Ward Christmas Party

Steve was in charge of the ward Christmas party. The directions were to have a dinner party for families with Santa there. That is a tall order as we have an older ward. Lots of people aren't wild about coming to a dinner with kids, let alone one where Santa is invited.

We were given an amazing committee. Cheryl and Sue did the decorations. Sue did advertising. Wendy was in charge of the program. Dan and Lana arranged for Santa Claus. Judy planned the craft room. Hank (from the bishopric) offered great organizational tips. Steve and I were in charge of the food.

The internet lies. I guess I should have known that, but it does. We had decided to have bone-in spiral cut ham, baked by ward members with a special pineapple glaze. The internet said we should plan for three fourths of a pound of bone-in ham for each person. Our sign-up lists said 212 were coming. While we knew the sign-up list wasn't entirely accurate, we assumed the "no shows" would be compensated for by those we didn't reach - plus you can hardly afford to run out of food at the Christmas dinner. Only about 150 actually came, though the room looked full. We had purchased 17 half hams. Between an over estimate of the attendance and an over estimate of the amount of ham needed, we had "ham for the thrashers" (as Mom would say). We had five hams and at least that many pies/cakes that we didn't even touch. We had additional ham that was cut off the bone to serve, but wasn't needed. Our good bishop was so cute. He personally delivered the untouched hams to ward members who were going through hard times. We had the foresight to buy "take out dinner boxes" like you get in restaurants, so many of the left overs were carried out by attendees. Some took a dinner to a neighbor who had surgery or just took a plate for themselves for the next day. The ham turned out great. The pineapple glaze made it great to keep warm as well as filling the hall with a wonderful scent.

Santa was a hit. We have so few young children in our ward, each got special attention as well as numerous photo ops.

The crafts were popular.

The decorations were absolutely amazing. Balloons ascending from each table. Large styrofoam gingerbread men and candies adorning the walls. Large presents with gorgeous bows livening up the tables. Christmas lights festooned from the corners of the hall. Garlands of greenery cascading from the stage. Snowflakes suspended mid air. Large candy canes gathered like a bouquet from the middle of the room. A friend sent me a few pictures - so you can see the amazing decorations.

Afterwards, we had so much help cleaning up. We got so many wonderful comments. It was a great experience.