Out of the Frying Pan, into the Choir

1TO THE FAVORED FEW FROM ESSIE SUE (and Hal)ANNUAL CHANUKAH LETTER To all our family and selected friends:It's potato latke time again! Time to consume (sparingly) those delicious holiday pancakes while reading my ever-popular review chronicling the achievements and accolades surrounding the Margolis clan. Be sure to lubricate your latkes with cooking spray until well done, top with a dollop of imitation sour cream (20 calories a tablespoon), add dietetic applesauce (counts as one fruit), and dig in.Note: If you're on Atkins, fry up pure butter with Breakstone's sour cream into round mounds and skip the potatoes and the applesauce. Those celebrating both Christmas and Chanukah may optionally serve this dish over Atkins-approved fried pork rinds. Obviously, this does not include the rest of us.Now for the news. People, this has been another outstanding year in the annals of our Margolis family history. In February, Essie Sue and Hal traveled to the exclusive Strait of Magellan with Hal's alumni group. Essie Sue was voted Voyager Most Suited for a Desert Island -- quite an honor when one considers that she was disabled for three days after a regrettable encounter with the wildlife at mating season -- namely, a female elephant seal who refused to be petted during her reproductive cycle. However, since the accident took place on an exclusive Added Expense Optional Trip, Essie Sue used the downtime to research Jews of the subantarctic forests. Unfortunately, there were none. (Unless, to be accurate, one counted both Margolises and Hal's two ZBT fraternity brothers, also on the tour.)It is with great pleasure that Essie Sue and Hal announce the May graduation from Oxford of Essie Sue's grandnephew Phil. Since the graduate preferred to be in the company of family and friends for this Simchas, a facsimile was held in Oxford, Ohio, so that all could attend. Three cheers for Phil, and for his proud mother, Sara Lee, who wore a tiara for the occasion which bore the seal of the Royal Family.In August, Essie Sue received the Woman of Value award from our town of Eternal's Chamber of Commerce, for her prolonged but successful effort to acquire three park benches from the county. Hindered for five years by County Commissioner Leroy (Bud) Gantry, Eternal finally secured the benches on the occasion of the commissioner's last living act from his bed in Memorial Hospital. As soon as the order was signed, Gantry received last rites from Father Terry Breen, a close friend of the Margolis family.And last but not least, in November, Essie Sue was appointed head of Eternal fund-raising for the first Interdenominational ChoirFest in Lake Louise, Canada, in May. Our own choir at Temple Rita has been honored with an invitation to travel by train from Vancouver to Banff, and the tour will be financed by latke promotions to take place from December through April. Custom orders for latkes will make sales possible even after the Chanukah holiday, assuming continuing interest on the part of the public.Essie Sue and Hal are indeed humbled by the well-deserved honors coming their way. They look forward to bigger and better accomplishments in the year ahead, and will rest assured knowing that you will all be eager to read about them in next year's Annual Chanukah Letter.As it is written, "Our Cup Runneth Over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives." Book of Psalms. Amended. Happy Chanukah to all,Essie Sue and Hal Margolis Copyright 2006 by Sharon KahnKahn, Sharon is the author of 'Out of the Frying Pan, into the Choir' with ISBN 9780743243582 and ISBN 0743243587.