To celebrate the holiday season, the management team of Junior League of Charlotte, Inc. (JLC) shared their favorite holiday memory or New Year’s resolution. We hope everyone had a great holiday and has a healthy and happy 2023!!
[My husband and I] got to see our 4-year-old daughter, Grace, in her first school Christmas pageant. My tiny and mighty family is everything to me and making joyful memories in 2023 would be the best blessing.
Ashley Crawford
Board Member at Large
Since having kids who believe [in Santa Claus], my favorite tradition is leaving my phone on “record” mode overnight to catch him at work. Even this Christmas, when we had to spend the night at relatives – due to a power outage – after the excitement of opening presents, my boys (ages 3 and 5) wanted to see if we “caught” Santa.
Eleanor Shell
Education and Training Council Manager
My favorite holiday tradition is making seafood gumbo for Christmas. Crab, shrimp and andouille [sausage]… Oh! And stirring the roux so long, it feels like your arm will fall off. Gumbo is love in a bowl.
Sherri Sonnier-Johnson
Board Member at Large
I downloaded Babbel and resolve to learn Spanish in the new year!
Van Dang
Blog Assistant Coordinator
Since I was young, [my family and I]always have lasagna for dinner on Christmas. Our family recipe was printed in the newspaper in the 1980s or 1990s. My mom took a picture of it when it started to fall apart about 10 years ago. We use ground turkey instead of ground beef now, and we cut the salami from the recipe early on, but this has been part of my Christmas as long as I can remember. Happy New Year!
Christina Gratrix
President
I love driving around and looking at Christmas lights with my family or watching my dog, Kuechly, sit in front of the tree. The lights just feel so magical to me.
Amanda Bagwell
Human Resources Council Assistant Manager
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to try something new – even if it seems scary at first. In this photo, I put on part of a beekeeper’s suit while doing a story as a news reporter. I was nervous at first, but the beekeeper put me at ease. I ended up having a great experience (and left with some amazing locally sourced honey)!
Erika Wells
Blog Coordinator
