12/14/2010 Gift Wrapping Day - 2010

Today is the day the ladies from Quail Run wrap all the presents for the Arizona City Children’s Christmas Party.

As soon as I arrived in Quail Run I contacted Val, the lady who chairs the whole event to assure her that Quail Run would once again be there to help. As the ladies who had been on the previous gift wrapping crews arrived I checked to see if they wanted to be part of it again this year. There was not one refusal.

We gathered at 12:50 in the parking lot to make sure everyone had a ride to Val’s and we arrived a few minutes later to find this…..

…..and this wasn’t all of them! At the time we arrived there 720 kids registered for the party so that meant we were tasked with wrapping 720 gifts! Before the day was out one hundred more would be added and that meant Val and her husband Lou would be going shopping tonight for one hundred more gifts.

Usually we have fourteen wrappers. At the last minute we had three who couldn’t make it but were able to get one of the other ladies in the park to fill in.

Here we are getting last minutes instructions from Val. She’s the one in the Santa hat.

Val has it all very organized by each box holding age/sex appropriate toys and each box has wrapping paper assigned to it. There are wrapping stations set up all over her house. The office, a spare bedroom, the kitchen island, the dining room table, a table set up in the living room, a pub table on the porch and the top of the hot tub also on the porch. Seven wrapping stations, two wrappers per station.

It was time to get started. Marlene and Maisie on their way to the office.

There was lots of paper cutting going on….

Lots of measuring….

Lots taping….

and lots of lugging boxes filled with wrapped gifts.

I think this is Billee’s fourth year

with the “Wrapping Crew”.

Maisie thinks this box will NEVER empty!

Question: How many Quail Run ladies does it take to wrap one game? Janet and Kathy are really into team work!

Now while its true that we got right to work when we arrived that isn’t to say we didn’t take little breaks. There was even a line dance going on at one point. We just happen to know a dance for Jingle Bell Rock that was on the radio.

Val made this fudge that was to die for! I’ll be honest right here and now. This is why I do this. Not for the children, not to give back, not for the friendship of the ladies,,,uh-uh. It’s Val’s fudge, plain and simple. I’m tellin’ ya, to die for!

Babe likes it too!

Everyone just kept so busy, busy, busy…..

I caught Marlene off guard. Usually she has a great big smile for me and not this look that seems to say “get that damn camera out of my face!”

Merry Christmas Marlene!

Val came to me and said that she wanted a group picture of the wrappers for the local newspaper but she didn’t know how we could do it because her husband wouldn’t be home until much later and her neighbors worked. She got called away at that point and the conversation ended. However, my mind was still working on this.

A little while later I slipped out front to see if I could find a photographer. I looked up and down the street and the driveways were bare. No one home in this neighborhood during the day. I was standing there in the driveway thinking how we were going to get a picture of all of us when a pick up turned the corner.

I had an idea!

I ran out to the street and flagged down the truck. When he rolled to a stop I asked him if he was in a big hurry to get home. He looked at me kind of strangely and I realized then how that may have sounded. I quickly explained that I wanted him to a take pictures of thirteen women in the house. His eyes got big as saucers and I knew this just wasn’t coming out the way I meant it. I further explained and he finally got it. He said sure, he would be glad to take the pictures and I told him I would go get the ladies.

Doug, our photographer.

I don’t think Val could quite wrap her mind around that I flagged down a perfect stranger to take our picture but I know that she was happy that it was being taken. And he did good!

I present to you……

The Quail Run Wrapping Crew

Well, we didn’t get done. There was just too many. We’ll have to come back tomorrow. It’s ok,,,,there’s till fudge left.