The following was taken from our Facebook feed:
The 2024 WCBNY Holiday Party is officially in the books. It was a resounding success and an absolute blast.
We had 33 members and guests (and 3 guide dogs.) we had an incredible amount of positive comments about the food, service, atmosphere, prizes, etc.
I’ll be posting more review items as the week goes on.
For now, the included photo is of the main dining room of Rini’s Restaurant in Elmsford, showing our group spread out and seated at approximately six tables. If you were standing where the photographer was, the tables to the left are long and rectangular. The ones on the right are in front of the windows, and they are round.
We had three guide dogs present on Saturday at our holiday party. Some opted not to travel with their dog because of the logistics of the event. (Although most guide dogs are so well-trained that having multiple dogs in a smallish space is very rarely an issue.)
I (Rodney) am a dog person in regular life, although I don’t have a guide dog. (I use a white cane.) My pet dogs have always been important to me, like family. So I am constantly finding myself fighting the urge to pet the guide dogs, or slip them a bite of something tasty. And that is especially true now that my wife (Mary) and I have moved to an apartment, and no longer have a pet dog in our family.
I am always in awe of the dogs, and their handlers. I admire the whole team and how they work together.
And of course, most of the dogs are just incredibly beautiful and Intelligent animals.
Pictured here, from Saturday, is Audrey’s guide dog, Keith. He is a German Shepherd, and is shown here lying on the floor near Audrey’s chair.
I have had occasion to be around Keith a bit, from traveling with Audrey. She has even let me pet him a few times. (He likes to have his ears rubbed.) So he recognizes me when he sees me.
We want to thank Rini’s Restaurant for our holiday party this past Saturday. The food and the service were both excellent.
Leo and the entire staff really went out of their way to accommodate our needs and ensure that everybody in our group had a nice experience.
We heard from several of our members and guests that Rini’s was a great choice for us. And we heard not even one complaint or negative comment.
They even contributed to our door prize raffle, donating a gift certificate as a prize.
As we were closing out our business, we were enthusiastically invited back. And we fully expect to take them up on that offer. They’ll definitely be on our short list for future events.
We were honored to have Evan Latainer as our special invited guest on Saturday at our holiday party. Evan is the Director of the Westchester County Office for People with Disabilities. That is the office that, among other things, oversees ParaTransit in Westchester.
On a professional level, Evan has always been a friend of the WCBNY. And we try to make that mutual. And on a personal level, those of us who have had an opportunity to get to know Evan a bit really enjoy being around him. So a good time was had at our table on Saturday.
The photo attached to this post is of a table from the party. It is a long, rectangular table in the corner of the dining room. It seats eight, and the photographer is standing at the end of the table. Beginning on the left and moving clockwise around the table, we have Cathy, Ashley, Audrey, Martin, Evan, John, and Rodney.
Finishing up the review of our holiday party, I want to make note of some of the folks who are due thanks for their contributions to the event. This was the main body of the remarks I made in the restaurant.
I have previously posted about the sponsorship from Waymo. And I posted today about the restaurant, and about Evan Latainer. They were all included in my expressions of gratitude at the party.
So now I want to add in some others who were thanked In person, but haven’t yet been thanked here on Facebook.
In no particular order:
Thanks to Lynn for recommending the restaurant.
Thanks to Martin for handling the negotiations with all the venues we checked.
Thanks to Cathy for her usual organizational work, which this time included registering attendees and collecting payment for guests.
Thanks to Jim for managing the money, getting in the sponsorship donation, and doing the reimbursements.
Thanks to the board for all their help and support behind the scenes.
Thanks to my wife, Mary, for ferrying me around to look at the space, for buying the chocolates and the gift cards, for helping with the Zelle payments, and for being involved in some way with pretty much everything I do in the organization.
Thanks to Colleen and Nicholas for their help on-site and for the assistance they provided for anyone who needed logistical help.
Thanks to anyone I may have missed. All the help was truly appreciated.
And thanks to everyone who made the event special by your presence. You are the reason we are all excited and optimistic about the future of this organization and what we can accomplish together.
In the photo attached to this post, I (Rodney) can be seen standing in the center aisle of the restaurant making my opening remarks.
The preceding was several posts on our Facebook feed, made over a couple of days following the party. If you aren’t following us there, you’re missing out.
Thanks again to Colleen for taking the pictures. Maria texted me a reminder, and we both lamented how easy it is for us to forget. Fortunately, Colleeen was already on it. And here are the other pics that I haven’t posted on Facebook. Please forgive me for not attempting to identify everyone. I don’t want to leave anyone out or butcher the names of our guests. Perhaps I will have an opportunity later to tag them.
