IACRF Seniors Celebrate Valentine’s Day & Enjoy In house Picnic
Contributed By - Dr. Prakash V Kotecha and Sr. Lalitbhai Patel
Valentine's Day Celebration
Cold morning began with breakfast of hot tea, biscuits and chevda. Everyone was wishing each other ‘A Happy Valentine’s Day’. Ladies were dressed in red colored outfits. Some enthusiasts of table tennis and cards got busy in their activities of choice. We were all thrilled with joy to see Munnu Bajpai walk in the hall taking small steps with a little help after years. Members cheered him with claps and congratulated him and Rajni Bajpai. Photo shoots with him took rounds. TV monitor displayed the upcoming events, the day’s Program and the lunch and rose sponsors and wonderful Valentine Greetings.
Valentine Day Games:
First game included dancing where 8 couples performed on their favorite songs. Men folks took the lead in dancing. The participants were: Babubhai & Devi Gohel, Kiran & Sewa Singh Dulai, Meena & Ramanbhai Bhavsar, Purnima & Arun Asarawala, Prem & Krishna Lahoti, Kokila & Vinod Shah, Lokesh & Sudarshan Goswami, Madhu & Romesh Joshi and Usha & Suraj Gautam. Asarawalas and Lahotis won the game.
The next game was ‘Pass the Parcel’ with music on. A box with a slip of 4 options - song, dance, joke or recite a poem, were passed on among the participants. When the music stopped whoever held the box performed on any one of the options. The response was overwhelming.
Manas Mankad and his mother Meena Mankad entertained all with Bollywood songs ranging from 60s era to the current one.
It was a perfect romantic day when all the ladies were presented with roses donated by Ratilal Javia and Manas Mankad.
Mahesh Shah Death Anniversary:
Mahesh Shah passed away last year while on Kilimanjaro hiking with some of our members on February 11. He was very active in all IACRF activities and kind and helping in nature who would support all the programs without claiming any credit ever.
Lalitbhai, Kirti Patel, Kanu Patel, Nate Bhadriraju, Mahendrabhai Devgania, Vasu Atluri, Meena Bhavsar and Dr. Prakash Kotecha were among the speakers paying tributes in person. Bhagubhai Patel and Shrinik Shah, the brother of Late Mahesh Shah sent their messages on the TV screen. Shrikantbhai Vaidya recited a shloka about ‘gupt daan’ and hospitality of this noble soul. All the speakers spoke unanimously about his selfless and generous charitable works and also about their personal experiences with him. Lalitbhai and Mahesh Shah enjoyed rafting together and went to Jaipur and then again to Kilimanjaro where he left for his heavenly abode. Vasu Atluri mentioned that Mahesh Shah called him from the airport before leaving for their adventurous trip to Kilimanjaro. Bhagubhai spoke that he paid attention to all the details of all community and temple activities and related projects. He donated more than $100,000 anonymously and brought the statues of deities and of Hanumanji in the temple. He donated money toward scholarships too. He was a highly educated person and had good knowledge of technology. He was ever ready to help everyone.
In house Picnic:
Picnic planned for 21st February at Piestewa Peak was rescheduled to the hall due to cold and rainy weather on the day. Members however, were in complete picnic mood and enjoyed the picnic activities at the IACRF Hall. There was early morning hot tea, snacks and Bhajias followed by BINGO, fun and songs. Ramu Ramkeshvan made presentation on Fire Safety for IACRF hall and pointed out doable actions to ensure fire safely and suggested to have fire drills regularly to which members agreed.
Birthday Celebrations:
We celebrated birthdays of Vijaya Tangri, Srikant Vaidya, Munnu Bajpai during the week.
Lunch Sponsors for the month included Vijaya & Shyam Tangri, Manju Walia, Vasu & Satya Atluri, Mahesh Dewan, Dinesh Patel, Munnu & Rajni Bajpai, Ratanshi Javia, and Thankorbhai Patel.
IACRF Seniors meet every Monday and Thursday at 9-30 AM at IACRF Hall, 2809 W Maryland Ave, Phoenix. For more details email to pvkotecha@gmail.com