The snow softly falling down reminds all that winter is approaching in SayWhat Village again. The bird feeders have been filled with bird seed. The paths are free from snow and ice. The welcoming sign is still in front of the Village slightly covered with snow welcoming visitors to come in. Visitors come to SayWhat Village all the time. They are greeted by Dawn, who is the new Chair of the Hospitality Committee . She has a warm welcome and smile for the new visitors that are often wary about what SayWhat Village is.
What does SayWhat have to offer to them for hearing loss?
Soon the visitors realize friendship is on the list. Dawn has them sit down and takes their names and what hearing loss interests they have . Then Dawn assigns an elf to help them.. As the newbies look around the Hospitality Cottage they see elves with name tags: Debbie, Donna, Linda, Mark, Wia, Patsi, Laura and Martha. Each one of the visitors is greeted by their assigned elf who then explains how things work and finds out more what their interests are.
One word for SayWhat Village this year is "change" Lots of changes and planning going on with SayWhat Village. One of the changes is a whole cottage has been created for the new members. The cottage has the name "Explore" on the door. The hospitality elf introduces the new member to those in the Explore cottage. There is one common factor here: The members are new and information about hearing loss is given here. Here you find the Board of Directors helping. There is Santa "Bobee " Claus, and some more elves. Cathy, Jazzy, Jo Susan, Marti and Jan. There is such joy when a new member is introduced. This will be the new home for the new members for the next three months. Later the hospitality elf that brought them to the Explore Cottage will introduce them to a new cottage once they have finished those three months.
The newbies are given a tour so they can get an idea what is around them. They are shown the other cottages with signs on them : Vistas, Friends, Connect, World, Forum, and Network. Then there are other cottages for members with special interests. There is one for Deaf/Hearing Couples, one for information on cochlear implants, and one for people looking for more information on dealing with children with hearing loss. Each one of these cottages has representatives that help keep the cottage going. They include Julie who is the Chair and Jack as Co-Chair. Also are elves, named: Louise, Debbie, Maurice, Lorie, Tracy, Maureen, Beth, Gladys, Lorne, Linda, Arthur, Karen and Suzanne.
In the castle in the middle of the village you find some groups that are from each of the cottages working to make the Village better. There are the newsletter workers, convention workers, web tech workers and other groups. There is a room being constucted for next year that will deal with "Changes" and for ideas how to make the village better.
As some of the elves are walking through the castle they see all the holiday decorations and decorations representing the different countries that the members represent. The Memorial Wall has three new members to honor the three SayWhat members that have passed away this year, Asa from Sweden , who was known by all since she was on the Hospitality Committee in the past, called Network her "home" cottage. Also the World cottage lost two valuable members, Peggy Stewart and Robin Swinks.
All of a sudden the lights flash! It means there is a meeting in the Great Room.
All the elves start heading to the Great Room that is big enough for all. The new members join in on this meeting too. It is the annual meeting with Bobbee Claus before he takes off visiting all those who are hard of hearing and deaf in the world. Also filling the bag with listening devices is Elf Curtis. Bobee Claus gets up to speak. He makes sure the loops are working and the FM's are on before he speaks.
Bobee Claus welcomes everyone from those that helped start the Village years ago to those who just recently joined. Everyone in the village is important. "We have a great village here but we want to know what we can do to make it even better! No idea is dumb. We want to hear ideas from everyone." Bobee encourages the elves to get ideas together and work together to make the Village an even greater place for those with hearing losses. Everyone raises their hands in the air or claps in approval of Bobee Claus .
Bobee then heads for the giant sleigh that awaits him. The reindeer are getting restless as they know their time for their big trip is near. Bobee gives each reindeer a treat, and then hops in the sleigh. He grabs the reins and gives the reins a crack. The reindeer start to move and then they are off the ground. All the elves are shouting "Hurray!" As the sleigh goes out of sight you can once again hear Bobee Claus say. "Happy holidays to all and to all a Good Night!"