November 2016 Newsletter

November 2016 Newsletter

American Girl this year was a bitter-sweet success. While we had fewer patrons than in the past, our guests were rewarded with a more gracious dining and viewing experience than ever before. (And our wonderful volunteers were not forced to work at the breakneck speed of past shows!)  The models and the young commentators were wonderful. The raffles, souvenir sales, hair salon for dolls and girls, walk the runway...all added greatly to our proceeds. The table linens and sweet treats were donated...as well as 60 tickets for the Operation Care and Comfort Girls, thanks to you, our generous members! Fewer patrons, but fewer expenses.

We will have the final tally by the Membership Meeting this Tuesday.  If you'd like to get the news first, come to the meeting! Please rsvp to me. We will be serving wraps from Galata Bistro, so we'll need your order!

The Holiday Boutique at Allied Arts will be on December 3 this year. This time around we are calling on all to make a few ornaments to sell! We will have a few trees laden with our creations…now’s the time to start scrolling through Pinterest!

Dates to mark down

November 15  1 pm Membership Meeting at 400 Hamilton Ave, PA, Ste #340

December 3 Holiday Boutique @ Allied Arts, Menlo Park 10 am to 3 pm

January 18, 2017 Annual Meeting and Lunch, University Club, Palo Alto

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These past 13 years of the American Girl Fashion Show and Tea have been amazing. I want to thank all of you who have helped us on this journey.

We started out as a naive group with more optimism than experience. The stories we have re-told over the last few days still make me break out in a cold sweat...the failed lemon bars, using  a bolt cutter after the cleaners locked us out,  model no-shows, the desperate calls to friends from book group to swim group to help out everywhere from stage management to dishwashing.

I’m glad to say that things (and profits) went up and up through the next 12 years. And along the way I have had the pleasure to witness the amazing dedication of our volunteers and to watch “our” girls grow from grade-schoolers through college!   I have made so many enduring friendships. And I know that the future of volunteerism is strong in both the “model mother” generation and their wonderful daughters.

Thank you All!

Nan