The annual awards "banquet" for our youth group. This year also celebrating its 95^th year.

I put "banquet" in quotes, because this year's format was the same as last year.

Pizza and pop.

And it worked just as well as last year. Smaller crowd, but nobody went hungry, nobody got stuck with the salad nobody else wanted, like happened with the potlucks.

We actually enjoyed the year we held the banquet in a restaurant. The powers that be canceled because of the bad weather and highways that day, but neglected to tell anyone outside of their own units. So we, and all the out-of-towners, had a great dinner with lots of camaraderie, and no business at all.

Tonight's business included a presentation of the organization's highest honour, but the recipient wasn't there.

Yes, the death of a grandchild takes precedence. I hope he didn't think of us at all.

A surprise presentation of two 10-year pins. One on time (mine), and one several years overdue (the wife's).

And a presentation of the second-highest award at this level. Supposedly a surprise as well, but it wasn't. But the wife's a pretty good actress (she was in theater with the Captain of the Enterprise, after all), so I don't think they caught on.

I mean, how am I supposed to keep track of all the jobs she's been doing, and when?

When the leader surreptitiously slipped me the nomination form at a meeting last fall, the first thing I did when we got in the car was hand it to her and tell her she had to fill it out.

So, no surprise. But she's still pleased, you can tell.

As she ought to be.