Christmas Eve Open House V- Part II

December 25, 2010





Christmas Eve Open House V- Part II

Mayor: “How horrible our Christmas will be!”
Jack Skellington: “No!”
*Mayor switches to his upset face
Jack Skellington: “How Jolly”
Mayor: “Oh, How Jolly our Christmas will be.”
-The Nightmare Before Christmas





Nick: “Hey look, mister - we serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters around to give the joint "atmosphere". Is that clear, or do I have to slip you my left for a convincer? “
-It’s A Wonderful Life





As has typically been the case, there are way more photos available from our Christmas Eve open house than corresponding text so I came up with the above quotes from two of my favorite holiday films as something of filler. They do have a little bit of relevance as our Christmas party was in fact Jolly. In fact, it was exceedingly jolly. Kathy & I are blessed to have many wonderful friends and acquaintances here in our island community and it is their presence that makes our party so special.

Terri & Tom

Sheldon & Susan

Randy, Nancy, Lisa & Audrey

The second quote from the barkeep in “It’s A Wonderful Life” is funny to me, because unlike Martini’s bar of Pottersville, our home does not serve hard drinks for people who want to get drunk fast, rather beer and wine for those who like to take more time in reaching a state of feeling good. In addition we not only welcome, but encourage characters being around to give the joint “atmosphere”. In Key West it is almost impossible not to have characters around at any social gathering and we are thrilled to count many of them as our friends.

Trevor, Nadene, Colleen & Gary

Tom, Melissa & Rick

Dennis, Graf, Shanna & Kathy

We had plenty of Key West characters at the house on Christmas eve, in fact I am almost certain that we had our largest crowd ever. Estimates in the range of 250 or more people who stopped by as the party went on. I know we went through more beer and wine than ever before and almost all of the food was consumed which is always a good sign.







One of the best parts is that many people bring their family and out of town guests along to the party and we thus get to meet many new people each year and get to share the feeling of being a local with them for the evening. It always touches Kathy & I that people would choose to join us and share a small part of their holidays with us. We heard from many that our party has become part of their own holiday traditions, which is both rewarding and somewhat of a responsibility.

Trevor & Nadene

Nancy, Njada, Lisa & Todd

Erin & Chris

Almost every year during the preparations for the party, I vow that this will be the last year that we do it, but once the party itself rolls around, those feelings dissipate into the warm glow of friends and family and I almost immediately remind people that we host the party every year and so already we are on the hook for next year.

Sheel & Haig

Mark, Nancy, Michael, Kathy, David & Martha

Eileen, Graf & Kathy

Howard, Najada & Kathy

Kathy & Shakti

Kathy & I would like to thank everyone who joined us and for all the gifts, wine and food that were showered upon us. It really is the highlight of a wonderful holiday season for us. For those who had other commitments, traveled away for the holidays or simply just didn’t make it for whatever reason, we hope to see you next Christmas Eve and we wish everyone a Happy Holidays and a Joyous New Year!

Christmas Eve Open House V

December 25, 2010



Willie, Michael, Wendy, Judy, Mark & Bill

The Fords

Christmas Eve Open House V



"Welcome, Christmas, bring your cheer. Cheer to all Whos far and near. Christmas Day is in our grasp so long as we have hands to clasp. Christmas Day will always be just as long as we have we. Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart and hand in hand."

Tom & Debbi

Kathy & I have hosted a party on Christmas Eve every year since 2006, this year being our fifth annual celebration of family, friends and the holiday season. The party is an open house that starts at 5 PM and ends when the last guest heads off into the early Christmas morning. This year things wrapped up at around 1:30 AM on Christmas.

Effie & Caitlin

Martha & David

Dale, Fran & Michael

Having a massive party is a ton of work, Kathy & I spent a load of time getting the house and yard ready for the influx of visitors. We had some help this year as our friend Kris came over to help get things prepped the day of the party. And once again this year, we hired both a bar-tender and two kitchen-helpers to keep a handle on the incredible array of food that we prepared.

The Waldmans



India

This year we cooked a Turkey, a couple of hams, a huge variety of side dishes and ordered ten large platters from Publix to supply the guests with enough food to keep them happy. I had been under the weather in the days leading up to this year’s party, but managed to rally in time for the guests scheduled arrival.

Susie & Greta

Wendy & Scott

In actuality the guests arrived and departed throughout the evening. The party itself goes through a fascinating metamorphosis as the evening progresses and in reality is sort of like having two or three related, yet also very different parties that overlap slightly as the character changes drastically as the night goes on.







The early shift tends to feature a wonderful mix of the young and old as many of our more senior friends come out and are joined at the same time by a large selection of many of the young families and children that Kathy knows from the Preschool. It is a wonderful mix as the crowd of children running about the property swells and everywhere you look are excited happy kids having a great time running about Miss Kathy’s house.

the McCabes

Chuck, Sue & Kathy



Sometime around 7:30 or so the party seemed to hit a peak as far as attendance is concerned. At one point there were so many people that I literally could not maneuver around the property, it was an amazing spectacle, no doubt the most people ever on the property at one time ever. This portion of the party seems to feature many of our friends from the Arts community, some of whom seem almost surprised that there are actually kids and families living in Key West.

Susan, Sheldon, Larry & Prue

Richard & Bethany

Sy & Florrie

Barbara, Fran & Dale

Finally about 10:30 or so, our younger friends begin rolling in and another totally different sort of party breaks out. We had an especially large late group this year which was great. The temperature was just about perfect, the cold weather that plagued Key West this month was gone and it was just a slight chill that made the fire that was started in our fire pit just about perfect.

Jim & Cathy