It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at Governor’s Land, thanks to the work of countless volunteers, the Managers and staff of GLF and TRCC, and one very special person. Since 2016, Carol Pulk has served as Christmas decorator-in-chief for the neighborhood. Carol, her husband, Dave, and a group of about 25 volunteers work with GLF and TRCC staff to decorate the GLF building, Park East, the interior and exterior of the Clubhouse, security cottage, and entry to the community.
The efforts of Carol and her team of elves have gladdened my heart every year that I’ve lived here, but one year in particular stands out – 2020, the first Covid Christmas. Here at Governor’s Land, like the rest of the country, we were locked down, stressed out, unable to travel, gather with family, eat out or window shop - but our neighborhood sparkled with twinkling reindeer, brightly lit trees and holiday wreaths. Thanks to Carol and a small band of masked helpers, Christmas still came to Governor’s Land that year, so my heartfelt thanks goes out to Carol, Dave, and all of their helpers, for all they do to make the holidays special every year.
Speaking of volunteers, the first neighborhood celebration of the season, the Holiday Tree-Lighting and Luminary Event, showcased the combined efforts of several groups of them. The event, which took place at Park East this past Saturday, featured hundreds of luminaries, caroling and hot beverages for everyone, plus Christmas crafts, special treats, and a showing of The Polar Express movie inside the Park East building for kids. To ensure that I gave credit to all the individuals and groups that contributed to this effort, I asked GLF General Manager, Lisa Smith, for details about who did what and she responded with this admirably complete and concise summary that will be included in the next Governor’s Land e-blast. I can’t say this any better, so with Lisa’s permission, here’s her write-up:
“A special thank you to the following groups for their volunteerism to make the GLF Tree Lighting and Luminary Event a success: the Holiday Decorating Volunteers for decorating all of the GLF facilities and serving the refreshments and cookies, Neighbor to Neighbor for assembling and lighting the estimated 1,000 luminaries throughout the Park East complex, the Governor's Land Garden Club for organizing and assisting the children in making ornaments, Bob and Sigi Rutherford for manning the Park East tennis pavilion to assist the children in guessing the number of peppermints in a jar and the number of lights on the Park East tree, Peter and Marcia Budnikas for orchestrating the Holiday sing-along, and Governor’s Land staff for preparing the facilities for the event and assisting the volunteers as needed.”
Just reading the list of all the people who contributed their time and energy to this one event makes me feel blessed to be a member of the Governor’s Land community.
