Dearly Beloved:

 We were gathered last week for a spot of Christmas lunch and cheer and I'm sure we'll all agree that a good time was had by all who were there (where were the rest of you?). It was a really lovely day. I wish I had room for all the pictures that were taken, but here are few:

I have many others and maybe in future issues I'll sprinkle a few in along with some of the Pancake breakfast pictures. Thank you Nunzio for you photographic efforts. However, maybe next time you could read the manual and figure out how to get rid of the red eye! I know that we're a wild and crazy bunch, but I didn't know that so many of us were possessed of magical powers, dare I say demonic? Well maybe angelic would be more appropriate.

 The kids were truly angelic. It's always so much fun to see the wonder and excitement on such a large group of little ones. This year was doubly exciting because we were told that many of the kids are just learning English and yet were able to really do a remarkable job. Town Hall is a great boon to our neighborhood.

The food, of course, from Frank's Deli was wonderful, even for those vegetarians among us (who could that be). Santa was particularly jolly, though I do think he could have brought me something. I've been almost a good little boy all year. But, in point of fact, everything was really wonderful. Well, almost everything. This year the annual singing of the Twelve Days of Christmas lacked that, I don't know, how should I say it -- lacked any resemblance to music at all. Let's face it. It was dreadful. No, dreadful doesn't do it justice. It was funny however. Perhaps next year we'll just let Kiwali sing it solo.

 So another great Kiwanis year is drawing to a close. This will be the last bulletin of the year (even though we have one more meeting). For those of you who are calendar challenged, after this week, our next two regular meeting dates would be December 24th and December 31st. Since I get no sense of eagerness to meet on those two days, I've talked to President Russo and he has graciously given us those two days off. He tells me, however, that he expects to see all of us at the December Board Meeting, which in typical Kiwanis fashion will be in January. January 7th to be exact.

So, on behalf of myself, the officers and board of directors of the Kiwanis Club of Maspeth, We wish you a very happy and healthy holiday season, how ever you celebrate, and a very happy New Year. I'm sure we'll get 2010 off with a bang as we work together to make our club the best in the division, if not the universe.

 Respectfully submitted

Michael Terry