Page 6 - Winter 2012 magazine-1

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On November 12 the Friends Annual Volunteer Appreciation and Awards Banquet was held, as it has been
p
for the past four years, at the Las Vegas Hilton in ballrooms D, E, F, and G. This year The Hilton’s Ken
Ratigan, Joey Columbo and their staff transformed the ballrooms into a picnic at the beach complete
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i
at
with a fire pit, beach chairs and sand.
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Two whimsical five-foot seahorses (supplied by LTEvention Company) flanked the entrance that
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o
a
l
lead to a cabana bar, staffed by a bartender dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, serving strawberry
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daiquiris as well as other drinks.
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During the cocktail hour, beach-attired waiters served shrimp with pineapple, blackened chicken
on
on whole grain croutons and Brie cheese with fresh strawberry kabobs to name a few while
summer music filled the room. The guests were enjoying the songs like; Under the Boardwalk, A
s
Whale of a Tale, Harbor Lights, and 26 Miles to Santa Catalina, when the music came to an
abrupt stop. The eerie theme from Jaws started to play--daah dump, daah dump, daah dump, when a life size
shark, controlled by Laura Sweatt, (granddaughter of Martha and Danny Burk) swam into the room over the
heads of the guests. They gazed up at the shark in amazement, laughing and munching on popcorn served
from a working popcorn cart.

After the cocktail, hour the guests made their way to the white tables covered by a lighted lattice awning.
Hand painted wooden beach signs identified the seating for the guests and each white folding chair was
draped with a striped beach towel. Rock salt representing sand was spread on blue runners. Scattered on the
white salt were seashells, hand blown glass fish floating in tall vases, fresh limes and lemons, votive candles
and a wine bottle with a message inside. Continuing the beach theme, colorful sand buckets filled with soft
drinks and scalloped shaped bowles offering Gold Fish crackers were placed on each table.

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