Andahwod Box Social bring back fond memories

Joseph V. Sowmick - February 17, 2016

Team Observer was on location Saturday, February 13 for the Andahwod Valentine’s Day Box Social.  Back in the sixties and seventies, the Chippewa Indian United Methodist Church and one of the first community groups (the Tomah Club) would offer box social fundraisers.  Tribal Elder and Andahwod resident Barb Sprague remembered those fond memories and approached the Elders Advisory Board (EAB) she serves on with reviving the box social fundraiser.

 

“Those were some good day with some fond memories where the women would really decorate their boxes with lots of ribbons and good food inside.  We would have the box socials in the basement of the Methodist church on the hill and I thought it would be good to try and bring that back,” Sprague said.  “I was wondering what people would think about it and what response we would get.  We had a lot of attendees come out and for a first time in a long time, it gave the community a chance to get together to do something like we used to remember.”

 

Everyone walked away a winner and the excitement was certainly with the box social itself with the nine boxes vying for the most creative and most decorative honors (won by Barb Sprague and Jerry Douglas respectively).  The nine boxes and gift baskets that were in the bid process were filled with an assortment of candy, stuffed animals, small gifts, candles, even money and scratch off tickets!

 

 

A full story on the box social event will be featured on the Elders page in the March issue of the Tribal Observer.