September 2009 - On Top of the World Communities Info

Model RailroadersIIt’s great reminiscing about your childhoodwhen most boys had a model trainset. It usually wasn’t very elaborate havingjust enough tracks to make a smallcircle or perhaps a small oval that youwould have to take down once Christmaswas over. The train set you most likelyhad was Lionel, Marx or American Flyer,otherwise known as “G” scale.You could sit there for hours daydreamingabout being on the railroadas you watched your train go round andround.Does this bring back a few memories? Iknow my mind started to reminisce whenI first saw the fantastic railroad layout byour own On Top of the World Model RailroadersClub.The trains used today are primary“HO” and “N” scale as one can make abigger layout, utilizing more buildings,tracks, switches, etc. as these two sizescan fit on a piece of plywood or smaller.Anyone can join the club even thoughthey do not have any trains. The mainidea of the club is that members canbring their own trains and run them onthe club’s existing tracks. If an enthusiastwants to play with trains or perhaps get alittle experience before jumping into thehobby, then the club has trains that personcould use.Walking into the club’s layout area locatedjust off the gym in the Health & RecreationBuilding, one gets the idea in theirhead to yell “all aboard.” The layout’sbuildings, complete with people, beckonsyou to visualize yourself shrinking intothe miniature scenario. The club even hasa farm in their layout complete with animals.In one section, there is a residentialhome with a woman hanging clothes onBy Bo b Wo o d sWo r l d Ne w s Wr i t e rthe clothesline. The town’s main streetwith all its stores has people walking upand down the sidewalks.The club has set up for user’s usage aDC and a DCC system. Both can run multipletrains at one time. The club is workingto make sure those using the layoutcan utilize an analog or digital system.Do you have your own engine or completetrain set? You don’t have any trains?Well as a club member, you can utilizeyour own trains or use the trains the clubhas already on the layout. Either way, youwill have a great time playing train engineeror conductor.I was talking to Jimmy Loux, who happensto be the club’s vice president andin charge of constructing the train layout,also doing the wiring and most of thescenery, and he informed me that “modelrailroading is the world’s largest hobby.”Loux also stated, “you can play with ourmodel trains even when it is raining.”I was told by the vice president thatthe construction of the model train club’slayout would originally take three-yearsto construct. Well, they are two and a halfyears ahead of schedule. The grand openingwill be sometime in December.I have been visiting the club’s layoutsporadically taking a few pictures hereand there. While I was there, Loux wasrunning a locomotive around the layoutwhile Club Secretary, Gerry Talavera, wasworking on lighting buildings within thelayout’s town.Call Hud Huddleston, the club’s president,at 861-6221 for details or you canattend the club’s monthly meeting inroom three at the Art & Craft building thefirst Wednesday of the month at 9 a.m.Photo by Lennie RodoffJoyce Geysen and Paula Magen busy decorating the bowling pins.Meeting ‘The BronxBomber’WWhile searching for a particular subjectduring one of my photo expeditions, Iwas fortunate enough to meet Danny Santiago,“The Bronx Bomber,” at his CentralFlorida Boxing Club located at 1032 S.W.1st Avenue here in Ocala.Danny is a professional fighter whoboxes in the light heavyweight division.He was gracious enough to pose for severalphotos in fight positions during hisphoto session with me.Danny has an upcoming fight to beheld on Sept. 19 at the Southeast LivestockPavilion.A personal guided tour of the boxingclub included an actual boxing ringas well as several heavy punching bags,By Ro g e r Fo l e ywhich are used for training and seriousworkouts.I was surprised to see a few ladiespunching the bags. Danny mentionedthat he has a high percentage of femalemembers, 19 of whom have lost over 30pounds using his training regiment.Danny Santiago is also committedto helping kids with autism and diabetes.He will be putting on an exhibitionfight scheduled for Nov. 14 also held atthe Southeast Livestock Pavilion with allproceeds going to Juvenile Diabetes andAutism Spectrum Disorder.It would be great if we could all turnout to help support this worthy cause.Photo by Roger FoleyDanny Santiago and Roger Foley at the Central Florida BoxingClub.Take a trip to theColorado Rockies.See page 34.TThey say that talent can be expressedin so many interesting ways; and so it wasin this case. Lennie Rodoff, a volunteermember of the On Top of the World CommunityPatrol was asked if she would beable to use some bowling pins. It seemsMarion Landing, who has a bowling alley,usually donate their old bowling pins tothe Sheriff’s Office, which uses them forshooting practice. However the deputiesalready had enough pins, so that is how150 pins came to be offered to the OnTop of the World Community Patrol.Lennie saw the opportunity for decoratingthese pins and selling them in orderto raise money for the Marion CountySheriff’s Office Foundation, Inc. This is anon-profit organization created in 2008to help provide financial support for thevolunteer programs of the Sheriff’s Office.For the past couple of months, on Saturdayafternoons, a group has been meetingat the Craft building, along with decorations,paints, materials and creativeideas for re-creating these bowling pinsinto saleable articles. The group, mostlySection 2Vol. 23, No. 3 • September 2009Photo by Bob WoodsGerry Talavera works on the lighting of one of the town’s buildingat the On Top of the World Model Railroaders Club.Bowling PinsWWe have a governor living among ushere in On Top of the World. She is not apolitical type but rather a District Governorfor the Lions Club.Estelle Clark, District Governor is responsiblefor 13 north central Floridacounties consisting of approximately 61Lions Clubs. “I plan to visit all the clubsin my district,” said Estelle. “I am availableto help any of the clubs in my districtwith such things as projects, problems,fundraisers or wherever I am needed,”added Estelle. She will hold this high officefor one year.Estelle became a member of the Lionsback in 1999 in Fort Worth, Texas whereshe was awarded a lifetime membership.Moving to On Top of the World in 2000,she has been president, zone chair andwas awarded Lion of the Year.Estelle has also received many certificatesand awards, three InternationalPresident’s Certificates of Appreciationthat is the fourth highest award in Lionism,Grand Lion and Crusader. TheCrusader is the highest district award inwhich she was presented a sword. Shehas also received the Melvin Jones Fellowaward, which is the highest honor, presentedto a Lion. Estelle has recruited 60new members into the Lions Club.Estelle Clark was installed as DistrictGovernor at the worldwide conventionheld in Minneapolis on July 10. She wasamong 709 district governors installedrepresenting 205 countries.Some of her pet projects within herdistrict are at Fort McCoy Veterans RetirementHome. She plans to supportthe home with whatever they need, andany “extra stuff,” she added. Another petproject is the Kids Sight Program, whichis screening children between the agesBy Patricia A. Wo o d b u r yconsisting of members of the CommunityPatrol, included: Jim and Marcie Miller,Brad and Mary Lou Pease, Art and MaybelleBarber, Joyce and John Gysen, BillStockmaster, Charlotte Wall, Ellie Metzler,Paula Magen, and Lennie and Gary Rodoff.Their unique talents seem to appearin different areas. One person was quitegood at making faces, another liked makingclowns, another couple made a collectionof aquarium pins and another copiedRaggedy Ann and Andy.The pins will be on display and for saleat The New Pretenders show at 6:45 p.m.on Friday, Sept. 11, and at the Craft Fairon Saturday, Oct. 17 and will continue tobe made available until they are all sold.The price range for the pins is between$15 and $25.So, come check them out and beamazed at the variety of unique ideasthat went into this project. Think aboutpurchasing these items for potential holidaygifts and certainly for a good cause.For further information, contact LennieRodoff at 291-7508.District LionGovernorBy Bo b Wo o d sWo r l d Ne w s Wr i t e rof one to five years of age to see if thechildren have any sight problems. Estelleelaborated that “nine out of 10 childrenin that age group with any sight problemscan be corrected.”Estelle has no plans to go higher in theLions International organization. “My goalis to work locally, not internationally,”she added. Besides, she added, “We arehere to help other people, not ourselves.”Photo by Bob WoodsEstelle Clark was recentlyinstalled as District Governorand is responsible forapproximately 61 Lions Clubs innorth central Florida.