2022 Holiday Party Festivities

My favorite non-driving event of each year is our annual Holiday Party. For 2022, outgoing Vice President Rick Duste performed the hardest job of his role (finding a venue for this bash that meets our club’s needs and budget) with aplomb! The Petaluma-based Rooster Run Golf Club had a perfectly-sized private room for us with ample space for both schmoozing and dancing. Check-in elves Linda Duste and Eileen Gaines made it a breeze for the staff to get our 50 attendees their proper dinners, and with the club covering the corkage, many members shared a wide variety of bottles of their favorite sparkling, white, and red wines.

The spirit of sharing extended well beyond glasses of great wine. Jeff Hall had coordinated a donation drive for Toys for Tots this year and we ended up donating at least 100 new toys on our first try, in addition to a check for $500. Immediate Past President Chip Witt presented our primary charity, Sonoma CASA, with a check for $3000 which their President Jill Joseph happily accepted. Donations to Paws for Purple Hearts and the Redwood Empire Food Bank rounded out our season of giving this year.

After dinner, Void Where Prohibited rocked the house yet again, and it seemed to me that everybody got on the dance floor at least once, another marker of party success. During their break, our incoming 2023 officers were introduced and I turned over the Redwood Region Presidential scepter (complete with a 911 Carrera at the business end) to Vern Rogers. New First Lady Sharon Castle Rogers accepted the Stuttgart Tiara from Lisa Davoren to complete the transition.

A good crowd shut the place down and the weather cooperated nicely so that we all had dry trips back home. Put this party on your list for next year. Incoming VP Sharon Neidel has a tough act to follow but will undoubtedly deliver!