FEBRUARY 1, 2023 www.wintertexantimes.com 20 WINTER TEXAN TIMES RioValleyEstates@gmail.com | www.RioValleyEstates.com Rio Valley Estates See Ranchero Village’s (Our Sister Park) Activities Ad On Page • Concrete Pad Sites • Full Hookups • Wide Paved Streets • Gated Community • Shower Facilities • Laundry Facilities • 1 FREE High Speed Internet Modem with WiFi • 1 FREE Spectrum TV Cable Box • Swimming Pool & Hot Tub • Recreation Hall • Shuffle Board Rio Valley Estates (Sister Park to Ranchero Village) 715 N. Westgate Dr. • Weslaco 956-968-2708 Expwy 83 Business 83 W Pike Blvd Panther Dr Westgate Dr RVs at From the Cheap Seats Move over Bingo, there’s a new kid in town – Yahoo (not as in yippee – yahoo is the name of the game). “It’s really growing,” said Robert Jacques, a Canadian resident who lives at Sleepy Valley Resort in Mission with his wife from October to April and has been a Winter Texan for 16 years now. “There are ladies that arrive an hour before the game. They have their specific chair and table and toys to put on the table. They’ll bring chocolates and candies and play other things until the game starts. “It’s really a social game.” A hand needs four players, and they will be each dealt 13 cards. A caller – similar to the caller in bingo – will call out a card name and those cards from each group will be tossed into a pile. “When someone has just two cards remaining, they call out the place where they come from and when they have one card left, they knock on the table,” Jacques said. “When they are out, they Yahoo.” The more people involved, the bigger the Yahoo winnings. Five hands are played for a dime entry, five more hands are played for a quarter and the big sweepstakes is one hand for a dollar apiece. It’s a nice little chunk of change based on how many people are playing. Sleepy Valley had close to 200 Yahoo-ers participating. “There’s Yahoo being played at every park around here every day of the week,” said Jacques, adding that his wife pretty much goes to all of them Yahoo card games bringing people to the table – a true Yahoo-er. “There were 117 at a different park yesterday. Now that we’re in full season there’s going to be more.” The park provides the cards, but some people still bring their own – along with their snacks, their toys and whatever else will bring them some good luck. “It’s an elimination game and it’s growing because it’s fun,” Jacques said. “People come from all around the different parks to have a good social time.” Jacques said there’s plenty to do in the interconnected parks from shuffleboard to some new pickle ball courts being planned to old reliable – Petanque, a European game played heavily by Canadians that falls into the same category as bocce ball. Men and Women of A-Chord performing near you Most Winter Texans are familiar with Men of A-Chord and Sweet Adeline’s. They were groups that performed in the Winter Texan parks from January through March. In recent years, the groups have changed, numbers have gone up and down as well, and so has the makeup of the groups. Recently, the Sweet Adeline’s disbanded. So, this last fall, those from Sweet Adeline’s that still wanted to perform joined with Men of A-Chord and are now the Men and Women of A-Chord. The group still performs Barbershop Harmony, but now you have a wider range of voices to listen to. The group is still performing at Winter Texan parks throughout the Valley. Something else you might not know about the group, with funds collected from their shows, anything over their expenses, goes to music scholarships to high school seniors in the Valley. They still have at least six shows this season. On February 1, you can catch them at Countryside Mobile Home and RV Park in Donna at 7 p.m., $7; February 4, 7 p.m., McAllen Mobile Park, pass the hat; February 17, 6:30 p.m., Winter Green Estates in Mission, $6; February 26, 7 p.m., Snow to Sun in Weslaco, pass the hat; March 15, 6 p.m., Casa Del Valle, Alamo, $8; and March 19, 6 p.m., Paradise Park South, Mercedes, $7. Photo by Henry Miller 2023 Men and Women of A-Chord. Courtesy Photo 11
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