The Heroes Who Made Full Circle 2020 Possible
On an August Monday afternoon, the Bacon & Lox Society hosted the fifth Creek Dinner Full Circle Meal. This year in particular, we celebrate the rewards and responsibilities of living in society. And we celebrate just being here, because, oh my gosh, you guys, we made it!
Taking a moment to remember entering the creek under the braided fauna, fabrics, ribbons and archway...gathering for the first time in months... the honeycomb tables dotting down the pristine Cherry Creek in household clusters... I want us all to take a moment. Take a moment and remember what we created.
As we prepared to gather again for the fifth time for this Full Circle Meal, I had been thinking a lot about fabric: the physical embroidering and weaving so many of us have taken up during quarantine, and the figurative fabric of our society and this community. It’s the many strands and threads that give a fabric it’s strength. Especially when it’s tightly woven together, it can create something formidable. Which can then be used for all sorts of applications: sails, hot air balloons, parachutes, space suits, clothing, flags.
If a society is going to endure and be beautiful, just like a piece of cloth, it has to include and tightly weave together all of the contributing threads of its community. Those metaphorical threads are our collective gifts, burdens, creativity, and values. The ‘whole’ of us needs to be recognized and honored, not just the easy Instagrammable parts. I know this isn’t what everyone wants to hear, but it’s often the grief, and how we restore connection and overcome challenges, that make our society and this community beautiful and strong. Adversity strengthens bonds.
Giving creates a tight weave. One of the tenants of this community, Bacon & Lox Society, at all of our gatherings, is to ‘bring something to share.’ We can’t all bring the same thing, we’re not all the same thread or oriented in the same direction, so respect and appreciation for each person’s unique gifts are important to the collective whole and they contribute to a tighter weave. When we go through incredible shock, grief, difficult times as a society, it’s been our reaction to pull someone close, hold them tight in an embrace, to comfort and to reassure that we are not alone. This is the power of community.
The pandemic has denied us that basic human expression of connection. We’ve all been doing our best under extreme pressure to stay healthy, care for loved ones and neighbors, earn a living, re-imagine, and recreate. There’s been a lot of responsibilities without the payoff of the rewards these past months. I would like to acknowledge and thank each one of us who gathered. For the little and big ways you have all helped to knit a tighter weave to our society here, but mostly society at large, especially when your own lives have been under siege.
Each honored guest, the core members of the Bacon & Lox Society, only a third of the usual Creek Dinner attendees, felt the weight of missing members whose gift this year was inattendance, for the sake of a safely distanced, small group community. Due to the challenge inherent in the year 2020, we knew that we had to make this Creek Dinner intentionally special, created out of a unique situation instead of in spite of. Each attendee this year was an honored guest with a shared weight. The past year was so demoralizing for all of us in industries where there was no working, no weddings, no restaurants, no opportunity to serve our own creative gifts. All of us at this year’s Full Circle Meal have brought something to share when we have had so little to work with. We all share a responsibility to uplift and support each other. We celebrate the responsibilities of living in a society and the rewards that come from being in the community. I would like to let you know a little more about who you are sharing this meal with.
During the beginning of the pandemic when PPE was scarce, Sarah Petryk, of Allium Floral Design, devoted her time, energy, and resources to sewing countless masks for family members and health care workers. Sarah’s ability to create beautifully, creatively, and intentionally is a gift to her community as well ours. For this year’s Creek Diner Sarah co-created the ethereal hanging garlands of braided florals and ribbons, as well as the unique and gorgeous floral arrangements for the tables and for the lounge in the creek. Sarah and Joe did the entire floral installation by themselves this year, a feat that usually takes an entire team of hardworking creatives, just to minimize contact in the Creek Dinner community.
Our Ice King, Scott Brewster, found a way to continue to provide his Summer Youth Employment Program, even in the face of a global pandemic.
The program was originally created with an in-person summer camp structure for children in NYC, but by creatively shifting to an all summer long, virtual exploratory educational experience into the world of Careers, Scott’s program now better prepares the next generation for the uncertainty of the future.
Will and Mandy Croasdale, built out their personal property just for this year’s Creek Dinner. They ensured our COVID safe gathering could occur without the worry of attracting extra bodies in a public park, by welcoming the Bacon + Lox Society to their own ethereal world, right in their backyard. Will, a master builder, also was the one who brought the honeycomb table dreams to life. His company, Abundant, INC, along with Gold Welding Co., also designed specialty tools and a custom creek fire kitchen that allowed chefs Andre, Mike, and Brandon to cook our dinner right in the waters of Cherry Creek.
Nicole Hutnyk, the mastermind behind planning, design, collaboration, logistics, and Rabbit Rabbit Crew, has also been offering her artistic care and intentional art to her community. During the pandemic, Nicole has been embroidering memorial pet portraits for her friends’ late companions. A powerful force, pulling all sorts of strings for this years’ Full Circle Meal together to successfully weave, Nicole and her crew of creatives helped add intentional, intimate detail to each member’s place setting. Her intentional touch was responsible for the friendship bracelets, embroidered emblems on appetizer picnic boxes, sustainable and safe compostable dishware, the Kismet water glasses, and an all around super power of flexibility to this year’s event.
Brynn Monaghan showed powerful, intentional care and bravery where it counts - when she became aware that there was a possible dangerous, super spreader event happening on a property she manages, she stopped it before it could even occur. Brynn, production assistant for Rabbit Rabbit Crew and part of the planning and logistical set up for the Creek Dinner, helped to flip the script for the Full Circle Meal when covid became something to plan for.
Alessandra Carballo sent care packages to new expectant mothers and spent time donating bags of baby formula to an organization serving immigrant populations while there was a nationwide shortage during the pandemic. Alessandra also showed this active kindness the day before her grandfather died. Knowing that there were people around the world who would want to speak with him, she went the extra mile and was able to connect him through the phone with everyone who couldn’t be physically present. She and Tracy Esteves Camacho co-created hand-dyed, personalized napkins for each dinner guest.
Tracy Esteves Camacho created a self-care program for fellow healthcare colleagues during the pandemic, exceeding expectations of an essential worker and caring for her colleagues in an amazing way. Tracy also started building the foundation of Prevention Point’s first HIV clinic for underserved communities in Kensington, Philadelphia. When collaborating on creating the cloth napkins for each core Creek Dinner guest, Tracy and Alessandra used natural ingredients, such as turmeric, to create distinctive shades of cloth for everyone.
Joseph Moussa, of Mosaic + Company event styling, figured out how to do contactless deliveries for Mother’s Day this year. His thoughtfuless helped so many families celebrate and honor their mothers with fresh flowers, even during the stay at home orders. Joe co-created the vibrant outdoor decor: strung florals, braided greenery, and pieces of bamboo amidst the orange and magenta taffeta fabrics, satin, and grosgrain ribbons. Their design created a magical world amidst the Cherry Valley lush summer fauna, and Joe and Sarah took on the installation alone this year to keep everyone safe.
Andre de Waal, our lead Creek Chef, faced a great challenge for this year’s Full Circle Meal: how can we serve an unforgettable and incredible, full course meal to the core members of this sacred society, safely in a pandemic? To no one’s surprise, Chef Andre met this challenge with kindness, generosity, and a creative spirit. Andre and his wife, Tracey, also exemplified this spirit of effortless kindness, strong even in the face of challenge, when they took in a young man at the start of the pandemic. They gave him a job, a place to live, and most importantly, love and encouragement to help him flourish on his own. Through their care and mentorship, that young man has a place of his own and a roadmap for the future now. And through Chef Andre’s care and creativity, we were able to safely enjoy an extravagant meal.
Mike Carrino, one of our chefs, a dreamer and a storyteller, truly stepped up during the pandemic to use his voice as an advocate, leader, and resource for mental health in the restaurant industry. There was no shortage of challenges facing us in the restaurant industry this year, and Mike made sure his community felt supported in spite of those challenges. Mike also stepped up to the challenge of this year’s Creak Dinner by helping to cook safely for our socially distanced dinner. Mike nailed his challenge, and just one of his thoughtful efforts to our all around, unforgettable meal was sea bass baked in terra-cotta clay over a campfire.
Rob Yaskovic showed us how care can be an intentional choice, even in the face of fear. Deathly afraid of snakes, Rob chose to bravely capture one that got stuck behind his house and kindly release it back into the woods. Rob, our skilled photographer for this year’s ceremonious Bacon & Lox creek baptism, brought his daughter Gwen Yaskovic who recently graduated from high school this summer in a physically distanced graduation ceremony. She works with toddlers at Project Self-Sufficiency and volunteers there helping to distribute food and supplies to families in need, handing out book bags filled with donated school supplies, even during a global pandemic.
Brandon Grimila, despite his own plans to move abroad, invested his time and effort to build a new business to help out-of-work chefs work small, safe, outdoor private events. He also invested his time and effort helping Chefs Andre and Mike cook our meal over fires in Cherry Creek.
Jill Howell has perfected and practices daily the art form of listening. Whether it is connecting with someone, offering a word of advice, or giving permission to be angry, grieve, or be happy - she contributes what everyone needs in this time of uncertainty. Jill and her husband Rob, whose awesomeness precedes him, helped work together on our surprise song we performed during the Creek Dinner.
Rob Howell has remained in good grace this year with humor, a year that was not easy for the boss of hundreds of good people in the service industry. He has kept a mask glued to his face to be a good example for the employees and guests of the Shawnee Inn, where he is the General Manager. All of Rob’s hard work at Shawnee, with handwashing stations, ventilation, employment, have all contributed to making each person he interacts with feel safe and comfortable. Rob has always given generously whatever we ask of him, and for this year’s Creek Dinner, it was Shawnee Inn Craft Beer.
Charae Tongg, to spread happiness through the pandemic, has been leading a team at work to make playlists more personal, and makes it her goal to try to get her coworkers to laugh everyday.
While working from home, she takes her dog to the park frequently to try and keep him happy and she even organized a trip to Idaho and Utah for much needed social connection with friends. Charae helped perform “With My Own Two Hands” for this year’s Creek Dinner.
Christopher Souza made a seamless move to teaching violin lessons online, despite the challenges of social distancing and virtual learning. Chris chose to keep the kids engaged by using new elements in his teaching with puppets, virtual backgrounds, and ‘fun’ things to keep his student’s attention. By not being afraid to be silly, Chris brought joy to each interaction--he also brought along his violin and smooth harmonies for the surprise pop up performance of “With My Own Two Hands” with an ensemble of creatives attending the dinner.
Dayne Altemos, who works in the world of high-end antiques, estate sales, and auctions, provides a vital service to grieving families who are faced with the daunting task of liquidating the estate and belongings of a loved one. Dayne operates with specialized knowledge, honesty, and respect. Being serious in our professions gives the people who depend on us immeasurable comfort. Dayne, thank you for maintaining your professional discipline and helping hurting families get fair compensation for their heirlooms. Chris worked together with his partner Dayne to share their joy for crafted cocktails, which they provided in a covid friendly manner, allowing us to celebrate, divinely, in a hard year.
Afrik Armando opened his heart and his apartment to a friend who did not have a place to stay, and for two months they shared a bed, resources, and got first hand professional training at Afrik’s photography company. Most importantly, by being a living example, Afrik helped this friend to see his place in the world differently and empowered him to be a light for others. Afrik also found the light through his photography of this year’s Creek Dinner so beautiful, as captured by these portraits of each of the core collaborators.
Philip Tongg, my dad, a thoughtful and proactively caring man, went the extra mile to come up with an out of the box solution to help his renters stay in their homes in Hawaii after the tourism industry shut down and all tour guides were laid off. He also started a kindness board at home.
Alison Conklin, our skilled event photographer, has been mentoring college students who are working on capturing their family traditions through photo projects for school and lending the gift of her photography to help local businesses remain visible in a time when people are staying home.
Karina Puente, during the pandemic, shared her knowledge by identifying mulberries and other edibles on her Instagram city forage walks to help people appreciate and delight in their surroundings. This kind of intentional highlight of the beauty around us is also present in Karina’s multidimensional art. Karina created handmade ceremonious blessing ribbons we used during our Dinner, as a means to connect each person even though we couldn’t hold hands this year. Karina threads loving care into all the art she creates, and hand-made ribbon is one way she shares the sensations of focus and feeling good with others. Karina’s process starts with a blessing: may the joy I experience making my heart’s work be felt by all who touch it.
The heroic examples I shared about each of the core members at this years’ Full Creek Meal are just the things that I know about. Each stitch of responsibility, or doing the hard thing because it’s right, each stitch of creativity, collaboration, and generosity adds up over time to create a strong, beautiful fabric of our society and relationships. When taken together, our acts of generosity, kindness, bravery, and ingenuity add up to be something much bigger than each of us. We are not alone in our daily efforts. Together we are creating the fabric of society, the society we want to live in, and bringing beauty into the world. We all have a responsibility to the weave. The result is the reward.