Event-full 2008 Gathering

I actually arrived on time ;-)
and this time I hadn't left anything behind... or at least I hoped not.

I had the help of Mojo and 2fist4 to finish putting out the last couple of letterboxes...
oh, wait...I get to put one letterbox in the French Broad River.
A floating letterbox that has to be reeled in...
I had high hopes that it will bring smiles to many of the children's faces.
Mojo made "the facilities" letterboxes accessible to all as long as you were willing to venture into the opposite sex's restroom... and 2fist4 "installed" the Tongue Flappin' Fun.

People started tricklin in...
and of course I couldn't wait to see the friends we've already made.
Even as the crowd got bigger... most everything seemed to go smoothly...
except one time some willing dad had to go after the floating letterbox's contents that had accidentally took a swim...
oh... hey... I remember why everything went so smoothly.
Mama Fox was doing all the raffle stuff for me and being my right hand... Knit Wit was keeping me informed of the happenings around me... Mama Flory made some copies for me... FireFighterDaddy and Baby kept Mojo at arm's length and occupied... those things meant a great deal to me. Thank y'all :-)

I think I got cootied more in 1 hour at this event than I had in 3 entire events before.
At one point i had a cootie tail. 2fist4 sat at a distance and enjoyed watching me trying to reach my cootie tail that one of the kids had clipped on the bottom of my jacket right at my rearend. I am certain it must have been a hilarious sight watching me spin and twist but each time i did the cootie on the string swung away from my grasp.

The Event Stamp carved by Orion was a wonderful addition...
It was just the perfect image. I wanted something creative and unique...
something representative of the mysteries, legends and haunts of these mountains.
The Hills are Alive is all I wanted and more. It's a real treasure!

Then there is the whole story of GoSox being a sneak...
He even gave us a fighting chance at figuring out that he was who he was by wearing a Red Sox shirt. Dang I am such a ditz sometimes.

There was actually so many people to meet and so much going on there is just no way to write about it all here... some of the highlights must included the stories from boxers who had already been to... or those questions from anxious boxers who hoped to get at the Chicken Alley box and those at the old Craggy Prison. The Chicken Alley box had gotten lots of attention and talk on the NC message board at AQ. Knit Wit had planted some of special "pawning" interest and had done the old Asheville Speedway series for me. She did much better than I could have and chose a great theme. Oh, and of all things... one of the simplest little treasures got so many compliments... not because the carving is awesome but because an unexpected force of nature meets and unites with a discarded man-made item and this was the inspiration for Spring Tree.

There are a dozen or more boxes still available that was either planted for the event or was left and planted during it. This event helped make Asheville a boxing mecca is these gorgeous mountains. Now.. I get asked which boxes are "must haves"... my personal favorite of my own plants is Mourning located in a glorious historical cemetery... but there are just too many to pick one or two from other planters. There are so many good ones... but please feel free to contact me for specifics and recommended areas.

The event was tremendous and probably the largest NC gathering to date... Thanks Y'all!