WRAPPING UP A BUSY WEEK IN STURGIS, SD

Ahhhhhhhhhhh........ It is Saturday night, the end of a long, busy week. We spent all day today wrapping up the loose ends of the transition into our new volunteer job as Membership Coordinators for our Boomer RV group. The Boomerang ends tomorrow, and I think everyone but us is leaving in the morning.

We are staying an extra day to catch up on "normal life" before we head north to meet friends in North Dakota. Our refrigerator is almost bare - a rare occurance in this household - so a trip to the grocery store can't be put off before departure. Laundry, cleaning, all the usual chores are waiting for us to have a bit of time to spare.

Last night, we threw a pizza party, Odel's big project for the week. When he wasn't learning about his new volunteer job, he was selling tickets for the party. By the end of the day on Thursday, he had sold 45 tickets - just about everyone who was still here on Friday night.

Using several 2-for-1 Pizza Hut coupons, we ordered 18 large pizzas in five varieties, quantities determined using a super-secret formula divised by Odel and laboriously calculated each evening prior to the event. He picked up the pizzas at 5:30, and shortly before 6 pm. we were setting up the buffet table (top photo).

I think it was 5:56 pm when the hungry hordes, seated at picnic tables in front of Odel, began pounding the tables and chanting, but Odel held firm while we made ready. Here he is, laying some ground rules (no trampling, and only take two slices on your first pass) as he opens the proceedings.

As you can see, the action was fast and furious! Diners on the left, me and my assistant Elinor on the right. As fast as the boxes were emptied, Elinor and I had made sure the next pizza was ready to go, and Elinor's husband Bob replaced empty boxes with full ones.

Odel's job was to take the tickets he had sold in exchange for a paper plate and a napkin, so he was out of the fray in this photo.

The party was a roaring success, and Odel's careful calculations paid off - after everyone ate all they wanted, only three pieces were left!