A Glorious Night to Celebrate with Vallarta Garden Club

What a glorious night at Oscar’s on the Isla to celebrate another year of work done in the city by the Vallarta Garden Club. Dozens of raffle prizes and silent auction items were donated; I will let you know how much money was raised by this vibrant group when the dust settles. The volunteers deserve gigantic bouquets of thanks for the decorations that took hours to put together under the auspices of Club President Sunny Rossi. After Oscar’s was beautified, the volunteers went home, decorated themselves, and returned early to make sure the cocktail party adjacent to the restaurant went smoothly…and it did, with Mau Jimenez providing entertainment for us on the lawn and for dozens of people on the pedestrian bridge who stopped and likely wondered what kind of party was going on with everyone dressed in bright florals! It was terrific to catch up with old friends and meet new people who were here vacationing and bought tickets to join the festivities.

Where most “tourist towns” in North America, at least, have Parks Departments that take care of beautifying major streets, pruning overgrown trees, watering plantings, building planters, and more, Puerto Vallarta has the Garden Club. Its importance cannot be stressed enough; if you want to get involved with a terrific bunch of people who hail from all over the world, volunteer your time in several ways – weeding, planting, pruning, watering, planning events, etc., or, if getting dirt under your nails doesn’t fly you can donate money, any amount; buy a membership, it’s the only financing the Garden Club receives.

The inside of Oscar’s looked like a fairyland with teeny lights on the tables and overhead with trails of blooms cascading with simple fresh flowers in small vases so we could all see one another across the tables.

Dinner began with the most beautiful salad that tasted as good as it looked; the filet mignon was tender, and the desserts, again beautiful, varied, and tasty, and that salted caramel gelato from Puerto Magico was back doing a repeat from last year’s Gala.

After dinner, Daniel Celis and his Monaco Band had the dance floor packed from the first song and stayed that way until the party was over.

To my new Russian friends and table mates, Alexi and Julia, thanks for the conversation and kind words. The same goes for Jan Dorland and Rob Burton. Thanks for the dance! To Rob Rossi, who is married to Club President Sunny and is the most helpful husband ever, thanks for anchoring our end of the table.

Blooming Together was well-planned, well-executed, and the most fun Gala all round to date. Bravo, and Happy 3rd Anniversary to Brian Bott.

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