I missed last year’s party, because I was in Oregon, so I was certainly looking forward to this year’s festivities. Once again we gathered at the Montrose Bowl for our fun evening. We had a good turn out.
Montrose does up their streets in this neighborhood with lots of lights, so it looks very lovely.
Of course, the precipitation we had in Southern California on Thursday afternoon gave the street the reflective sheen.
The thing about parties is that we give ourselves permission to clown around.
The location is a bowling alley, of course, so once everyone has settled in, some hardy souls try their luck at knocking down pins.
One of the first things we do in festivities (after eating, of course) is the presentation of the year’s service award (named for member Scott Shaw! who is a model of service). This year, Tone Rodriguez, back in town from Arizona for the holiday, did the presentation, and the award went to past President Pat McGreal.
Once the serious stuff like that is done with, we get on to the silly stuff like the gift exchange. The routine is to bring an inexpensive gift. Using raffle tickets, we get called up by our numbers and make a selection from the pile of wrapped gifts. It’s a mystery as to what might be in the package. For instance, below, we see that Kirby Shaw (Scott’s son) received an unusual apron.
For most of the evening, Jim MacQuarrie had his outer shirt buttoned up over his tee-shirt but as the evening wound down, he remembered the reason he wore the tee. Something he wanted to show off: a benefit of participating in the press party for this big, upcoming movie release. Just a little thing that he got in advance of the general public.
