Here is information on this year's Gathering. I'll give some verbage (Turtle, that means words) and I've been trying to train Don (IR2Dum) on how to transfer previous posts and videos from one site to another. If he has been paying attention to his training he will follow up with some visuals of what the facility looks like and some videos of previous Gatherings.
Where: Central Christian Church Recreation Campground, Appling,GA, on Clarks Hill Lake. The lake is the largest man-made lake east of the Mississippi River and has over 1200 miles of shore line. It is located about 15 miles up the Savannah River from Augusta, GA. We Georgians call it by its original name of Clarks Hill. Congress renamed it in honor of Stron Thurmond and that is the "official" name. I will put out directions latter.
The facility is one of the best on the lake and was developed by Central Christian Church of Augusta and is still coordinated by them. It has four cabins with each sleeping 8-10 people and has an external bath house. There is a bunk house with two sides which has about 30 beds on each side as well as shower and bathroom facilities. Usually one side is male and the other is female.
All you will need to bring will be your toilet articles and bedding. I use a $25 sleeping bag I bought from Academy Sports. There are a number of campsites with water and electricity as well as other places one can pitch a tent. There also is a dump station available for RVs. I don't remember the number of spaces with hook ups. I'll have to go up there and look. There is enough space to bring a large travel trailer, motor home, or 5th wheel.
On the first floor, the bunkhouse is on the 2nd floor, there is a full kitchen and dining room. The kitchen has a commercial size gas stove (the ovens were not working last year and I would not bet on them working this year), and a large double glass door refrigerator. Also, there is a large electric drink cooler outside. There is also a microwave. All cooking pans etc are provided. We will get some paper plates, napkins, plastic forks, drink cups etc.
There are two outside covered areas we can use to smoke, cook on grills and all if it rains. I will bring an electric smoker, an SRG, and a Bayou cooker. Tommy and others bring cookers as well. RecTec has already told me we can have their trailer with the four pellet grills on it. So, don't worry about cookers. We'll have enough available brought by those of us who will be driving.
People will just bring whatever food they have and there are WalMart Super Stores and Publix stores within 20 miles for those who want to buy some things to cook. Having enough food has never been a problem, so don't sweat it. If you want and can to bring some fine. Your presence is what is desired.
When: We have the facility from Sep 23-29. I will pick up the key on monday the 23rd and will begin staying there until we finish up. Some folks arrive on wednesday and most are there on friday. We have had people come in for only one day. Saturday and Sunday are the main days but it really doesn't matter...just come. Some stay over and leave on monday which will be no problem.
Events: We mainly will just be cooking, eating, and sitting around BSing. Saturday supper will be the only structured meal which we will have in the dining facility, which can seat around 100. We will have a few classes such as knife sharpening by Art. Between now and then we will come up with some additional classes/demos as y'all want. On Saturday night we will have a bonfire by the lake where we just sit in chairs and enjoy ourselves and each other. On Sunday morning there will be a service led by Jaxon for those who would like to attend. Since this is a church facility there can be no alcoholic beverages allowed.
Costs: The only thing it costs us is a $500 donation and I think we already have that covered by sponsors. Tim has been working with sponsors on donations of things from them. For the first Gathering we had two large ice chests of the best pork I've ever tasted donated by Compart from a company somewhere in the upper mid-west. Unfortunately, the head of that company died awhile back. Barry Martin had arranged that. The quality and quantity... of the pork is a whole other subject (WOW). So the only thing it will cost you is getting there. If you would like to make a donation fine, if not fine. We will have a container there for you to drop money in if so desired. The main thing is for people to come and enjoy themselves.
Transportation: I will provide driving directions later. It's very easy to get to from I-20 in GA. If you fly in either private aircraft or commercial we will pick you up and take you back. If you're walking I'll have to have more information so as to give you azmuths and distances from way points.
There is no need for anyone to stay in a motel. I know there maybe some ladies who desire privacy and would not want to stay in a room with other people (My wife would be that way if she were coming) and in that case in the past couples so desiring have stayed in a cabin by themselves. Pam and Donna have already laid claims to one cabin and have room for some other ladies there if they want. The other three cabins can be reserved for three couples if so desired. I will handle that on a first-come-first-served basis. So if you and your spouse want a cabin let me know. Remember cabins have no bathroom facilities... there is a separate bath house. One side do the bunk house will be set aside for ladies.
Well, I just wanted to give you this little short note to alert you and let you tell your bosses that you ain't gonna be at work during some of the last week in September. If my training has paid off, Don will post his visual portion of this alert notification.
Dee
