Speakeasy

This is the moment I have been looking forward to for the past two weeks -the morning after the night before. I have been mentioning in my blog the fundraising event Bernie and I have been working on for the past few weeks. “Speakeasy” is finis now and today there is nothing on my agenda but the mundane and unimportant, things that if I don’t do them, there will be no ill consequences.

There were two delightful surprises last night – surprises to me, anyway. The first is that the street in front of the restaurant where the event was held was lined with old 20’s and 30’s style cars. It was a finishing touch that delighted the guests and no doubt roused the curiosity of other townspeople about what in the world was going on that they should have been part of. Guests were going out to have their pictures taken in front of the cars with the owners who themselves came in costume.

The second surprise was the number of guests who came in costume – flapper dresses to zoot suits, feather boas and even toy guns ala Al Capone and the Mafia guys. It was really interesting to listen to a few history buffs talk about Capone’s connections in Minnesota.

It was great fun watching people get into the mood of an era past. I thought often of my ancestors and my hometown Chicago.