After getting off work last night (19 December), I drove to Julie's apartment to pick her up and then take her to Affton Elks Lodge #2635. This month's IPMS/Gateway meeting was also the annual Christmas Party.
Julie and I parked at the Elks Lodge and we brought our things into the hall. I brought some tortilla chips and salsa, while she had some sliced bread. We put our items on the buffet table and waited for the meeting to start.
After club president Marion Morris called the meeting to order, we lined up to get dinner. I let Julie go first, then got myself into line. We had quite a few members with several guests--mostly significant others. The club bought meat from Smokee Mo's Arnold BBQ Restaurant and bottles of soda, while club members and guests brought the side dishes and desserts. Nobody came away hungry from this dinner.
After the meal, Morris was presented a certificate from the Civil Air Patrol for recently building a model of a CAP aircraft from World War II for the Jefferson Barracks POW-MIA Museum.
This was followed by elections for club officers. I was unopposed for secretary, so I will be back in that office in 2024. I was also on the ballot for Gateway's Bob Stroup Award for Member of the Year. Three other members were nominated. This award will be presented at next month's meeting.
Morris then ran the annual Recognition Contest, in which members saw images projected against the wall and had to choose from multiple choices on the answer sheet. Julie also played along. This year's contest theme was "Wrecks," with images of wrecked aircraft, ships, armored vehicles, automobiles, and miscellaneous items (mostly science fiction; Julie is quite good with that). I tied two others with the highest score of 20 correct out of 25. I won the tiebreaker and received a Hawker Hurricane kit as the prize.
Speaking of kits, there was finally a raffle of kits the club bought that all members in attendance each had a chance to win. My ticket was one of those picked and I selected the Artemis I space launch vehicle kit, which recently came out.
Julie enjoyed her time there, chatting with a few of the other members in attendance. As the meeting broke up, Julie and I packed up our things and got into my car. Then, I took her to her home, Julie and I hugging and kissing in the car before she left. We will touch base regarding Christmas early next week.
Later.
Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:
Affton Elks Lodge #2635: Lodge #2635 Welcome (elks.org)
IPMS Gateway Chapter: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)
Smokee Mo's Arnold BBQ Restaurant: Smokee Mo's Arnold BBQ - Best BBQ Restaurant In Arnold (smokeemosarnoldbbq.com)
Civil Air Patrol: Civil Air Patrol | Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters (gocivilairpatrol.com)
Jefferson Barracks POW-MIA Museum: Jefferson Barracks POW/MIA Museum | A Promise Made, A Promise Kept (jbpow-mia.org)
