2004 Winter Solstice Party

The annual Winter Solstice party was a smashing success- Thanks to Alice Grow and her helpers. About twenty five people attended the event and enjoyed the music provided by June Apple's quartet plus the food and drinks.

Several people showed slides and digital images of native and non-native flora and natural sites. Many of the images brought back memories of the past season, especially the warm days, and they generated a lot of ooh's and aah's.

Tables set around the room held vases of dried plants and twigs. Each had a number and the idea was to try to identify what they were. Books were provided to assist in the identification and it was permissible to consult with others. At the end of the evening Bob Wesley identified each species and gave a short narrative about it. The entries from all contestants were drawn and many prizes were given out. Another prize was given to the person receiving the most votes who brought a food item with a native plant ingredient. This year's winner was leek/oyster mushroom quiche tarts. 

Here are some pictures from the event...

	David prepares the equipment for the slide show.
The local paper mistakenly advertised "...and snakes. Bring a fish to pass." They meant to print "...and snacks. Bring a dish to pass." Some members (Pam and Paul Schmitt) actually did bring fish and a snake!
	Bob fills the vases on the tables with plants for the "Plant Identification Contest".
Rosemarie sets up the food table while David watches.
	Susanne arranges the goodies on the native plant seed tables. This year there were many, many species of native plant seeds- even fern spores and all were free for the taking!!!
Some of the containers containing the native seeds. Envelopes and labels containing information about the species and how to grow it were also provided for free.
	Books on native plants were available for use in the Plant Identification Contest. Here, Mark is laying out the reference material.
Alice, the event organizer, checks out the wines and gets ready for the punch. Er, I mean ready to prepare the punch.
June Apple provided the lively music.
Fiddler and guitarist from June Apple's band - photo by Paul Schmitt.
Bob talks about one of the plants in the identification contest - photo by Paul Schmitt.
David demonstrates the lost art of opening hickory nuts to Dave Burnett by using an ancient device called "Vice-Grips" - photo by Paul Schmitt.
Everyone wanted to try their skill at opening the nuts - photo by Paul Schmitt.