January 16th 2023
One of the highlights of the RE/MAX Garden City Realty social calendar is always our annual Christmas Gala, generally held a week to 10 days before Christmas. Of course, there are a lot of social activities interspersed throughout the year: Hackers Golf, Broker Fall BBQ, Administrators’ Day, Awards Celebrations and Gala, and numerous parties and celebrations. But our Christmas Gala is not to be missed. First held in 1984, our inaugural year, and every Christmas season since, it’s undergone a lot of changes of venue over that time. For a number of years, it was held in Niagara Falls at the Commissioner's Quarters. At the Old Stone Inn. Then at the Parkway Inn in St. Catharines, after which we moved to the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club, and most recently to Club Roma here in St. Catharines.
Regardless of the location, however, it is a wonderful event celebrating the Christmas season, marking the end of the year, and a refreshing pause before things get busy again in early January.
But then Covid came along and put the brakes on not only our Christmas Gala but pretty well all our social events. So we were pretty excited this year, after 3 long years, to be once again hosting our annual Christmas party.
Of course, the hall itself is a splendid setting for a Christmas Gala. With the star-studded ceiling effects, enhanced by the decorations of the season, it feels like a party is underway as soon as you walk in. And once again Rachel 
Wilcox, our amazing go-to gal for decorations and special table centerpieces had been busy creating absolutely beautiful works of art for each table.
Dinner consisted of an elaborate assortment of buffet dishes, including turkey and trimmings, pasta, and an assortment of salads, potatoes, and so on. And as tradition has it, the dessert table featured, among a lot of other things, pecan pie from 13th Street Winery.
Dinner was followed by a customary speech by our Broker, Wayne Quirk, themed this year ‘Magic of Christmas’. And then our D.J. Evan Mills cranked up the music. A great assortment of tunes, old and new.
It was so nice to be back celebrating the season as a RE/MAX family once again. And it was interesting to watch how the evening unfolded. Generally, once the meal and talks are out of the way, the crowd either gravitates to the dance floor or remains in the social setting of their tables. Not this year. For the most part, the dance floor was sparsely populated and most of the tables were relatively empty. Where was everyone? 
Pretty much everyone was congregated around the bar area and the adjacent lounge. Chatting and mingling right up until closing time.
That hasn’t happened quite like that before, but after 3 years of relative isolation, our group just wanted to spend time together. Mix and mingle, chat and catch up. These guys and gals are outstanding salespeople, but they are also great people. They truly enjoy one another’s company, and our Christmas Gala gave them an opportunity to socialize that had been long overdue. It was truly magic!