by Seth HarringtonThe San Antonio Winery lies just north of Chinatown right across the Los Angeles River, and near the intersection of three major train lines. It is one of the most unlikely places to find a winery, you could think of. But, like so many hidden gems in Los Angeles, you turn a corner and there it is, a classy winery that could be right out of Napa Valley.
Our guests began arriving at 3pm sharp, and by quarter after, there were over seventy people in the room. There was an initial ice-breaker, that had people collecting signatures from members who joined the same year an event happened. For example, a box on the paper said “When Ellen came out,” and then you had to find someone who had joined in 1997 and get them to sign.
Then, as the music of Erasure pumped out of the sound system, the fashion show began! 15 members, each wearing a different WH2O t-shirt from a different year, strode down the catwalk and threw some attitude. Neal Wiener took to the podium and narrated the history behind each one. Tom Reudy gave us a special show, when he stripped off his shirt and tossed it over his head. Had she been there, I’m sure Towelette Moist might have dryly remarked “nothing we haven’t seen before.”
As the fashion show wound to a close, the meal was served. Amazingly out of a group of 86 people, there were only two vegetarians. The rest feasted on a full-course meal with Chicken Marsala as it’s main course.
Then it was awards time! First, Seth Harrington, the outgoing VPsocial read a long list of volunteers, thanking them for their help during the year, then President Bryan Libit presented the Volunteer of the Year award. It went to Paul Abraham. Brian Olver collected the Spirit Award, after an amazing year of serving double duty as both coach and board member.
Ben Carillo and Joy Mendenhall won the two Water Polo awards; MVP and Most Improved, respectively. Most Improved Swimmer went to Gregg Orgozelc. Among the many people he thanked was his boyfriend for “allowing him to swim every morning with all these beautiful men in their speedos.”
Amy Dantzler collected the Swimmer of the Year.
And finally Dan Adams shared with us all the story of Dave Nelson missing the train to Bordeaux. Dave won the double whammy.
We closed out the banquet with by far the most popular segment of our program. We presented our audio-visual Yearbook! To the tunes of “Chariots of Fire” and “We are the Champions” the pictures of wh2o-ers in their pool attire and the year that they joined flickered on a large screen. It was a great treat for many of the newer members to see pictures of our veteran members from the years when they joined. It also allowed for a quick way for everyone to grasp the history of the team. Thank you to everyone who sent in their picture. Specials thanks to Jim Cude, the Secretary for putting together the Yearbook and doing such a nice job on it.
Then the lights came up, people socialized, pledged to see each other again at practice and filtered out towards their cars.
