It’s going to be fun, we thought. Gail Boulter-Burgler and I had donated a holiday wine tasting party with Joe Euro of the Wine Seller, for the Gala auction. This would be our second year. The first event didn’t go as smoothly as we would have liked, and we were looking forward to having a party with no glitches! This year it would be PERFECT!!
We met to set up the Saturday before the event at the Saunders house and all went well. The heat was on and we zipped through in record speed. We would meet the next day at 3:00 to finish the set up for a five o’clock party.
We unlocked the house on Sunday and entered to find the temperature about 50 degrees! No heat. After trying to restart the furnace, we determined that the owner was out of oil – on a Sunday - and 2 hours before our event. Quick thinking by someone in the group sent the men to gather up space heaters while we women finished the food preparation.
(Four space heaters to heat over 4,000 square feet. What fools we were!) As the oven began heating, we discovered that it only heated to 175 degrees- and we needed 450, quickly! And we soon learned that, since there was no oil, there was no hot water. Not a good start to our PERFECT evening.
Our husbands, Harry and Kevin returned with space heaters, and, after blowing a few circuits, we managed to get them working. At about 3:45, we began to wonder where Joe Euro was. He was supposed to be here at 3:00, as well. Almost as quickly as we spoke, he appeared, looking just like a disheveled street person! Evidently, he had gone down to the store (on his day off) for just a few minutes. It was so busy, he stayed all day, and when he left the shop his car would not start.
Alas, but there is more! He brought in the glasses, while commenting that they needed to be washed, since they had been used at an event the night before. Remember, no hot water at the Saunders house. So, Harry and I, living only a couple of blocks away, rushed home at 4:00, heated the oven, washed the glasses, cooked some appetizers, and arrived back just in time for the party. While we were doing that, Joe ran home to shower and he arrived just in time, as well.
The party went on, with everyone wearing their coats. After a few glasses of wine, no one seemed to mind. Oh, the glory of being a volunteer!!
