Raymond H. Goettsch
In April every year, Preserve residents gather for a dinner to say goodbye to those who are snowbirds, leaving for the summer and returning in the fall. On April 6, as the afternoon sun was still shining, 75 Preserve residents arrived for a buffet dinner at the home of Bonnie and Fred Barazani. With their beverages of choice in hand, the guests entered the Barazanis’ side yard and patio. As the sun began to set, the guests sat in groups at tables or mingled on the patio. They discussed their summer plans, such as returning to their summer homes and taking planned trips.
The buffet dinner menu featured Caesar salad, chicken, pasta with Italian meatballs and sausages, meat and meatless sauces, roasted broccoli, and garlic bread. But this year, the servers were Preserve residents, filling their neighbors’ plates. Later, a server offered a variety of cookies for dessert to the seated guests. During the three-hour dinner event, the Preserve residents renewed friendships, made new friends, and enjoyed the natural beauty and hospitality of their neighborhood. The event was a great success. Rich Adinolfi was celebrated for the amazing accomplishment of preparing all the buffet dishes, assisted and supported by his wife Deb Adinolfi. Bonnie Barazani mixed up the salad, and Virginia Loranger prepared the garlic bread. Preserve resident servers were Dianne Shipton, Frank Shipton, Mary Letourneau, and Ray Goettsch.
The dinner ended with a big and unsuspected surprise. The guests became party-givers themselves. Before leaving, the guests folded up the chairs and tables and stacked them up for the rental company to retrieve the next day. As it turned out, everyone was a guest and a host or hostess as well. In other words, everyone was part of a community.