This year's Snow and Soup Party was held on January 6 at Hanzo and Ineke's house in Newcastle. There was plenty of soup, and what little snow was left was quickly melting.
The Snow and Soup started out as a modest gathering 31 years ago. Hanzo and Ineke invited Nellie and Aart van der Meer and their three young children to come over to their house in Unionville for a day of cross-country skiing followed by some Dutch pea soup (the infamous ertensoep, also known as snert). The next year Hanzo and Ineke invited more of their friends and attendance started to grow. It has been a great party year after year even though the snow has let us down sometimes and the skiing changed into walking.
Ineke lead a bunch of us on a tour of some of the walking trails around their new house, and we worked up an appetite.
In recent years, the annual Snow and Soup has become an excellent opportunity to show off the latest crop of grandchildren. Our hosts, Hanzo and Ineke, have maintained high standards in this endeavour. This year was no exception: Madison, the latest addition to the von Beusekon clan, was much admired. Congratulations Volkert and Lisa!
Randy and Marika's contributions were much in evidence too.
Paulette's new yet to be named grandson was only just over a week old, so we had to make do with pictures. Shelley and Paul subsenquently settled on the name Kobi Rei (pronounced like Ray).
Some come for the soup, while others are more interested in the deserts!
Of course, the real attration is jsut the chance to get together for a chat.
Thanks to Hanzo van Beusekom, Randy Beaumont and Stephen Steel for the photos. And of course, many thanks to Hanzo and Ineke van Beusekom for hosting the event.
© 2008 Ontario Mirror Dinghy Association