No Direction Home: Kathy & Michael’s 4th Annual Christmas Eve Open House

December 25, 2009

Steve, Danielle, Melissa & Rick

Marta , Howard & Liz

Marky, Christa, & Michael

Kathy & Michael’s 4th Annual Christmas Eve Open House

T.J. & Gil

We were slightly nervous in preparing for our 4th annual Christmas Eve open house party this year. The weather was somewhat overcast and cloudy and it felt like rain was possible at any point throughout the evening. The forecast called for a 50% chance in the evening and a quick look at the radar confirmed a line of showers heading towards the Keys just as our party was set to get underway at 5 pm.

Joanne & Brent

Fred & Connie

Rob, Sharon & Trevor

We had spent the day cleaning, organizing and preparing, opting to move the bar from the exposed location it has been the past three years under the cover of our porch overhang and sure enough at just about 5 PM, light sprinkles began to fall. But providence was smiling on us as the rain stopped almost as quickly as it began and not a single drop fell the remainder of the evening.

Erika, Mike, Sherry & Steve

the Becker's

I think the threat of rain delayed the arrival of some guests as unlike past years, we were not inundated from the start. People started arriving in earnest around 5:30 and did not stop arriving until almost midnight. It was easily the biggest crowd we have had yet, with just under 300 people joining us over the course of the night. It was a long night too, as the last guest didn’t depart until around 1:15 am Christmas Day. In between, we were thrilled to have so many friends and family join us to share in the holiday spirit.

Lynn & Brewster

Tom & Terry

This year we hired additional help. Our wonderful bartender Andrea was back again, but to assist with the food prep, we had Dennis & his girlfriend Shanna to help us out. And help us out they did, in fact they went above and beyond, Dennis even managing to fix our malfunctioning garbage disposal which failed mid-party. We could not have done it without all of their help. Thanks so much Andrea, Dennis & Shanna. Hope you can all be back next year.

Andrea

Shanna & Dennis

We had a lot of food and libations. Kathy cooked a 20 lb. turkey and a couple of hams and we purchased 9 platters of food and cooked a huge amount of hors d’oeuvres and other snacks. In fact we were cooking so much and using so much refrigerator space that we had to utilize the kitchen and help of our neighbors Angela, Daisy & Cookie, who provided invaluable help and were the un-sung heroes of the night. They kept fresh food coming throughout the long evening so that no matter what time guests arrived there was plenty to eat.

Greg & Beth

Brendan & Lauren

Randy, Lisa & Todd

Of course, we always end up with more beer and wine than we started with and lots of folks brought drinks, food, desserts and even small gifts. Thanks so much to our wonderful friends, but thanks most of all for just showing up and sharing a portion of your holidays with us. We are thrilled that so many people come and that so many bring their family, friends and out of town guests along. That is just what we wanted, for people to be able to relax and let us give back a little to this wonderful community that gives us so much year round.

Marta & her NC friends!

Steve & Srea

the Etshman's

Debbie & Nadene

My mother, Marta was blown away, I think by all the people. I had tried to prepare her, but it really something that one has to experience to appreciate. The people just kept showing up in waves and she loved meeting so many of our friends. I tried to take some photos and while it may seem like there are a lot of photos here, I really took relatively few compared to the crowd. It was hard just getting around to say hello, let alone to get photos. For long periods of time, I did not take a single photo, but I am including as many as possible here.