The Valley Forge Region held its Annual Banquet on Saturday, January 29, 2005 at the Radnor Hotel in St. Davids, PA.  The night was highlighted with speeches by VFR President Mike Barruzza and former CLC President Richard Sills.  CLC Treasurer Larry Lesiger entertained us with an auto-related poem about getting older.  And of course, Andy and Karen Toton emceed the annual brown bag auction.

A number of gifts brought to the auction were popular, including a picnic basket, and a large book about American cars.  The most popular gift, by far, was a bowl from the Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit.  The bowl changed hands constantly, and many folks tried their best to hide it or switch it with a bowl from the Radnor Hotel.  The last ticket picked gave the owner his / her pick of all the gifts in the room.  This year's winners were  Bob & Grace Gluck, who attended the banquet for the first time this year.  And they picked...you guessed it...the Cadillac bowl.  Everyone agreed that the banquet this year was a fabulous evening, especially the folks at the back table - who practically won all the door prizes!  Our tables were graced by beautiful flowers, arranged in glass "purses" by Andrea Jacoby.  Andrea donated these exquisite arrangements as door prizes to a lucky winner at each table.  Thanks to Andrea, Barbara Coleman, and Rob Robison for donating door prizes.  Others who helped with the festivities were Toni & David Rothman, Chevonne Robison, and Mike Barruzza.  Special thanks go to Barbara Coleman, who coordinated this banquet and other banquets in the past.  Thanks, Barbara!

Each year at the Annual Banquet, the Valley Forge Region honors members who serve our region "above and beyond" the call of duty.  The 2005 recipients of Distinguished Service Awards are Shelley Chadick, Carroll Lippincott and Barbara Coleman.  Jim Fields was awarded the fifth annual John Fisher Memorial Goddess Award.  (Our recipients are shown below, left to right: Shelley, Carroll, Barb & Jim.  Click on the photo for a larger view.)

A big THANK YOU goes to those and others who spend their time to keep our region going strong!

The winners of the most popular brown-bag auction gifts were (l to r):