Calvin's Christmas Party - Nov 2010

Christmas is just around the corner and that means it's time for Calvin's annual Christmas get-together.  I always enjoy this time where Calvinite's get together for an evening of fellowship and fun.  

Most of the fun for me is preparing the fellowship hall for the guests who will be arriving in the evening.  It takes a bit of time, but it's fun to do, and this year I had allot of help.  I got the bright idea that those who helped Christine move could also help me set up the fellowship hall.  It ended up saving me about 2 hours worth of work.  The YP worked hard and fast, and I'm very grateful to them.  

 We began with getting the chairs around the tables and then setting up the plates, cups, utensils, candles, candy, and other items.  

 I put Megan on number duty.  She's getting something ready for the game we will be playing with the gifts that arrive.  

Rosy got candle duty.  

Seems Chris is into different kinds of hats today.  

 The group finished its hard work and were still smiling.  
I like that.  

 The finished product at the tables.  

 It's always nice as the sun sets and the room becomes dark. Then the candles can be lit, the Christmas music put on, and the ambiance begins.  

 By 6:15 some of the guests began to arrive and mingle.  

I noticed that Martin had a cast on his hand.  Apparently he had a fight with a Moped while on vacation and the Moped won.  : (  

 As the guests arrived they needed to place a number on their gifts and then take a piece of paper with the same number and write down something personal we might not know about them.  That paper went into a bucket and I would be reading them later on.  Most people understood the instructions.  

If you notice in this picture, there's paper near that candle by Megan (foreground).   Little did I know that this paper would catch on fire and Pastor Ken would come to save the day by putting it out.  Note to self, keep candles off this table next time.  

 The presents just waiting to be opened.  

 By about 6:50 we were ready to begin.  Before that people mingled and grabbed some cold punch, hot cider, or  coffee.  We opened with prayer, sang a couple of Christmas hymns, and then it was time to eat.  Several of our seniors came out this time around, so I let them go first.  

 Once again it was a wonderful spread of food for all to partake of.  

 Some took small portions .....

 Some did not  : ) 

 The entire group enjoying themselves.  You might think that not too many people showed up, but we had 40 this year.  About the same as last year.  This year, however, it seemed that everyone wanted to sit at the same tables.  Up to 9 were crammed around our round tables, so we had a few extra in the room. Note to self:  use square tables next year if possible!  


I guess it means we sure like to socialize, and I'm all for that!.  If you click on the picture you'll get a better idea of who was there.  I've allowed for it to be larger this time.  

 Our youth contingent.  They weren't on their best behavior for this meal  (right Fontana and Leah).  Maybe they worked too hard in the morning moving or something?  But I still love them!  

 After enjoying our meal together it was time for the gift giving portion of the evening.  We did it in-between dessert and coffee to give our stomachs time to settle.  Everyone gathered in a large circle and I read out the comments that people had made about each other.  

We all had to guess who the comment came from, and once you guessed, you received a gift and had to remain silent until the game was over. I think if forgot to let people select gifts from those who already had them from guessing, and that may have slowed things down a bit, but next year we'll try a new variation of the gift giving.  There are many different ways to do it.  


Like last year, we learned many new things about people, and they are listed below - in no preferred order:

1. I'm a part-time fitness instructor  - Louise
2. I was born in Roggle the Netherlands - no name
3. I worked in the board of Education - Adrian
4. I lived in Colorado Springs for one year - Margaret W.
5. I have at least 45  1st and 2nd cousins - Megan D
6. My dad is the former Pastor at Williamsburg CRC - Melanie
7. I used to figureskate - Hannah 
8. I was born with a birth mark on my head  (not hand like I first read) - Gus
9. My cousins dogs are cousins - Fontana  (that figures)
10. I have a spot on the inside of my eye - Ron  (which is why I couldn't read Gus' hand vs head comment  : ) )
11. I make a business trip to Brazil  - Andy
12. My brother is the Dutch Consult in Manitoba - Judy
13. I was named "Rookie of the Month" When I worked at McDonald's - Joycegina
14. I grew up on a dairy farm in the prairies - Doug
15. I went to Florida to work for Wycliffe -- Mary
16. I worked above the Arctic cirle - Bill L
17. I travelled to Honduras to visit friends - Dianne B
18. I was born in Den Haan, Holland, and came to Canada at Nova Scotia in 1952 and came to Ottawa to live in 1954 - Dina.  (She knew my grandfather too)
19. I have a Bachelor of Education degree, a degree in History, Studio Art, and Missions and World Christianity.  - Jeannine (makes me look very unintellingent  : ) )
20. I spent a night in a prairie dog colony - Sharon (I asked her how that was and she said it was great.  They all go to sleep early at night so things were very quiet.  If only I could get the YP to do that for a sleep over: ) ) 
21. While trying to climb out of the crib, finally made it out, but fell and got knocked out - Our very own Pastor Ken.  Better watch out for your grand children now eh Ken ?
22. I have jumped off a 45 foot cliff - Chris H  (I have it on video)
23. I just discovered it's fun to set fires - Wilma M  (It was written on one of the burnt pieces of paper that was lit up by the candle.  I guess we know who put the paper there now, eh Wilma?  Especially since she JUST happens to be IN the picture as well : ) )
24. I almost drowned at the age of three -  Evert....got to ask him about that one.  
25. I was a farmer's daughter - Bonnie L
26. I used to raise pigs - Martin M
27. I was on a plane while 8 months pregnant - Annet D
28. When I was in high school, I won third prize in a speaking contest for our Regional District - Yvonne W
29. I've never broken a bone - Leah  (yet  !)
30. I have done a week long bicycle and camping trip through the Florida Keys - Sonja V 
31. I am learning American Sign language - Linda d  (there must be Canadian sign language then too?)
32. I lived in St. Catherine's before I moved to Ottawa - Thea
33. I went on an ultralight plane over Wasaga beach - Wilma B
34. I have no middle name - Margaret S
35. I have seven brothers - Reike
36. I grew up in the province of Quebec (n ow everyone shouted out Louise's name, but in fact it was)  - Lorraine V
37. Here's an Epistle ----- At age 5 or 6, I put my life at great risk.  A number of neighbourhood boys were tourmenting some wasps by throwing rocks at the wall the nest was on.  I showed them how to really do it by taking a baseball bat and hitting the wall three times.  I've never seen such a huge could of wasps, ever!  My father later said I'd probably be dead if they'd reached me.  - Eric V
38. As a little girl, I had a bad fall from a bicycle (because I didn't know how to coast downhill)  - Joanne H  --(so Joanne, does that mean you knew how to coast UP hill?  - tee hee).
39. I can count by two's and tie my shoe's.  -  Rosalynn B
40. When I was three, my favourite toy was a pink shovel - David M  (do you still have that pink shovel David).  

 When everyone had a gift we all opened ours up and mingled around to see if we could exchange our gift  for  something else, provided we didn't like what we received in the first place.  There was some comical horse trading that went on.  

We gathered back together and had our just desserts (the lemon meringue pie was amazing Bonnie), and then ended with some more Christmas hymns.  Our final one was the Dutch Christmas hymn "Ere Zij God" in honor of our seniors who were present this evening.  Most people in the room knew the song, but some didn't.  Either way, it was nice to hear our seniors singing from their hearts to this beloved song from their past.

  

Pastor Ken and Sharon received some great gifts.  I like the one in the middle.  A set of reindeer antlers for the windows of their vehicle and a bright red nose for the front grille.  I hope to see them next week on their vehicle when Ken comes to work.   

Once complete, we all set to work cleaning up the fellowship hall. Thanks to all who helped, and thank you all for coming out and making this time special once again.  We hope to host another party next year, with a twist on the presents, and who knows what else......may we see you there too?  

Oh, and take a look at this awesome save by Hannah as we were setting up for the party.......

Great Save eh!  

Tomorrow it's off to Montreal with a larger group of our youth to deliver Seafarer parcels once again.  That will bring to an end our busy youth schedule for a while.  We have been busy for sure, but as Hannah and Fontana say, "we are having a BLAST," and that's ok with me too. 

So, stay tuned for more blog entries as we go to Montreal, celebrate Christmas as a youth group and who knows, maybe sing some Christmas Carols in the community if Hannah gets her way....and she usually does  : )......