2007 Christmas Party Loads of Fun

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Attendees of the annual CHC Christmas Party certainly had reason to celebrate, given the tremendous year that was 2007. This year’s event was held on Saturday, December 8th, at the Embassy Suites ballroom in San Luis Obispo, CA. Staff and their guests filled the ballroom to capacity with close to 400 revelers. Celebrants enjoyed mingling and reconnecting during the cocktail hour, followed by a sumptuous buffet dinner, topped off with a decadent dessert table.

One memorable un-scheduled moment in the evening was a pre-dinner fire alarm that forced all hotel guests into the cold December air. Everyone waited patiently outside for 20-plus minutes, many taking advantage of the blankets offered by Embassy Suites staff. The fire turned out to be a neglected bag of microwave popcorn that caught fire – no doubt reminding certain CHC staff of similar events at work!

An impressive assortment of raffle prizes were handed out this year by the Employee Relations Committee (ERC). Lucky winners walked away with amazing gifts like a Flatscreen TV, Digital Camera w/ printer, mobile GPS units, a surround-sound stereo system, a Roomba robot vacuum, movie tickets, and a variety of cash gifts.

After dinner, the DJ revived people from their food-comas and enticed them out onto the dance floor. Francisco Ramirez from Paso Robles Pediatrics was a fixture on the boards, dazzling his many dance partners, including new CHC Pediatrician Dr. Laura Herzberg, who seemed to have little problem keeping up. Francisco kept everyone dancing when he jumped up on stage and demonstrated his DJ skills to the delight of the crowd.

Another force to be reckoned with on the dance floor was QI Director - and Master of Ceremonies - Vince Surra. Having knocked himself unconscious only weeks before during a pick-up football game, Vince showed no signs of injury when throwing himself at the ground in order to “bust a move”, showing off some impressive break-dancing skills in the process. Not only did he do a wonderful job executing his MC duties, Vince proves that Italians’ CAN dance!

Special thanks to the Employee Relations Committee (ERC), who did a tremendous job orchestrating this year’s event. Committee members are Barbara Allen, Bernadette Alexander, Cindy Alarcon, Cynthia Vigneron, Debra Martin, Gloria Aragon, Jim Sweredoski, Juanita Tutson, Lisa Silva, Marie McKenzie, Patricia Sly, Roxanna Gavilanes, Sandy Sanchez, Shannon Royster, Victoria Valdiviezo, Yolanda Estrada, and Yolanda Guerrero.

Thanks to CEO Ronald Castle, CHC's Board of Directors, and everyone at CHC who made such a memorable evening possible!

Santa Maria "Parade of Lights" A Rousing Success

Photos by Nathan Appel. ©2007 All rights reserved.
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Steve Smith | MARKETING

The 2007 Santa Maria Christmas Parade of Lights was by all accounts a rousing success. This year's parade featured 110 entries, including local businesses, churches, charities, schools and social groups. Both sides of Broadway were brimming with spectators, estimated at over 25,000 onlookers, a big increase over last year's turnout.

Four Rotary clubs - Santa Maria Breakfast, Santa Maria South, Santa Maria Noontime and Nipomo - organize the parade. In keeping with the theme, “The Joy of Giving,” spectators and parade participants brought in almost 5,000 pounds of nonperishable food items to donate to the Salvation Army food pantry.

This year's CHC procession was presided over by our Honorary Head Cheerleader, Lisa Silva. Lisa led the pack -- pop-poms waving -- and kept everyone in good spirits with her infectious cheer. She led the kids in CHC chants, and impressed us all with her acrobatic high kicks. As always, we could not have pulled off this year's entry without Parade Volunteer Coordinator Irma Mejia, and Transportation Queen Patty Starr. Special thanks to everyone who arrived early to help with decorating the Mobile Medical Unit, which looked beautiful. Even our photographer Nathan Appel put down his camera long enough to help trim the van with lights. This year our team handed out 3000 CHC brochures in English and Spanish, which included a "Healthy Holidays" refrigerator magnet, highlighting the two Santa Maria health center locations.

KCOY and FOX11 both featured live coverage of the parade. CHC's entry can be viewed here: CHC Parade Coverage
After the commercial, CHC is position #69, at minute 13:47 in the video clip

I have to take a moment to thank all the kids who participated. During the hours before the parade, and during the procession itself, I never once heard a single word of protest from these little troopers. They were all smiles and waves, and so helpful with handing out brochures, while spreading CHC's special brand of holiday cheer. My hats off to them, and to their parents for raising such well-mannered and enthusiastic youngsters!

Many, many thanks to all the volunteers for braving the chilly weather -- you are CHC's Ambassadors to the communities we serve.

Healthy Holidays!

Santa Maria Christmas Parade - Call for Volunteers

Irma Mejia | HOMELESS PROGRAM (HCHP)
Photos by Nathan Appel. All rights reserved, ©2006


The holidays are upon us, and CHC is preparing our entry in the Annual Santa Maria Rotary Christmas Parade. This year's parade is on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 and starts at 5:20 p.m. We would like to invite all staff and their families to volunteer to walk in this year's CHC entry. If you are interested in participating please contact Irma Mejia NO LATER THAN Tuesday, November 20, 2007.

You can email Irma @ imejia@chccc.org or call her at (805) 440-9175.

Any volunteers who do not already have a red CHC sweatshirt, please let Irma know your sizes ASAP. We need to remind all volunteers that pets are not allowed in the parade. We will be providing Elf & Snowman costumes for the kids again this year, so let Irma know how many children will be walking, their age, and size. An email update will be sent out with our line-up number and arrival time as soon as we hear from parade organizers.

Thanks, and Healthy Holidays!

Christmas Party Raises the Bar on Fun

This year's holiday celebration raised the bar with over 400 CHC employees and their guests in attendance! Special thanks to Mr. Castle and the leadership team for hosting this annual event for all CHC employees to enjoy. Huge thank-you to Patricia Sly & Marie McKenzie for doing a fantastic job with coordination! Special shout-out to Wild-woman Lisa Silva for MC-ing the festivities!
Click here for photos from the 2006 Christmas Party