The Grain Valley Optimist Club: A Social and Farewell gathering for the Davis'

John and Chris Davis

Where do I start when it comes to saying so long. John and I are definitely sorry to leave such good friends behind but the time has come for us to move back home with the family. We came out here in the year 2000 with the intentions of just staying for a few years and we were going to continue east where his brothers, sisters and mom were. Well, once here we stayed. I for one like it here and even when it snows. Poor John was starting to have a problem with that part of the year. He needed sunshine. When we came in 2000 I had already met Gary Hanson when he came out to do some training in the California branch. When he heard I was coming to Grain Valley he immediately started to tell me about this club that would help me get familiar with Grain Valley and make friends. Well he was right. I jumped right in and dragged John with me. John being hesitant didn't want to do community work at first but once I signed him up as a member (without telling him) he was hooked. Both John and I have enjoyed the club, the people and most of all the activity. I will have to see how I survive because I am a person who needs to be busy and stay busy to survive. I will definitely take some of what I learned and apply it to some of our family activities. I will look to see if there is an Optimist Club out there we can get involved with.
Ann Ronchetto was so wonderful to open her house and gave us a very very nice gathering to say our goodbyes to those we would not see again as we will not be here to make another Saturday meeting. On April 10th, I will be doing my exit interview at work and then spend the next 4 days making sure all of the house is packed. We will pick up the Budget truck on Wednesday and the kids (son, cousin and nephew) will arrive by 3:00 pm. We will spend the evening with them and then Thursday morning it is loading time. A friend of mine will come and help me clean the house as they empty rooms and our intentions are to leave around 8:00am on Friday. Time has moved so fast and will move even faster yet. We will drive three vehicles, rented truck pulling a car hauler, the Ranger and of course the Explorer. We will probably take the three days to get there as we have limited speed with the rental. I will take pictures and send them of the different areas especially Arizona. If you have never been there, it is dry but beautiful in the daylight.
We want to say thank you for welcoming us with such friendship, support when we were new to the area and all of your kindness. We will definitely miss all of you, you do not know how much. Ann, thank you for always being there for us, Carol my soul birthday mate, we will miss you very much. Kathy and Erma, take care of Nick. Sharon and Bob, what we say, we will definitely miss our dear friends. The Arnold's, Sheila and Dale, how could we have survived with your support. Danni we will miss you. Dr Chris Small, the Harper's and of course Jan, how can anyone not like this woman, she is my Idol, I used her as my measuring cup when it came to giving to the community. She is your corner stone to the club, may she live forever. To all of the others, many many thank, Jim Brown, the Vaughan's, Roam's, especially Debbie who came and gave John and I prayer when we needed it last summer, the Caley's, Jeanette, Annette, and many many more. Thank you for all you have done. Enjoy the pictures that I have posted.