Last Friday evening we went to the Christmas party at Wide Spot in the Road Community Club. B and C were with us, and I was wondering how they would reach to the entire thing.

There is always a "Chinese Gift Exchange," and this year was no exception. Normally, the sequence of events is that we have dinner, a short business meeting, and then the gift exchange. This year, the hosts must have decided to cook dinner at the meeting place.

We gathered and had the business meeting where the old business was postponed, as usual. It is time for a new slate of officers to be given. The nominating committee slipped up on the job and had not met. Birthdays and anniversaries are announced at the end of the meeting and it handled by the historian of the community. He is a wonderful 80 year old (plus), and was having considerable difficulty. This group is fast with the joking barbs, and he was not spared. B got great enjoyment from the quips that were flying!


We were to have eaten then, but the food wasn’t ready. The menu included pork loins, salad and a medley of potatoes. It was the potatoes that were not done. So it was decided that we would start the gift exchange. Numbers were chosen, and we were to begin.

But everyone began visiting, and no gifts were being chosen. Suddenly it was decided the food was ready, and we should line up. In reality, the potatoes were still not done, but the flavor of the food was excellent. Absolutely no one complained. Then they hit the dessert table. There were certainly no complaints there.

B and C only had one gift, so I got the one of those for the family New Years’s Eve Christmas party for them to take with the other. B and I both had number 3, and we knew if we got something good it would be gone. Mine was a candle set and it was taken right away. I went to choose another. I knew after opening it I would go home with it. It was a box of crackers and a bottle of raspberry chiplote sauce.

B had some really great gifts. I lost count, but I think he had four totally. I don’t think he minded losing most of them, and in the end he ended up with a really nice towel ring that will go great when they get a house. C got an incense warmer that she donated to the house.

All the way home he kept remarking about how he didn’t expect all the barbs that group can sling, and how much fun it was to be there. It really was a wonderful evening of laughter and fellowship. They are all very sharp, and they all care about one another. Shoot, most are related. There are only about 2 families in the area that aren’t.