VSDC Life-Affirming Thanksgiving Celebration 2006

Thanksgiving Day, November 23 Thursday 2006, noon to 5pm

Celebrate Thanksgiving Day with over 200 people, and enjoy a gourmet vegan buffet feast at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda (in Maryland over the Bethesda Metro red-line station). The VSDC Thanksgiving feast is an annual event that brings together hundreds of vegetarians and non-vegetarians to enjoy life-affirming food in a wonderful social setting. Last year's event was a great success and we feel confident that you will leave pleased again this year!

The event will feature:

live folk music from Vegan Singer/Songwriter Steven Gellman.
inspirational stories from the VSDC Eat Smart Program.
the release of a new educational booklet by VSDC on diet and disease prevention.
tables for singles, families, everyone, and any other category for which we receive enough requests.
non-profit exhibitors, with tremendous amounts of information.
many door prizes, and time to socialize.

The social hour will begin at noon and the program will start shortly after 1 pm. There will be more social time after dessert is served and door prizes are given out (the program ends at 4:30 pm). Please be sure to arrive no later than 1 pm.

The exciting buffet will include generous portions of:

Appetizer: Fresh Vegetables and Dip (noon to 1pm)
Pumpkin Soup
Mixed Greens with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, accompanied on the side by pine nuts, avocado, and raspberry vinaigrette
Brussel Sprouts in Lemon Sauce
Roasted Vegetables: Baby Carrots, Zucchini, Asparagus, and Peppers
Butternut Squash baked with Leeks, Vanilla Bean, and Toasted Walnuts
Stuffing and Gravy
Tofu with Broccoli in Spicy Almond Sauce
Wild Mushroom Ravioli with a light tomato and fennel broth, on a bed of sautéed spinach and shallots
Wild Rice cooked in homemade vegetable stock
Sides: Cranberry Sauce, and Rolls and Soy Margarine
Dessert: Vegan Pumpkin Pie, and Fresh Seasonal Fruit and Berries
Beverages: Lemonade, Iced Tea, Coffee, Decaf, and Tea

Reservations are essential; there will be no walk-in registration. ~~The price of the event including tax and gratuity is $48 for VSDC adult members and $51 for adult non-members.~~ Those prices are for 2006. Children 12 and under are half of the appropriate adult price; free for children under 3. Highchairs are available upon request. Please include the number of attendees in your party, spell out all names, and indicate email (preferable) or mailing address for confirmation, mailed as time allows. All reservations must be postmarked by November ~~17 Friday~~ 18 Saturday. To reserve, please mail a check, made payable to "VSDC", to: VSDC, PO Box 4921, Washington DC 20008-0121 (with "Thanksgiving" written on the memo line; sorry but no credit cards are accepted). You may print and mail our Thanksgiving registration form (PDF).

Volunteers are needed so please let us know if you can help out for a short time to help register people, set-up for the event, or staff the VSDC table.

Kindly consider bringing a vegan non-perishable food item to donate to Community of Hope, a DC non-profit working to improve the quality of life for low-income, homeless, and under-served families. We'll also accept donations of used or new vegetarian or vegan cookbooks and other books about vegetarianism for Eat Smart students. Also consider adopting a turkey.

You may dress casually. News media might be present. The banquet hall is smoke-free. Please tell your family, friends, and anyone else that may be interested about this event.

The hotel, the Hyatt Regency Bethesda is in downtown Bethesda Maryland, at the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue (MD 355), Old Georgetown Road (MD 187), and East-West Highway (MD 410), southwest corner. The hotel is above the Bethesda Metro red-line station at 7450 Wisconsin Ave. Metro rail and buses will be on a Sunday schedule. The banquet hall (Crystal Ballroom) is disabled-accessible.

Parking in Bethesda is free on holidays at on-street meters and in county garages, including Garage 47/Waverly across Wisconsin Ave, and Garage 49/Metropolitan behind the hotel. Parking for the day in the hotel's garage is $7, paid when you leave with a pass obtained at VSDC's registration table.

Program:

Noon	Social Hour, visit exhibits
1:15 pm	Welcome, Saurabh Dalal, VSDC President
1:20 pm	Lunch Buffet
2:00 pm	Musical Performance, Steven Gellman
2:15 pm	VSDC Eat Smart Program, Denise Jones
2:30 pm	Dessert Buffet
2:45 pm	Countering Diet-Related Illnesses Report
3:00 pm	Door Prizes
3:30 pm	Socializing with Music

Nonprofit organizations will have exhibit tables at this event: Compassion Over Killing, FARM, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary, United Poultry Concerns, Vegetarian Resource Group, Vegetarian Society of DC, and Vegetarian Union of North America.

Door prizes were contributed by: Arbonne International (vegan skin care), Compassion Over Killing, The Cravings Place, Edward and Sons (organic snacks), FARM, Great Sage Restaurant / Conscious Corner, GURU Energy Drink, Jammin! Nectars, Java Green, MaraNatha Nut Butters, OPTIMUM Energy Bars, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Dan Piraro (book of artwork), Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary, Seventh Generation (liquid soap), Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant, Teeccino Herbal Coffee, Turtle Island Foods (Tofurky), United Poultry Concerns, Vegetable Garden Vegetarian Restaurant, Vegetarian Resource Group, Vegetarian Society of DC, Wholesome Sweeteners, Yuan Fu Vegetarian Chinese Cuisine, and Zola Acai Power Juice. If you want to donate something to be raffled next year, contact VSDC.

Other vegan Thanksgiving events by other groups include three on Thanksgiving Day: Natural Zing raw-food potluck in Mount Airy MD, Vegetarian Society Of Richmond potluck, and Triangle Vegetarian Society Thanksgiving in North Carolina. The weekend before, there will be potlucks by Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary (Saturday) and Vegetarian Resource Group (Sunday). United Poultry Concerns is having a potluck the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and a demonstration for the welfare of turkeys in DC the Tuesday before.