A Grand Floridian Christmas

Upon moving to Kissimmee, Florida in 1994 after spending most of our lives in North Carolina, Marilyn and I noticed some serious cultural differences in the way Christmas was celebrated.  The warm weather you find most years during the holiday season causes many Floridians to go completely nuts when it comes to decorating.  With no chance of snow, creating an artificial atmosphere becomes more important, I guess.  The youth group Christmas party tradition was also kicked up a notch.  The students were accustomed to dressing up and having the party in a fancy setting, and so we adapted to their tradition.  We had our first party in a motel ballroom at a Best Western between Kissimmee and St. Cloud, and it was fun.  We had many of our parties over the next few years at the exquisite lakefront home (see picture with Bethany Esry, Isabelle Davis, Victoria Cottam, Brittney Herder and Julia Pribyl) of the Karr family, where 100 youth could be together and yet never feel crowded.  These were catered affairs that were very upscale but somehow never felt stuffy.  But even those parties paled in comparison to the one year we booked our Christmas party at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort.

A church member who was also in management with Disney (I believe his name was Jeff) somehow booked us into one of the grand ballrooms at the Mouse's most exclusive resort.  As you can tell from the picture, this was not a quaint little hideaway; this was the big time!  Princess Diana, Michael Jackson and almost every celebrity you could name had stayed there; and now the youth ministry of First Methodist Kissimmee would party there!  It was a great night; the catering, the service, the karaoke and the elegance were perfect.  It was a truly magical night. 

I can tell you that it is the people (like Andrew Lewis, Sara Thacker and Cathy Thacker, pictured at left) that make a Christmas party, or any youth event, great.  But those "uptown" parties from my days in Kissimmee will always be special because they showed how important the youth were to that church, and how much that ministry meant to those students.  It was an honor to be a part of something that special.  To all of you who may have been a part of those days, many more stories of your exploits will be told here in the months to come.  For now, I just look forward to a reunion party at the GF-  valet parking included!  Merry Christmas to all, and remember-  Only three more sleeps 'til Jesus' birthday!

Because of Jesus,