In an unnecessarily winter weather, a very Christmas event took place on December 4th, 2008. HQ MNC NE members as well as members of the National Support Elements and Headquarters Company participated in the Christmas Lunch.
The Christmas Lunch has already become a well-established tradition in the Baltic Barracks. Everybody in the accompany of colleagues daily tasks are shared with met at the gym, which for this special moment became the most beautiful place on Earth, decorated with small lights and Christmas decorations.
The preparations for this event are always quite intensive due to the fact that an artistic and entertaining programme is an inseparable part of the Christmas Lunch. This year, the masters of the ceremony were Master Sergeant Johann Schafnitzel, Lieutenant Colonel Mathias Schädlich and Lieutenant Colonel Siegmar Plonka, supported by Major Klaus Poulsen, who presented his musical talent in front of the HQ audience. The event started with some humorous recollections of recent social events. Then, Lieutenant Colonel S. Plonka in his speech thanked for support given by the Headquarters Company, cooks and Gastronomic School of Szczecin and a mess manager Warrant Officer Maciej Kliński in particular, for organising this event. After a piece of music played by Major Klaus Poulsen, the Christmas buffet was open with among others dumplings, borsch with ravioli and fish.
The most awaited moment of the Christmas Lunch was the beginning of the presentations prepared by all Divisions. Most of them were slide presentations containing photos from the passing year with comments attached or even theories created on their basis. There were also special MNC NE TV news presenting some landmarks in the Corps’ life, performances proving the acting talents of the HQ personnel as well as musical shows. Since the whole programme was comical and entertaining in its character showing the people’s ability to make fun of themselves, the laughter could be heard far beyond the Baltic Barracks.
Afterwards, there was a lot of time for chatting with colleagues and friends. The music band playing live music made this time really enjoyable. In the late evening the voices coming from the gym stopped. But it does not mean that it is the end of pleasant things related to Christmas. Quite the opposite, it is just the beginning.
