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Charlie Christy - Executive Director
Busier Than Ever
Vicki Wentz
This Is Me Being Holier Than Thou
Vicki’s Voice
Mike Landry
Let’s Play 18
Did you know that there are over 40 golf
courses in the greater Las Vegas area? Most
of the courses are open to the general public
and range in price from less than $40
to around $70 for locals depending on the
course and the season.
Mesquite which is roughly one hour away
has 7 courses and some are the most beautiful
in the Western United States; Boulder City
30 minutes away has 2 public and 1 semiprivate
course; Pahrump one hour away has
one 18-hole championship and one executive
course and finally, Prim has two 18-hole
championship courses.
Having lived in the area for more than 40
years, I must admit that I have played and
enjoyed most of the courses in and around
the valley.
Ms Senior Nevada finished 2016 with
more events than ever before. We’ve held 31
Pageants in as many years and continue to
invite women who have reached the “Age of
Elegance” to participate.
Contestants are
judged on poise,
talent, speaking
ability and
their desire to
represent Nevada
seniors. They are
not charged a fee
to enter and they
are not selected on any criteria except their
ability and willingness to promote senior
causes.
We are a Nevada certified non-profit and
our efforts were never more evident than this
past Christmas Season. Shows were produced
and presented to groups as varied as service
clubs, assisted living centers and Opportunity
Village, where we participated in their Holiday
celebration and fund raising event.
This month finds us already booked at several
assisted living centers. With a “Family”
of 150 former contestants and past Queens,
we are able to provide entertainment on
whatever time frame best meets the needs of
the community.
We invite you
to come and enjoy
a show (or
two); perhaps
you’d also like to
share a talent and
bring the kind of
cheer we spread to
our seniors. Many
can no longer come out to shows, but enjoy
us bringing the entertainment to them.
Ms Senior Nevada started 32 years ago as
a venue for senior women to have a place to
continue to give back. We have grown into a
group of active seniors that have become involved
with many causes, like Guardianship,
that affect all of us. Get involved - you can
make a difference at any age.
Please call us: 702/809-5881 or check out
our web site: www.msseniornevada.com.
Golf Fore Ever
Since this is my first article for The Vegas
Voice, I want to take this opportunity to
promote two of the golf organizations that I
belong to. Both organizations are non-profit,
have been around for more than 40 years
and travel to various courses throughout the
Valley each month.
The Nevada State Senior Golf Club (NS-
SGC.org) is dedicated to seniors over 50. I’ve
been a member for 13 years and currently a
Board Member.
The other organization I belong to is the
Winterwood Men’s Golf Association (wwmga.org).
I’ve been a member for over 25
years.
If interested in either or both of these organizations,
please go to the website for additional
information.
Although I don’t like to flaunt it, I am an
incredibly holy person who attends church...
uh...semi-regularly.
As I may have mentioned, I attended Catholic
schools filled with nuns - the real kind,
where you can’t see anything but their faces
and hands - and those sisters taught me to go
to church (and, of course, no talking. I got
good grades, but the comment section on my
report card invariably found ten ways to say,
“This child talks more than is scientifically
possible!”)
Last month, however, instead of going to
Mass as I always...uh...semi-regularly do, I
went to church with a Presbyterian friend.
This was my first time at a Presbyterian service,
but I figured, how different could it be,
except they probably don’t have nuns hanging
around ready to pounce on anyone who
whispers one teensy word!
First, everyone was supposed to say “hi” to
everyone around them, and I thought that
was really nice. Folks in the rows in front of
me turned around, folks behind me reached
forward, and folks beside me slid closer. A tad
claustrophobic, but I appreciated the sentiment.
My first surprise was that the choir marched
in and sat up behind the altar (it’s still an “altar”
in Presbyterianism, isn’t it?) and faced
us, which I found a little disconcerting. In
the Catholic church, the choir loft is normally
above the front door, and in high school choir,
it was very convenient to have the congregants’
backs to us, on the rare occasion that,
say, you yawn so big the choir nun gives you a
dirty look, or you pull your arms inside your
choir robe to remove your uniform sweater
because you’re so hot you could croak...not
that I ever did that.
My second surprise was the minister (seriously,
what is it, preacher, minister, reverend,
pastor, WHAT?!) who had a very nice smile,
was blond, blue-eyed, dressed in a long black
robe, but was, um, well, a woman! This is
something I’ve never seen on the altar at
Mass, my friend.
As you probably know, we don’t do women
priests. Not that I haven’t heard many a
thunderous freakin’ sermon from those nuns,
who are, presumably, women, but still, it was
somewhat jarring.
Then, we stood for the first hymn, which
I didn’t know, but I faked my way through
it and sat down to listen to the first reading,
and whaddaya know: they use the same Bible!
I mean, not that I didn’t know that there’s
pretty much only one Bible, but still, that was
reassuring.
The sermon - even with that whole delivered-by-a-woman
thing - was great and actually
moving.
It was all about Jiminy Cricket, and wishing
on a star, and how God wants everyone to
dream their biggest dreams and make them
happen - which is when I started considering
putting some of my columns into a book
just like Erma Bombeck did, so I could make
people laugh.
And, suddenly, I remembered my daughter’s
call to me the previous week, when she’d
gone to church with Gracie (5), who is brilliant
and beautiful, but because she has Down
Syndrome, must still be watched carefully for
signs of impending potty emergencies - one of
which came mid-sermon!
The moment everyone stood up, she and
Gracie scurried down the side aisle unnoticed
and proceeded to the restroom, where they
took care of business and hurried back to
church. Louise thought it would be all right
to go up the center aisle since everyone was
still standing.
Father Louis was speaking, and Louise’s
family knows him very well, have had him
to dinner, etc. As they were approaching
their pew, Gracie looked up and called, “Hey,
Louie!”
He had the presence and grace to smile and
give a small wave as Louise, mortified, took
Gracie’s hand and started scooting into their
pew. At that point, Father Louis said “You may
be seated.” And Gracie yelled, “Amen!”
Vicki Wentz is a writer, teacher and speaker living in North Carolina. Readers may
contact her - and order her new children’s book! - by visiting her website at
www.vickiwentz.com.
Mike Landry is a retired airline manager of maintenance residing in Sun City
MacDonald Ranch and a 40-year resident of Las Vegas. Hobbies are golf, day trading
and brewing craft beer. He can be contacted at: airmikel1@cox.net.
10 www.thevegasvoice.net
january 17
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