The AONE Holiday Party returns for its fourth season on Sunday, December 13th! This year, we’ll be holding it at the Josiah Smith Tavern in Weston, MA, the same venue we’ve been using for our annual mid-winter pot luck parties in recent years. It’s a cozy, old, comfortable, wood-paneled, centrally-located location that’s perfect for our gathering. And word has it that the facility is going to be converted to a commercial restaurant sometime next year, so we need to take advantage of it while we can!

Unlike our pot luck parties, this affair will be quite a bit more extravagant. For one thing, you don’t have to cook! Since Tastings Catering did such a great job for us a couple of times in the past, we’ve again retained this highly-regarded organization to provide us with some fine dining for our soirée, and we don’t have to do a thing — just show up and enjoy! (To save on the hassle and to save you money, we won’t be setting up a cash bar, so bring along your favorite form of libation. Translation: BYOB!)

In these challenging economic times, we’re striving to find a balance between lavishness and affordability for you and our club. Our caterer will be providing the food, chefs, wait staff, china, linen, cutlery, etc. at a certain cost that our club will be subsidizing in part. Your cost will be just $40 per person. Given that it’s easy to spend much more than that at any area restaurant, and that it’ll be in the cozy surroundings of the Josiah Smith Tavern, and that we’ll be partaking of it all with our Alfa club friends, it’s a true 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 is always such a hoot! 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 3 pm till 7 pm. Please note that we’re starting earlier than in previous years, which will allow people to find the Tavern in the daylight and to get home at a reasonable hour, especially those who are traveling from afar. We’ll begin with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, followed by dinner, followed by the Yankee Swap, followed by general revelry. It’s unclear whether you’ll have to suffer through the cheesy piano player again this year, but it’s likely that your vocal chords and tolerance for butchered holiday tunes will be tested. Dress is casual, but you might want to wash your blue jeans. If you have any questions, contact Kevin Murphy at xpertcool@aol.com or 508-879-1881.

Please note that the deadline for signing up and prepaying for the event is Monday, December 7th, since we have to make a firm commitment with the caterer. You can sign up using PayPal by clicking the button below, or just send a check payable to AONE to AONE, 300 Westfield Street, Dedham, MA  02026-5631. But do it fast! If you mail a check after December 3rd, be sure to contact Dave Pratt at dave@dvpratt.com or 781-320-8208 to tell him that you’ve done so, in case the check doesn’t arrive before the December 7th deadline!

This will be a great way to wind up the year, reminisce over the season’s activities, and toast each other and our Alfas. It’s going to be another grand time — see you all there!

Directions to the Josiah Smith Tavern

• From the East: Take Route 128 (I-95) to the Weston/Route 20 exit (Exit 26). Follow Route 20 west for 1.2 miles until you reach the first set of lights. Take a right onto School Street, and travel one block to the town center. Take a left, and the tavern is a white clapboard building on the left.

• From the West: Take Route 20 east. One-half mile past the Weston Police Station, you will reach a set of lights. Take a left onto School Street, and travel one block to the town center. Take a left, and the tavern is a white clapboard building on the left.