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By Dave Pratt First, an apology. Your webmaster forgot to bring a camera to the AONE Holiday Party on December 15th. And Tom Letourneau, who took most of last year's photos, wasn't able to make it this year. So what you see below are the few pics I took with Tom Lesko's unfamiliar camera — sorry about that — give the webmaster a D-. But everything else gets an A+! Including the party's timing, which was sandwiched between two early-winter snowstorms. (Thanks, Kathi Lesko, for having a birthday on Saturday, the 14th, and convincing Tom to put the party off until Sunday.) There were 45 people signed up for the soiree, although Saturday's storm did prevent a few long-distance members from making the trip. But 40-some-odd revelers began shuffling through the door for the 4PM start of the shindig, bearing gifts we'd traversed afar. After doffing our winter outerwear, we settled in for an afternoon of fun, food, frivolity, and friendship. Tastings Caterers was at the ready, with wait staff drifting through the crowd carrying trays of numerous types of appetizers, all delicious. Most of the partiers uncorked a little holiday cheer to accompany the hors d'oeuvres. Much hearty, robust conversation and laughter could be heard resonating throughout the halls of the Josiah Smith Tavern in Weston. Running continuously at the front of the main room was a slide show President Tom had prepared depicting scenes from our club's many various events held during the year we were just completing. Before too long, dinner was announced and everyone queued up for the luxurious buffet. Multiple entrees, side dishes, salads, and breads were available to choose from, most of them Italian-influenced and all of them superb. We gathered in groups of 8 or 10 around the tables in the hall and enjoyed the dining and each other's company. After a while, the dinner buffet was replaced by an overflowing dessert table, and everyone partook in sweets things and coffee. Then another overflowing table was wheeled into view: the one loaded with Yankee Swap gifts. Numbers were drawn from the traditional leather stovepipe hat, and the unwrapping and swapping began. Every year, a certain special something emerges as the most-swapped gift, and this time it was a hand-crafted lamp with an Alfa-centric shade. Could there possibly be any more delights for us to enjoy? The answer is 'no', but we did whip out the AONE Holiday Songbooks and proceeded to butcher several traditional yuletime tunes whose lyrics had already been butchered to give them some Alfa flavor. Finally, it was time to once again don our winter outerwear, which we did while wishing each other safe and happy holidays, before shuffling out the door and heading for home. Our thanks go to Tom Lesko, who again made all of the arrangements for our excellent and fun bash, the final AONE event of the year.
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(Click on the thumbnails below for a larger view, and then
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See the original event announcement
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