As a card-carrying member of the Yorkville community I want to go on record saying how proud I am of our performance and behavior at the Labor Day Ice Cream Social. We celebrated in a big way back to full strength after several covid cancels and a killingly hot event in 2022. As Chuck Mangione says, “Feels So Good.”
This year’s event was a smash hit with a preliminary calculation of over $15,000 earned — not bad for an event that lasts only five hours. Every penny of the proceeds will go to the Yorkville Fire Department and First Responders. Behind this five hour blitz that is open to the public are countless hundreds of volunteer hours that make the Social what it is.
Every year the organization gets better, the comfort level gets higher and the volunteers function more smoothly. When you get that many smart and committed people together working toward a single goal the result is startlingly vibrant. In writing this I used an early spreadsheet to find names of volunteers. If your name got left off and you helped please forgive me. I’ve done the best I can.
You must have seen flyers posted around the Valley and online with graphics by Tina Walter (who also does all the professional signage for the Social). Maybe you were at the Social strutting around the Cake Walk Circle to the likes of Donna Summer or the Bee Gees with Curtis “Frosty” Frost and Joanie Davis leading the parade. Maybe you were on your way to winning a cake decked with plastic sharks or Barbie or “My Little Pony”. You might have been shopping for books in Val Hanelt and Hans Hickenlooper’s “1000s of books” book sale. The big parking lot was on Scott Hulbert’s property. Scott has been keeping his eye on the construction of the new firehouse and functioning as unofficial gatekeeper for the Yorkville Community.
When you got hungry there was an embarrassment of riches to eat. For the sweet tooth: homemade pies cakes and cookies and ice cream or even ice coffee were inside where a brand new air conditioner kept things cool for Penny Avila, Audrey Bahan, Ed Wallo, and Deborah Wallo who served and cashiered. Looking for something more substantial and savory? Outside prep cooks included; Bill Nayes, Mike Zaugg, Lisa Walsh, Andrew Lemon, Matt and Sarah McCarter. Grill cooks: Doug LaBlatt, Peter Hudson, Jim Hill and Dan Dodt were on hand to cook your burger to order or dish up a polish dog or hot dog. Salad servers were Sandy Parker, Lanny Parker, Marie Jose Baum and Erica Padilla. Bob Sites and Bill Harper shucked oysters for both raw and BBQ’s eaters. Taking the orders and collecting the money were Kit Lee, Cassie Hughes, Mark Rawlins and Jim Bahan. Peter Gordon kept the whole new system on track.
The Silent Auction headed up by Yorkville Community Benefits Association President Lisa Bauer assisted by Pam Callahan, Jill Hannum, Karen Ottoboni, and Nancy Armstrong is always the biggest moneymaker. Lisa asked me to be sure to say how grateful our community is for the generosity of all the people who donate to this event and the people who come and open their wallets in support and without whom no fund raising would be possible. Yorkville’s Silent Auction is especially unusual in their success with selling “experiences” like a three day beach house stay, attendance at a taco and cerveza party on a gorgeous property, or a flight over Anderson Valley in a luxury private plane with your own personal pilot etc. Another big earner is the quilt raffle presided over by Kay Jablonski, Kathy Borst and Carin Bokhof. Selling Yorkville T-Shirts were Marty Lawrence, Greg Law, Kay and Cairn.
Elizabeth Jensen did her part by face painting all comers.
“Floating” throughout the event and lending a hand at just the moment when duty called were Clay Eubanks, Stacy Alberto, Hans Hickenlooper, Tina Walters, Scott Hulbert and Peter Gordon. Nothing could happen without the set up and the clean up and the tear down. Setting up were Val and Hans, Tina and Peter, Stacy, Angus, Bill Nayes, Lisa Walsh, William, Rosalie and Lane Nittler and Bob Sites. Working the book sale- Val, Linda, Terry, Lisa Walsh, and Matt. When it was time to take the tents down Scott Hulbert gave us our marching orders and Hans Hickenlooper made sure we carried them out correctly. A lot of people showed up the day after the event in the early morning to do the tear down and later to help with the getting the book sale wrapped up. No slackers here.
Highlights of the event itself were of course the Cake Walk, which gives the whole party a lively beat and a sweet soul. The Fire Department with its giant hose to wet down the bold and fearless adds thrills. The book sale is a treasure hunt for many with great riches being not beyond the reach of anyone at $2 an inch. The Silent Auction is filled with so many enticing things and takes quite a while to look over and digest. Once you pick favorite items you have to be alert to competitors who may outbid you. You must be ready to pounce back in there with a counter bid or get aced unless you are willing to pay the “buy it now” price to secure your prize.
Just seeing so many people you may know in Yorkville and having the chance to catch up underneath the tents at the comfortable round tables is a big treat. Lots of people do come down from Boonville, Philo and Navarro so you can visit with them too.
If you’ve never been to an Ice Cream Social it is strongly recommended that you drop by next Labor Day. There truly is something for everyone and it’s a very family oriented event: alcohol-free friendly and frisky.
See you next year in Yorkville.
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