It was good to have new members, Marna Seal and Mike & Suzanne Greenfield, join us for their first Dogwood rally as well as guests Michael & Mary Beth Meyer who joined Dogwood later in the weekend. It was also good to have former members Tom & Marilyn Nolte join us for dinner Saturday night.
Our hosts really out did them selves. Home cooked food, custom made cake platters adorned with cookies (which were later given away as door prizes) and white linen tablecloths. The rally officially kicked off Friday with happy hour followed by a chili / beef stew dinner. Santa and his elf (aka Donald Warthan and Sue Sohles) made a visit and delivered a goodie bag to each attendee. Afterwards we enjoyed music provided by Donald Warthan and new member Marna Seal.
Saturday the group gathered for a hot breakfast including eggs, pancakes and home made sweet breads. In the afternoon the men gathered for a GPS discussion (see Paul's article) while the women went outlet shopping.
Saturday evening we enjoyed a turkey and ham holiday dinner which was followed by our traditional Yankee gift swap. Thanks to Donna Gruel, our entertaining emcee. This year's event had a different twist as everyone brought "regifts". There were a lot of chuckles and some stealing of gifts, but when the Greenwoods, with lucky #1, were given the option to choose any gift, they opted to keep the one they originally selected as there were not any others that they thought were any better!
We decided that the Williamsburg location definitely attracts a larger group and we will look into coming back next year.
