You know what they say - give a task to the busy man & it'll get done...
Whoohoo!! Dick, Diana, Jack & I have been busting our humps these last couple of weeks, and lemme tell ya why!
In between sewing for the upcoming craft shows (one on the fourth & one on the 17th), and visiting what seemed like every dr between hither & yon, and getting shots in my you know what, and more trips to the fabric store & Wally-world (geez, have I told you lately just how much I've come to HATE Wally-world??? more on that LATER), we have all been running around like crazy people trying to solicit donations for this wild-haired idea Dick & I had. See, I started questioning Magic Valley Park's rate release...people were asking, and you know how I hate looking stupid or ignorant...*especially* if I can help it!
Sooooo, I asked Fran & Joe about the rates and what they planned to do for camper retention...thank you, Encore, Harry, Bev & Gail, for giving us the party idea... Well, I found out that rates weren't going to be released and there was no plan for retention. OK, so I'm a glutton for punishment, but I decided we needed to do something about that. And the something I came up with was a Camper Appreciation & Early-bird Registration party. OK, that was given the go-ahead. Oh, and did I mention that we only came up with this idea a couple of weeks ago????
So, I write up this letter of solicitation & start presenting it to the local community businesses. You know, the ones that are highly patronized by our campers. I'm looking for any kind of give-away, prize or assistance with the party I can get. We went here, there, and everywhere! A lot of places were highly & immediately receptive to the idea, and they cooperated fully and gave us some terrific door prizes. Di was highly successful and even got the local Best Western Hotel to donate TWO 2-night stays in a mini-suite, TWO breakfast buffets for 2, AND TWO dinner buffets for 2!! How sweet is THAT!!?? Dick & I went into the local car dealer, looking for some coozies & a hat or two, and we came out with FREE LIVE ENTERTAINMENT!
On the way home from the MRI that didn't happen (oh, don't even ask!), we passed a party store, so of course, we stopped in, knowing we had NO budget for decorations, and NO idea for themes yet....and came out with 3 packs of pretty & colorful napkins and 4 small paper bags that coordinated. We were kinda counting on HEB (grocery) to kick in some helium balloons, but, somehow, that never happened, despite our best efforts and a half dozen trips to see the Community Investment rep. Anyway, you should have seen what Di was able to produce with that little bit. THEY WERE A HIT!! She stuffed a couple napkins into each bag, cut out a couple of designs from another napkin & glued 'em on a stick, then stuffed some krinkly shred into 'em, and oh, my GOSH, they were absolutely fantastic! What that woman can do with a napkin!!! We have our own personal Decorating Diva. Think what she could do if she had a BUDGET. I'm scared to even imagine.
Back to the prizes. We eventually did get a ton of really great prizes, and even some that standing alone, weren't so great, but when combined, came to a decent reward. So, Wednesday was the final craft show I'd entered, and (again, with Di's help) I was able to recoup the money I'd spent of fabric & supplies, and even made about $50 in profit. Unless, of course, you put it to labor. Then I'm probably in the hole, but what the hey, I had fun. After the craft show, Dick took me out to Mission (30 miles away), and I got another steroid shot in my Sacro-illiac joint. Painful, but, thankfully, they now know to knock me out fully, with 10 cc of kickapoo juice. They tried only 5cc, but only once & now they know better. 10 does the trick. So, Thursday, we spent running around, getting the last of the prizes together, then stuffing goodie bags & making sure all the door prizes were accounted for & orderly & ready to be given out. Poor John (another workamper here) - we coerced him into baking at least 4 dozen homemade cookies....after all, in his former life, he was the head baker for Safeway stores in Alaska, so it's nice to have his expertise. Oh, and he's ALWAYS practicing on us....perhaps that's why we don't lose any weight. ??
This morning dawned bright and early...seems they always do, especially after a rough night (a couple of really bad coughing spells of mine kept us both up), and it was damp and chilly with off-and-on downpours....so, I expected turnout would be limited, but oh well, if 25 people came, I'da been calling it a success.
OK, so, the party starts at 9:30 am, we're over there setting up at 8:15, and here comes a couple. According to them, they're here for the prizes. HUH???? Is it 9:30 already??? HECK NO, it's not even EIGHT-thirty yet!! Well, about all I can do is ask 'em to have a seat and wait till we get the tables put up...and then comes along a very unhappy camper. Actually, they're not even campers. Just unhappy that there's someone from outside the park having the audacity to be here and who were we to be having this party anyway?? Well, as you can imagine, not everyone is pleased, and some are even really p*ssed, but, oh well, we're doing what we can with what we've got. BUT, long story short....you wouldn't believe how many people turned out!! OVER 80!!! And, according to all records, we had twenty eight couples sign up for next year!!! OMG! What a response. Of course, you know what that means now, right? Yeah, chances are good we'll be doing it again next year. Yup, even we have committed to return to Magic Valley as next year's camp hosts. Same site, same arrival day...whoohoo. At least we know it'll be warmer than anywhere else in the country.
Party on!!
In between sewing for the upcoming craft shows (one on the fourth & one on the 17th), and visiting what seemed like every dr between hither & yon, and getting shots in my you know what, and more trips to the fabric store & Wally-world (geez, have I told you lately just how much I've come to HATE Wally-world??? more on that LATER), we have all been running around like crazy people trying to solicit donations for this wild-haired idea Dick & I had. See, I started questioning Magic Valley Park's rate release...people were asking, and you know how I hate looking stupid or ignorant...*especially* if I can help it!
Sooooo, I asked Fran & Joe about the rates and what they planned to do for camper retention...thank you, Encore, Harry, Bev & Gail, for giving us the party idea... Well, I found out that rates weren't going to be released and there was no plan for retention. OK, so I'm a glutton for punishment, but I decided we needed to do something about that. And the something I came up with was a Camper Appreciation & Early-bird Registration party. OK, that was given the go-ahead. Oh, and did I mention that we only came up with this idea a couple of weeks ago????
So, I write up this letter of solicitation & start presenting it to the local community businesses. You know, the ones that are highly patronized by our campers. I'm looking for any kind of give-away, prize or assistance with the party I can get. We went here, there, and everywhere! A lot of places were highly & immediately receptive to the idea, and they cooperated fully and gave us some terrific door prizes. Di was highly successful and even got the local Best Western Hotel to donate TWO 2-night stays in a mini-suite, TWO breakfast buffets for 2, AND TWO dinner buffets for 2!! How sweet is THAT!!?? Dick & I went into the local car dealer, looking for some coozies & a hat or two, and we came out with FREE LIVE ENTERTAINMENT!
On the way home from the MRI that didn't happen (oh, don't even ask!), we passed a party store, so of course, we stopped in, knowing we had NO budget for decorations, and NO idea for themes yet....and came out with 3 packs of pretty & colorful napkins and 4 small paper bags that coordinated. We were kinda counting on HEB (grocery) to kick in some helium balloons, but, somehow, that never happened, despite our best efforts and a half dozen trips to see the Community Investment rep. Anyway, you should have seen what Di was able to produce with that little bit. THEY WERE A HIT!! She stuffed a couple napkins into each bag, cut out a couple of designs from another napkin & glued 'em on a stick, then stuffed some krinkly shred into 'em, and oh, my GOSH, they were absolutely fantastic! What that woman can do with a napkin!!! We have our own personal Decorating Diva. Think what she could do if she had a BUDGET. I'm scared to even imagine.
Back to the prizes. We eventually did get a ton of really great prizes, and even some that standing alone, weren't so great, but when combined, came to a decent reward. So, Wednesday was the final craft show I'd entered, and (again, with Di's help) I was able to recoup the money I'd spent of fabric & supplies, and even made about $50 in profit. Unless, of course, you put it to labor. Then I'm probably in the hole, but what the hey, I had fun. After the craft show, Dick took me out to Mission (30 miles away), and I got another steroid shot in my Sacro-illiac joint. Painful, but, thankfully, they now know to knock me out fully, with 10 cc of kickapoo juice. They tried only 5cc, but only once & now they know better. 10 does the trick. So, Thursday, we spent running around, getting the last of the prizes together, then stuffing goodie bags & making sure all the door prizes were accounted for & orderly & ready to be given out. Poor John (another workamper here) - we coerced him into baking at least 4 dozen homemade cookies....after all, in his former life, he was the head baker for Safeway stores in Alaska, so it's nice to have his expertise. Oh, and he's ALWAYS practicing on us....perhaps that's why we don't lose any weight. ??
This morning dawned bright and early...seems they always do, especially after a rough night (a couple of really bad coughing spells of mine kept us both up), and it was damp and chilly with off-and-on downpours....so, I expected turnout would be limited, but oh well, if 25 people came, I'da been calling it a success.
OK, so, the party starts at 9:30 am, we're over there setting up at 8:15, and here comes a couple. According to them, they're here for the prizes. HUH???? Is it 9:30 already??? HECK NO, it's not even EIGHT-thirty yet!! Well, about all I can do is ask 'em to have a seat and wait till we get the tables put up...and then comes along a very unhappy camper. Actually, they're not even campers. Just unhappy that there's someone from outside the park having the audacity to be here and who were we to be having this party anyway?? Well, as you can imagine, not everyone is pleased, and some are even really p*ssed, but, oh well, we're doing what we can with what we've got. BUT, long story short....you wouldn't believe how many people turned out!! OVER 80!!! And, according to all records, we had twenty eight couples sign up for next year!!! OMG! What a response. Of course, you know what that means now, right? Yeah, chances are good we'll be doing it again next year. Yup, even we have committed to return to Magic Valley as next year's camp hosts. Same site, same arrival day...whoohoo. At least we know it'll be warmer than anywhere else in the country.
Party on!!
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