Events - Event View

Nostalgic for old-fashioned holiday gatherings? Have you considered creating new ones? A cover-dish party? Ask your guests to bring their favorite signature drink recipes. Name tags for attendees will prevent worry about forgettingnames, but will also be utilized in ice-breaking games and conversations. We need to conceive our own "most wonderful time of the year" celebrations.

Join us as we brainstorm in formulating new holiday events! Discover the joy you may experience by creating new traditions involving your neighbors, family, and friends!

Ellen Brody, Volunteer Coordinator at Dupont Circle Village lost her dad in 1992 and her mom in 2001. Her family hosted all the holiday meals and dinners for relatives every weekend when her parents were alive. Family members reciprocated and opened their homes to Ellen and her parents, two or three years before her dad passed. 

When her brother moved to North Carolina (and later to South Carolina), Ellen began to host holiday dinners. She was the mid-point location for her brother and his children (who lived with their mom in New Jersey). One of the most fun gatherings was the vodka stinger Thanksgiving celebration with new neighbors and acquaintances who had nowhere to go for the holiday. This is when Ellen discovered the joy of creating a new holiday tradition and simultaneously discovered how open her friends and neighbors were to participate in a new Thanksgiving tradition.