On Thursday, the rest of the participants arrived and were greeted in our hospitality suite for wine and an array of appetizers catered by the Manhattan Restaurant.
REVISITED
Our first retreat was held in the Empress Hotel, one block from the shop, and within walking distance of the shops and sites of beautiful La Jolla, CA. Some of our guests started arriving on Wednesday; and that afternoon we all met for a field trip to historic Old Town for a genuine Mexican dinner. Before dinner we visited two of our local bead shops, then dinner, and then more shopping in the International Bazaar.
|
On Thursday, the rest of the participants arrived and were greeted in our hospitality suite for wine and an array of appetizers catered by the Manhattan Restaurant. |
|
|
|
Entertainment was provided by Jerry
Abernathy, a nationally recognized jazz pianist (also Bernice’s husband).
|
|
Each participant also received Jerry’s
CD, “Night Music” at the awards
banquet.
|
|
|
One of our able bodied |
 |
 |
who made sure that Carolyn Elworthy filled her plate with the shrimp served on a bed of ice. |
| The evening was fun and a terrific opportunity to meet the other participants from different parts of the country. | |
 |
 |
|
Liz Lennert was all smiles after receiving
her welcome gift bag containing lots of threads, scissors, needle case
and a specially painted magnet the reads “I’m A Goddess 2002”.
|
 |
 |
Rub-a-dub, how many people can fit
in the tub! The highlight was trying to see how many people would fit
into the sunken tub in the hospitality suite.
|
|
Walking to class, each student
couldn’t help but notice an array of wrapped door prizes piled
on a table in the lobby.
|
 |
|
For the next three days, our guests got to
enjoy their choice of classes taught |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Each day we enjoyed lunches catered by The Cottage Restaurant and served in the hotel and the shop. | |
 |
 |
 |
Of course there was plenty of time to add to your collection. |
| And a terrific staff to help (Pat Wagner, Pat Fifield, Jacque Welpott, Virginia O’Brien and Bernice) |
 Jacque |
 |
The final night we held our awards banquet and everyone was treated to dinner at the Manhattan Restaurant. Of course, some wore their finest. |
|
And everyone had to decide what to
order off the menu
|
||
 |
 |
 |
| We were serenaded throughout the evening by the staff, singing arias from Italian operas. |
 |
 |
Everyone was also curious why a “Tickle Me Elmo”was
sitting at the head table until David introduced him as his and Bernice’s
assistant in presenting the awards.
|
|
Before the awards began, Bernice
was presented with a rose from Gay Ann for all of her efforts.
|
 |
|
Each person who attended was awarded a prize for outstanding achievement. Chris Barsh and Carolyn Elworthy were awarded “The Non-Deviant Behavior Award” for their cooperation during the classes. |
|
 |
 |
 |
Ann Upton of Texas was a little surprised to receive a multitude of beaded necklaces as the winner of “The Jingle Jangle Award” for most jewelry. |
|
Mary Ramsey chuckled when she saw
her night life for “You light up my life award” for best smile.
|
|
 |
The “Tickle Me Pink Award” for funniest person was awarded to Mary Hamilton who was able to take Elmo home as her prize. |
|
The top prize of the evening was
the Ms. Congenality Award voted on by all the participants. The winner
for 2002 was Ann Allen who received a beautiful stitched pillow that read
“The Goddess Sleeps Here”. In this photo, she’s pondering
what her husband will have to say about that.
|
|
 |
At the end of the evening, Bernice, David and Gay Ann were all smiles with a big thank you to all those who made their first retreat such a success.
|
