Residents of Unit 8A gather on the La Hacienda Club patio with the month’s balloon prop on Aug. 18 to celebrate the Unit’s 90th month-in-a-row Happy Hour. (Photo by Bob Authur)
Janelle Authur
When some of the first residents of Unit 8A met at the Bistro in March 2016, no one imagined that the evening would be the first of a long, unbroken streak of monthly Happy Hours. Yet, here they were in August 2023, celebrating the Unit’s 90th month of gatherings.
Happy Hours started out in the Bistro but moved over the years as the group and the Ranch grew. Residents have met in the Bistro and the Ranch House, by the pool, at the bocce ball courts, in homes, and, during Covid, in driveways, patios, garages, and cul-de-sacs. When they hit Happy Hour #65, the group started to “count up” each month by posing for a photo with a numbered prop, including a Route 66 highway sign, giant balloons and playing cards, foam noodles, tennis balls, candy, cupcakes, flowers, newspaper articles, bandanas, and dominoes creatively fashioned in the shape of numbers. One month the group posed for an overhead drone photo with a giant painted sign.
In September, the Unit continued its “count up” with a #91 Bunco Bocce party. Who knows when (and if) the streak may end? For now, there’s no end in sight.