January 15th 2025
Tradition. It’s defined as ‘a long-established practice that is followed or observed by a group.” There are a lot of traditions observed in our society. And most of them associate with special events. Halloween for example, it’s a tradition that children dress up, originally in scary costumes and go from door to door collecting treats.
New Years it’s become a tradition for many to watch the ball drop in Times Square and then kiss the one you are with and wish each other a Happy New Year.
And what is Thanksgiving without turkey. I read recently how many millions of turkeys are consumed in the U.S. alone on Thanksgiving. I just forget the exact amount but it was staggering. And pumpkin pie. I was at Costco just ahead of Thanksgiving and they had run out of pumpkin pie. There was a large line up at the bakery door of people waiting for the next batch to come out. Funny, you can’t find pumpkin pie in July. There’s no demand then. It’s a Thanksgiving tradition.
We could go on and on. Wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day. Fireworks on the 1st of July, on and on.
But really when it comes to tradition there is nothing that can hold a candle to Christmas. Think about it. Brightly lit Christmas trees set up in our homes. Carolers singing in the streets. Sleigh bells. Hot plum pudding. Gifts galore. Candlelight services in our churches. And of course, turkey.
One of the highlights of the RE/MAX Garden City Realty social calendar is our annual Christmas gala. And since this year marks the 41st time we have enjoyed this event, in one form or another, I think that certainly qualifies it as a tradition.
It’s changed somewhat over the years. I think originally, we held it in Niagara Falls. I can remember holding it at the Commissioners Quarters across from the Falls. Enchanting venue. And with a spray from the Falls cascading down all throughout the evening, coming out with an inch of ice coating all our vehicles.
Back when we had a Burlington and Waterdown arm of our corporation we held two Christmas parties. One in Niagara and one in Burlington. But regardless of the location, the experiences had all the same ingredients. Agents, support staff, spouses and friends. Wonderful people, fabulous food. Occasional entertainment. Enchanting settings decked out for Christmas. Christmas thoughts shared by our Broker. Then music and dancing the night away.
Over the last few years, we have settled with the Starlight Room at Club Roma. Wonderful setting for Christmas with the Christmas accents, the panorama of stars overhead. Fabulous food and excellent service. This year there was a special treat in store for us in the food department. Bel Chen and Jenny Yang of Explore Realty offered to provide the dessert. And what a fabulous job they did.
In her previous pre-real estate life Bel owned and operated the very successful Red Rooster Restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake. She sold that business when she started into real estate, but still owns The Donut Depot and Bakery. We’re fortunate enough to enjoy a box of donuts often at our back diner compliments of Bel.
We couldn’t believe the spread Bel and Jenny put on for us at our Gala. Donuts, pies, tarts, cupcakes, cakes, pastries. Unbelievable. It’s my understanding they worked 22 hours straight making it all happen. Thank you, Bel and Jenny. We are blessed.
Centrepieces, usually hand crafted by Rachel Wilcox were not an option this year with Rachel away, but we discovered very interesting illuminated ‘snow globe’ Christmas centrepieces which looked fabulous. Problem was they needed to be plugged in. Not practical for centrepieces. But with a little investigating and ingenuity we were able to create battery packs for each centrepiece which worked as well and solved the problem.
Of the many traditions we enjoy here at RE/MAX Garden City, the Christmas Gala is right at the top. A wonderful evening with some of the finest people anyone could ever be blessed to work with. Dancing, mingling, laughing, eating and drinking. Winding down the old year and looking
forward to the new. A wonderful Christmas tradition. 41 years in the making and counting.