MASONIC FAMILY CHRISTMAS PARTY

WHEN AND WHERE

The Masonic Family Christmas Party is scheduled for 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Masonic Center in Tumwater on Saturday December 22nd 2007.

WHO

Everyone with a Masonic affiliation is invited. You are welcome to bring family and guests but you are responsible for the behavior of your non-Masonic guests. The party is not open to the general public.

This means you are welcome to and, encouraged to, invite guests from other Masonic jurisdictions and every kind of Masonic organization – Blue Lodges, Scottish Rite, Shrine, Prince Hall, Eastern Star, Amaranth, DeMolay, Job’s Daughters, Rainbow and all the other concordant and affiliated bodies. If you attend Lodge or any of the other Masonic bodies in Shelton, Tenino, Chehalis, Pierce County, Seattle or anywhere, then you, too, are welcome. If you have grandkids, great grandkids, grandmothers, widows, cousins, neighbors even, then they too are invited just so long as they come along with you.

WHAT

This is a Christmas Party. That means its purpose is to have fun by enjoying each others’ company and participating in some frivolous activities. No speeches, no ritual, just game playing, carol singing, and eating. You can come and go at any time. No fund-raising. No alcoholic beverages will be served.

Back in the 1980’s it used to be a Christmas Ritual for all the Masonic groups to get together once a year for a party. Over 100 people used to attend. This is one of those activities where the more the merrier. Everyone will be greeted at the door and if they do not have one they will be encouraged to don a name badge – it helps getting acquainted more quickly.
Specifically, we have planned:

• A get acquainted game, where you have to find out information from the other guests and the first one finished gets a small prize. Rainbow is organizing this.
• A piñata for the kids. We will endeavor to make sure all the kids get a swing at the piñata (or as it used to be – get a swing at the fellow holding the piñata) – then watch as the candy falls and the kids swarm to get some. Harmony is organizing this.
• A pie in the face of the Master. Where, for an exorbitant fee, you get the opportunity to gently put a pie in the face of the leader (or other volunteer) from your organization. Everyone is excited about this event except, remarkably, the Masters are not. We will try applying some social pressure to get them to step up and volunteer. To make it a lot easier on them we will put the opportunity to “pie” up for bid – thereby raising some funds for the event and limiting the exposure to the Masters. DeMolay is organizing this event.
• Carol Singing. Baxter Harwood has agreed to come along and play piano for us. Deborah Montgomery will bring her guitar. Anybody else who can play an instrument is invited to come along and jam with us. (Do not anticipate perfection but do anticipate some good fun). We will sing carols together – just the classics like “O Come all ye Faithful” or “Good King Wencelas”. Rick Bonnell is bringing sheets with the words so you do not just have to la la to them. Baxter (who represents almost every Lodge and OES) is in charge of this event.
• Gift Exchanges. Bring a nicely wrapped gift for each person who wants to participate in the gift exchange. The gift should be in the $15-20 range. We know this is a bit expensive but gift exchanges only work if you can get people to compete for the good gifts and are not disappointed with the average gift. Maybe this is time to re-gift that $50 “objet d’art” that is cluttering up your living room (the one your wife loves and you hate – or vice versa). Remember, the idea is to bring gifts that everyone will want. The rules for the gift exchange are pretty simple – when you arrive you deposit your gift in the pile and receive a number. The lowest number chooses first and opens the gift. The next person has the choice of taking the gift that the first person selected or of choosing a new gift from the pile. No gift can be selected more than three times. You continue until the first person has the choice of keeping their gift or selecting somebody else’s. We will divide the gift exchange into three groups. The “adults” – roughly 14 years and older. The “tweens” – post Santa Claus but not interested in “objet d’art”, say 8-14. The “Youngsters” who will receive the gifts that their parents or guardians have brought from Santa Claus himself. The Tweens will be left to organize themselves, however, the types of gifts should be pitched to what interests people in the 8-14 age group. You get to choose which age group you fall into.
• Santa Claus will make his entrance sometime during the festivities. You are encouraged to bring a wrapped present for each kid that you bring. Make sure their name is boldly shown on the package (our Santa Claus needs to wear his glasses to see tiny print). Each kid will be invited to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what he/she wants for Christmas. We will have a very limited supply of extra gifts available so that no kid goes without (if you can afford it and we have enough for the kids who cannot afford it we might agree to sell you a wrapped gift). You are invited to bring extra wrapped gifts so that no kid goes without. We will endeavor to have a camera ready to take pictures and will post the results on a web site soon after the event. The Shrine is assuming responsibility for Santa.
• Baked Potatoes. We will be serving baked potatoes with all the toppings you could possibly conceive. Rainbow is in charge of organizing this.
• Cup Cakes. We will be serving (and maybe even cooking – if the numbers exceed our expectations) cup cakes. Olympia #1 has offered to provide the cupcakes for the event.
• Cheesecakes. Linda volunteered to make me a cheesecake. Malcolm said he knew of a fellow who makes the world’s best cheesecake. Linda said – “We will see”. Since that day I have run into a lot of people who make the world’s best cheesecake – all I can say is “Turn up with your best effort and prove it.” The only judging that we will have is which cheesecake gets finished the most quickly – so bring your friends to help eat them. We will only serve little “Costco sample” portions so that the most people can try the most cheesecakes. Fred U Harris is in charge of this event.
• Christmas Tree Decorating and Lighting. Amaranth will set up the tree, make some decorations available and organize a tree lighting event.
• Hopefully we will have some other events but remember the main event is getting acquainted and re-acquainted with each other. If your group has some good idea they think should be part of the festivities – just do it.

THE COST

We would like for this to become an annual event that assumes a life of its own. We have already reserved the Lodge for next year.

We do not plan on charging an admission fee, however, you are invited to contribute generously to the donation bucket according to your ability. There are some real costs involved – food, supplies, extra gifts. Harmony Lodge has undertaken to underwrite the event if there is a loss, but I am confident that we will create a surplus from the contributions of those in attendance. Any surplus will be applied to next year’s Party.

Remember to bring a wrapped gift for the gift exchange. Bring cheesecakes, although, no kind of food will be refused (but we specifically did not want to have a pot luck, that’s for next year). Bring some extra cash to throw into the donation bucket or to bid on the “Pie in the face of the Master”. Bring a tree ornament if you want. Bring an extra gift for a child under 8 for Santa to distribute as appropriate (indicate which sex would best like the toy). But mostly, just bring yourself, this Party has something for people of all ages – the thing I remember most about it was a granny diving into the candy as it got knocked out of the piñata.
See you there and “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays”, too.

Rich Lathrope
rich.lathrope at gmail.com