Altrusa’s Diane Alleman-Stevens had the hottest tickets in town—to nighttime Altrusa’s 20th Annual Holiday Extravaganza.
Last March 1, 672 $45 tickets to this super popular event went on sale. On March 2, the tickets had all been spoken for.
“It was an immediate sell-out,” said treasurer Alleman-Stevens. “We never had this happen before.”
On the night of Nov. 20, the Elks Club lobby was congestion central, as ticket holders, giddy with the anticipation of winning a tree with as much as $2,000 worth of gifts, arrived.
Inside, 55 artificial trees were ablaze with lights and resplendent with feathers, ribbons, and ornaments.
The doors opened at 4:30, and dinner was at 7 p.m. In between, raffle tickets (10 for $5) were sold. Buyers dropped their tickets in raffle buckets in front of the trees they hoped to win.
After dinner, Tami Gaussoin (event chairperson) did a terrific job of announcing winners and monitoring the world-class screams of winners and friends that followed.
My dinner tablemates were from the Newcomers Club of Santa Maria Valley. Because some of the club members are also in Altrusa, the membership voted to sponsor a 7-foot tree with the theme, “My Fair Lady.”
To give you an idea of why this event is so popular, among the gifts under this tree were a Toshiba laptop computer and an amethyst pendant set in gold. This was also a bonanza of glitter and glitz for M’ Lady.
Newcomers on hand were Carol Anderson, Sharon Brown, Pam Elberg, Carole Molnar, Fran Murphy, Arlene Navarro, and Claudia Sylvester.
“I’m so glad I came,” Brown said. “This is really an unusual experience.”
Kimberly LeClaire, Delores Davis, and Patricia Langehennig put together a tree called “A Reel Red Carpet Affair.” Talk about imagination and creativity! The tree was decorated with movie-related items, including $60 worth of movie tickets. There were DVDs, Clinique cosmetics, rhinestone and crystal jewelry, and all kinds of glamorous baubles.
Central Coast Distributing’s always-popular tree featured beer, beer, and more beer, as well as a sled and a fishing rod.
At the end of the evening, it was heartwarming and sweet to see an adorable redheaded girl, lucky winner of Donna Cota’s Wizard of Oz tree, wrapping up the ceramic munchkins. The tree also came with a bike.
“This is always a big success for us,” said Altrusa president Pauline Skiba. Also, an amazing amount of fun!
Festival of Trees
’Tis the season for Altrusa Christmas tree raffles! The day before Thanksgiving, I stopped by 1447 S. Broadway, where folks were hard at work putting finishing touches on Altrusa International of the Central Coast’s (day time group) Festival of Trees.
Robin Gorley was orchestrating the tail end of preparations for opening day, Nov. 26.
Thirty-nine trees, laden with “gifts,” are available to be raffled off on Dec. 12 at this fundraiser. Raffle tickets are a dollar each.
Marty and Marye Mariscal’s tree features two guitars and a drum set. Other trees offer bicycles and lots of toys. For Mom and Dad, there are table and chair sets and an eye-popping array of goodies, including a huge gas-fired barbecue.
Taking the kids to see the trees has become a local tradition. We grown-ups like it, too!
If you want to Hobnob with Helen, you may e-mail her at helenthom232@yahoo.com.
This article appears in Dec 2-9, 2010.