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Posted by Ken See [68.9.91.240] on Wednesday, August 04, 2010 at 15:26:34 :
Well another rally in the bag, and it was a doozy. The weather held up, the people were great, and the trucks were great. This was easily the largest rally we've had, we fed more people, and had more trucks than ever. How many do you ask? Hell, who knows, counting is tough since not everyone or all trucks are ever in one place at once.
Educated estimate is 50 for Fri dinner, 120+ for Sat lunch and 100 for Sat dinner, and 50 for Sun pancakes. We had 27 trucks in the woods, maybe 3 of those weren't power wagons. Again the most ever. Many more trucks stayed back at the rally so educated estimate is high 30's for trucks attending, maybe 40.
So point #1 for the next rally - preregistration is required. We frankly do not know how much food to provide and only buy enough for those we know about and then an estimate for the inevitable surprise arrivals. Well this time we had lots of surprise arrivals. We had enough food but were very nervous we would run out, and had to limit the amount of food available to each visitor. Which was fine for 99% of the people but a very few people weren't real happy about that. Sat dinner was fine, it's always Sat lunch that's the problem. Not knowing is stressful. Will in IL provided me with some forms and code that he uses, but I just didn't have have time to get it working for this rally.
Point #2. Assign people to jobs and times. Need to get organized there. Everyone pitches in and helps but it would be much easier to know who is supposed to do what when.
Point #3. Buy fresh gunpowder. Our cannon misfired 3 times. Very embarrassing and depressing. All I can say is that it's a good thing the North Koreans weren't coming over the hill at the time.
Point #4. Hire security. Paul's truck had problems and we know about a gas cap that was stolen. Very strange. I go to Vermont to avoid security but I guess riffraff is everywhere.
All in all it was a great time, but a lot of work. It's one thing for me to work hard, but there are many non power wagon people (wives and families) who work real hard and we have to come up with a way to let them relax and enjoy the weekend more.
A big thanks to all who attended, and a real big thanks to those who supported the rally through raffle donations and t shirt purchases without actually attending. As soon as I get a list of donors, I will thank them here by name, they should be recognized.
I'm glad everyone came and would never wish fewer had attended. It's obvious that these rallies are very popular and as with any large event, more organization is needed to help smooth out the trail somewhat. As far as I know, no one went hungry, only 2 trucks had very minor hard starting trouble on the trail, and no one got hurt.
Other than Paul's trouble and the gas cap problem, rally was a huge success and will be remembered as a great time for a long time to come.
I am open to any and all comments, suggestions and pointers about what could have been done better, what kinds of food to serve, trail tips, other activities etc. Andrew Connolly did a great job with the tshirt painting activity for the kids. Thanks again and happy trails!
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