by T.L. Huffman
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Every October, Jack and Arlene Finwick of Hamilton pack their bags, load up the RV, and wave goodbye to the cold weather. They’ll be gone seven months, returning in April.
They go to avoid slips on the ice and shoveling snow, but also because Jack’s health requires it. Jack was in an accident on his farm in south Daviess County in June of 1998. He got off to open a gate and the tractor slipped out of gear and rolled over him. He made a miraculous recovery from a crushed skull, a bruised heart, broken ribs, and damaged lungs and kidneys — but he’s had health problems ever since.
“That day ended farming forever for us,” Arlene said. “Soon his damaged lungs couldn’t tolerate the cold weather. The south was calling.”
They’ve been going to a warmer climate for the past 15 years. They spent a short time in Arizona. For the past five years, they migrate to Texas. They stay in a mobile home park in La Feria in the Rio Grande Valley.
Most snowbirds, like the Finwicks, are retirees.
“We meet people from all over, from Canada and Minnesota and Wisconsin to New York and the Midwest,” Arlene said. “I’ve read there’s around 40,000 winter Texans and they bring over $700 million to the local economies.”
Snowbird camps are their own little villages and sometimes have their own magazines and newspapers. La Feria has a once-a-week newsletter called the Texan Times. It lists the activities at the local parks (aquatic center, nature center, recreational center, etc.).
These retirees don’t just lie around and soak up the sun. Ice cream socials, water aerobics, jewelry class, quilting and golf are amongst the January offerings on the calendar on the park’s website.
“Square dances, jams, bingo, you name it, they do it,” Arlene said. “We’re on the go all the time. Winter-Texans like to shop and eat.”
The parks are also well known for breaking into spontaneous showdowns. Arlene plays her guitar about everyday somewhere.
“If anyone had told me I would one day be standing in front of a microphone and singing, I wouldn’t have believed it,” she said. “I jam four to five days a week, sometimes twice a day. That’s four or five hours a day. Jack is my roady and my favorite fan.”
Arlene is making up for lost time. She had to wait 50 years before taking up the guitar again.
“I wanted a guitar in high school, but we couldn’t afford it,” she said. “After I started work, I bought a guitar. I couldn’t read a note, but I could play by ear. I learned two or three chords. Then I got married and had two kids and sold the guitar. When I turned 71, I bought another guitar and I’ve been going ever since. I wish I’d been doing it all the years in between, but you can’t look back.”
She plays old country, gospel and bluegrass (no new country!) for the R-V crowds.
“We have some pretty good singers and players for being non-professionals,” she said. “We get together and have a blast.”
Many snowbirds stay connected to family through Facebook and email.
“We’re on the computer some, but not much,” Arlene said. “We’re not electronic wizards. We communicate by phone mainly.”
The Finwicks don’t plan to make their southern home their permanent home.
“The thought has crossed our mind, but with the kids up here in Missouri, we don’t do it.”
Back home, family and neighbors keep an eye on their home and belongings.
Arlene and Jack are eight miles from the border of Mexico.
“We have grapefruit and orange trees in our yard,” Arlene said. “We’re 40 miles from the beach. There’s plenty of fruit and plenty of clams, oysters and shrimp. We take walks in the sand and surf. The weather is awesome this year. It was 84 degrees on Christmas day and in the 80s on New Year’s Day. We miss family and friends, but we’re enjoying our life here and doing pretty darn good.”