we’re doing it again!!!  Because of the enthusiastic feedback we received from everybody about last year’s bash (except for that cheesy piano player), plans are afoot for our Second Annual AONE Holiday Party to be held at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum on the evening of Sunday, December 9th. Unlike our beloved annual AONE Winter Party that we hold in February where we do all our own cookin’, this affair is quite a bit more extravagant. Since Tastings Catering did such a fine job last year, we’ve again retained the highly-regarded organization to provide us with some fine dining, and we don’t have to do a thing—just show up and enjoy!

The Larz Anderson Auto Museum is the perfect setting for the evening we’ve got lined up. The entire 1888 Anderson Carriage House will be available to us, and we’ll have access to all of the public galleries that are open at the time of our event. Dinner will be presented in the majestic Main Gallery amid the Museum’s priceless automobile collections and historic artifacts. There is no separate "function room," so we’ll be able to fully experience all that the Museum has to offer. The Museum staff will be on duty throughout the evening to assist us and interpret the exhibits.

And get this! We just got word that the Museum is going to be doing a display of exotic Italian cars running in the Spring, and they are going to be collecting them in the Main Gallery starting in a couple of weeks! This means that we are likely to be surrounded by several rare and magnificent Italian automobiles! Stay tuned as this unfolds!

Alas, it turns out that our club lost a little money staging last year’s fling, so we’re going to have to ask you to contribute a bit more. When everything is taken into account (the food, chefs, wait staff, china, linen, cutlery, tables, etc.), the cost comes out to more like $50/person. In addition, there are a donation to the Museum and gratuities to consider. But your club’s Directors have agreed that the club will subsidize part of this enthusiastically-supported gala, and the cost to members (and significant others) will be just $45 per person (up from $40 last year). Given that it’s easy to spend that much at any area restaurant, and that it’ll be in the elegant surroundings of the Auto Museum, and that we’ll be partaking of it all with our Alfa club friends, it’s still a bargain. (Sorry, but there won’t be a kiddies’ menu for this affair.)

We’ll also be doing a "Yankee Swap" kind of holiday gift exchange again—it was a hoot last year! Each attendee should bring a wrapped gift valued at around $20, serious or humorous, automotive or not, for either gender. There isn’t room to describe how it works here, but rest assured that it’s great fun.

Our party will run from 6 pm till 10 pm, and will begin with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, followed by dinner, followed by the Yankee Swap, followed by general revelry. Dress is casual, but you might want to wash your blue jeans. Directions and final details will appear next month. If you have any questions, contact Kevin Murphy at xpertcool@aol.com or 508-879-1881. If you have any ideas for after-dinner entertainment, let Kevin know—that way, we won’t have to suffer through the cheesy piano player again.

Please note that the deadline for signing up and prepaying for the event is Monday, December 3rd, since we have to make a firm commitment with both the Museum and the caterer. You can sign up either of three ways:

• Click here to sign up online using PayPal. If you're bringing a date, change the quantity to 2 and click the "Update Cart" button.

• Click here to download a PDF registration form and send a check to AONE, 300 Westfield Street, Dedham, MA 02026 before December 1st so it arrives in time!

• Use the registration form in the current issue of the printed version of Velocissima

Whichever you choose, do it now!  The deadline is Monday, December 3rd!

Click here for directions to Larz Anderson.

This will be a great way to wind up the year, reminisce over the season’s activities, and toast each other and our Alfas, in a terrific automotive setting—and this year surrounded by Italian exotics! It’s going to be another grand time—see you all there!

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