Garden Club revisits Holiday Tea, brings back ‘Spirit of Christmas’

The Sequim Prairie Garden Club held a holiday tea inside their clubhouse at Pioneer Memorial Park, 387 E Washington St on Saturday.

The tea, coffee and hot chocolate (poured into exquisite ceramic teacups with saucers), along with an array of baked goods were free, with donation jars on the many long tables, decorated with decoupaged bottles and arrangements.

Members said that they wanted the tea to be a respite during the busy season, a place to meet and make friends, enjoy refreshments, meet with Santa and Mrs. Claus (played by Ellen and John Castleman) and a place to listen to original piano and vocal music by Katie Marchant and Trent LaCour.

A secondary motive was to raise some funds for the upcoming garden season. A sumptuous bake-sale was laid out on tables below the southern facing windows. The prices were low for generous amounts of baked goods, many packaged with additional items such as tea cups and plates and antique china.

“It gives us a chance to clean out our kitchens,” joked one member.

“This is a way for us to give back to the community,” explained Della LaCour, who originated the idea to “resurrect” the tea. She said that when members of the club were going through old scrapbooks upon their 75th anniversary last year, “we came across pictures of the teas.”

In early days, the club often gave community teas for Valentine’s Day and Christmas, but they haven’t done a tea since the late 1980s, members said.

Community members expressed appreciation for the effort, which reminded a number of them of the days when the Dungeness School House would host a tea.

“I came to mingle and meet new people,” said a woman who requested anonymity, saying she missed the School House teas.

Gesturing at the Clauses, she said, “my Christmas wish is for someone to buy Port Book and News and keep it as a bookstore.”

The Port Angeles book and gift store, she said, is “one of the most important anchors in the community.”

Claire Muggia and her mother Paula Muggia of Port Angeles were looking for a place to have holiday tea. Claire Muggia explained that she did a little research and found the club’s notice on the web.

“It’s the holidays … there needs to be a gathering for community. It’s beautiful and homey here. And the music is great, too,” she said.

“(It’s) very welcoming,” said Paula Muggia. “They really created a wonderful atmosphere. The warm spirit of Christmas encapsulated in a cup of tea.

“It’s just what we needed today. In all the Christmas rush, taking the time to have some tea and meet with friends. That’s the real meaning of Christmas.”

The Sequim Prairie Garden Club is hoping that this is the beginning on an annual tradition that, as LaCour expressed it, “People who came today say was a really cool thing, I’m going to bring my family next year.”

For more about the club, visit sequimprairiegardenclub.org.

Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Sequim Prairie Garden Club held a free Holiday Tea and a bake sale on Dec. 7, which was last held in the 1980s.