Category: Dinners/Entertainment - VAN BUREN EAGLES #3996

VAN BUREN EAGLES #3996

New Year's Eve Party 2018

1/3/2019

We closed out 2018 in style at our New Year's Eve party. The decorations were elegant, the food was delicious, and the music had everyone rockin' as we counted down to 2019!

Second Wind provided entertainment for us again this year. We’ve booked them many years in a row because they're a crowd favorite and never fail to play songs that please all musical tastes. This year was no different. They also had the crowd on their feet dancing, a prerequisite for New Year's Eve, right?!

None of it would have been possible without Tela Fountain, the chairperson for this event. She took care of the details and assembled a great team of volunteers to help her. Thank you, Tela. Your hard work really delivered a great evening of fun for everyone.

The volunteers made it a big success, too. We’d like to thank John & Toni Watkins, Walt & Joyce Rochowiak, Linda Bremher, Gayle Bellamy, Keith & Ginger Bruder, Nancy Fruit, Tim & Roz Ogger, Mike & Dianne Cullen, Donna Hall, Paula Poston, Jim Wagner, and Tom Fountain. Finally, a big thank you to everyone who bought a ticket and attended our event. It was a memorable evening because we were blessed to share it with all of you.

Happy New Year! Enjoy the photo slideshow!

Hee Haw Party

11/14/2018

Our recent Hee Haw Party was a knee slapping, foot stomping good time! Dinner was Hobo Stew. What's that, you say? Everyone contributed whatever they wanted - beef, chicken, pork, potatoes, cabbage, etc. We threw it all in a big pot and it turned into a delicious stew.

People also dressed up as their favorite Hee Haw character for the chance to win some money. Marie Keehl came as LuLu and she took home the 1st prize. Keith Bruder came in 2nd and WP John Watkins came in 3rd.

It wouldn't have been a Hee Haw Party without music, and DJ Barney made sure the country music kept on playing for all of our karaoke singers. Thank you, Barney!

We also want to thank Sue Delongchamp and Nancy Fruit for planning such a fun evening. Van Buren is fortunate to have them. Take a bow ladies.

We only have a few photos to share from the fun evening. If you have photos from the evening feel free to email them to us at foea3996@yahoo.com and we'll add them in to the slideshow below!

Adult Halloween Party

11/2/2018

Adults love Halloween just as much as children, especially our Van Buren #3996 adults! They turned out for our recent party in some very clever costumes. Mike Goddard won 1st prize for his flamingo costume (the men thought he should win just for having the courage to wear it!); Mark and Joelene Brzezinski won 2nd prize for their realistic caveman/cavewoman costumes; and Ryan Wojtyna won 3rd prize for his very convincing devil costume! Congratulations to all the winners.

We also had a creepy dessert contest for the first time this year. The rule was that all entries had to be edible, but some of them were so disgusting to look at that eating them was out of the question! Gary Smith won for creepiest dessert with his pan of blood soaked intestines. (Gag!) Congratulations, Gary.

We also enjoyed listening to the Southern Heat band play our favorite tunes. They always do a great job keeping our dancers happy. All in all, it was a fun Halloween party, thanks to the efforts of Tela Fountain and her entertainment committee. Our club is blessed to have members like them willing to step up and help plan events for the rest of us to enjoy. Finally, we'd like to thank Diane Moore and Lenny Wojtyna for sharing their pictures from the evening. We hope you enjoy them.

'That's Amore' Cancer Fundraiser

4/29/2018

Our That's Amore Cancer Fundraiser, which raised more than $16,000, was very successful because of so many caring and generous people and businesses that donated to the cause. The money we raised this year is being directed to the ChadTough Foundation and their efforts to fund research and raise awareness for pediatric brain tumors with an emphasis on Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. The foundation was created in memory of Chad Carr, the son of Jason & Tammi Carr, and grandson of UofM Coach Lloyd Carr. Chad died in 2015 from the rare form of brain cancer.

We were honored to have Jason and Tammi Carr attend our fundraiser and speak about the ChadTough Foundation and the importance of raising money to find a cure. We all share their goal of ending childhood cancer. Thank you, Tammi, for speaking to us that evening.

We'd like to thank Rex and Linda Combs and their team for all their hard work in making this fundraiser possible. They have worked tirelessly for years to raise money for pediatric cancer, resulting in more than $260,000 they've managed to raise so far.

Of course, their success wouldn't have been possible without help from the many businesses and people who donated items for the silent and live auctions and also donated money – including Nico & Vali's Italian Restaurant, O&W Inc., West Side Distributors, the Detroit Red Wings and Tigers, the Green Bay Packers, Carol Krycia, and many, many others. Thank you for your generosity.

We also want to thank everyone who attended the fundraiser and won auction items. We know how busy everyone's lives can be, and we appreciate the time you took to spend the evening with us and bid on the many items we had available.

We appreciate our very own Eagle member Clyde “Whitey" Allen, too. He donated his music services for the evening, and played into the night afterwards so everyone could dance. Thank you, Whitey!

Finally, we'd like to thank our Aerie & Auxiliary brothers and sisters. Your help and participation brings to life our “People Helping People" motto. The world is a better place when we all work together to help one another.

Enjoy the photo slideshow with photos from the evening!

Tournament Weekend #2

4/18/2018

This was the final weekend of the 61st Michigan State F.O.E. Auxiliary Bowling Tournament, and all we can say is that it was an honor to host such an awesome group of ladies. They were so friendly and fun to hang out with that we felt like we had known them for years.

We have to thank our Auxiliary for hosting the tournament, our Aerie and Auxiliary members for their help, and our employees for working so hard to keep us all happy. We also want to thank Mystro Entertainment for Friday's karaoke and Cruisin' 57 for Saturday's live music. People were on their feet dancing both nights. Our entertainers are awesome!

This was a memorable two weeks for #3996, and we hope the bowlers took home good memories of their time spent with us as well. Come back to visit with us anytime!

Congratulations to the tournament winners!

Tournament Weekend #1

4/8/2018

What a fun weekend we had welcoming the 61st Michigan State F.O.E. Auxiliary Bowling Tournament! Friday evening started off with yummy fish dinners cooked by members of our Auxiliary and Aerie, followed by live karaoke provided by Mark and Joelene Brzezinski.

Larry James Live Karaoke was awesome. Larry and Mike stood for five hours playing their guitars and keyboard for the 45 people who signed up to sing - and they never took a break! They know thousands of songs ranging from country to rap, so everyone's musical taste was represented.

Saturday night our members again stepped up to provide delicious steak and chicken dinners, and then the band Southern Heat got us all toe tappin' with their country, southern and classic rock music.

We owe a big round of applause to Larry James Live Karaoke and Southern Heat for doing a superlative job entertaining us this weekend, to the Brzezinskis for providing karaoke, to members of our Auxiliary and Aerie for volunteering to help, and to all our brothers and sisters from other Eagle Aeries for joining us this weekend. We hope everyone takes home great memories of the time they spent with us.

Enjoy these pictures from the weekend.

St. Patrick's Day Dinner

3/22/2018

Kudos to the Auxiliary for making us all feel a wee bit Irish at the St. Patrick's Day event. Who doesn't like homemade corned beef and cabbage? It was excellent, as usual. Thank you, ladies. The food was delicious and the evening was enjoyable.

We'd also like to thank Whitey for providing entertainment all evening. The Irish tunes were a welcome, authentic touch.

If you weren't able to attend, enjoy some pictures from the evening and make plans to join us next year for dinner and a toast or two. Slainte!

Valentine's Dinner

2/14/2018

The Valentine's party was lovely! Old Man Winter tried his best to ruin everything with the 9 inches of snow he dumped on us, but Cupid's love won! We had a nice turnout and a very enjoyable evening.

A big thank you to the Auxiliary for all their hard work. The dinner was delicious, as usual, and the decorations were beautiful.

A big thank you to Whitey, too. He's been recovering from surgery, yet he made the trip over the snowy roads to provide us with "music for lovers" all evening.

Finally, thank you to everyone who came out and supported the Auxiliary. We love our Eagle family and friends.

New Year's Eve Party 2017

1/3/2018

Goodbye 2017, hello 2018! What a fun evening we had bringing in the new year. Good company, good food and a great band. Thank you, Second Wind, for playing a variety of music that appealed to everyone. You rocked, as you always do and had the crowd on their feet dancing right to the end!

We'd also like to thank everyone who bought a ticket and spent the evening with us. We hope you enjoyed yourselves.

Finally, a big thank you to our volunteers for stepping up and helping in so many ways. Your efforts showed. The hall looked beautiful and everything ran smoothly and on schedule.

Van Buren #3996 wishes all our members and friends a new year filled with joy, peace, good health and prosperity. We hope we can all ring in the next year together!

Adult Christmas Party 2017

12/18/2017

What a fun evening everyone had at our Adult Christmas Party on Friday, December 15, 2017! The evening started off with a pot luck dinner. It was more like a banquet! The variety and quality of food was outstanding.

Following dinner we held our White Elephant gift exchange, which is always lots of fun. This year people kept stealing an interesting hotdog toaster that apparently no one expects Santa to bring them.

We ended the evening with karaoke hosted by Whitey, and Keith Bruder led us all in a "12 Days of Christmas" sing along. Enjoy the pictures from the evening and Merry Christmas to all!