On Saturday, December 16th, 2023 it was that time again. The annual JDOST Christmas party took place in the Gerasdorf Volksbildungshaus, where over 40 members came together to round off the year 2023 in style.

The room could be moved into and most of the preparatory work completed the day before. The first guests arrived at around 6 p.m. and the event hall in the public education center slowly filled up. People chatted, joked and toasted the end of the year. The program began shortly before 7 p.m. with a tightly organized schedule so as not to collide with the approaching catering service. Wolfgang welcomed everyone present and briefly explained how the evening would proceed. He reported on the additions and departures of members over the past year and presented the overcrowded calendar for 2024 with lots of trips, trade fair participation, events, etc.

Unfortunately, in 2023 we had to say goodbye forever to two very dear people – Hermine Kurzreiter and Helmut Pertusini. To commemorate them, we took many photos of shared activities with them. Thank you Marion for putting together the fond memories in a photo show. Memories of a wonderful, unforgettable event followed quickly – the wedding of Marion & Wolfgang, to which all club members were cordially invited and celebrated the marriage in style. Wolfgang and Andi then presented the year in review and relived the joint activities for everyone with words and pictures. They ended their remarks exactly on schedule – the catering with the prepared dishes was already at the door. In the meantime, Heinz began selling the raffle tickets, the proceeds of which filled the club’s piggy bank.

At around 9:15 p.m. we declared the buffet open. In addition to a selection of delicious salads, Schnitzi, pork bratl, spinach strudel, cabbage, dumplings and Erpfi were available to stave off hunger. If there was still room in your stomach, there were cakes, foam rolls and cookies at the bar to sweeten your evening even further. After eating the delicacies, the raffle continued. Sharon – who else – acted as our lucky fairy, who drew all the tickets without any mistakes. With a legendary performance, Karl moderated the distribution of the valuable prizes – according to him, laxatives, ‘something little from Wolfgang’, records, etc. – much to the delight of the audience, who could hardly contain themselves from laughing. Despite the constant transport of presents, Wolfgang didn’t get tired and held on bravely.

After the raffle, the conversations continued and the ranks slowly thinned out. A hard core stayed a little longer and helped restore the event room to its original condition and pack the Christmas decorations into the appropriate boxes.

Thank you very much for everyone who came to the Christmas party and created a happy atmosphere.

A huge thank you to the organizing team – especially Marion and Wolfgang, who have been preparing this event for weeks.

The board wishes all members and their families a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Text: Andreas Icha

Photos: JDOST©