Final Pre-Rally Update
25-May-2006
Hello Heartland Rally Attendees,
Well, we’re one week out from our first ever rally. In fact, it really is an international rally as we have people coming from 13 US states and 2 Canadian provinces.
Before we all meet in Goshen next week, I want to give this final pre-rally update.
Traveling to Goshen:
Goshen is about 12 miles south-east of Elkhart. The fairgrounds are on the east edge of Goshen on County Road 34. Use this address in your GPS and/or mapping systems: 17746-D County Road 34 (East Monroe Street), Goshen, IN 46528 - Elkhart County 4H Fairgrounds. Click here for Yahoo! Maps to Fairgrounds. If you'd like to see the venue in Google Earth, click here to download the kmz file. Save it and open it from Google Earth. Note that the image is pretty old.
Rally Check-In:
With only a couple exceptions, most everyone will be arriving throughout the day Thursday. The fairgrounds are on the south side of County Road 34. Turn in at Gate 2. Pull straight ahead until you reach the rally check-in table. Come to the table to be checked-in by our volunteers. You will receive your rally bag. In it, you will have a rally packet that contains the agenda and a flyer that has a map to Yoder’s Banquets on one side and a bit about our Amish Countryside tour on the other side. You’ll also have your rally badges and one raffle ticket per site. We will then escort you to your site. (see attached fairgrounds map)
Camp Sites:
Everyone has been assigned a camp site. In most cases, where a site preference was given, those preferences were honored. Your check-in volunteer will confirm your site number to you. All sites are full hookups with 50 amp power. Wi-Fi is available for a daily or weekly fee. Get Wi-Fi details from the Fairgrounds office. Remember, campfires are not allowed.
Dinner the first evening and a social get together:
John and Sue Morgan (jpmorgan37) are coordinating a potluck dinner for the night of arrival (Thursday). As all events at this rally are, this potluck is optional. Bring a dish to pass (with a serving utensil) to the Home and Family Arts Building (#4) for serving around 5:30 PM. Following dinner, around 7:00 PM, we invite everyone to meet in the building for a chance to get to meet and socialize. Please bring a small snack to share and your favorite beverage.
Saturday Dinner:
Scott Tuttle will be inviting a large group of Heartland employees to attend the catered dinner that Heartland arranged for us for Saturday night. It will be a great chance for key employees to meet with end-users of their product. And a great chance for us as well to meet with people who have various responsibilities in the building of our coaches.
Volunteers:
Most everything I could think of is covered with few exceptions. I still like second Check-In team for Thursday afternoon. If you’re arriving in the morning and would like to hang out with Chuck and Saundra (cbMidland) and help them check people in and show them to their sites, please contact me (see below) or see/call me upon your arrival.
While we really didn’t get anyone to step in to coordinate any social events, I think we’ll make do fine on our own to reach out to each other. Feel free to gather in the building Thursday and Friday evenings after dinner.
Acknowledgements:
I’d like to acknowledge the effort of a few people who well before the rally, have already spent a great deal of time working on it.
Rich Givney (HTWT) is the creator of our rally agenda, map to Yoders’ and flyer for the Essenhaus/Amish Tour (all of this will be in your rally packet at check-in). Sadly, I won’t be able to thank him in person this time as a family priority came up and he has to be elsewhere during the rally. Great job Rich and thanks so much.
Larry Herris (slaytop) coordinated with all the vendors that will attending and/or presenting. He coordinated the timing, their equipment requirements and requested rally prizes. Many, many calls, emails and letters. Great job Larry.
Phil and Becky Smith, David and Barbara DeBoer and Nancy Beletti (yorkiemom) coordinated/planned the Farewell Potluck Breakfast and then agreed to take on the simple luncheon during the vendor seminars. Thanks guys.
John and Sue Morgan (jomorgan37) have graciously agreed to coordinate a potluck dinner the night of arrival. Note that this is sort of a last moment idea and I think it’s a good one and a great chance to get together. Join us if you can. Thanks John and Sue..
Thank you in advance to the Check-In and Photography Teams.
Finally, I’d like to acknowledge Scott Tuttle at Heartland and the rest of the management team/owners there for their commitment to this rally and their tireless support in coordinating so many aspects of it – not the least of which was a lot of financial or in-kind sponsorship for various aspects of the rally and the costs to put it on.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email, call (574-333-1153) or PM me. See you next week!
Your Rally Master,
Jim Beletti
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