12th November 2016

Well a very early start, alarm off at 420 as I like to come to gradually and we were at the village by 6 am. Today was a big fundraising day for GKTW as it is their annual Gingerbread Run and over 1,400  took part in the event. We had to be on site before 6 am as the roads were closed between our villa and the Village between 7 and 10 am. There were tons of volunteers there helping with it all including Ms Robyn Rothermel who was the first wish child at the village in January 1988, Debbie
and I chatted to her afterwards in the Castle of Miracles where she was taking a photo of her star. All the characters were out too. The Mayor and his wife Ms Merry, the Gingerbread Man, a Penguin and lots of Princesses and Pirates. The place was buzzing.

A chat to another volunteer this morning made both of us cry, so moving as so very true. It was something Pamela Landwirth said at the Veterans lunch on Wednesday. Seems a child who had stayed at the village earlier this year had taken very ill after she got home, a minister was called to the house so they could discuss God and Heaven. The child told the minister she knew about heaven as she had already spent a week there so she wasn't afraid ... what a lovely thought that a child could imagine that GKTW was like heaven .

Today's shift was a first for me and for Debbie too, we were on Express Breakfasts, exciting stuff as we, sorry me, made fresh pancakes. Okay it only meant pressing the start button and dialling in the number of pancakes required but it was fun, shame we only had a few families wanting our services.. made 8 pancakes though! Debbie cooked another tray of bacon and some more omelettes but we really weren't busy. We did help out the ladies on the ice cream, a few banana splits, a few cones and a few cups but we also kept the tables and chairs clean and sanitised

My beautiful Bayleigh came in with Ember, her .Mum, to say their goodbyes. Poor Bayleigh had a rough night so was in her chair and looked exhausted, a bit of ice cream bought her sugars up though and we soon had her smiling again. Ember said to me wow you are famous, I queried this and she said she had found out all the things I had done including my Sky Tower jump... how I asked as you don't know my surname or where I live. Scarily she said, oh I put in google 'Lorna U.K'  and found me, must have taken all night scrolling through the pages! We are now Facebook friends 😘 Not only that but they bought me a gift that I will always treasure an Alex and Ani, sweet treats bracelet, which has on it an ice cream cone 🍦. Thank you so much xxxx

Another lad that I had met the night before came in and reminded me that it was his 11th birthday, we sang to him happy birthday three times. The first time we rallied the troops to sing, we had to go fetch his .mum, thought we had cracked it the second time, but no, his Dad had not arrived with the video camera. Third time lucky. I also took lots of pictures of family groups using their phones.

 Next came the goodbyes , our time here at GKTW 2016 has come to an end, this year in 3 weeks I logged 120.21 volunteer hours, up on all previous years. A total of  384.54 hours in my 4 visits. I have enjoyed every second of it!!

We were home by one and I spoke to Allan too which was lovely.rental back

Icing on the cake, Tigers won

Poor .Lolly was feeling unwell so Debbie and I want with Pauline to taker her car back to Avis
In Old Town m Kissimmee where we all also took the opportunity to look at the many old time cars. They were immaculate and great to see.

Right last nights sleep here, really tired so once again night, night 😘

11 th November 2016

A slightly different start to the day as Debbie and I had no shifts until 12 midday in the Ice Cream Parlour. I was expecting to meet up with Carol and Rick for a cup of coffee but unfortunately they had to meet with their property management agent before they left for the U.K, so we had a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, mushrooms and toast for breakfast,delicious! We weren't sure if this was going to be a reverse meal sort of day i.e. dinner for breakfast or breakfast for dinner but we enjoyed it either way.

Pauline and Lolly went off at 7am to drive to Clearwater and the beach, we are not sure if they will  make it back to the villa tonight or stay in the hotel and do more sightseeing tomorrow before returning the red beast to the car hire company.

Different timing shift today, midday which meant that there were fewer families on site as they were all off to the Disney parks. We did get a few customers  and even got to speak to Pamela Landwirth who is the President and CEO of GKTW, she is a charming lady and was showing some gentlemen around the Village. Pamela is an ex wife of the founder, the wonderful Mr Henri
Landwirth.

This morning was the official ribbon cutting to open phase one of some new villas...Banyan Park. I was hoping to get a look inside but have not yet been able to manage it. This phase will house 24 new villas and mean 1,000 more families will be able to stay on site each year. Phase 2 and 3 will begin soon. From the outside they look wonderful and I am sure they will be equally beautiful inside. Again it is worth looking at the website get a better idea. www.gktw.org

Despite our healthy breakfast Debbie and I were feeling hungry as our shift finished so made a decision to go and get a meal, back to the Longhorn Steak House as we only had 2 hours before starting our next shift so didn't have time to try anywhere new. It was a great meal.

Heard from Pauline that they were having a good day but had decided they would be coming back this evening to the villa.

Now Debbie and I were on different shifts this evening, she on dinners in Nancy's kitchen and I was with Jim as photographers assistant. This meant keeping very close to him as he took pictures of the children around the carousel and at the pool party, I had to get the villa number and write down the number of shots he took, it was fun and I also got to see Bayleigh and her brother who are leaving the village tomorrow morning, they both gave me massive hugs and told me they would miss me so much 😪.

We got back to the villa at about 9, had our usual drink and unwind but an early night for us all as we have an early start because of the Gingerbread Run tomorrow, our road will be closed to traffic so we must be on site for 6 am.

😴💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤

10th November 2016


Well this morning was Pauline and Lolly's last shift at the village and they were on Express Breakfasts which is available in the Ice  Cream Parlour, not a shift I have done yet but coincidentally it will be mine and Debbie's last shift too on Saturday. Looking forward to making the fresh pancakes, bagels and toasts to either go or eat in with their 'Ice Cream' for breakfast treat

Debbie was on breakfast in Nancy's kitchen, serving food, she was on omelettes and scrambled eggs with Tony,. Lots of families in and the usual if sausages are on, they want bacon and vica versa - they actually ran out of both today it seems! Jeffrey was her runner , he worked with us a few days ago and was very efficient.

My morning shift was on the carousel with the lovely Wendy. Wendy and I met two years ago, she was brilliant by offering to take me to the .British Embassy in Orlando because she recognised that it might be tricky for me looking for a place  while driving on the wrong side of the road. Wendy and her husband Dave are from Quebec but spend 5 months over here in their winter in Orlando as Snow Birds and volunteer lots too. We were fairly busy, over 40 different switch ons for the families , which actually means more children as we only log on the times we press the button to make the ride go, not how many children ride. Managed several wheelchair rides too, great that they can have a ride as well.

Now I can't remember if I wrote lyrsterday that I spoke to the couple across the road who are in the villa I rented last year, they said they were not letting it out anymore so guessed they were the owners. I was right, they live in Yaxley which is where Lucy teaches. Seems they know very little about the Village so I offered to take them to have a look, which I did this afternoon before my evening shift with Santa 🎅 . It was a bit of a rush but think they enjoyed and were amazed at the feel of it... may even recruited some more volunteers!

Now my shift tonight was as one of Santa's Elves,. This event is held in the Hoppeniing Place. This event is organised by Leidy and she gave me the job of the 'Mean Elf'!!!!!!! I was put at the end of the stage and the children had to do a task before I would let them leave to collect their present. Santa told them they had to make me smile by various ways... give me a cuddle, say hi , or hop . No way could I not smile and be mean but I did get lots of cuddles! Santa is truly the most magnificent person and spends a long time with the children while the photographer takes photographs. Jim is the photographer and is usually without a smile but tonight he smiles lots too. A dad came in and said his boy was not feeling good and was very upset that he couldn't get to see .Santa, this was not a problem as his brother chose a gift for him, the villa number was taken and Santa delivered it personally at the end of the shift. He must have been very late for his parade through the village tonight.

There were so many special moments tonight
Santa bought a child to the front of the stage and got us all to cheer for a lad beating stage 4 Kidney Cancer
Another birthday song for another child
The beautiful Bayleigh gave me the most special hugs and smiles - she really is wonderful
Brinkley, the daughter of another volunteer, who has type 1 diabetes and is doing the Gingerbread Run on Saturday came up to me with her mum and gave me a present of a Sparkle Tshirt because I had sponsored her
Another volunteer gave English 4 of us a pin for doing what we do and Shannon in volunteer services gave us a GKTW Angel pin
So many cuddles from parents and children tonight as well

Admit to having a few tears during the evening.

Got back to find Pauline and Lolly had just got back from their trip to Old Town Kissimmee where they had had a great afternoon/evening.

Some toast with marmite and cream cheese for dinner and then off to my bed. Allan home fro his adventure at 1030 pm UK time but was in bed before I got back to the villa. Will speak to him tomorrow as not spoken for a few days.

Night

9th November 2016

Well a very early start due to my waking up at 3am to peek at what was happening with the Presidential election and my subsequent shock at the result which prevented me from dropping off again. My shift today, however was as a conductor on the train that drives around the village picking up families and taking them to and from their villas. My driver very was the lovely Dick, an almost nonagenarian, who is considering retirement next year as his bones are getting old!  Today, in the village they were holding a Veterans Luncheon for all their volunteers who have served in the military, this is an annual event for them and they were expecting 100 guests who were all very smartly turned out wearing their medals. I too, wore my big knitted poppy and my poppy earrings as my tribute to our military heroes.

It was an easy job , hopping on and off the train helping the families onto the train and make sure the children had an adult either side of them and putting the chain across. I was trained in how to get a wheelchair in and off the truck but it wasn't needed this morning. Missed doing my driving as I did last years would have been a doddle in daylight.

I enjoyed my morning and met some volunteer young ladies who are in Orlando and are members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, they are in this region from their homes in Utah and are here for 18 months promoting their ministry. Here they are just volunteering and come once a week on a Tuesday morning and do what shifts are needed.

Debbie was in the Castle of Miracles and was kept quite busy, she had a few poignant moments, one child looked at all the stars and asked if these were all the people who had passed away, she was able to say no, these were just all the people that had stayed here and lots come back to see their stars many times.

After we finished Debbie and I popped to Tarjai (Target to those who don't know), it really is so much better than Walmarts and not much further either. We may just have got enough to last now until we come home.

Spoke to Allan this morning, he is on the final leg of his trip and when I post this later should be on the plane on the way back to the  to the UK and hopefully will be clean, shaven and his washing done before I get home.

Tonight was another Village Idol, every week this is different, no Let It Go tonight but did have Let it Snow instead .

Pauline and Lolly were front of house, in charge of holding the signs to clap and do a standing ovation, while Debbie and I were in charge of  VIP passes. There were so many highlights to tonight but my very special moment was a young girl of around 9 or 10 who was there on her Make A Wish visit, her wish was to volunteer at GKTW. As her Mum said she could have asked for anything for herself, bur no, she wanted to help others. Between the family and  Make A Wish  it has been arranged that the family stay at the village  for 1 week and then move off the site and will come back in to volunteer for some more before she goes back home. Her favourite shift so far has been in the Spa, closely followed by Noah's Nook, which is where the families can get drinks and ice cream wile they swim. Bayleigh, is her name and she was as beautiful outside as she was inside, a really pretty girl.

Think we had about 15 acts tonight, all wonderful in there own unique way. Only one song from Frozen and it wasn't Let It Go!

Another great day.

8th November 2016

Well today is an historic day, not only for the USA but possibly for the whole world. Yes, it is the Presidential elections and the two candidates are Trump v Clinton. Is is now 22.45 and it is scarily looking like Mr Donald Trump may get it. I am sorry but it does worry me!

Back to the more pleasant parts of the day now. A breakfast shift for myself and Debbie. Now considered to be pro's, we were put on hot food serving. There were only 4 of us to start with as a group of volunteers were late in arriving and their training was pretty limited so we had to just get stuck in. Our runner today, that is the guy who keeps us stocked up with food items that were on offer was fantastic, so much better than mardy pants last week. He had bought along a group of volunteers from Fairbanks, yes Fairbanks, Alaska! For those who are not geographically aware, that is a long way away from Florida, almost as far as the UK. Jeffrey was his name and he had bought along his son to volunteer also, his son had been here as a Wish child 4 years ago . The group are doing a few shifts before joining in the bid fundraising Gingerbread Run which is taking place on Saturday. They have already got over $10,000 dollars in sponsorship!  A great group to work with. We were pretty busy the whole time.

After finishing our shift we had decided to go to the Premium Outlet Mall to do a bit of shopping. We were reasonably successful and went on to have lunch at a seafood restaurant close by. Arrived at 1430 to find the door locked, opening hours was 1500 so we decided to wait outside and we were indeed, their first customers of the day. A good meal with enough in our take out boxes to feed us tomorrow as well.

We had a brief time back at the villa before leaving for Mayor Clayton's surprise birthday party. Well Pauline and Lolly were asked to be the Candy Floss ladies, Debbie was on the metal bottle skittles and I was on the dartboard. Well I had such a great time,  magnetic darts thrown at a board by the children. They were so funny, some aimed and threw. Some just got a little closer and put the dart on the board. The best bit was after I taught them how to concentrate their aim by sticking their tongue out and wiggling it about was that they ALL did. It was the funniest thing ever but it really worked- you should all try it. They kept coming back and trying again, everyone of them wiggling their tongue. I will never forget it. A most lovely Mum came up to be and gave me a huge hug and thanked me for being so kind to her daughter and making her feel so special. It really is not difficult to love these children.

Back to the villa for our unwinding session and to see the election results unfolding. Went to bed and slept until about 3 am when I looked at what was happening again. Words now fail me.... Trump is to be the next President of the USA.  This thought scares me more than anything ever before. Let's hope they can keep him on a very tight rein and keep that briefcase with the scary buttons away from him.

The World has gone mad.

7th November 2016

Off to the village this morning on my ownsome as Debbie had a bit of a sore throat and wasn't actually scheduled for a shift so she decided to stay at home alone, at least until I got back. Pauline and Lolly apparently left about 9.40 to take the Red Devil out for another spin, they will back, I think for this evenings shift.

My shift this morning was in the Hoppening Place where some of the Disney Characters came to see the families. Mickey was there of course, as was Mary Poppins, Pluto and Goofy. Most of the children were delighted but one or two of the younger ones find the characters quite scary. I took lots of photographs on the families devices, even manage to get one of me with Pluto and Miss Mary Poppins.

Got back to the villa and jones Debbie around the pool for a couple of hours before we Pauline and Lolly returned from their trip to The Eye. We all then went to GKTW for our various evening shifts. Pauline and Lolly were in the La Ti Da Spa which they were really looking forward to. It was a little quiet tonight but they did get the face paints out, the air spray tattoos, the nail varnish and inevitably, a little bit of the must have ✨

Debbie and I were in Nancy's kitchen, at first we thought we were the only ones but a school orchestra group arrived , literally just as we opened for dinner. This was their first time at the village and they really had no idea and we had no time to train them either but we managed. Tonight was Mexican with soft and hard shell tacos and all the extras. One young lass was so nervous that we had to be very gentle with her and ply her with lots of encouragement. Another young lady was amazing, so confident and so on the ball, she was an absolute star. It was pretty quiet tonight though, maybe they were all at Halloween?

Back to the villa for our usual wind down chat and glass of preferred refreshment before retiring for the night. 

6th November.2016

WHAT A DAY!

Actually, as I write this, it is what a yesterday. I had almost finished my daily post and must have inadvertently deleted it so am writing again on Monday morning.

The day started off early as we went to wave the two blonde bombshells off on their brand new red Mustang , what a loud throaty noise it made as they pulled off the driveway to begin their days exploring in St Augustine. They left at 7 and were back at 8 ish, having had a great day doing what tourists do, some beautiful pictures were taken too.

Debbie and myself have a lazy breakfast before being picked up by Maria to make our way to The Heritage Stadium where Mr Barack Obama was to lead a political rally to support Hillary Clinton!s bid for the Presidency.

The traffic was busy and as we got near it crawled to almost a standstill, no obvious signs of any police controlling the flow. In the end we parked the car at the 711 garage and walked/hobbled  the mile to the stadium with fingers crossed we would not be towed away before our return. Once we reached the park there were crowds of people in line waiting to enter through the gates. Debbie brilliantly asked if there was another entrance for disabled people, yes, for me as I was using the crutches provided by Maria. Luckily we were directed to another line that weaved i s way to the security entrance. This still took about an hour but there was entertainment in the form of a Hispanic
parade...cars, motorcycles, horses, trucks, all dancing and 🎤.

We also met Mr Patrick Murphy, a charismatic gentleman who is standing as a senator for Florida. Even posed for a picture with him.... I did manage to ask him to come visit GKTW and he said 'sure'.

As we passed through the scanner we were directed to a lift which took us up to the top area of the arena where we found 4 seats together. Maria's friend, Colleen, an lady who hailed from Manchester some 30 plus years ago joined us, she has been door knocking, canvassing for Hillary for months.

The atmosphere was electric, we stood for the Star Spangled Banner and then sat back down to be entertained by none other that Mr Stevie Wonder! Brilliant, he stirred up the crowd with lots of Hillary, Hillary , Hillary  finishing off with a great rendition of one of his chart topper hits... Superstition.

We watched as Air Force 1 passed overhead to bring Mr Obama to land at close by Kissimmee airport from where he was transported in a limo along with a few of his friends. Bet the road was kept clear for him though.  When Barack began his speech the audience went mad, he is such a charismatic man, really inspiring too. I would vote for him if he was going to do a third term for sure!
About 4pm we made the walk back to the car, which was still there thank goodness. The traffic on the  road to join the 92 was motionless but the 92 was empty, what was going on we wondered...yes, the Presidential motorcade was passing, lots of them. As soon as they had passed we quickly got on the road and made our way to Bonefish Grill for a lovely meal.

It was an amazing day and we saw history being made:-

We saw the 1st Black President supporting the hopefully, first Female President .

In the words of Max Boyce " and we were there'!!