After the Party

MeandKidsThis is a bit late arriving in the internet waves, but it has been a busy week following our 15th Annual Holiday Open House! What a party it was since I found a wonderful bar near me! We were so happy to greet the 400 friends and family who walked through our lodge front doors! We feel so blessed that so many new friends were introduced to the magic of ThorpeWood during the holidays.

The festivities started at 3 p.m. – and a bit early for one family who just couldn’t wait to see our tree! The sounds of music echoed through the lodge from the beginning with Rick Hill, then Brett Barry, David Selby and our good friend and music coordinator, Todd Walker, wrapping it all up at the end! Such great sharing of talent!

Our Concolor fir tree was the center of attention capturing the casual admirer and  those whose interest was peaked by a game and competition – a “treasure hunt”, where participants combed the branches of this 15′ tall tree to find very special ornaments listed on the “hunt” sheet. Those that completed the game had a chance at a grab bag of fun stuff! Kids also enjoyed a craft station with our own Vicki Gross, who assisted children (about 70) in making reindeer food…many little hands left with food for Santa’s reindeer. And, speaking of Santa, he arrived arrayed in his beautiful red suit, ready to greet the kids anxiously waiting for him. One in particular, Julie’s grandson, Christian, had his catalog with him and proceeded to flip through the pages and tell Santa what he wanted!

Oh, and speaking of a contest that had a prize more significant than the grab bag of stuff …everyone had the opportunity to guess the number of lights on this year’s tree.  So many of you participated, making it all the more fun.  The low guess was 5 and the high 60,000 …the winner was Nina Blacker who was only 30 lights low with a guess of 3620 (3650 actual).  The next closest guess was only 100 lights high.  And the prize goes to Nina – a free stay at ThorpeWood’s Little Pond Cottage.  Congratulations Nina!!!

Cookies? Did we have cookies!! Thanks to our community of great bakers, guests were treated to an amazing array of yummy sweets, including a beautiful Croquembouche (a tree of cream puffs) that was our centerpiece and was quickly devoured!! We could not have been so organized if it were not for the help of some wonderful Santa’s helpers!!! These included Gail Slonaker, Judy Briley and Diana Mehaffie, as well as Scott Slonaker who kept the fire burning!! Thank you!!!

In spite of a very wet and chilly night, the people came!! We were so excited that friends were not discouraged by the damp day and evening! The hot cider was enjoyed, as well as a beautiful, blazing fire! The day and evening were magical! “The best ever” and surely a great kickoff to everyone’s holiday season!!

Mark your calendars: 2015 Holiday Open House: Saturday, December 5