On Thursday evening, Dec. 5, a total of 52 people, an all-time record, came through the doors at the Red Mountain Ranch Country Club to attend and celebrate our annual Christmas Party.
In the lobby was a big, beautiful Christmas tree. Everyone was invited to stand by the tree as pictures were taken. These pictures will be shown at next year’s Christmas Party slideshow.
In the Overlook Room, guests saw a beautifully decorated room, with ornaments strung from wall to wall. Once everyone was seated, President Betty Day thanked everyone for coming, and asked Char Underwood to give the blessing.
Char thanked the Lord for our meal, our social club and being able to share this meal with wonderful friends. “At Christmas, we give and receive gifts,” Char prayed. “The best gift of all is the good news of the Gospel. I thank God for sending His Son to earth to die for our sins and the truth of John 3:16. I hope all of you will open up God’s gift to you this Christmas, and receive the joy and peace He offers to you if you believe.”
After the prayer, we enjoyed the hors d’oeuvres, which included a festive fruit and cheese display dish. Dinner was served to each table. The first items served consisted of a plated garden salad, ranch and balsamic dressing, rolls and butter. The main meal included plated duet of cabernet-braised beef and Mediterranean chicken, with red skin mashed potatoes and chef’s choice seasonal vegetables. This great meal was topped off with a cherry cheesecake dessert.
We want to thank Country Club Food and Beverage Manager Terry Durr and his staff for a great Christmas dinner. Because of the success of our Red Mountain Ranch Community Garage Sale, sponsored by the social club, we reduced the price of each meal to members by $11. Our treasurer paid the Country Club $36 per meal and members paid $25 each. This is our Christmas gift to members who attended the party.
Entertainment for the evening began playing while dinner was served. The featured entertainment was Lee Alexander and Sandi, the Country and Cowboy Western Singers and Guitar Players. Throughout the evening, they sang Christmas carols, 1940 to 1960 songs, and imitated famous singers, such as Johnny Cash and others. Contact them at www.LeeAndSandi.com.
Audio-Visual Chair Dave Bender announced our annual slide show. Pictures included last year’s Christmas party, the Ladies Birthday Club dinners, our Thursday morning meetings with various speakers, the spring party, the fall Oktoberfest party, the garage sale and the November meeting and luncheon honoring our social club veterans. Many members were included in the pictures.
President Betty Day introduced the drawings for prizes. Many guests won beautiful prizes wrapped as Christmas gifts. Program Chair Shirley Bender and her volunteers visited various merchants in our community asking for gift donations. It was a win-win situation as it was good advertising for the merchants and our social club received free prizes for the drawings.
Next, Lee Alexander and Sandi played while many people danced and enjoyed the beautiful night city view of the Valley. Some oldies and goodies songs were played which were enjoyed greatly by all. Betty Day closed the party by thanking everyone for coming. We also want to thank everyone who helped organize this party.
The next social club meeting will be on Thursday, Jan. 9. Our speakers will be Nancy and her son, Will Nemitz. She will show us a slideshow with music about their 500-mile walk on the Camino de Santiago, a 1,200-year-old pilgrimage route beginning in Southern France and ending in Santiago, Spain, which they did this last June.
Since the two returned from Spain, more than 100 people have seen the slideshow production, many two or three times. Nancy, a professional organizer, was a speaker at our June 2011 social club meeting. She is a resident of Red Mountain Ranch.
We invite you to attend our meetings. We meet on the second Thursday of the month, with the exception of December, at 9:30 a.m., to hear interesting speakers and presentations. We meet at the Country Club, located in the middle of Red Mountain Ranch. You do not need to be a member to attend.
For more information about the Red Mountain Ranch Social Club, send an e-mail to Jay Williamson at jaynwilliamson57@yahoo.com.