it was awesome

It was.
Cool thing about nerves - you can put that energy into exercise. Great motivation to exercise too. Then I went over and four of us spent 2.5 hours hanging the pieces. One of the women is an artist and did a great job of deciding how to hang the pictures in terms of size and color and themes. 
People were so happy. 
My speech went well. I dropped two jokes, people laughed at all the ones I left in.  
I got teased for not bragging about myself in the program. "Who put this whole thing together? Who did all the work? Why do you brag about all these other photographers and by your name it basically says you took pictures?" 
The cheese sandwiches were terrific. 
The cookies were amazing. 
I got my Mexican Wedding Cake and I wanted everyone to go away so I could just enjoy it alone. 
The Mexican Wedding Cakes - the whole show was worthwhile for the Mexican Wedding Cakes. 
She set some aside for me.

Seeing your pictures, printed, huge, on the wall, is amazing. 

People were dazzled by the metal prints. 

One person thought they were monitors because they were so clear.

Putin would like Russians to have more babies. 

Ten years ago I lived in rural Pennsylvania, running a renewable energy center. The closest big town was Johnstown Pennsylvania, an hour away. Today there was a class in Johnstown on how to make pysansky eggs. They are an Eastern European thing and use melted wax, tools, and dyes. They were Ukrainian pysansky eggs and was done as a fun way to bring attention to Ukrainian culture. Many of the women attending were grandmothers who wanted to teach their grandchildren.