Centerpieces

Two Christmas parties centerpieces were unusual. Both were at parties given by governors for the press at Christmas. The first one was when John Anderson was governor. Both were held in Topeka at the Shawnee Country Club. Alcohol was not allowed at the governor's mansion. Most of the press like to drink. The first one was a poinsettia in a flower pot. It had a plastic flower in a flower pot that had ice cream. I wanted to show it to our kids so we did not eat them. They must have been our dessert. We had to drive back to Kansas City so we put it in the backseat and rolled the window down so it would stay cold. I drove as Ray liked a drink and I did not. It was snowing a bit as we started home. We made it home with the flower and showed it to the kids the next morning. They were impressed I think. More because we had not eaten it. The second one was also a governor's Christmas Party. There was a beautiful centerpiece on the table made up of real fruit. We were telling Meredith Docking, Gov. Bob Docking's wife, how beautiful it was and she looked sad and said "they are suppose to be eating it. It is the dessert and I spent hours making it." I was standing with Polly Torrence, another wife, and we told Meredith we would take care of that. We told the group and they ate it up in nothing flat. It was good.