When you’re in Kiwanis, the new year starts on October 1st. And a new year means a new President of our club and this year the person taking on that role is my husband, Dale. You may recall that I was president back in 2013 and had a wonderful party (or, as we call it, installation) at a local fancy restaurant.

Of course, that was me and this is Dale and his event was very different from mine. He chose to have it at the outdoor pavilion of a local social club. We had a western theme and served a meal of grilled steaks along with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. It was a wonderful evening and the only glitch was with the crappy caterer I chose to provide the sides – delivery was 40 minutes late and we ran out of potatoes. (She claimed a serving size is 1/3 cup. Ummmm. whaaaaat?) Anyway. Other than that (and happily most people attending didn’t even catch on to the problem) it was a really fun and special evening.

Don’t we look happy and relaxed? This was when I was really starting to panic that the caterer wasn’t going to show at all but I hid it well, right? Ha!

Red checked table clothes and multi-colored twinkle lights made it look like a honky tonk in Nashville! And that was certainly my goal. It was also a great excuse to wear cowboy boots.

I made centerpieces from sunflowers along with some eucalyptus, alstroemeria and goldenrod. I spent $55 to make all 12, including one that I put in a cowboy boot, and I call that a win.

The guys in the club grilled the steaks and they were really good – tender and flavorful. They came from our local butcher shop and we are so lucky to have this great resource right in our town.

Most of our favorite people were there, from our friends in the club to our family and neighbors. Jackie stole the show in his flannel shirt and overalls, of course.

No installation is complete without the actual installation and our friend Glen drove down from Maine to help out with that part. It was fun and easy and the speeches were short. Dale’s was really great and I couldn’t have been more proud of how he handled the whole thing.

After the formal stuff was over we had a fire and enjoyed some music. Our friend Tom was the DJ for us but Dale is an entertainer so he really wanted to sing for everyone. He did a great job performing with his brother Randy and friend Brett – one of the very first members of Dale’s band way back in the early 70s.

The whole thing was a lot of planning on my part and we couldn’t have done any of it without the help and support we got from the club and our friends and family. Dale and I will now go down in our club’s history as the first wife and husband who have both served as president and I couldn’t be happier to have achieved that milestone!