DUP Christmas Luncheon

The best party of the year is held every December. A committee cooks and serves their choice of food. Everyone gets a chance to be on the committee every couple of years.  A $5 white elephant gift (some handcrafted gifts were a lovely doily, hand dipped chocolates to die for, a spritely decked apron with trimmings of little black bows on the pockets and black stripes on a pink print and a white shell bracelet with red crystals). Numbers are drawn to choose a package of your delight, but the game begins when someone can steal your gift when they see it but another can also steal it so the 3rd person to take hold of the gift gets to keep it. It is the most delightful way to get a gift.

Had to take a photo of this character who decorated the room. Is he an elf?

The tree in Brookhaven's clubhouse where our party was held was decorated to the hilt.  If you look real close towards the bottom of the tree, there is a gianormous purple Christmas ball.

The fire place was lit.

The white bearded man with his seal skin boots watched our games and songs.
We each played one note on the Tone Bells and sang Jolly Old Saint Nicholas and three more Christmas songs. Because I had the key of "G", I played mine more often.  Laura our music leader pointed to groups of notes and we banged our little hearts out until she moved to the next group of notes.

St. Nicholas himself was present at the festivities.  He heard about how a plum pudding was made in England in a kettle that was cooked over a fire outside (steamed),  Tiny Tim's family waited ever so long for his mum to bring in the plum pudding which was about the size of a speckled cannon ball. They had cider to drink and chestnuts on the fire inside the house.

Why is a plum pudding called that when there is not one drop of a plum in it? Well, as it turns out, in the 17th century a plum was a raisin or other fruits. Just so you know, I had to look that one up.

At the DUP museum in Salt Lake City, they put pioneer photos in small frames and hung them on the Christmas tree.