Super Happy Fun Day

Super Happy Fun Day is an annual event held on Christmas or Christmas Eve by Sarah and Adam Hofstetter to combat the boredom traditionally faced by American Jews on the Christian holiday. RSVPs are typically discouraged, as are traditional gifts such as flowers or wine. Guests tend to come and go throughout the event, and are generally welcome to bring friends and relatives.

History
The first Super Happy Fun Day was a two-day event held in Queens, NY on December 24 and 25, 1998. Due to budget shortfalls the event consisted chiefly of a few board games and a deck of cards.

No Super Happy Fun Day was held in 2001. Rumors of gross financial mismanagement proved to be unfounded, and the event resurfaced in 2002 with great success. That year's invitation summed up the tone of the event as follows:

What better way to avoid watching "It's A Wonderful Life" for the 23rd time than to have your friends over for a playdate, old school style? Yes, that's right, it's the '80s (or '70s, for some of you), we're 8 years old, and you're coming over to my house to play. Well, there are some differences. The video games are much cooler this time around, and there's alcohol. But otherwise it's the same carefree, I-got-next, eat-with-your-hands, wow-that’s-the-biggest-Pez-collection-I've-ever-seen, that-is-SO-a-do-over, play-until-your-parents-come-take-you-home kind of a thing.

In 2003, the Hofstetters were able to capitalize on the popularity of the new live-action movie The Cat in the Hat by retelling the epic saga of the cat in an invitation that included these lines:

“There’s nothing on TV, there’s nowhere to go.
The stores are all closed and the street’s filled with snow.
You’ve got nothing to do and no errands to run.
But this day can be Super, Happy, and Fun!”

“Super Happy Fun Day?” I said to the cat.
“That’s right! I’ll explain…” said the Cat in the Hat.

“Each Christmas, when I’m left with nothing to do,
I e-mail a few of my friends – just a few.
Well, actually, all of them,” we heard the cat say.
“And I ask everyone to come over and play.

“We play games! And we eat! And we have a great time!
I even send out invitations that rhyme.”

Then Sarah and I did not know what to do.
We’d never imagined the cat was a Jew.

“I’ve got an idea,” Sarah said to her spouse.
“Let’s have Super Happy Fun Day at OUR house!

“We’ll play board games, and card games, and even arcade!
I’ve heard that those things are great fun when they’re played.”

“I like how you’re thinking,” I said to my wife.
“I think we can all have the time of our life.
“Air hockey, board games – we’ll feel just like kids!
Who ever thought Christmas could be fun for yids?”

2004's invitation, a rewrite of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," finally addressed the event's main competition: Atlantic City.

And to those of you who have ignored this preamble
Because you’ll be going to AC to gamble:
You should know such abandonment truthfully hurts,
But we’re comforted knowing you’ll all lose your shirts.

Major changes to the event came the following year, as a pool table was added to the facilities and White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan held a press conference announcing the event. Roundly mocked for the hackneyed format of the invitation, McClellan appeared flustered but defended the Hofstetters and their Every Child Left Behind policy that bans anyone under the age of 18 from attending the event. McClellan also addressed several other hot-button issues, including torture, allegations of steroid use, the events response to victims of Katrina, but perhaps his most memorable quote was an answer to questions about the Hofstetters' refusal to set a timetable for withdrawal: "We will see the numbers of guests start to dwindle as we get closer to Chanukah, but to say that everybody has to be out by a certain date or time would be irresponsible."

In 2006, celebrities endorsing the event included former NFL star O.J. Simpson, socialite Paris Hilton, international journalist Borat Sagdiyev, and TV Pyschologist Dr. Phil McGraw. Comedian Bill Cosby, however, said it best: "Jell-O pudding. Sweaters. Camille."

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