Dinner at the Lodge

Last Friday night we attended a Christmas party hosted by a local home medical service. I've served on the board of the service for about 15 years, and my husband and I look forward each year to this employee get-together.



The party is held at the local lodge, a very popular place for all sorts of events that are booked months, even years, in advance. It's owned by a down-home sort of lady, who has collected antiques for many years, and enjoys displaying them at the lodge, and selling them in her antique shop downtown.



The facility has several bedrooms, all featuring rugged bedsteads, constructed of huge, treated logs, and covered in handmade quilts. The rooms are decorated with such things as fishing nets, cowboy boots, overalls, mounted animals, galvanized bath tubs, and deer antlers. In fact, every corner, dresser top, table, bathroom vanity, mantel, and wall are used as display areas.



At this time of year, the lodge is trimmed in outdoorsy Christmas decorations. Pine cones, cranberry strands, bird's nests, and the like adorn Christmas trees, along with camouflage caps and western hats as tree toppers. The dining tables, set in festive holiday ware, feature centerpieces created from whatever is at hand.



The dinner was buffet-style and, as usual, included a salad (a yummy mix of lettuces, mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, and toasted walnuts, with a sweet dressing), two meats, two vegetables, herb-flavored mashed potatoes, and big, homemade yeast rolls, plus a choice of two desserts. Diet is a four-letter word at this affair.



This year, the event included a little game. Each table had gift on it...wrapped or in a gift bag. Someone started music playing, and guests at the tables passed the gift around. When the music stopped, the one holding the gift was eliminated, and the game proceeded until only one remained not holding the gift. That person was the winner.



Both my husband and I were eliminated quickly, which meant that we could sit back and laugh at the others, particularly when the game got down to two people, who vigorously threw the gift at each other in an attempt not to be holding it when the music stopped.



The event also included a Christmas ornament exchange, and bingo, played for prizes. The start of those activities was our cue to head home, well-fed and in high Christmas spirits.