Las Madres '80 East
DECEMBER 2010 NEWSLETTER

Happy Holidays
DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS
2nd    Phil Martinez
3rd   Sean Nevoli
8th   Bud Butler
11th   Eddie Butler
21st   Jennifer Butler
28th  Sharon Simmons

COMING EVENTS
Month of December
Saturday Coffees
9 am
LeBou at San Felipe/Yerba Buena
Contact: Robin
December 1-4
White Christmas
Contact: Randi
December 15
Annual Christmas Party
6:30 pm
Merrilee's House
RSVP: Merrilee


December "Meeting"
When: Wednesday, December 15, 6:30 pm
Where: Merrilee's House
What: Our Annual Christmas Party
Merrilee is once again hostessing our annual Christmas Party.  As usual, bring a dish to share and let Merrilee know what you are bringing.  It was decided at the beach house on the ladies trip that our gift exchange theme this year would be gourmet, imported or specialty food items with a fifteen dollar limit.  So, ladies, let your creative juices flow and use your imagination to create a fun, unique gift.  Food items can be homemade.
White Christmas
Randi & David have been working very hard to put on a great holiday show, Irving Berlin's  "White Christmas."  Some have already purchased tickets and others have mentioned that they would like
to go.  It's not too late, as you can buy tickets at the door.  The dates again are Dec. 1, 2, 3, and 4 at 7pm.  Give yourself time to park and walk in to Pioneer's Performing Arts Center.  Any questions, contact Randi.
Saturday Coffee Clatches Continue
We meet every Saturday morning at 9 am at Le Boulanger at San Felipe and Yerba Buena.  There is a Starbucks across from it if you need something "special" to go with your bagel or pastry.   There is no away coffee scheduled for this month.
e-Mail Tidbit

Calling All Santa Clauses

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted.... "Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my Second World-famous cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. 

As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church. I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class.

Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby." The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it. Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going." I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby. 

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were, ridiculous.  Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.

May you always have LOVE to share, HEALTH to spare and FRIENDS that care. And may you always believe in the magic of Santa Claus!
mouse candy cane
DECEMBER WEBSITE

CLUB OFFICERS
President - Janis Gerlinger
Treasurer - Vicki Rasmussen
Newsletter & Webmaster - Ginny Gomez
Coffee Coordinator - Robin Nevoli
Executive Committee - Randi Heinrichsen, Joan Wilson and Sally Brooks-Schulke