A Little Rain Didn’t Stop PADT’s 2022 Holiday Party

Categories: ,

But it almost never rains in Phoenix this time of year. Well, it did this year. After two years of canceling our annual end-of-year holiday celebration, we decided to try an outdoor event. With two years of delays and labor shortages, reserving a location for our normal formal dinner was expensive and the choices were limited. On top of that, we didn’t know if there was going to be a new variant of the virus and a potential upsurge. So renting a pavilion at Chandler’s Desert Breeze Park seemed like a good way to go.

Not only do they have a great space for gatherings, but there is also a small train, a carousel, and great playgrounds for the little ones and the young at heart. We were also able to line up our go-to purveyor of tasty food, AZ Barbeque Catering. Decorations were procured. Lawn games were prepared.

And then something that almost never happens, happened. Rain. Almost a half inch of rain.

image

The average for December 3rd is 0.04 inches, and that is with a 10% chance of any rain. It was also going to be in the low 60’s. That is artic for us desert dwellers.

Well, after a bit of panic, we realized that in the rest of the world this is normal, that we did own jackets, and that the pavilions were fully covered. Our fantastic volunteers who coordinated and set up arrived on time and did a great job of preparing the space. These Santa’s helpers created a festive mood with plus Santas and Moose along with a trail of candy canes and other sweets for the center of the tables.

PADT 2022 Holiday Picnic 04 1
PADT 2022 Holiday Picnic 05

Games were set up, a place to decorate river rocks, and our Corn Hole was placed in the middle of the second pavilion. Once AZ Barbeque showed up and started cooking, we knew everything was going to be just fine.

PADT 2022 Holiday Picnic 16
PADT 2022 Holiday Picnic 14

Speaking of which, the food was wonderful. Especially the Tri-Tip and the Mac and Cheese.

PADT 2022 Holiday Picnic 01b
PADT 2022 Holiday Picnic 02b
PADT 2022 Holiday Picnic 17b

These events are always great because you get to talk with people you don’t interact with every day and, best of all, you get to meet their families. It is a fantastic opportunity for spouses to get to know each other and maybe poke a little fun at us.

PADT 2022 Holiday Picnic 11
PADT 2022 Holiday Picnic 10
PADT 2022 Holiday Picnic 12

Our canine family members had a blast, and most of the kids were thrilled by the wet and ended up throwing a football around in the rain and mud.

Christmas Right Left Picnic Panic 2022

Once we finished eating, we held another annual tradition, the PADT Holiday Gift Exchange. Once we got too big for the secret Santa of the White Elephant game, we started doing the “Right-Left” game. The way it works is everyone takes their gift and stands in a circle, then you read a story with the words left and right in it. Every time you say left, you pass your gift to the left, and every time you say right, you pass it to the right. We write our own story to make it a little more fun. This year, it was about a picnic that could have gone very wrong if it wasn’t for the intervention of Father Christmas himself. You can read the story, and find links to nine previous stories, here.

So, despite the rain and two years of COVID cancelation, we had a fantastic time talking and laughing and eating and playing silly games. And isn’t that what the holidays are all about, anyway?

padt holiday party ending

Categories

Get Your Ansys Products & Support from the Engineers who Contribute to this Blog.

Technical Expertise to Enable your Addictive Manufacturing Success.

PADT Pulse Newsletter Screen Grab from March 2023

PADT’s Pulse Newsletter

Keep up to date on what is going on at PADT by subscribing to our newsletter.


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Share this post:

Upcoming Events

05/31/2023

Driving Automotive Innovation with Additive - Webinar

05/24/2023

Hill Air Force Base Tech Expo

05/24/2023

Structural Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 (3) – Structural Optimization & Ex

05/23/2023

CROSSTALK 2023: Emerging Opportunities for Advanced Manufacturing Smal

05/10/2023

Signal & Power Integrity Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

04/26/2023

Additive Manufacturing Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

04/20/2023

38th Space Symposium Arizona Space Industry

More Info

04/19/2023

38th Space Symposium
Arizona Space Industry

04/19/2023

Additive Aids for Manufacturing - Webinar

04/18/2023

38th Space Symposium
Arizona Space Industry

04/17/2023

38th Space Symposium

04/13/2023

Venture Madness 2023

04/12/2023

Fluid Meshing & GPU-Solver Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

03/29/2023

8th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference

03/29/2023

Structural Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Composites, Fracture & MAPDL

03/28/2023

8th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference

03/27/2023

8th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference

03/26/2023

8TH Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference

03/24/2023

Arizona BioPreneur Conference | Spring 2023

03/22/2023

2023 Arizona MedTech Conference

03/22/2023

Optimize Jigs & Fixtures with Additive - Webinar

03/15/2023

3D Design Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

03/08/2023

Competitive Advantages of 1D/3D Coupled Simulation - Webinar

03/01/2023

High Frequency Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

02/22/2023

Additive Advantages in Aerospace - Webinar

02/15/2023

Structural Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 (1) - Webinar

02/09/2023

IME 2023: MD&M | WestPack | ATX | D&M | Plastek

02/08/2023

IME 2023 MD&M | WestPack | ATX | D&M | Plastek

02/07/2023

IME 2023 MD&M | WestPack | ATX | D&M | Plastek

01/27/2023

Arizona Photonics Days, 2023

01/26/2023

Arizona Photonics Days, 2023

01/26/2023

TIPE 3D Printing | 2023

01/26/2023

Venture Cafe Phoenix Talent Night - Job Fari

01/26/2023

VFS 2023 Autonomous/Electric VTOL Symposium

01/25/2023

Arizona Photonics Days, 2023

01/25/2023

Building A.M.- Utah: Kickoff!

01/25/2023

TIPE 3D Printing | 2023

01/25/2023

VFS 2023 Autonomous/Electric VTOL Symposium

01/24/2023

VFS 2023 Autonomous/Electric VTOL Symposium

01/24/2023

TIPE 3D Printing | 2023

01/18/2023

2023 AZ Tech Council Golf Tournament

12/21/2022

Simulation Best Practices for 5G Technology - Webinar

12/14/2022

Digital Twins Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

12/08/2022

Tech the Halls - AZ Tech Council Holiday Mixer

12/07/2022

Electric Vehicle and Other Infrastructure Update Panel

11/30/2022

SPEOS Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

11/23/2022

Simulation Best Practices for Electronics Reliability - Webinar

11/16/2022

Discovery Updates in Ansys 2022 R2

11/10/2022

VentureCafe Phoenix Panel: Venture Capital in AZ

11/08/2022

2022 GOVERNOR’S CELEBRATION OF INNOVATION AWARDS + TECH SHOWCASE

11/03/2022

VentureCafe Phoenix Panel: Angel Investment in AZ

11/02/2022

High & Low Frequency Electromagnetics Updates in Ansys 2022 R2

10/26/2022

Simulation Best Practices For Chip-Package-System Design & Development

10/20/2022

Nerdtoberfest 2022

10/19/2022

2022 Southern Arizona Tech + Business Expo

10/19/2022

LS-DYNA Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

10/17/2022

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Clearfield Utah

10/14/2022

ASU School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks - Formal Opening Cele

10/14/2022

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Midvale Utah

10/12/2022

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Littleton Colorado

10/06/2022

Fluids Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

10/05/2022

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Colorado Springs

09/29/2022

White Hat Life Science Investor Conference - 2022

09/28/2022

2022 AZBio Awards

09/28/2022

Simulation Best Practices for Rotating Machinery Design & Development

09/21/2022

ExperienceIT NM 2022

09/21/2022

Additive Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

09/14/2022

Rocky Mountain Life Sciences Investor & Partnering Conference

09/08/2022

Ansys Optics Simulation User Group Meeting - Virtual

09/08/2022

Ansys Optics Simulation User Group Meeting

09/07/2022

SI & PI Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

08/31/2022

Simulation Best Practices for Developing Medical Devices - Webinar

08/24/2022

Mechanical Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

08/10/2022

Tucson after5 Tech Mixer: Ruda-Cardinal

08/05/2022

Flagstaff Tech Tour, 2022

08/02/2022

2022 CEO Leadership Retreat

08/01/2022

2022 CEO Leadership Retreat

07/27/2022

Thermal Integrity Updates in Ansys 2022 R1 - Webinar

07/20/2022

Simulation Best Practices for the Pharmaceutical Industry - Webinar

07/14/2022

NCMS Technology Showcase: Corpus Christi Army Depot

07/13/2022

NCMS Technology Showcase: Corpus Christi Army Depot

07/13/2022

Additive & Structural Optimization Updates in Ansys 2022 R1 - Webinar

07/07/2022

Arizona AADM Conference, 2022

06/29/2022

LS-DYNA Updates & Advancements in Ansys 2022 R1 - Webinar

06/23/2022

Simulation Best Practices for Wind Turbine Design - Webinar

06/15/2022

MAPDL Updates & Advancements in Ansys 2022 R1 - Webinar

06/01/2022

Mechanical Updates in Ansys 2022 R1 - pt. 2 Webinar

05/26/2022

Modelling liquid cryogenic rocket engines in Flownex - Webinar

05/25/2022

SMR & Advanced Reactor 2022

05/25/2022

05/24/2022

SMR & Advanced Reactor 2022

05/19/2022

RAPID + tct 2022

05/19/2022

Venture Cafe Roundtable: AI & Healthcare

05/18/2022

Tucson after5 Tech Mixer: World View

05/18/2022

RAPID + tct 2022

More Info

05/18/2022

Signal & Power Integrity Updates in Ansys 2022 R1 - Webinar

05/18/2022

Simulation World 2022

05/17/2022

RAPID + tct 2022

05/11/2022

Experience Stratasys Manufacturing Virtual Event

Search in PADT site

Contact Us

Most of our customers receive their support over the phone or via email. Customers who are close by can also set up a face-to-face appointment with one of our engineers.

For most locations, simply contact us: