. . . Parties

Who among the teenagers could forget the Debutantes Parties, girls fifteen years old wearing for the first time a long dress with beautiful corsages? Or the boring rehearsals two or three times a week? And the teenagers, not yet working, asking their parents for money to pay for their date's corsages?

Who can forget the "Fiestas Guajiras" (Country-style parties), when we wore our nice and well ironed "guayaberas", with white linen pants, and white and black shoes.

Or the Club's inauguration anniversary party, on May 20, when young or old, married or single, with or without partners, were there early in the morning to spend the whole day enjoying all kinds of fun and sports games? And all day long we had music and guitar playing.

On May 1st we celebrated "Labor Day" and all the employees would have the day off, so the members took their places in order not to close the Club. Pepe Cancio (the father) would clean out his grocery store and bring it all to the Club so that we could eat and drink all day long.

We also had the famous Yatistas Parties (Boat-people parties), where those "privileged members", together with our beloved Commodore Manolo Rasco, would give orders to Deus and Isidro not to charge teenagers or children for refreshment, while other Club members like the Mantillas, Toribio Bravo, Inclan, Bustamante, Santiago Naya, etc. tried to chase us out of the bar.

Who could forget the "guateques" (small parties) at "The Bohio" (Hut House), with a roasted pig, beer and other refreshments. Our older brothers and sisters like Tonin Llama, Cuco Cosio, Raul Shelton and el Guajiro Acosta, who would pay for our mojito drinks (rum and soda) and allowed us to share what they had. They were our heroes.

How about the teenagers parties? Boys would rent their "Dinner Jackets". Some of them would spend the whole night dancing, while others would do less dancing and would instead romance their partners.

We had the bridal showers at the Club's dining room, filled with humor and jokes, while the future husband was probably at the bar, drinking heavily with his friends.

The famous Masquerade parties where the "Bad Guys" would bother all the couples until the end of the night, when they would take their masks off. Some others would spend a lot of money on their costumes. Remember Pepe Ortega as Napoleon?

How about the children's parties? Young parents with their babies looking for the first prize, wearing different costumes, like that particular year when Flaco Solis and Mima Bravo won the first prize with their twins wearing Chinese costumes.

We also had the skating parties at the rink, "guatequitos" (small parties), amateur theatre called "Obritas" and the movies they used to show for the kids in the 1940s at the Old Club. Remember most of the children used to watch the parties from the third floor terrace?

Before ending this chapter, let's ask ourselves if there ever was a better New Year's eve party than ours at the MYC? We had the best orchestras and Sopita y Pon dancing all night. Married couples letting their husbands drink without getting on their case, and the singles, who had to get partners way before the party so as to be sure to have a date. This was a marvelous party where grandparents, parents and children could spend the night together as a big family, which is the way we felt while at our unforgettable Club.

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© 2000, 2001 MYC. Last revision February 25, 2001.