Hello Fellow Gators!

Join us on our exciting new “Music City” fall getaway trip to Nashville, staying at the Margaritaville Hotel downtown on October 11-16, 2026. For a price of only $1,290, double occupancy, you can enjoy a country music oriented trip. We will be only 2 blocks from Nashville’s iconic Broadway, where you can experience the country music scene, bars, restaurants, honky tonks, distilleries, historical sites, and much more. It is also fall leaf viewing season and you can visit nearby parks to view them. The trip includes a club happy hour and a club dinner. Please contact trip leader Walter Marussich for more information.

Our Vietnam and Cambodia Bike and Barge trips are out now, and I am sure everyone is having a fabulous time.

We have several exciting major trips on our docket:

· South Africa and Victoria Falls Tour on September 8-22, 2026 (wait list)

· Nashville Margaritaville Hotel Fall Getaway on October 11-16, 2026 (space available, single male wanted)

· Vietnam and Cambodia Bike and Barge on October 27-November 14, 2027 (space available)

We are considering a trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto for 2027 and are trying to gage member support for it. Please let me know if you would be interested.

Please join us at our happy hours. You can meet other members and make new friends or reconnect with old ones! I would like to thank Letti Falko, Lorain Lyon, Marcie Cole and Ben Smith for their ongoing help as Gator Happy Hour Ambassadors.

For the summer, our General Meetings are on the third Saturday of the month. Our next one is on Saturday, August 22nd at Tiki 52 Bar & Grill. We will not be having a Friday night happy hour the day before our General Meetings. We encourage you to come instead to our General Meeting.

I will continue to plan our weekly Friday night happy hours. Our VP of Socials, Lisa Smelcher, will be organizing some occasional Saturday happy hours.

I am looking forward to seeing you at some of our events and meeting our new members.

Thank you,

Sharon Long

VP of Special Activities

Mobile: (561) 768-6365

wmarussich@comcast.net