By Sandy Quesnel, F68577D
December 2011
The weather was far from frightful for the Vancouver Islanders’ “Christmas In July” chapter rally, held July 18 through 22, 2011, at Storeys Beach in Port Hardy, British Columbia, Canada. In fact, it was quite nice and we were lucky not to experience any torrential downpours during our stay in this harbor town near the northern tip of Vancouver Island.
The chapter rally was hosted by Laurel and Wayne Macauley, and they really raised the bar again. This event was in the planning stages for more than a year, and the effort they put forth was very evident. Laurel did a lot of smart shopping and beautiful crafting to put on an event of this caliber.
The town of Port Hardy provided the group with some great welcome gift packages, which Laurel supplemented with two Christmas trivia games, Christmas Sudoku and Christmas word search. We were treated to breakfast every morning and big dinners each night. Attendees had the opportunity to tour the Hardy Buoys Smoked Fish Inc. facility and an aggregate plant; take a fishing trip; go aboard a pilot boat as it guided a huge ship through the straits; or take a whale-watching tour. Participants of the latter were lucky enough to have a huge humpback whale breach right beside the boat!
In between that busy schedule, some of us actually did our own exploring as well. We visited some very good museums and saw beautiful, lush country with lots of wildlife and many scenic views. Deer were plentiful, and so were the bears. Throughout the week, we also were busy creating Christmas centerpieces and ornaments for a contest held on the final night. Laurel had a bin filled with craft supplies for everyone to work from, and the group created some really beautiful Christmas decorations.
Port Hardy is a small town under some economic distress. The chapter raised approximately $300 and collected seven boxes of nonperishable food items for the Port Hardy Harvest Food Bank. Every evening we exchanged a food item for a chance to win a door prize. Since Laurel had more than 80 door prizes, we collected a lot of food! Half of each night’s 50/50 draw — and one night’s entire collection — went to the food bank as well.
One night we were entertained with Christmas bingo. Participants paid $2 per card, with the proceeds going to the food bank. Each card was good for five games, with winners receiving huge, beautiful gift baskets. On another night we had reindeer races, and some of us beat the odds. Every evening we enjoyed camaraderie around the campfire.
The highlight of the rally was Christmas dinner with all the trimmings on the final night. What a feast it was, with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, yams, gravy, stuffing, peas, carrots, green bean casserole, and cabbage rolls, followed by potluck Christmas desserts. After dinner we exchanged gifts that were handmade by each of the attendees, which proved just how very talented everyone is. The gifts were useful, beautiful, and crafty. All treasures!
Again, there are not enough descriptive words to do this rally justice. Thanks to Laurel, Wayne, and their very busy Christmas elves who worked miracles to make this such a fun and successful event for Vancouver Islanders chapter members.