Last Saturday was the 21st annual Merrill Hall Christmas gathering at 
Lucy and Mike Weaver’s home in Portage. The concept started in 1986 with a couple of dorm rooms scraping their returnables and whatever was left from their cafeteria job paychecks and exchanging gifts to each other. As I was living in the ever so spacious Western Island apartments (insert sarcasm) in 1986 and bolted for Michigan State the following year, I didn’t have the privilege of seeing this spectacle during its inception. I’ve been told there were some outstanding gifts in the early years. There was everything from a pack of Swisher Sweet cigars to some Hendrix material. 
Everybody was kind of poor but definitely merry I’ve been told.
Amy and I checked into our hotel around five on Saturday with intentions of grabbing a bite to eat locally before heading over to Lucy and Mike’s place. I spoke to Jim M. earlier and told him that he and his un-tethered group of husbands (posse of five – scary) were more than welcome to join us. Jim advised they were on the fence in either getting something to eat or heading over to the party. With that, Amy and I headed out for a bite. After heading further north than I expected before seeing a place worth hitting, we ended up at Shakespeare’s Pub and Restaurant in Kalamazoo. We weren’t sure if we would have to listen to some Shakespeare reading before eating
but after seeing the many televisions with sports on, that thought quickly vanished. While eating, my phone rang with a call from the un-tethered group of husbands advising that nobody brought directions to the Weaver’s and needed help. Five people and not one had directions or a phone number at the Weaver’s??? Sad. It’s amazing these guys were able to dress themselves. The crazy part of the whole thing is they were just driving by the place we were eating when they called. Come on over! After a good meal, our two car caravan headed to the gathering.
The party was a great time. It was a nice blend of former Chippewa’s and a circle of friends from that group.
The food choices consisted of Al’s pulled pork sandwiches, some pigs in a blanket, chicken wings, a cheese ball, and assorted deserts. Good stuff! As it appears to be an ongoing tradition with these parties, the garage became the ideal gathering place. Before the gift exchange, word spread on Eric’s need to wear a cape for some reason (Captain Beam?). Lucy was able to pull a cape out and off Eric went in gathering the group and spreading good cheer.
After the gift exchange, a band of Mike (on guitar), Jim (on bongos), and others belted out the verses to many songs, however, the group fell a bit short in actually completing an entire song.
After “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,” it was all downhill. One song everyone did join in was a birthday sing-a-long for Mark C. The big 41! Congrats Mark.
I don’t think there was any donkey-ness unless I was the one making an ass out of myself. As it becomes more difficult these days to gather the entire group, it is great that at least one day a year we ALL can get together with the entire posse and giggle about the past, appreciate the present, and look forward to the future. Happy Holidays!
Lucy and Mike Weaver’s home in Portage. The concept started in 1986 with a couple of dorm rooms scraping their returnables and whatever was left from their cafeteria job paychecks and exchanging gifts to each other. As I was living in the ever so spacious Western Island apartments (insert sarcasm) in 1986 and bolted for Michigan State the following year, I didn’t have the privilege of seeing this spectacle during its inception. I’ve been told there were some outstanding gifts in the early years. There was everything from a pack of Swisher Sweet cigars to some Hendrix material. 
Everybody was kind of poor but definitely merry I’ve been told.Amy and I checked into our hotel around five on Saturday with intentions of grabbing a bite to eat locally before heading over to Lucy and Mike’s place. I spoke to Jim M. earlier and told him that he and his un-tethered group of husbands (posse of five – scary) were more than welcome to join us. Jim advised they were on the fence in either getting something to eat or heading over to the party. With that, Amy and I headed out for a bite. After heading further north than I expected before seeing a place worth hitting, we ended up at Shakespeare’s Pub and Restaurant in Kalamazoo. We weren’t sure if we would have to listen to some Shakespeare reading before eating
but after seeing the many televisions with sports on, that thought quickly vanished. While eating, my phone rang with a call from the un-tethered group of husbands advising that nobody brought directions to the Weaver’s and needed help. Five people and not one had directions or a phone number at the Weaver’s??? Sad. It’s amazing these guys were able to dress themselves. The crazy part of the whole thing is they were just driving by the place we were eating when they called. Come on over! After a good meal, our two car caravan headed to the gathering.The party was a great time. It was a nice blend of former Chippewa’s and a circle of friends from that group.
The food choices consisted of Al’s pulled pork sandwiches, some pigs in a blanket, chicken wings, a cheese ball, and assorted deserts. Good stuff! As it appears to be an ongoing tradition with these parties, the garage became the ideal gathering place. Before the gift exchange, word spread on Eric’s need to wear a cape for some reason (Captain Beam?). Lucy was able to pull a cape out and off Eric went in gathering the group and spreading good cheer.After the gift exchange, a band of Mike (on guitar), Jim (on bongos), and others belted out the verses to many songs, however, the group fell a bit short in actually completing an entire song.
After “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,” it was all downhill. One song everyone did join in was a birthday sing-a-long for Mark C. The big 41! Congrats Mark.I don’t think there was any donkey-ness unless I was the one making an ass out of myself. As it becomes more difficult these days to gather the entire group, it is great that at least one day a year we ALL can get together with the entire posse and giggle about the past, appreciate the present, and look forward to the future. Happy Holidays!
