It was a guy’s weekend but the women were out in force. What
could be manlier than card games and football
… all weekend long?! (Insert grunt sound bite here.)
It was a guy’s weekend but the women were out in force. What could be manlier than card games and football … all weekend long?! (Insert grunt sound bite here.)
Saturday morning the Gilroy chapter of the AAUW hosted its second annual games and luncheon at the Hilton Garden Inn.
This year’s addition of Texas Hold ’em, complete with a pre-game tutorial, boosted ticket sales to seventy five and helped balance out the mae/female ratio.
Co-chairs of the event Suzanne Barrett and Susan Paterau were extremely pleased with the turnout and praised the management at the Hilton for its generous donations and free use of the Garden Room.
Piles of donated prizes awaited players and raffle ticket holders as well as a bountiful supply of silent auction items. Being a rather literate group and fond of education, I noticed many gift bags containing books (my love!).
Local real estate agents seemed to flood the poker tables including Don and Lori Boyd-Gibbs. Tempted, I almost yelled out, “You know, I have a huge ranch to sell, I wonder if any of you could help me?” just to see how fast they might trip over each other to get their business cards out.
The biggest risk playing AAUW-style Texas Hold ’em on Saturday was the delivery of prizes as Paterau chucked them across the room. A full deck of cards to the head didn’t affect Sandy Woods’ sharp poker strategy although she kept calling with pairs all afternoon.
Finding a warm, sun-filled corner in the game area was a group of giggling gals playing Apples to Apples. Lisa Faria of Gilroy and Nancy Hildebrand, who lives in Mount Madonna area, enthusiastically endorsed this new game as easy to play and great to encourage discussion, while Jan Paterson, Arti O’Conner, Carol Smith and Marianne Peoples had no need of a game to encourage chatting.
Proceeds from the afternoon will go toward AAUW projects such as their reentry program for women at Gavilan College, the tech trek summer program for seventh-grade girls to attend a one-week science program at Stanford or Mills College, and the Legal Advocacy Fund to support women in legal issues. Lovely luncheon ladies!
When we asked my brother-in-law what his plans for the day were he silently wrote on a piece of paper “FOOTBALL, ALL DAY LONG.”
Yeah, you wish. The only way to dress up a football game for me is to attend a VIP party of Sabercats owner Ramune Ambrozaitis before their first home game of the season at the Pavilion.
Ms. Ambrozaitis generously hosted a pre-game feast for all those friends willing to pledge allegiance to arena football. No problem. They happen to be the only winning team in the Bay Area right now.
The Sabercats are hip and the inclusion of a Smash Mouth concert after the game screamed, “bargain!”
Local teachers from Oakwood School including Diana Doughty and her husband Mark, Christine Schulz and Maureen Williams all found the bargain too sweet to resist. Greg and Suzie Sellers donned their black leather appropriate for arena ball but you may have to switch to green highlights, Suzie.
The added attraction for my husband and sons are the Saberkittens. My 11-year-old son’s glasses were fogging up and my 9-year-old daughter was practicing the dance moves in her seat.
I’m not ready for this. Trying their best not to disappoint their owner sitting arena side, the Sabercats won, and the lead singer for Smash Mouth bellowed out during the after-game celebration, “Let’s party West Coast style!” Does that mean loud? My ears are still ringing.
Local celebrity alert … if you watch “One Life to Live” look for local talent Pauline Locsin playing a reporter airing Feb. 16. She’s the Mulan look alike.
Ciao for now.
