Reedwood Friends Concert and Dessert (12/12/10)

You'd think a holiday gathering at a Quaker church would be the antithesis of yesterday's distillery events, but the amount of sugar held in the dozens of dessert platters weighing down the banquet table was probably as intoxicating as any of the teaspoon-size samples of spirits yesterday. 

The event started in the church with a bell ringing performance that set the holiday tone, followed by piano, trumpet and choir performances interspirsed with short prayers and bible readings.  It was a relaxing way to spend an hour. 

Then everyone filed down to the community room and the 25 foot table laden with confections.  Whoa.  Given the number of people I saw in the church I thought there was no way all this stuff would be eaten, but the crowd (probably especially the dozens of kids) took care of almost everything.  My favorites were the peanut butter rice crispy treats with chocolate on top and a pumpkin bread that was still warm. 

Several church members brought items from home to decorate the tables, which warmed the otherwise standard church event room aesthetic.

I was thankful that they didn't have newcomers introduce themselves.  Everyone was friendly to us, but didn't make a fuss over not having seen us before.  They seem to host a lot of community events, so maybe they are used to new faces, or maybe it was mostly newcomers. 

My mental image of Quakers is a very white one, so I enjoyed the diversity I saw at the event - Latin American and Japanese families, and our tablemate mentioned her Kenyan friends there.

Overall, a 10 out of 10 ooey, gooey chocolately treats for an event that in every way lived up to what was advertised and didn't include any religious pushiness.