December 2025 Social Committee Report

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

By Jan McCallum, Co-chair

Season’s greetings from your Social Committee! On behalf of Lynn Black, Molly Devaney, Sheryl Knauss, John Robinson, Lin Strube and Ginny VanWagner, we wish you a happy and fun-filled holiday season and a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. 

It’s been another year full of neighborhood-wide activities, interest group meetings and lots of food, drink and learning opportunities here at Courtyards at Southpoint. And it was twice as much fun with the addition of our newest neighbors. Thanks to all who participated. We enjoyed spending time with you.

December brings some of our favorite neighborhood activities — the continuation of our annual Toys for Tots collection and Durham Rescue Mission coat drive, which end Sunday, Dec. 7, and the lovely Luminary Night Sunday, Dec. 14. 

Donation boxes are in the clubhouse for you to leave new, unwrapped toys for babies through teenagers, as well as new or gently used coats of any size and style for men, women, children and babies. Help make someone’s holiday a little warmer and brighter. 

On Luminary Night, join your neighbors for a stroll through the neighborhood to behold its loveliness by candlelight, and stop in at one or all of our refreshment stops along the way. Here’s who’s hosting those stops: hot cocoa, Jan and Rex McCallum; cookies, Janet and Mark Raker; gluhwein and something savory, Betsy and Larry Thomas-Kirchner. (Addresses are available in Slack.)  You don’t want to miss this. It’s one of the best nights of the year! 

In-between those events, make time for the Speaker Series Thursday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m. and learn all about OLLI at Duke and the many adult learning opportunities available to us.

We will kick off the new year as we undecorate the clubhouse Monday, Jan. 5, at 10 a.m. We welcome your help getting the rooms back to normal. Many hands make light work! 

Our first Happy Hour of 2026 will be Friday, Jan. 9, at 5:30 p.m., and we will welcome our first food truck Thursday, Jan. 22, from 5 to 7 p.m. Our first Speaker Series of 2026 will be Thursday, Jan. 15, when our own Karen Frankola will share highlights from her recent months-long overseas adventure and some tips for planning your own journey.

If you haven’t had a chance to join in on the social scene here at Courtyards, maybe you’ll join us in 2026. We’d love to get to know you better!