I look forward to summers because I actually have time to write blog entries and to read (no tutoring in the summer means evenings are free to have some fun).\u00c2\u00a0 But first I have to get over that big hump at the beginning of the summer, the Ice Cream Social, AND take a couple of days to recover from it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
So the Ice Cream Social was last week, and thanks to an army of volunteers who helped out on the day of the event, we managed to pull it off.\u00c2\u00a0 Even with a record number of attendees.\u00c2\u00a0 Wow.\u00c2\u00a0 But let me tell you, it’s a Herculean effort to plan, organize, and run the Ice Cream Social.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m not complaining – it’s only once a year, and it’s a total buzz to run it – I’m just saying that it takes a lot to get this event off the ground.\u00c2\u00a0 Judy, bless her soul, volunteered to go to BJ’s to buy the toppings and paper goods: check that box on the list.\u00c2\u00a0 Jennifer made a million little bubble wands out of pipe cleaners: check that box off.\u00c2\u00a0 Lots of teens and moms volunteered to help out with the activities and ice cream scooping (twelve of them in total): check.\u00c2\u00a0 Baskin Robbins agreed to sell us the ice cream at their cost:\u00c2\u00a0 big, big check (it was still $120 for that ice cream!).\u00c2\u00a0 Renee reminded me of one essential ingredient to changing to our Wednesday rain date – notifying Constance to alter the website before Constance left on vacation: whew, another big checkmark.\u00c2\u00a0 You get the idea.<\/p>\n
I changed the format of the Ice Cream Social this year, skipping a performer and substituting multiple activities for that performer.\u00c2\u00a0 It IS a “social,” after all.\u00c2\u00a0 So there was a paper airplane making station, run by Ben and Sarah, a face painting station with Alyson and Liz (and me), the ice cream scooping station with the intrepid team of Amy, Deb, Andrea, Jenny, and Vicki, and the bubble blowing\/sidewalk chalk drawing station with Jennifer, Erica, and Lizzie.\u00c2\u00a0 (Not to forget Marie, who helped with cleanup.)\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once kids got their ice cream sundaes, they could run around the large expanse of the library lawn and have fun at the activity station of their choice.\u00c2\u00a0 I wasn’t sure how well this would work, but it was fantastic.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of ending at 4 PM, things were still going strong at 4:45.\u00c2\u00a0 I actually had to wrest the last bucket of bubble blowing solution from an eager crowd of five or six kids, and Alyson and Liz only finished face painting at 5, when the library closes.<\/p>\n
I learned a few key things from this particular Ice Cream Social:<\/p>\n
I still have bruises all over my hips from hauling chairs and tables, but I’m not tired anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s going to be a full year before I’m that exhausted again.\u00c2\u00a0 Until then, I can just enjoy the memories of an event that was a success despite a few small glitches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I look forward to summers because I actually have time to write blog entries and to read (no tutoring in the summer means evenings are free to have some fun).\u00c2\u00a0 But first I have to get over that big hump at the beginning of the summer, the Ice Cream Social, AND take a couple of … Continue reading Recovered<\/span>