Our Friday night event was so much fun! Our club members so enjoyed meeting all the attendees! Everyone was so cordial, and having a connection through Hallmark, made us instant friends! We had some fun with our "beach party theme", and everyone got a lei and some tropical punch upon arrival. Many wore some fun "beach garb" (luckily, no speedos) and others wore umbrellas in their hair! Hopefully, a good time was had by all!!
The artists were extremely gracious to us-- "meeting and greeting", taking photos and visiting with everyone.
After the party, we had some one on one time with the artists. Our club and store employees enjoyed our time with them!! They signed our ornaments, took tons of pictures with us, as well as answered all of our questions!
Thank you to Sue Tague and Ruth Donikowski for coming to our little party!! We enjoyed meeting both of you!! Here's a pic:
THANK YOU HALLMARK FOR SELECTING OUR CLUB!
We gave out about 70 door prizes and everyone received a "goodie bag" when they left. Hopefully, our attendees enjoyed themselves. I had, what seemed like everyone, come up to me at the end of the event or on Saturday and told me they had a ball! Thanks to everyone for travelling as far as you did to attend our party! (I think we had 8 states represented!!) Our club enjoyed meeting you, and the event raised some much needed funds for our charities!!
Our dessert table was a big hit!! We had 9 different types of cupcakes, muffins, brownies, a sheet cake and our centerpiece cake, which was such a terrific surprise! We asked the "cake artist" for a "beachy" type cake and she outdid herself!! Here's a pic:
On Saturday, I went up to the Hallmark store at 6:00 am assuming no one would be there-- well, I was WRONG!
The parking lot was full of cars!!! At 6:00, there were about 80 people on line. The line wrapped around the building!! Some of the more dedicated, were at the store at 1:00 am!! They slept on the sidewalk after playing cards all evening! Everyone brought chairs and turned the waiting into a festive party atmosphere!!
I really enjoyed walking down the line and reconnecting with many from our event, as well as meeting some new Hallmark friends!
Our sponsor store, Barbara's Hallmark, decided to start letting people get their event piece tickets a little earlier than planned, due to the crowds. The lines did seem to move very orderly, but the event pieces were sold out by 10:00 am! I was surprised at the interest in this years ornament, but it was a really nice piece! It obviously was a fan favorite, if our store is any indication!
The signing went really well. Sue and Ruth signed over time, making sure everyone had all their ornaments signed! They spoke with everyone, took pictures and signed everything from ornaments to dreambooks!
Then they helped pull the ticketd for the 5 bear ornaments that Hallmark was raffling off.
While I'm sure their hands are tired this morning, we all appreciate their efforts in making sure everyone got all their ornaments signed!!
A special THANK YOU to our sponsor store, Barbara's Hallmark. Our club knows that the contest win, while a wonderful opportunity for our club, our community, and all local Hallmark collectors, was a lot of extra work for the entire store staff! They did a terrific job, especially on a hot South Carolina afternoon! We were lucky, that it was overcast until about noon, but then the sun came out and it was a typical hot August day! They set up some fans to help keep us cool, provided cold drinks, and kept the lines moving so people got inside the store as quickly as possible!!
A big THANK YOU to everyone who purchased tickets for our raffle baskets! They were a big hit and raised over $900 for our charities!!!
The winners were:
Virginia King
Anne Danciu
Judy Swicegood
Thank you to all the attendees for donating non-perishables to the Food Pantry associated with the church. We received two huge barrels of food, as well as some money that will help a lot of families in our community.
This event was a wonderful opportunity for our club, but still quite a big job! Whenever you do an event for over 100 people, you know you're in for quite a ride. We split up the details into various committees, with a person responsible to get specific items accomplished. I would like to personally acknowledge our club members contributions. It is SO HARD to list every detail that everyone did. The entire club participated in every aspect of the event planning, setup, take down, decorating, baking, purchasing or donating items, plus a million little errands that are needed for an event like this. So many people donated supplies so we could give the maximum amount to our charities-probably more than I will ever know. They did an amazing job, and I am very proud of the event we put on! So a BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!!!!
The details listed are just the highlights. They are (in alpha order):
Anne & Peter: Food Committee. Anne managed to get us the tastiest BBQ in all of South Carolina!! Bought all the pretty paper goods, purchased the sheet cake, arranged for our appearance on "Your Carolina" and helped us get the hall setup (plus, a million other little details) Anne provided the majority of the table centerpieces (completed by Sammy) and donated the baskets that were used for our raffle baskets. Anne helped kick off the event and helped hand out our door prizes. Peter helped with all the heavy lifting that a event like this requires, as well as all the small tasks that need to be done to get the little special details that we wanted for the event! Thank you both!
Cheryl & Dave: Dessert Table and Advertising. Cheryl and Dave did so much. Not only did Cheryl coordinate the dessert table, she got her daughter to make our centerpiece cake. Cheryl and Dave had purchased a large lot of Hallmark items and provided to us, at a VERY low cost, if not completely donated, an amazing selection of ornaments for the raffle baskets, a good chunk of the door prizes, and the large items in the goodie bags. Cheryl helped get the raffle baskets artistically arranged (she excelled in this, since all ornaments could be viewed and they didn't move with transport!). Dave got the word out for our event, including advertising on the web, and both she and Dave were on the "Your Carolina" TV show to advertise our event. Dave offered the blessing that started our event on a positive note! Cheryl did the programs that were handed our to our attendees, she manned the raffle table on Saturday, plus many more tasks that made for a successful event. Thank you both!
Chris & Sammy: Decorating Committee Sammy single handedly created the decorating plan that was visible in the hall. Sammy and Chris (and her daughter Jennifer) created all the goodie bags, printed out the fronts and attached tags, purchased all the leis, and other fun "Beach party" items for over 100 guests!! Sammy decorated all the desserts plates, arranged for various display stands, wrapped all of the silverware and added a festive SC tag on the ribbon. She added to the various centerpieces, provided the Hallmark Beach music, and did a lot of tasty baking. Chris helped with the heavy lifting on setup and decorating the hall. I know I'm probably forgetting a million other details that Sammy did, but if it had to do with decorating, Sammy probably did it. She added all the tiny details that really makes an event special! She excels at this, which is why she was chosen for this committee head. I personally had dozens of people comment to me that the hall was decorated so beautifully, and they loved the little details that were added. Thank you both!!!
Ellen & Gene: Accomodations, Table Coverings and Tiki Hut Ellen and Gene made arrangements with the Church so we could have our event there. It was a perfect location so our attendees could just drive up and down one main road to get to the store, their hotel and the event. They got all the tables put in place as well as donated all the tablecloths and skirts. Gene negotiated the discount rates for both the Holiday Inn Express and the Windgate hotels. Gene was also instrumental in creating the Tiki Hut that greeted people as they came in the door, which was the cleverly disguised collection barrels for the food panty donations. Ellen and Gene selected the gifts we presented to the artists, as well as baked, helped decorate the hall, in addition to a bunch of errands, which due to the fact they live 90 minutes away, was a major undertaking! Gene also went on the "Your Carolina" show, did signage, and MC'd our event. Thank you both!
Linda & Floyd: Donations Unfortunately, some medical issues prevented Linda from taking part in our event, but she was with us in spirit! Linda and Floyd helped us with our original entry and they both donated a large amount of ornaments that were included in our raffle baskets! Those baskets were a major part of our fundraising efforts, so a big THANK YOU for your contributions!!
Mary Sue and Debbie: Raffle Baskets These two sisters-in-law tackled one of our most important committees--the Raffle baskets! While one of the more specialized tasks, this one item raised the largest part of the money that will be donated to our three charities (MOMAS, Open Arms Hospice and the Greenville Humane Society). Both Mary Sue and Debbie donated a LARGE number of ornaments that were used for our door prizes and our raffle baskets. Mary Sue also spent all of the Friday night and Saturday events seated by the table selling raffle tickets. A BIG thank you for giving up so much of your time, Mary Sue! Debbie wasn't able to attend our event due to a prior commitment, but she was with us in spirit and she helped with much of the pre-event planning and organizing. Debbie is a scottie lover (and owner) and it is one of her favorite charities, the Greenville Humane Society, that will benefit from our event. Thank you both!!
A couple of personal thank you's for non-club members that assisted with our event...
Ann P: A new member of our club (as of September) who came early to help with the event setup and punch table. Thank you for the help you gave. We look forward to your joining our club!!
Barbara: My Mom, who came down from Pennsylvania to help with the event. She kept me calm, she baked/decorated the cupcakes for over 7 hours, gave out the punch, helped with setup, take down and cleaning. Plus, she brought down a ton of serving pieces and the large coffee pot for us to borrow. Thanks for your help!! Love ya Blonde Lady!!
Deb: Cheryl and Dave's daughter who made our centerpiece cake. Thank you for this extra special surprise. It was so beautiful and really was a wonderful addition to our dessert table!
Jennifer: Sammy's Daughter. I understand she really helped Sammy with a lot of the decorating. We so appreciate your efforts! The details made the event extra special, so thank you for your help!
Lexie: Deb's daughter, who helped with the setup of the Hall! Thanks for all your hard work!
Mary Warning: Mary posted our info on Yulelog and that got the word out to alot of Hallmark collectors in other states. Thanks, Mary
Thelma: An attendee who arrived early and didn't mind when we put her to work at the punch table!! Thelma was a previous President of the Carolina Keepsake Collectors Club.
I'm sure there were many more people behind the scenes that assisted with our event. For that I say THANK YOU!!
This event was a big challenge. We are a small club, but we have big ideas!! It was a huge undertaking with a bunch of different ideas and opinions that all had to come together. It was an honor to have been selected for this amazing opportunity!! Everyone in our club (and then some) all came together and made this event as nice as we could, while still balancing our goal of trying to raise some much needed funds for our community!
I would like to think we accomplished that, but even if some feel we didn't, I am extremely proud of the job we did!!
Thank you to everyone for all your hard work!!!
It was a challenge at times, but it came together in the end! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR EFFORTS!
Kim
