Page Created: 09/17/17. Last Updated: 01/12/18.
HOLIDAY PARTY / POT LUCK DINNER
MEETING DETAIL
Meeting Date: December 9, 2017.
Meeting Site: Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Attendance: 23.
Meeting Program: Holiday Party / Pot Luck Dinner.
Newsletter Account:
The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2018 Philip J De Parto:
There is another universe in which nearly 40 people showed up for the club's annual Pot Luck Dinner. But in this reality, falling snow resulted in a dozen or so members canceling their plans to attend the Saturday, December 9, 2017 meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County at the Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. At one point we came close to canceling the gathering, but in the end things worked out astonishingly well.
One treat was that we had a lot of new faces. One third of the room were attending either their first or second General Meeting. It was great to be able to spend some time with them.
While there were some really yummy-sounding dishes which did not make it to the Church, no one complained about the food we did have.
There was a good selection of appetizers with Black Olives (Phil De Parto), a Cheese and Cold Cut Platter (Carol Gyzander), a Fruit Platter (Angela Mallon), Sour Cream Dip with Chips and Carrots (Jeni Spiewak) Vegetable Pizzazz (Kathryn Coughlin) and a Vegetable Platter (Moshe Yuda).
Main dishers were Beef Stew and Rolls (Pamela Webber), Fried Chicken (Bobbi Bauer), Rotisserie Chicken (John Jurich) and Samosas (Sitav Nabi and friends).
We had a strong showing of vegetables and side dishes. There was Rice with Garlic Roasted Tomatoes (Phil), Jambalaya (Christopher Miller), Penne Pasta with Vegetables (Roy Greenberg), Rosemary Roasted Potatoes (Nicole Ackerman), Stuffing (Phil), Tossed Salad (Tom Bauer), Pastrami Turkey and Cole Slaw (Stephen Herbst) and Waldorf Salad (Steve Herr).
The cancellations hit us hardest in the area of beverages. However, we did have Apple Juice (Phil), Coffee (Phil), Iced Tea (Phil), Milk (Phil), Brewed Tea (Roy), and Bottled Water (Phil) to keep us hydrated.
Desserts included Cheese Cake (Arnold Kim), Chocolate Cake (Joseph Kennedy), Donuts (Jacqueline Moroz), and Pastries (Jacqueline) and Candy from the club stock.
Between Tom Coughlin, Pamela Webber, church stock and club stock we had enough cups, napkins, utensils, etc.
Things I especially enjoyed were Kathryn's Pizzazz and Chris' Jambalaya. Others in the group would doubtless have their own favorites.
We kept it simple this year and did not run any videos, but there were lots of good conversations about books, movies, television and more. Moshe, Chris and others talked about THE EXPANSE. Arnold, Jacqueline and Pam discussed THE ORVILLE. Tom, Jacqueline and Pam Reminisced about Steve Martin Movies. Angela and Stephen Herbst went over work matters. Jeni discussed books read and the workings of book groups with several people.
Phil made announcements about the new club activities: The Across the Mulitverse online teleconference group via Google Hangouts, the Fantastic Worlds Book Group, and the Double Star Movie Discussion Group.
Despite the mirth and merriment, things broke up earlier than usual as people wanted to allow extra time to travel home.
The set up crew consisted of Phil, Chuck and Pam. The clean up crew as Phil, Steve Herr, Pam and Moshe. Our thanks to all who assisted and apologies to anyone who was overlooked.