Saturday, December 24, 2011

Happy Holidays Contest!

Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noel, Kala Christouyenna, and Froehliche Weihnachten!

Around the world and in just a few hours we will be celebrating Christmas. What a wonderful time to participate in deep-rooted family traditions as well as create some new traditions along the way!  Being half-German, our family has a tradition where we hide a glass pickle ornament on the tree! On Christmas Day whoever finds the pickle first is given an extra present from St. Nick and good luck for the next year. The whole family loves to participate and it has been a tradition we have continued for years.

I recently created a new tradition that I was able to share with my kids. The Sunshine Singers invited fellow Junior League members to come caroling with them at area retirement homes.  I took a fellow friend and Leaguer, Crystal Fuller, along our kiddos.  Singing to the seniors, we saw a sea of smiles beaming holiday cheer back at us. Some seniors evens sang along with us, and at the end of our performance we were able to visit with the residents.  I thought we would be blessing them with good tidings but instead they touched our hearts.  We have now decided as a family to make this an annual tradition.

This time of year I just love hearing about traditions so we are running our first blog contest from now until January 3! All you have to do is:

1) Post one of your family traditions in the comments; or,
2) Share a link to our blog on your facebook page (then leave a comment letting us know you've shared)

Each tradition or Facebook link entered will count as a submission into our blog contest! On January 3, we will have a drawing for one lucky winner to receive a "Holiday Grab Bag"....so join in on the holiday fun and let's us know something special you do each and every holiday! We would love to hear about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa traditions as well!

Happy Holidays Junior League of San Antonio Members! We will see you in the new year!

Here's a quick snapshot of caroling on December 14!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Hooray Ole!!!

Hello Ladies and Happy Holidays!  I just talked to one of this year's Holiday Ole Market Chairs, Christina Martin, and had to share all the oohs and ahhs, hoorays and accolades of Ole this year!!

Hopefully, most of you ladies were able to finish your Christmas shopping list at Ole this year and are now leisurely sitting back at home wrapping presents, hosting parties, or baking! If not you don't want to miss next year's event!! Let me share with you these quick highlights of this year's Ole Market!

*Increased revenue overall
*Sponsorship dollars were up almost 8K
*Ticket sales and attendance records were made
*Girls Night Out was a HUGE success and was truly the "IT" event of  the week!
*Several key In-Kind relationships were established which equaled close to $100,00 in donated products and services, of those a BIG SHOUT OUT and Thank YOU goes to Illusions and the RK Group, Blonde Creative, WOAI/News 4, and Don Strange of Texas, Inc. and Frances Strange
*Stroller Hours was a new niche this year and was a great addition for those shopping mommies!
*Parking was better this year
*Groupon ticket Sales was another hit
*The TENT!!! The red carpet and the tent made this a first class event!
*Branding of our organization seen around San Antonio and surrounding areas
*Having the Bright Shawl on site this year added a nice touch and showed some of our JL traditions with food items they served

Christina said her biggest highlight was, "Having an incredible Ole Committee and the best volunteers she has ever seen! I am blown away by this dedicated team of women who made this entire event happen!"

I would have to say right back at ya Christina!!! A huge thank you and congratulations on a job well done to our Ole Committee and their extraordinary chairs, Brett Beyer, Libby McKlevin, and Christina Martin!  We all loved seeing your vision and dreams of this years Holiday Ole Market come to fruition!  Hooray Ole!!!

The torch now passes on to Scotty MacDaniel for our 2012 Holiday Ole Market!! If you are thinking about a placement for next year take a look at the Ole Committee, I know you will walk away feeling apart of something grand!