Valentine Thursday

This evening, I was my mother's valentine at the church's Valentine Dinner. Got a chance to tease some of the men's club members who were helping to put it on. They had a sign that said "Kids free" to encourage family attendance. So of course my mom and I couldn't resist teasing them a bit about whether I should be free as well since I am her kid. Fortunately they know my sense of humor and can play along.

Of course, you can't have a sweetheart dinner without contests. The longest married couple in attendance tonight has been married 64 years. They were married early in 1945. What is really amusing is that the male half is an old golfing acquaintance with a really impish sense of humor. I suspect that that may be what keeps him so spry and youthful. The newliest weds in attendance had been married less that a year. Amusingly, the anniversary closest to February 14th was in March. The odds are really against there not being a February anniversary in a crowd of that size. It left me scratching my inner statistician to estimate the odds. There was a trivia contest as well, but I won't bore you with that for the nonce.

As you can guess, the crowd was a real mixed bag. There were a lot of ladies like my mom who have been widowed for quite some time. There was also a fair number of youngsters about. The dinner was served by the church youth group and the cooking was done by the men's club. All in all a fun experience. I even got a teddy bear to give to L (white with red paws no less). The question I have is when did youth group members (late middle school and high school) start looking so young? I think it must be my eyesight failing in a way that makes some groups of people look way too young. (Yeah, that's what it is.)

After the meal, we adjourned to the church proper and the local Sweet Adeline group presented a concert of the songs they are working on for the state and regional contests. One heck of a show. Everything from "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" to a custom arrangement of a song from the national meeting in Hawaii last year. I always feel bad that I can not sing worth a hill of beans, especially when I hear talented groups like the Sweet Adelines and the Barber Shop Quartets. (L and the son won't even let me sing in the shower because I sound so bad.) I suspect the chances of me ever being able to sing on key are about the same as my chances of becoming a rock star. Oh well.

Time to get ready for a meeting in the morning. It's supposed to snow tonight, but you and I know how much faith to put into predictions by weather people.