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A spectacular garden setting, a
balmy summer night, 42 happy people, good food,
much laughter and Andrè DVD's. Even a visit from
Santa Rob and his VERY little Santa's Helper -
me. Perfect ingredients for our most successful
2009 South Australian Andre Rieu Friendship Group's
Christmas party.
When I went into hospital last month, the
arrangements for this year's party were taken
out of my hands by Kaye and Beth. Both had been
to functions at the home of a woman who lives in
the northwestern suburb of Brompton. Jane, who
offers her home and gardens as a venue for
parties, does all the catering herself and with
the help of 2 nephews, served up a delicious
buffet style, 3 course meal. |
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Kaye had made the lovely and most novel table
arrangements, in particular, the very clever place
name/serviette holders. It's amazing what you can do
with a bit of tinsel, a peanut in it's shell, and a lot
of artistic skill. She and Beth had spent the afternoon
setting and decorating the tables, with Beth liberally
sprinkling Christmas confetti all over the table cloths.
It looked most effective, but was a killer to try and
clean up afterwards. |
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The starting time was 6 for 6.30, but by the time Rob,
Margaret, Andrè (both of whom we picked up on the way)
and I arrived, just before 6, the gardens were already
abuzz with early arrivals.
The first thing we did was remove Andrè from his
protective covering, stood him by the folding door, in a
position to 'welcome' his guests and put on his flashing
Santa hat and tinsel. |
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As our guests either sat at their tables or wandered the
incredible gardens, Beth, Kaye and I handed out the Hors
D'ouvres and dips, which gave me a chance to speak to
our group members and also gave me the opportunity to
meet the other guests who had been invited by Kaye, to
make up the required numbers. It has always been my
motto: - at any Andrè function you come as strangers and
leave as friends and last night was no different.
Everyone intermingled and by night's end, I again
witnessed names, phone numbers and email addresses being
exchanged. It was a pleasure to meet Doris and June,
both of whom will be joining our group next year. |
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I'd told Kaye that I wanted a
Christmas theme for the evening and most certainly
wasn't let down. At the arrival of the final guests, the
main course, a traditional Christmas dinner of roasts
turkey and beef and baked ham, roast vegetables and
salads was served. As the diners were finishing off
their meal, Rob and I disappeared to our car, where we
donned a flashing Santa hat for him and his little
helper hat for me. I'd bought a present for each of our
Andrè group, all of which were packed into Santa's bag
and for our other guests, I carried a Xmas stocking
which I'd filled with chocolates, from which they had a
'lucky dip'. |
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Santa's helper may be little,
but has a booming voice when needed, which was
put into good use as I asked for shush, when I
made the official 'welcome' and we handed out
the presents. I then asked them all, to join
with Rob and me, as we thanked Kaye and Jane for
their hard work in making the evening such a
success and I presented them with a 'goodies'
parcel, of biscuits and a selection of
confectionery, I'd made earlier in the week. In
retrospect, giving them both 'goodies' parcels
would be no different than giving someone from
Newcastle a nugget of coal. Oh well, it's the
thought that counts. |
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Brandy soaked Christmas Pudding,
with cream, ice cream, custard and or brandy
butter and a delicious cheese and fresh fruit
platter was the dessert to die for and was
quickly consumed. |
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During the course of the evening, most of our guests
joined us in having a group photo taken in the gazebo
and on the bridge around and over the fish pond. No
guessing who once again had centre stage, but what a
perfect setting for the photo. |
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Nearing the end of the night, a
birthday cake, I'd asked Jane to provide,
magically appeared, with sparklers a-sparkling
in lieu of candles and a rendition of "Happy
Birthday" broke out to a very surprised
Margaret, who celebrated her birthday on the 3rd
and Rob who gets another year older on Monday
21st. Even though we'd eaten very well earlier,
most had room for a bit of cake, although I have
to admit, some of the pieces I'd cut were pretty
skimpy and we had a lot of cake left over. |
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It was a very special night for
us all and I don't think anyone would have gone
home disappointed. I can't imagine a better way
to finish this, our first year, as the Sth
Australian AR Friendship Group and look forward
to our first meeting on Monday 22nd February
2010. |
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GOOD
NEWS REGARDING THE TAPESTRY
Margaret has finally sent off the Tapestry to
Maastricht by FedEx. After what has been a long
and drawn out drama, hopefully it will arrive
safely and undamaged into the hands of Andrè in
the not too distant future. It would be good to
think it may arrive in time for him to open it
at Christmas.
All Margaret hopes for now, is acknowledgment of
its arrival and we sincerely trust that she
receives it. |
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On behalf of the South
Australian Andrè Rieu Friendship Group, Robert
and I would like to take this opportunity in
thanking Sally, Jeanine-Ann and all connected
with the Andre Rieu Fans and Friends site for
their continued excellence and wish them and
their families, as well as all fans of Andrè and
Andrè and his family a
VERY MERRY AND BLESSED
CHRISTMAS
and a
SAFE, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS 2010
May it be full of
LOVE, FRIENDSHIP, PEACE AND MUSIC
Love to everyone during this
Festive Season and Beyond
Lyndall and Robert Freemann
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