...And once again the Christmas season is upon us and on 21 December 2010, a handful of Chapter members gathered at the American Legion in beautiful Uptown Cleveland, Tennessee to celebrate the arrival of Christmas, the end of the first decade of this new century and the coming of the start of the second decade (actually, 2010 was the first year of the second decade but who quibbles about facts). And, as usual, in addition to the the normal gathering of chapter members, there were the friends and neighbors who have gathered with us since our first Christmas party. Together we hailed in the Christmas season and the New Year.

As with all past Christmas parties, Der Burgermeister von Signal Mountain, Herr Bobby Burke, decided to play Postmaster General by bringing his Christmas cards to the gathering to give to those members who were in attendance. It is still very hard to conceive a town such as Signal Mountain to be void of the postal service the rest of the country enjoys. But then Herr Burgermeister Burke may just be saving the pennies he would spend for postage to fund his next trip to his second home...Bad Tölz, Germany.

And, as usual, the attendance roster attested to the great turnout. True, there were a few members absent from this gathering that had been present at previous ones, but the reasons for these absences were due to medical appointments or illnesses and not for the lack of interest in the annual gathering. Tennessee and Georgia could, once again, claim the forefront of the well represented.

Our Chef de Jour, Wayne Naihe and his lovely wife, Gina, once again laid out the fix'uns at Chez Naihe. There were enough wurst, sausages, LeberKäse, bread, condiments and snacks to feed an army. Well, maybe not an army since most of the food disappeared as soon as Chef Naihe opened the doors to Chez Naihe. The troops surrounded the tables, filling their plates to the point of overflowing.

The 1600 haunting hour loomed on the wall clock and since most wanted to get home before the witching hour, most departed the Legion for points known only to them. When dust cleared only two people were left standing. Just as in those days of yore when men hitched their gun belts a little higher and saddled up to the bar, Ken Stickney and yours truly, the web guy, were all who remained. Art McRae was going to stay the night but he offered to act as chauffeur for three other members from Knoxville. The two remaining die-hards remained at their post until the wee, wee hours of the morn (at least until 2000 hours). There was no need to rush off since they had taken a room at the nearby inn.

And as in the past, the fantastic Chapter XXXIII Christmas Party of 2010 had come to a close