mammogram and continue helping those in The Villages who work to combat this disease.

So just because you move to paradise, doesn’t mean things aren’t “normal” every now and then.

One thing no matter where you move to The Villages from will be familiar, and that’s the ringing of the bells at the Salvation Army Kettle at the entrance to major stores. Villagers are a generous bunch of people and are off to an early start helping those in need this holiday season, despite the economy. If you haven’t made the jump down to The Villages, please do the same in your area will you? Lot’s of folks out there need it this year.

One of the best things about living in The Villages is the free entertainment. Who doesn’t love a live band? Well things get kicked up a notch in The Villages around the holidays as far as Christmastime entertainment is concerned. You can keep track of nightly entertainment going on in The Villages here.

But whatever you do, spend an evening this holiday season with the Griswold’s won’t you? Pop National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation into the dvd player and cuddle up with a loved one and a big bowl of popcorn. Ah, Clark would fit right in here in The Villages

George Stella Interview in The Villages

By the way, if you are considering a move to The Villages, you should consider subscribing to The Villages Vmail list. This email has some good information about special deals and incentives that The Villages may be running at any given time, as well as various news items from around The Villages. You can subscribe here.

Another item of recent interest is a new line of home The Villages is offering called the Cottage Series. You’ll find that these homes are on the minimalist side, both inside and out. Perfect timing I guess, especially if you are among the many who have watched your 401k shrink in the past few months. Browsing a list of Cottage series homes available in The Villages I saw a couple in the $130,000′s, but most are between $140,000 to $170,000.

That’s it for This Week in The Villages. Polls in The Villages open Tuesday morning at 7 am and will remain open until 7 pm. Don’t forget to vote!

See ya next week!

Image credit: diggersf on flickr

Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy will be at the Savannah Center in The Villages on Wednesday afternoon to campaign for Senator Obama. As you may know, Sarah Palin visited The Villages a few weeks ago, and over 25,000 Villagers turned out to see her. Because The Villages is traditionally known as a republican hot spot, the crowd for Caroline Kennedy’s visit is not expected to be as well attended, but she no doubt brings a star quality. Let’s hope The Villages puts party politics aside and lots of folks turn out to see her.

Meanwhile, VP-candidate Joe Biden will be near The Villages, campaigning in nearby Marion County on Tuesday.

Alright, thats enough politics for one week huh? Halloween and Thanksgiving are coming up. Have you got your pumpkins yet? Pumpkins are available at Wal-Mart and Publix. Let us know in the comments if you found a good pumpkin patch in The Villages that everyone should know about.

Thought it was always warm and sunny in Florida and The Villages? Ha! Maybe always sunny but this week we will get our first taste of winter as Old Man Winter pays a special visit to The Villages. Mid-week we should see lows in the 30′s. In case you’re wondering, WESH Channel 2 has probably the best weather coverage for The Villages and surrounding areas.