Criticial Mass #45 - Main Clay Discussion Thread

[Tiffany]

Posting pics and recaps in the ANN!

http://claymaniacs.com/clayforums/index.php/board,4.0.html

He sang Bring Back My Love, Because you Love Me and a song he never sang before.

Sounded like a wonderful night and awesome they are Sending 200 kids to camp! Looking forward to hearing from you gals! You must be on cloud nine that he went to your table.  Safe trip back tomorrow if anyone is flying home!

[Tiffany]

Lol Love this!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10675786_869666376384535_2366022027402420314_n.jpg?oh=a42c058ccc76d581343e7449a8c94623&oe=54930AD8&__gda__=1422359300_46b771642af8fcd71e925ea3702772ae&dl=1

[mimi]

Hi~ I'm back home from a wonderful weekend. It was so good seeing so many friends. I'm tired, but its a good tired.  Thank goodness,this Gala was so different from last year. Very upbeat. It was wonderful having Clay & Nick working the room,and going from table to table,thanking everyone for coming. Jerome, was also there enforcing the NO audio,video,or cameras during the Gala.  Clay is so ,so good looking,cheekbones,and eyelashes to die for. Holy Smoke! He had on a dark suit with purple shirt ,and a purple stripped tie.He gets better looking the older he gets.HE'S HAWT!. On Friday night we made sure that the staff was aware that Betty was 90 years old, and last night when Clay was visiting each table when he got to ours ,he put his hand on Betty's should and asked her when she had turned 90.She told him in June,and she told him she wanted to tell him something, and he bend down close to her,and she told him that in the 11 years she had never had a M&G, but she was now,and he told her yes, she sure was.

It was great getting to spend time with JoAnn & Prissy. On Friday we (Marilyn Barbara,Barb & me)all went to a great Italian restaurant across the street from the hotel. Then on Sat morning we all went to breakfast buffet at the hotel. Afterward we went over to the Raleigh Convention Center to The International Festival. Lots of foods from different countries,native country dances , Beautiful costumes,,,Lots of booths selling merchandise. I especially enjoyed the Turkish music and dancing.
We also ran into Irene(1Chris1) and her friend ,so there were a total of 10 from the ClayManiacs board,that also includes SandyAnn ,who posts mostly at the OCD.

The Gala was wonderful. To start our meal was delicious.Started out with salad and rolls,wine of choice,red or white. Meal was steak,chicken gordon bleu,mashed potatoes,string green beans,a slice of grilled squash & zuchnni, For dessert a small white chocolate shaped box, filled with chocolate mousse,with the star emblem of Inclusion inserted in chocolate.Plate was drizzled in caramel,with raspberries,& blueberries. Delish!!

The program included some very inspirational stories from the Champion Honorees....Clay sang a total of three songs for the life of me I can't remember what he sang first , but he did sing" Because You Loved Me",and the new song I was unfamiliar with,which is a Heather Headly song,"If It Wasn't For Your Love" Beautiful song. Clay sang it so tender & beautifully. This lead into the Dutch auction to raise money for camps for children. $50.000.00 was raised,sending 200 children to camps. When the program was over Clay said Thank You so much for coming,See YOU AGAIN NEXT YEAR!   Now that's a good signal for me to start putting any extra money aside in my Clay Fund for next year.

There is just so much to remember but hopefully some of the others from here will post,and fill in the gaps.

I sure wish you could have all been there. Maybe you will consider going next year. It was wonderful!


Oh by the way..the hair was gorgeous!    

[mimi]

By the way.our table is in the selfie ...See the black guy in the blue shirt ,look a little to the right above him,and our table has the black gal with the white blouse, with black jacket,and you can see Marilyn in blue,Barbara,me in gray,Betty  next to me, on my left,and Barb in red.

As you can see the room was quite crowded,and that was only half of the room. Did I mention it was WONDERFUL!  ??

[mimi]

The Clay ,Elmers debate dates have been scheduled

OCT 6 Mon. WRAL TV

OCT 22 Wed Time Warner Cable  So far Elmers has not agreed to this one...However they told them ,Clay could debate an empty chair. I think it would be to her best advantage to go ahead an do this. Clay would no doubt win against the empty chair    What do you think? 

[mimi]

I called to check on Betty,because she was traveling back to FL by herself. She said she had a good uneventful flight,and is hoping she might be able to come to the Gala again next year. She is an amazing woman. Hope I do half that well if I make it to 90.

[wisconsinmaniac]

HI  . . . . I am home!!!  Nancy picked me up in Green Bay and I treated her to supper.  I am "happy tired"!

MIMI did a great summation and I ditto what she says and when I get my thoughts filtered, I will add a few things that made this occasion
so very special.

Regarding CLAY and the very meaningful Gala Experience -  It feels so good to feel this good!!!    

I loved every moment spent with the our amazing Claymaniac friends. 

[gbmifan]

I was there but missed all of you.  So much going on and alot of fans I do not know.  We also ate at the Italian restraunt for lunch on Sat. and had great food.  I think everything has been covered in the recap as far as the feel of the Gala this year and the songs which were great.  He sang Bring Back my Love for his first song.  I sat at the same table as Canfly and Nickki.  On Friday night they took some great pictures but behaved themselves on Sat. and did not take pictures or do video.  Canfly got up to go to the restroom and that is when Clay came to our table.  When she got back we informed her.  I had a few of his back on Friday night for the whole evening because we were right next to his table.  I could not avoid looking at him bec ause the speaker DJ was situated right in the line with him.  We also went to the Raleigh Times for dinner on Thurs night and it was great.  We hit Big Ed's twice. 
I am hoping to be able to go next year but I have a nephew getting married sometime in Sept/Oct. and I have ski patrol recert.  Hopefully it will not hit either of these weekend.  I missed D.C. because it fell on my recert weekend.  Back to saving money.   

[WilsonClaymate]

As usual I am running way behind everyone else but just wanted to add my two cents.

First - Tiffany -- thanks for everything you did here to keep things going.  You did a great job.

The thing I enjoyed the most about the Gala was the atmosphere!  With Jerome, Ben, Sean, etc. it seemed like "old times".  As down as the ending of the Gala was last year, this year was so joyful and upbeat.  I also feel like the Gala raised much more money for the NIP this year as compared to last year.  I think the ending last year opened Clay's eyes also.

As always it is so good to see friends that we have made over the years--friends that we never would have met if it had not been for Clay.  I can't believe the years have passed so fast. 

As already mentioned, Betty is an inspiration to most around her.  She just keeps going and never complains.   She has a very positive outlook which I would like to have.  BETTY, it was a pleasure being with you this weekend.

Well, since I have not finished unpacking and putting things away I better try to do a little more work around here.

[Marilyn]

Actually, gbmifan, I spoke to you a couple of times. Maybe you didn't recognize me. Did you lose an earring by the way? I think I saw you searching for it at the dinner.

As with everyone else, I had a MAHVELOUS time!! Betty sure is an inspiration. She has more energy than I do!!

Friday night was superb- rounding the wall for the pics and seeing that welcoming smile was absolutely the BEST thing. I even got a couple of personal remarks- one was an actual compliment!

Clay, and the other folks answered questions that had been sent by attendees concerning the Foundation- and they were good. They are truly trying to build corporate and other relationships.

Saturday I enjoyed the International Festival with the other gals- I could have spent much more time there. I was annoyed that I had eaten so much at breakfast, because I wanted to sample all the cuisine from other countries- Belgium, Laos, India, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Holland, France, Italy, Korea, and many other countries. I DID have some baklava and that delicious drink Marlene described-from the Egyptian tent. 

Each country had a little booth made to look like a little store, around the perimeter of the fair. Inside, around the center of the huge cavernous room, many countries and organizations had booths-some sold jewelry, clothing, artifacts, etc. and some were decorated with beautiful photographs of their country. The Russian booth had tons of carvings and Christmas items, including many of the little nesting dolls that are popular from Russia.

I could have spent much more time, but we had to get back and bid at the silent auction if we wanted anything. There were Claycentric items, but also many other things-gift baskets, jewelry, hand made Christmas decorations, toys, etc. At first we wondered if there would be enough bids, but we had started early. When we went back at 2:45, fifteen minutes before the auction closed, almost every item had a bid.

The mystery CD went for $10,500!! 

Saturday night- the dinner was absolutely delicious. Our table was almost in the middle so we had a great view of the stage. Faye and Nick were actually at the table in front of us, but Clay was over about four tables and sat with Diane Bubel. When he took the selfie from the stage you could see our table in the background.

The honorees were absolutely tear inducing- but they have accomplished so very much, and it was an honour to listen to what they had to stay and applaud their stories.

Clays voice was superb-it was soft, it soared, and it was clear and wonderful. He started with "Bring Back my love" and I so wanted him to!!
There were more presentations, then they showed a video of the kids at camp and he sang "Because You loved me" at various times through the video. The stage was dark but he was backlit, and his profile was GAWJUSS- just wonderful!! Finally at the end he sang "If It wasn't for your love".
Every word was a thank you to us, his supporters. Brought tears to my eyes, but gave me great joy. If you didn't think he was thankful, or loved his fans, that song would have changed your mind.

All too soon it was over and I was flying home to an empty house with no friends to chat with, giggle, and share meals with. I miss you Barb Hollihan, Barbara Hale, Marlene, Betty, Prissy and Joanne. I had so much fun seeing you again and chatting.  Wish we could do this more often.

So- I am now looking forward to seeing Clay in a couple of weeks at the bowling fundraiser. Hope I don't drop the ball on his foot-or mine!!

[Tiffany]

Enjoying reading your recaps everyone and Prissy posted some great pictures at the OCD! I want to eat that dessert you had at the Gala dinner! Yummy!  Everything and Clay of course sounded so wonderful! Proud to be a fan of this special guy! I hope he can get to go around each table every year now!  I may try to save some money to go next year if I am able too! I am so happy for Betty! She deserves it! Clay knows her now! 
Hope to see all your pics with Clay from Friday if you get them!

I am excited about the debate with Clay and Renee on Oct 6th! Going to be good! Sounded like a great event in Charlotte last night!

[mimi]

We are having non-stop rain today. If the temps get out of the 50 today,I will be surprised.Right now it is 57. Quite a difference in this past weekend, when we were in the high 70 and 80s. I am so glad the weather was nice for the Gala.

I am really looking forward to the debates,and am keep my fingers crossed for Clay.  He is the better person for the job, NC needs some new blood in Congress,and I am really hoping he will sway a lot of people to vote for him after the debate.

Prissy did such a good job taking the photos...I know you all may be getting tired of hearing about it,but it was an, EXCEPTIONAL weekend. I've been fortunate to have gone to all the Raleigh Galas and the one's in Wash,DC,and last year in Charlotte,and this year was one of the best. Of course, the Gala in Raleigh that had the luncheon,and then the concert( at Fletcher Hall)after the Honoree presentations ,was also a favorite.

It just seemed so special with Clay and Nick going from table to table this year greeting ,and thanking us for coming. It made it very special,just the right extra touch.


Tiffany~ I hope you will be able to attend next year.  We missed your smiling face & bubbly personality. You did a FANTASTIC job of keeping everyone informed of all the events going on at the ANN...Thanks for helping Marilyn out.

[Tiffany]

Thanks Marlene and will never get tired of you all talking about it! 

[fhmmany2]

Link to Gala photos on Face Book:

https://www.facebook.com/inclusionproject/photos_stream

[mimi]

Boo! Hoo! I'm not on Facebook