5th Annual WNY Gathering ROCKED! :-)

Well, I would have posted a big wrap up last night, but after a few posts and replies to the 100+ e-mails I got over the weekend, the Highlander reached over, took the laptop and started shutting things down ("The world can WAIT for one more night!" as he put it!). Good move, too...I just got out of bed about an hour ago, so I TRULY needed the rest!

Anyway, the whole weekend was a giant blast! We (Skater Boy, the Highlander and I) began it early Friday morning around 6am (after going to bed around 2!) We took the Highlander to work, then CQ picked Skater Boy and I up with the intent to head to Sprague Brook, set up camp, then go to the Ridge and get some boxing in (we learned from experience that running a gathering means never leaving the pavilion, so we wanted to get some actual boxes before 100+ folks descended upon us!). We were hoping to meet up with Eidolon and Artemis at Chestnut Ridge around 2pm, so we wanted to really get moving.

What ended up happening was we helped CQ pack, stocked up on general supplies (donation boxes, raffle items, a new black marker) until the Highlander was already done with his half day of work. THEN the truck was doing ominous things with steering fluid and oil, so we dealt with that until we finally struggled into the CAMPGROUNDS around 2pm. We met Frog Prince, Queen of Everything and JB the Huntress, who'd arrived a little before we did. By then, Eidolon & Artemis had called us to let us know they were in NO way making it on time, so the sense of urgency turned into a sense of "sit in the woods on a cool rock to beat the 89 degree weather, then slog overheatedly into Springville for things REAL survival items...like WATER!"

Anyway, after we finally settled in, other folks started to arrive, like dee123, CathCainGwen, Chadams & Lady Lilac, the IAP and Bear and the rest of the Quinn clan. Party Pig and the Phoenix had started boxing at DAWN, so they were still at it by the afternoon/evening. Talking Turtle arrived around 5pm with car trouble that made our little bout with the oil and fluid look like a picnic. Luckily, she made it to the campsite, but unluckily, the auto service she got with her phone only worked on the phone she had at home (so she was told by the operator). After we all plotted the destruction of said phone company (don't worry, we'll get a name so that you can ALL hate it with us!), the Highlander and I called AAA and told them we had been riding with her and they towed her van to the local shop in Springville. Meanwhile, Party Pig and The Phoenix were STILL out boxing...

We kicked back and enjoyed the rest of the night. A group of folks (CQ, Frog Prince, Queen of Everything, and to my surprise, Artemis and Eidolon, who snuck in later) sat around exchanging stamps while the Highlander and Chadams cooked up some food. It became apparent that Chadams camping set up was way more conducive to grouping up (what with the gazebo, tent with a welcome mat and dog door and the actual campfire!) We sat around and shot the breeze for a while and Ryan told "The Cremation of Sam McGee" to us around the campfire while the dozen or so kids ran around playing sardines. I don't even remember when we all went to bed, but we were good and tired when it happened (and of course, Party Pig and The Phoenix were STILL out boxing, although they came back long enough to set up camp!).

The next morning had Green Star Quinn and a bunch of the 'tween boxers getting lost in the woods for an hour or so, just as we were getting ready to head to the park. I was so worried, I forgot the event stamp and all my boxing stuff when the Highlander shooed me off to greet folks at Chestnut Ridge. Luckily, they found their way to the main road in time for what was probably a tag team effort of parental/general adult chastisment, so I didn't have to ruin the event by sacrificing their small bodies.

All in all, the day went well! The kids never LEFT the playground (especially after the morning's scare) and folks rolled in to stamp and exchange at the pavilion and out to box and back in the same easy way they always do. To my dismay, the Highlander ended up burning himself on a misplaced barbecue fork while grilling, but Frog Prince saw him standing there with a bag of ice in one hand, the fork in the other and a line of folks with open buns in front of him (hmmm...more stuff for the Dirty Letterboxing Quotes list!) and came to the rescue! Meanwhile, I got to meet a bunch of new folks like Trekkie Gal (who must have been the star of the day since she's made it into two blogs now!) LOSTGIRL, S and K, K and T, jasondrew and a bunch of others I had only seen in logbooks or on boards. Balloon Fanatic's family was also there, which meant the winner of the youngest boxer award (Mermaid Girl) was present. She and her sister both look like they fell off a charm bracelet, they're so cute, so they probably coulda taken that award as well. We raffled stuff off and took pics around 5, just as a brief storm blew in...and blew out! Literally 2/3 of the boxers had gone when the suddenly the sun broke out and it was as if nothing happened!

With that, the Highlander and I headed back to Sprague Brook to get the night boxes placed. We'd intended to go eat at Ponderosa with everyone else, but just ran out of time before the boxing was to start. I was beside myself with ideas on where to hide them when Soccer Star 7 and gymnastics girl's dad Eric came up with the PERFECT path to hide the boxes on. It was partial in a field, but mostly in the woods, which were good and spooky dark by the time folks started finding boxes. A more mature and less rowdy group than Ryan's bunch went through with mostly kids and parents around 8, while the rest came around 10. After that, we all went to separate fun zones. A gang of adults hit the fireside again while a bunch of gamer kids and adults sat around our site playing Dungeons & Dragons again for a good 2 hours. Poor Skater Boy was out cold within the first 10 minutes, but everyone else was once again up until the wee hours having a blast.

Sunday morning began with my getting up and seeing a 6 foot something creature rear its multitentacled head from the vicinity of Ryan's sleeping gear. It took a moment to realize that this actually WAS Ryan wearing a funky ski hat to keep warm, but MAN, do I wish I'd had the camera on me for THAT! We all started to pack and say our goodbyes (being sure to give Ryan tips on how to keep strange men from touching him in the airport while he slept), then started to head our separate ways around noon (by which time Party Pig and the Phoenix were...hmm...STILL BOXING!). By the time the Highlander and I got home, I was ready to crash, but kept trying to post THIS leviathan of a wrap-up until the Highlander forced me to call it a night.

Oh, and Eidolon called me from the trail last night...he was still boxing, too, but wanted to see if we missed him yet. I told him I missed him so much that I had fallen asleep on the couch and he seemed satisfied....!

Anyhoo, for those who came, thanks for all the compliments, the donations and the general camaraderie. I couldn't have asked for more fun in one weekend, so I'm again REALLY glad we added camping to this event. Our most sincere thanks goes to Chadams for making this park more easily accessible to the layman and throwing his whole heart and soul into helping make this event come off. We also thank Frog Prince for saving the Highlander in his time of need and Eric Festor (who I'm gonna just call Nightbike for the sake of having a trailname) for saving me in mine! Another major thanks to folks who donated items for the raffle and boxes for the event (BTW, if you DID bring some event stamps, please help me out by listing them on the event page...I don't know HALF of what I got in this book right now!) :-O Also, for those who did them, the night box series (called Night Music) is listed here. If you told me the title of the song, you got the last stamp (#9). As far as pics, I know some folks are already posting pics at the event page, but those would be folks with digital cameras. Mine have to be developed yet (curse my desperate need for an upgrade!), but I think I took pics of every group that came through so you can put names with faces.

Finally, the next gathering has already been listed here. Not ABSOLUTELY sure about the location just yet (since Nightbike has mentioned another great park near Lake Ontario), but we'll keep everyone posted.

Thanks again, everybody! You make this yearly event a labor of love! :-)

The (worn, but happy) Sprite & the (happy, but burnt) Highlander