Monday, November 10, 2008

A night spent with friends

I am an old and somewhat boring person. As a young man, I burned the candle at both ends and sometimes threw the whole candle into the fire. As I have seasoned a bit, I find myself enjoying a quiet night of reading more than chasing after the frantic nightlife of my youth. My wife and I have resigned ourselves to the fact that we like a good night's sleep on the weekend. I know, it's sad, but getting home at 2 AM makes for a long, tiring Sunday.

However, sometimes you have to take one for the team. The team in this case being the Yolo County Cattlemen and Wool Growers Association. Saturday night was our fall dinner dance at the Zamora Community Hall. It is the main event on our social calendar and as the president, it is my job to worry about the details and watch my blood pressure rise during the two weeks preceding the dinner. I'm not sure why people don't RSVP, but the crowd attending our events are in desperate need of a lesson in protocol. It seems that a phone call to one of the board members two days before the event passes as proper notice in the Capay Valley. I think we had 39 written RSVPs the day of the event, we had another 75 verbal or email commitments. We had well over 150 folks show up for the event.

Trying to buy Rib Eye steaks and all the trimmings when you don't know if 120 or 150 are coming is enough to make you crazy, or at least a little unbalanced. I want to take this time to thank everyone who stepped up and made this event a success, our board members and all the volunteers who showed up and asked how they could help. From the planning and paperwork, to the decorating and setup, to buying the food and drinks, to cooking, working raffle and the final cleanup Sunday morning. Thank you, one and all.

The event was great. I was sweating the number of rib eyes we had until the last person made it through the dinner line and we still had a plenty left. Whew. The raffle was big hit with dozens of great prizes and gift certificates. This year we had the Jim Hunter band play after dinner and I think we shut the place down about 1:00.

Once the raffle was over, I had a chance to relax and enjoy the night. I was able to talk to some old friends, dance with my wife and just be a participant. My face returned to normal, I stopped looking like a bomb squad technician and I was able to smile again.

My calendar is now cleared. I am not planning or preparing for anything, except church functions, and Thanksgiving with all the family, and Christmas vacation trips, and..

Never mind.

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