With 173 in attendance on a chilly February morning, the Indiana Snowbird Club met at Lulu's for it's third buffet breakfast of the season on Thursday.

For most, it felt good to carry along a hot cup of LuLu's coffee, as the tables began to fill, and then lines began to form at the buffet for food. President Doris Gammon of Pendleton, Ind., kept the process lively with a list of jokes and funny stories, and then introduced Dan Back, from Patriot, Ind., who presented a visual program centering on Ohio River History. Indiana is blessed with wonderful network of rivers which criss-cross the state, and Dan told the group a number of interesting stories about river history that most of us hadn't been aware of. For instance, Indiana has 357 miles of shoreline, which is amazing when you consider that Indiana is bounded by four states — Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois, and the only large body of water is Lake Michigan, in the northwest corner of the state. Dan, a speaker for the Historical Society of Indiana, focused on the Ohio River, which actually flows north, south, east and west in different given points as it forms the southern border of the state.

Dan talked about river traffic over the years, and said that the Ohio River carries more commerce than any other river in the world, and showed a chart with the numbers on it. In a year's time, it would take 2.6 million 18-wheelers to carry the commerce on highways if there were no river traffic at all. Facts like that were numerous, and Hoosiers took pride in knowing that Indiana, the "Land of Indians", as Dan Back described the early years, was so instrumental in creating and building many of the steamboats and much of the river traffic we had only vague knowledge of.

Club Secretary Charlotte McClurg read the minutes of our Feb. 12 meeting, including the fact that there will be an effort made to pre-order "coupon books" for next year. Some Hoosiers were not able to buy books this year because the total printed was less than the demand. It is hoped that pre-ordering for next year will assure that winter visitors who come "late" will be able to obtain a coupon book in that manner. Treasurer Shirley Plank gave the club's currently available finances as $634.80. President Gammon later announced that a committee has been formed to select the recipient of the Indiana Club donation this year. This committee is made up of Judy Neal, Shirley Mowry, and Peg Queener. Hoosiers are encouraged to let this committee know of any special preference they would like to suggest. The club's membership total was reported as 187.

Gary McClurg, Indiana's BratFest coordinator, reported that the drive-through sold more brats than ever before, a total of 807. It was a very chilly day for the BratFest, and total sales were definitely down because no one wanted to just sit around and chomp down a brat with the weather so cold. However enough were sold that the three fire departments of Pleasure Island will each receive $1,500, a total of $4,500 in this fund raiser.

Bev Lockhart, VP, reported on plans for the Low Country Boil, a benefit for the Zoo, on the calendar for Feb. 25. All the tickets are sold for this event, and Indiana Club has sufficient volunteers already signed up to help prepare the food. Bev said that next year, with the strong possibility that the "Little Zoo That Could" will be in a new and much larger location, the Low Country Boil can also be expanded, and more tickets can be available.

Doris Gammon reported on the Missouri Trivia Night fun, with Indiana having a nice table there with 8 participants. "We didn't win, but we had a ton of fun!", she said. The Trivia Night raised more than $11,000 for the two libraries. That was the point of it all, so what a great success story.

Other announcements about Indiana Club activities include a 5 p.m. pizza night on Tuesday at Happy Harbor on Marina Road in Orange Beach. Also, there is a "Pleasure Island Blood Drive on the calendar for Monday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Gulf Shores Activities Center.

The next Indiana Snowbird Club breakfast will be Feb. 24, at LuLus. Doors open at 7:45 a.m., cost is $8 per person. The program will be Carol Powell, from Habitat For Humanity. Please call Doris Gammon at 251-981-6901-14153 (last 5 digits are extension number), or Bev Lockhart at 317-432-8708 for reservations.