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In a club where most of the traditions are on the water, CYC's Christmas Lunch at the Shilshole clubhouse is an annual event with deep roots, bringing together past and current leaders, others who have been active in the club, and their spouses, to rekindle memories, enjoy a good meal, and salute members who have died during the year.
And don't forget the punch.
The secret punch is always a favorite at the Christmas Lunch, which this year will be held Monday, Dec. 21, with the social hour beginning at 11 and lunch at noon. The recipe was a closely guarded secret of Dick Marshall, who died Dec. 1, 2008. The secret has been passed on to Bill Lieberman, who will mix the concoction with help from Marshall's widow, Christine.
Photo by Bruce Sherman
Staff Commodores John Ellis, left, and Bill Lieberman with June Vynne, widow of Staff Commodore Sunny Vynne, at the Christmas Lunch in 2008.
The Christmas Lunch is the highlight of the year for the club's Monday Lunch group, made up mostly of old-timers who gather weekly at the club and are known for their frequent and generous volunteer work for CYC. Many are staff commodores, including Lieberman and Herb Holley, current chairman.
"The Christmas Lunch is a gathering of a group of people that have meant a lot to each other over the years," Holley said. "It gives us a sense of camaraderie. We've worked together and sailed together, and it's an opportunity to renew friendships and talk about old times."
George Trusk, another staff commodore and Monday Lunch regular described the Christmas Lunch as, "a very special occasion. . . It's mostly people who were very active in the club and don't show up very often."
Staff Commodore Chuck Sanborn said Monday lunches got started in the 1950s at a restaurant called Bob's Landing, where the BluWater Cafe is today. "It was basically a group of people wanting to talk about the sailboat racing they did over the weekend," Sanborn recalled.
The lunches later moved to the Norway Center on the downtown waterfront, then to a Black Angus on Western Avenue, and then fell into a bit of a slumber until Sanborn was commodore in 1973.
I got the bright idea to cater it at CYC at Shilshole (where the current clubhouse was built in 1970)," Sanborn said. "We put together a soup and sandwich type of deal, a five dollar lunch at the clubhouse."
The first Christmas Lunches were held after that, Sanborn said.
This year's program will include introduction of founding members, two of whom are still living, if they are present. Then will come the introduction of staff commodores and current club leaders.
A special event will be the presentation to the club of several restored scrapbooks tracing the club's early history. Renate McVittie, widow of staff commodore Don McVittie, will make the presentation.
Club Necrologist Marty Seelig will recognize members who have died since the last Christmas Lunch before the gathering concludes with a round of the song, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."
Reservations can be made by calling the club office, (206) 789-1919.