The Hammond Garden Club held their December meeting at the Oak Knoll Country Club which wasn’t a meeting per se, it was a fun celebration for Christmas at year’s end. The only part that slightly resembled a meeting was the opening prayer by Chaplain Gayle Bornholdt and the Pledge of Allegiance by all members…and then the fun began!
How much do you know about Christmas? I thought I knew a pretty good amount but I learned I wasn’t that smart when the game of “Christmas Trivia” began. Karen Nelson passed around papers that were numbered from 1 to 30. “Thirty questions about Christmas, I’m sure I could ace that,” I misguidedly thought.
Phyllis DiBenedetto very cleverly took the microphone in hand, gave the instructions to those of us that thought this was a game for kindergartners, and started with number one in her most grade school teacher’s voice, “Number 1, What is the color of the Grinch?” Oh Wow I got the first one, no problem, he’s green. “Number 2, What are the names of three reindeer that start with the letter D?” That’s when the whispering (HA, more like loudly talking), started. Let’s see…Dasher, Dancer, Dixen, no that’s Vixen…Oh no, she’s already calling out Number 3! Guess I’ll have to chalk that one up to WRONG!
“Number 3, In the song Partridge In A Pear Tree, what was #6 that he sent?” And then the singing ensued, some a little louder than others….Well this one’s probably wrong too! For someone that thought they knew at least ¾ of the answers, boy was I wrong! But it turned out to be one of the best fun things we have done all year. Linda Ryan won with 21 right answers and got a wonderful bell necklace and bell bracelet to match and all the rest of us got great sparkling Christmas stickers! Most of the time through the entire game there was so much laughing going on, some blurting out the answers, some angry because they were and Mary Thornhill said, “Whatever, this is the best entertainment I’ve had in a long time!” What fun with a bunch of ladies that are friends just playing silly games and killing ourselves laughing.
Soon thereafter the smell of the delicious buffet getting ready to be served and now, after all the raucous laughter, we were ready to “Line Up”! Mary Monteleone, Oak Knoll’s very wonderful General Manager that had the ball room beautifully decorated in red over white tablecloths with red poinsettia arrangements in the center, tiny white lights behind opaque white sheers on all the windows and a huge Christmas tree exquisitely decorated with gold and white ornaments. Soon table after table stood, masks on, to be served the terrific luncheon prepared by Mary. There was tender pork roast in scrumptious brown gravy, with souped up mashed potatoes, creamy chicken alfredo, bacon infused green beans, mixed green salad, rolls and cherry topped cheese cake, iced tea and/or coffee! Fit for a king…I mean queen!
When the last bite had been taken we calmed down to a beautiful poem that Juanita Pearson found in her Mother-in-law’s bible and was read by Peggy Dunn. It was titled “Take Time”, the gist of which was to take time to Laugh, to Love, to Be a Friend, to Pray and to Worship. It was anonymously written; a poignant reminder of the passing of time.
At our Christmas party we used to draw names and give $5 or $10 gifts, then we started bringing crazy gifts and made a circle and played “The Right Family” Christmas. Then we decided that was money foolishly spent when it could go to do some good and we started bringing toys for children for a few years. We then decided to give food to the needy and have done that for the last couple of years. This year we brought canned groceries and partnered with the Kiwanis Club that has the names of people in need. We collected not only groceries but monetary donations also. This creates the warm fuzzies that feel so good when you give to those that are really in need!
Our last goodies are the door prizes that are always plants (garden club you know)…guess what they were at this time of year…yep Poinsettias and tiny Christmas trees that had been potted! And the winners were: Glenda Nelson, Sheila Reno, Lee Collins, Mona Crapanzano, Deborah Garafola, Clara Houston and yours truly Linda Broussard!
My last request was to wish all of you to have a marvelous and Blessed Christmas and a Happy but most of all Healthy New Year. Always remember “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s learning to dance in the rain.”
The Hammond Garden Club is a proud member of District VI, Louisiana Garden Club Federation, Inc and the Deep South Garden Clubs, Inc. doing our best to unify and beautify our homes, gardens, our city and our nation every day to the best of our ability. God Bless Hammond and God Bless America!
by Linda Broussard
she is a member of the Hammond Garden Club
How much do you know about Christmas? I thought I knew a pretty good amount but I learned I wasn’t that smart when the game of “Christmas Trivia” began. Karen Nelson passed around papers that were numbered from 1 to 30. “Thirty questions about Christmas, I’m sure I could ace that,” I misguidedly thought.
Phyllis DiBenedetto very cleverly took the microphone in hand, gave the instructions to those of us that thought this was a game for kindergartners, and started with number one in her most grade school teacher’s voice, “Number 1, What is the color of the Grinch?” Oh Wow I got the first one, no problem, he’s green. “Number 2, What are the names of three reindeer that start with the letter D?” That’s when the whispering (HA, more like loudly talking), started. Let’s see…Dasher, Dancer, Dixen, no that’s Vixen…Oh no, she’s already calling out Number 3! Guess I’ll have to chalk that one up to WRONG!
“Number 3, In the song Partridge In A Pear Tree, what was #6 that he sent?” And then the singing ensued, some a little louder than others….Well this one’s probably wrong too! For someone that thought they knew at least ¾ of the answers, boy was I wrong! But it turned out to be one of the best fun things we have done all year. Linda Ryan won with 21 right answers and got a wonderful bell necklace and bell bracelet to match and all the rest of us got great sparkling Christmas stickers! Most of the time through the entire game there was so much laughing going on, some blurting out the answers, some angry because they were and Mary Thornhill said, “Whatever, this is the best entertainment I’ve had in a long time!” What fun with a bunch of ladies that are friends just playing silly games and killing ourselves laughing.
Soon thereafter the smell of the delicious buffet getting ready to be served and now, after all the raucous laughter, we were ready to “Line Up”! Mary Monteleone, Oak Knoll’s very wonderful General Manager that had the ball room beautifully decorated in red over white tablecloths with red poinsettia arrangements in the center, tiny white lights behind opaque white sheers on all the windows and a huge Christmas tree exquisitely decorated with gold and white ornaments. Soon table after table stood, masks on, to be served the terrific luncheon prepared by Mary. There was tender pork roast in scrumptious brown gravy, with souped up mashed potatoes, creamy chicken alfredo, bacon infused green beans, mixed green salad, rolls and cherry topped cheese cake, iced tea and/or coffee! Fit for a king…I mean queen!
When the last bite had been taken we calmed down to a beautiful poem that Juanita Pearson found in her Mother-in-law’s bible and was read by Peggy Dunn. It was titled “Take Time”, the gist of which was to take time to Laugh, to Love, to Be a Friend, to Pray and to Worship. It was anonymously written; a poignant reminder of the passing of time.
At our Christmas party we used to draw names and give $5 or $10 gifts, then we started bringing crazy gifts and made a circle and played “The Right Family” Christmas. Then we decided that was money foolishly spent when it could go to do some good and we started bringing toys for children for a few years. We then decided to give food to the needy and have done that for the last couple of years. This year we brought canned groceries and partnered with the Kiwanis Club that has the names of people in need. We collected not only groceries but monetary donations also. This creates the warm fuzzies that feel so good when you give to those that are really in need!
Our last goodies are the door prizes that are always plants (garden club you know)…guess what they were at this time of year…yep Poinsettias and tiny Christmas trees that had been potted! And the winners were: Glenda Nelson, Sheila Reno, Lee Collins, Mona Crapanzano, Deborah Garafola, Clara Houston and yours truly Linda Broussard!
My last request was to wish all of you to have a marvelous and Blessed Christmas and a Happy but most of all Healthy New Year. Always remember “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s learning to dance in the rain.”
The Hammond Garden Club is a proud member of District VI, Louisiana Garden Club Federation, Inc and the Deep South Garden Clubs, Inc. doing our best to unify and beautify our homes, gardens, our city and our nation every day to the best of our ability. God Bless Hammond and God Bless America!
by Linda Broussard
she is a member of the Hammond Garden Club