he 2005 AONE Annual All-Member Pot Luck Winter Dinner Party is now just another fond memory. Forty some-odd people (yes, including some odd people) gathered on the evening of February 5th to fend off the effects of the winter blahs brought on by a blizzard, several other snowfalls, and some unrelenting bitter weather. Collectively, we reassured ourselves that spring was around the corner and life would again be good behind the wheels of our blessed Alfa Romeos.

The Josiah Smith Tavern in Weston, MA was again the venue for our affair, as it affords such a convenient, congenial, homey setting. Starting at 6pm, people started arriving laden with the dishes they’d prepared for the pot luck feast. And what a sumptuous feast it was! It seems impossible, but the culinary offerings seem to keep getting better every year! This is one car club that can cook—bravo and grazie to you all!

After we finished sating ourselves with many savory varieties of pasta, salads, calzones, antipasti, and the like, followed by several delightful desserts, we settled down to the business of … door prizes! We had an amazing assortment this year, thanks to the generosity of several familiar Alfa Romeo vendors. International Auto Parts contributed some spiffy car care kits and a $50 gift certificate, and gave us a nice discount on items we purchased. Centerline sent us a beautiful rosewood Alfa shift knob. Performatek donated an Alfa Romeo espresso set and some neat Alpha Romero T-shirts. Jim Miga, Kevin Murphy, and Jim Hayes contributed some unique Alfa items (sorry if I missed any donors). We also had quite an assortment of Alfa hats, polo shirts, mouse pads, fender covers, et cetera procured for the occasion by Tom Lesko.

This year, we ran the door prizes a little differently in that, when a person’s number was drawn, s/he got to choose whatever s/he desired from the table full of goodies and thus got to go home with something s/he actually wanted! There were so many door prizes this year that literally everyone got to take something home (except me, because I wasn’t listening when my number was called).

This was followed by a highlight of the evening—the presentation of the coveted AONE Founders Trophy to Brian Shorey by President Tom Lesko. Brian richly deserved this award for his efforts in inspiring, planning, and carrying through with Giulietta Giubilee, the AROC National Convention that we hosted last summer. Congrats, Brian!

Next, Tom Lesko gave us a computerized slide show production he’d prepared depicting our club’s activities over the past twelve months. Naturally, the focus was on the convention, and it gave us a terrific opportunity to look back on that monumental event and marvel at what we’d accomplished. The presentation was informal and low-key, and we took our time going through it, chatting and quipping about all the memories the photos brought back. Afterward, we put some Alfa/racing videos brought along by Peter Walker and Kevin Murphy up on the screen to provide a visual backdrop to our banter.