Winterfest 2023 - Storytime and White Elephan Exchange at Books & Brews

[Tenball]

Holiday Storytime!
with Tenball

Bring the children--or children at heart--over to Books & Brews on Thursday morning to share some cocoa and cookies, and hear Tenball read tales of the season. There will be assorted holiday books available for attendees to take home as well!

Some of what Ten will be reading include:

• The Shortest Day, a poem by Susan Cooper
• excerpts from The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
• How The Grinch Stole Christmas, the classic by Dr. Seuss
• Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel
• Winter Candle by Jeron Ashford
• and more!

The doors open at 8:00 AM on Thursday, 12/14, so come in out of the cold and enjoy the warmth of a story or two!

[Tenball]

White Elephant Gift Exchange

Do you have something at home that no longer suits your style, but you can't bear to throw it away? Or maybe you got two of something during a past craze that's run its course?

Well wrap up those items and bring them over to Books & Brews Thursday evening for the White Elephant Gift Exchange! Share your offbeat style with someone new! Add your white elephant to the pile, and at the end of the evening Tenball will distribute them all randomly to everyone attending. Will you receive the perfect present you never knew you needed until now?

((board event - post your gifts and outfits below!))

[PrlUnicorn]

Two copies of the same book ended up in the family library. One was added to the gift exchange.

[Delahada]

For the gift exchange, Salvador might have misunderstood the assignment.

[Partly Cloudy]

Gatito added a baguette-shaped pillow* to the gift exchange.




*Child not included.

[BardGallant]

Dris brought Rhys and their goddaughter, Maybelle, along to listen to Ten tell some stories, as well as to partake of the cocoa and cookies. The former Governor also left a deposit for the white elephant gift exchange.

[Rhys Germain]

Rhys brought something for the gift exchange, too, which he left on the pile once story time was over.

[Abby]

Abby herded up the children of Old Temple West and brought them along with her friend Kaliope to attend the reading event. The assembled youngsters ranged in ages from toddler to teen. Fifteen-year-olds Cindy Dean and Ginger Maxwell were extremely helpful with keeping the littler ones under control. Among them were Cindy's younger siblings: Mable Dean (age 10), Warren Dean (age 6), and Gary Dean (soon to be 5). There were a dozen children in all, with too many names to remember. They were mostly well behaved, but loud and eager to interact and ask questions.

After the storytelling portion of the night was through, Abby sent the littles on home with Cindy and Ginger, and stayed to hang out a little longer with Kaliope. She added a small token to the white elephant exchange gift pile, in memory of their late friend Ed, knowing that someone was bound to enjoy just as much as he would have.

[Tenball]

Tenball was not remiss in bringing a gift to exchange, namely an adorable--and useful--utensil-holder for the cook with an eye for style!

[Tenball]

The highlight of the night was when everyone drew numbers to see what they'd be taking home!

Collie - mini arcade machine to amuse the girls
Sal - a Fender harmonica to play broodingly
Gatito - a crab-on-a-pot utensil holder perfect for holding stirring spoons
Dris - a baguette pillow to make guests hungry
Rhys - a copy of All Those Places I Could Pee... to convince Dris they need to get a cat
Abby - an adorable white elephant teapot to pour a perfect cuppa
Tenball -a multi-tool pen set to help fix things around the Inn