Quick now, Sun Citians, how long does it take to decorate Sun City’s Prairie and Meadow View Lodges for the holiday season?
The job includes about twenty-five trees of different sizes throughout the building’s interior, plus decorations on fireplace mantles in Fountain View Lodge and the social lounge, hallways and galleries, Drendel Ballroom, fitness center, etc.
The answer? The Sun City Garden Club can do it in two hours with 200 of its members.
Talk about planning ahead. For many years, the club, using a flexible CAM budget each year, has been doing it in the two lodges, as well as their own homes, with impressive beauty, creativity, and lights. Also participating is the Shalom Group, which decorates nicely tables and other locations throughout the large gathering places.
There’s a hens and chicks tree not far from the fitness center. Snowbirds on another tree, and up near the Multi-Purpose Room, there’s a lady bugs tree. (The bugs are artificial!)
The largest tree is in Drendel, which moves around, (including out of Drendel on occasion). Another medium-sized tree is in the Drendel lobby, near the windows. All the trees are dressed in white holiday lights. Small groups are assigned to each tree in Prairie Lodge, and they decide how to decorate it, according to Sue Coltman and Sandy Theis, President and member, respectively, of the Garden Club.
The Shalom Group decorates its sites with Hanukkah-themed items, in including the traditional Minora. “We do this on November 21, coordinated with the train club’s railroad display in the social lounge, and we keep the decorations on display until January 6,” said Coltman. “Sandy and I can remember we have been doing this for nearly 10 years, and I understand it started a few years before that. “We keep our bins of decorations in Prairie Lodge in the off-season and work on designs and themes in the off-season,” said Thais.
There is a patriotic tree, with flags of many countries on it, they said. It takes them two hours to put all this up and another two hours to take it down.”
Take a tour of Prairie Lodge some day before Christmas. Start in the Fountain View atrium at one end or Drendel Ballroom on the other end. If you stand near the lodge’s main entrance at the social lounge and railroad display, look down the main concourse toward the fitness center and Fountain View, you will be able to see four of five trees in the concourse all the way down from end to the other.
“We put up one tree with a suitcase theme for the snowbirds,” said Theis.
Because this is a garden club, extensive use is also made of flowers, tinsel of all kinds, and hand-made decorations, as well as lights and garlands. The CAM staff pitches in with wreaths and bouquets, as well information on holiday events and activities put on by Charter Clubs and other groups at Chistmastime.
Coltman and Theis also mentioned that the Garden Club makes and donates more than 200 Christmas stockings to the Grafton Food Pantry each Christmas for donation to families.
On your tour, Sun Citians, bring a pencil and paper to take notes for use in your own homes.
Way to go, Garden Club and Shalom Group!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all, and to all a good night, as Santa always says.
See you all in 2020.
