MHA Victorian Tea in Hutchinson Kansas

I have tons of wonderful photos of people enjoying the MHA (Mental Health America of Reno County) Victorian Tea this past Saturday. This is one of our major fundraisers each year. Greg took photos for me and captured so many great moments.

When people come in the door, they stop and register for a drawing and find out where they're seated. Phyllis, who's closest to the camera behind the table, has worked almost every tea with me. She has become quite the expert.



Our mission is to encourage positive mental health and it's not difficult to see that is definitely happening during the tea. People have a good time.





My friends, Teresa and Susan, were having fun.



Susan drove down from Valley Falls, and brought our friend, Cynthia from Horton with her. I'm guessing they would get the prize for most distance traveled.



It worked out that I had an extra place at the MHA's table, and so Teresa got to sit with Susan and Cynthia, which was great. We've all been to tea together in Hiawatha.

Precisely at 3 p.m. we open the doors so people can look at the tables before tea starts. They are all decorated by different businesses, organizations and individuals. I'm going to show each one. The variety is amazing.

I'll start with the MHA table I did. My theme was Lavendar and Lace.







All That Jazz did a table again this year. They are creative gals. Their theme was daisies.







Carrie Lynn's Flowers did a really elaborate table with a Tea Party on the Beach theme.





Altrusa did a table again this year. Their colors are blue and white...



Shanna Soukup, a former board member, did a table with a butterfly theme.



Absolutely Flowers did a table with help from Andrea Ewert.





Andrea also did the Thanksgiving Table for the Hutchinson High Counseling Center.





The Hutchinson Recreation Commission Elmdale 50+ program did a beautiful table titled, "Gather Me The Rose."







Nancy Murry did a table for Friendship Force that was a 12 Days of Christmas theme.





The Kansas Underground Salt Museum did a table with - appropriately enough - a salt theme.



We are very fortunate to be able to hold our tea at Grace Episcopal Church in Hutchinson. They have been so incredibly gracious in letting us use their facility for the past three years. It is a wonderful setup and they're very generous to host us. I'd like to say a public thank you to the staff and congregation there for their kindness.

Our menu is different each year, although there are some standards I always have. This year it was:


Tea Menu

Sandwiches and Savories
Cucumber Sandwich
Tuna on multi-grain Bread
Egg Salad on Wheat
Carrot Chip
Calla Lily design with herb mix
Pimento Cheese on Rye
Tomato Boat

Bread Course
Scones with Clotted Cream
(from Metropolitan Coffee)
Pumpkin Bread

Sweets
Sugar Cookie
Ginger Cookie
Orange Cake
Lemon Curd Tart
Mini-Eclair
Chocolate Cupcake





We plate the food in the kitchen on clear plastic plates, then we sit those on top of people's china. That way we never have to touch the china people use to decorate the tables. I don't want to take a chance on breaking anything as it's often people's family heirlooms.



Precisely at 3:30 we start tea and begin bringing out the food and the tea. Board members and volunteers help make it all happen. Here Andrea and Sheila are preparing. Also helping Saturday were Hazel, Nancy and Gary - as well as bunches of volunteers.



We had wonderful entertainment this year. Sheila Lisman, a local writer, read some of her work. She had everyone laughing hysterically more than once.



She did one piece about hats, which was very appropriate because we had the Red Hot Lady Bugs joining us for tea.They were incredibly gracious ladies.



My friend, Sondra, came for tea...



and brought her neighbor, Kay.





I'm so fortunate to have great board members who help with the tea in multiple ways from finding people who want to do tables, to pouring tea and cleaning up, and everything in between. Gary Hughes even frosted the sugar cookies that morning and then came back to pour tea.








Sheila poured tea, too.





I love this photo of Joyce Nelson. She was seated at a table with Daisies as the theme, and look at the band on her hat. I had no idea what she was wearing when I made the table assignments, of course. To top it off, she won the prize at her table, which included some dishes with daisies on them.



Mary Hildebrand is the queen of her red hat group. You can tell by the little crown nestled into her hat.



Nancy Murry made the scones and also helped pour tea.





Sonja came with Juanita Bacon. I really like both these ladies.









My friend, Jan, was able to come, too...





Andrea and Linda were having fun... even before things got underway. Love that!





Marcella and Scarlett came for tea.



All in all, people had a good time. At least they seemed to.




I really enjoy that we create a memorable experience for people, but it does wear me out. I cook all the food except the scones. And, this time I bought the mini-eclair. It's a lot of work to cook that much food for 60 people - 62 this time - but I do love the look of it all on the plate. I'm still in love with those mini pumpkin bread loaves.



And, all those little touches that make the event work take time and energy. But, if you don't take care of the little details it's not a well done event. I think I mentioned these little vignettes a few days ago. It's those little things that become significant in their whole.



If I could figure out how to make it so I'm not the only one working on those little details it would be much easier. But, oh my goodness, I have so much help. The Volunteer Center gets a lot of volunteers for me. Amy came and helped on Saturday, and board members jump right in. Not to mention Greg taking photos.

We also had help this year from Zoomdweebies Tea Bar in Wichita, Kansas. They donated the tea, and it was wonderful. We had many comments from folks about it.

They're also offering a 15% discount to MHA folks through the end of the month for orders through the website. Just put in MHA as the discount code. It was delicious and I really appreciated their donation. We serve a large quantity of tea. We have served as many as 400 cups of tea. I'm adamant about keeping the cups full.

I brewed it this year using a concentrate formula so the water was freshly boiling when it was served. Here's the recipe I use:

Tea Concentrate
for 100 Servings:
1 gallon of boiling water
2 cups loose tea

Make the tea and let cool to room temperature, strain at least twice and then pour into sealed containers and store in refrigerator. Use 2 tablespoons of tea concentrate for each cup of tea, filling the remainder of the cup with hot water. So, if you're using a six cup teapot, that is 3/4 cups of concentrate into the pot, then fill it the rest of the way with hot water.

I implore you, please, learn how long to brew the particular tea you are using so you can do it properly. Don't over-brew or it will be bitter. And strain multiple times with a tea strainer, not a kitchen strainer.

If you're using multiple teapots, you'll need to figure out how many cups each one holds so you'll know how much concentrate to use. This is where that algebra will come in handy!

I was really fortunate I had a couple of volunteers who took this job to heart and did it perfectly this time.

Some of the volunteers were talking about me before we opened the doors - not in a bad way. I, who am not a detail person at all, turn into a stickler for every little detail at tea. It's everything - from how the plates are put together (all identical), to how they're placed on the table (cucumber sandwich at the guest's belly button), to how we have to be very quiet in the kitchen so we don't disturb people at the tables near there, to every teacup handle being at 4 o'clock, and every chair being an equal distance from the tables.

I'm convinced all of those little details are what create a memorable event. We gave people an opportunity for relaxation and bonding - two things that are definitely good for mental wellness.

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Hutchinson Kansas on Google Maps

Hutchinson, Kansas, now has street views on Google Maps. Apparently Google comes to your town and drives up and down the streets with a video camera. I've seen these for other places, but I guess Hutch has finally worked its way up on the list to rate this being done.

As soon as I found out I went and looked up my address and breathed a sigh of relief that my lawn had been mowed recently when they did the video. Thank goodness. I hate to mow. Hate it, hate it, hate it. So, I'm glad they caught me at the right time. They should give a person a little warning for heaven's sake. It's like the whole freaking world is dropping by and no one gives you any notice.
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on Facebook.com, Follow me at Twitter.com.

Epiphanies at Applebees

The other night I had an epiphany. I wish it had happened in an exotic locale, which would add another layer of intrigue to the story, but it occurred as I was sitting at Applebees, waiting for my half-priced appetizers to arrive. I know. I hope I haven't ruined it for you.

I was thinking about why I live where I live. There are some cool things about it, and there are some not so cool things about it. There are some neat places - the Cosmosphere, The Underground Salt Museum, Roy's BBQ - and there's nothing especially horrible about it. But, although I've lived her a long time, and there are people here I never want to live very far from, none of us are tied to this area. We could live anywhere. So, why do we live here?

Part of it, of course, is inertia. We're in a rut. It's human nature. Of course, I have a job, but I could get a job in almost any town. So... why here?

It finally hit me. I don't care so much about the specific town where I live as long as there's nothing horrible about it. Why? Because it's not where I stretch myself. I do that when I travel. In addition, when I'm in the town where I make my home, I'm a bit of a homebody. I like to go out to eat with friends and enjoy some gatherings with them, but otherwise I like to be home. It doesn't really make sense for me to be living in an 600 square foot apartment I'm paying thousands of dollars a month for when I can live in four times the space for a fraction of the cost and own the house. So, my home is a bigger deal to me than what town it's in - as long as some basics are met.

As is so often the case, I've been saying this for decades in another way, and just didn't recognize it. I can remember saying in college, "I could live anywhere as long as the house was great." That's why. Because the house is where I'm going to spend most of my time when I'm "home," where ever home is.

Is that a good reason? I don't know. But I figured out it's my reason. And it must be the same reason for a lot of people, because there are people living all over this country in towns much like the one I live in, who have no reason to be there other than there's no compelling reason to be somewhere else. All the research indicates that people no longer look for a job and then go where that job is. Instead they figure out where they want to live, then find a job in that place. That's why people prepare themselves with a broad base of education. Latest estimates are that today's college graduates will have 18 careers.

When this was mentioned at a group I was in the other night someone said, "You can't have 18 careers - 18 jobs, but not 18 careers." I disagree with that. I think you can have 18 careers in a working lifetime. If you're working for 45-50 years, which those folks will be doing, that's between 2-3 years in each one. Naturally, some will be shorter and some longer. I certainly consider that a career. I'm so glad I'm not still in the first job I ever had. I would be a much less well-rounded person and know much less about the world than I know now. We spend a lot of time working

This is yet another of those things people chalk up to age, when it obviously is not. I'm well into the age group of people who have one career, maybe two, and stick with them; who prepare for a job in college and work in that chosen profession. That is not what I've done, however. I'm on my sixth "focus" in my work-life, and working on my seventh. That's much more the norm these days. It's one of those things that the work world is going to have to shift with, or they're going to lose folks.

There's a great deal of talk these days about millenials and how they work to live, not live to work. This has always been my philosophy and I'm glad there's now a whole group of people in the work world who are insisting on being treated with respect for their private lives. I think it's the only healthy approach to life. You're not going to be on your death bed wishing you'd worked an extra 20 hours a week. Do something with those 20 hours that falls into the "living fully" category instead.

Well, again, I'm rambling... This has gotten off track from why I live where I live.

Handwritten letters and recipes

Most days my mailbox is stuffed with a magazine, a bill or two, and some maybe some advertisements. Then, on occasion, there's the most precious of things - a handwritten envelope.

Recently in my Kansas Country Living column I wrote about being over-run with zucchini and asked readers to send me their favorite recipes. I work a little ahead in the column and had forgotten about that request until the envelopes started arriving. What fun!

They come in these innocuous looking envelopes, hand written, often with forever stamps. Inside are precious bits of a person's life they're willing to share with me. That's always how I think about it when someone shares a beloved recipe with me - they're inviting me to be in their world just a little bit. I love that feeling.

I have the same sensation when I'm sharing recipes here - that I'm offering a little bit of myself through that. Food is so intertwined with memories, families and our identities if we're known as a cook. Very interesting to think about.

We'll see how many zucchini recipes arrive. Maybe I'll have to do a zucchini cookbook.

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